You know you are out of shape when your whole body hurts the day after cleaning your room.
Or does that mean your room was a super mess?

3 Suckers!!

13 years ago

Anniversary Weekend

I am behind on the happenings of the Reno Wells. The biology class is not coming to me easily. I actually have to read all the text. Imagine that.

Now for fun things. Feb. 16th was our 13th anniversary. Since that day was also President's day, we decided to extend the weekend even more. We took a trip to Utah to hang out with my family and to go to the Draper Temple open house. Jason had already asked for Friday off from work and then three weeks before we were to leave, he got BINGO during a contest at work and won a half day off. So we were able to leave Thursday afternoon which added to our trip. It was a nice break and we missed most of the weather when driving there and back.

One fun thing our kids enjoyed was the RedBox stops. For those of you that don't know what RedBox is, they are vending machines of DVDs. $1.00 gets you a movie at one machine and then is able to be returned at any other machine. So we got a movie in Reno before we left, then returned that one and got a new one in Winnemucca, then Elko, then Wendover. and the same for the return ride. Watching the movies certainly helps pass the time during that drive across the desert.

Our kids enjoyed going to the open house - at least the big kids did. Kelsey's favorite part was riding the shuttle bus and getting a cookie. Austin said there was too much walking. Sydney said it was beautiful. And Allynn wants to go again and walk slower. We were able to look in the beautiful mirrors in the sealing room which was a fun experience with our little family. Then we went to Olive Garden for lunch with my mom and dad. That was on Friday - the rest of the weekend we didn't really do anything. It was nice to hang out and not have anywhere to be. Sunday the Johnson's, Peter, & Whitney came over for dinner and I ate WAY TOO MUCH! We had country style pork ribs, dad's potatoes, cheese bread (yummy!), and corn. Then played games.

A great time was had by all! Our next break is in April. We are not sure what we will do then.

My Bad...

In the last two days I have told many people what happened. I guess I forgot.

Here it is -

During P.E. her class was doing relay races outside. They were excited to be outside because it has been raining all day. Anyway - one of the races was running backwards. She was kicking it in to high gear to beat the kid next to her and she says "my feet went out from underneath me and I was either going to land on my head or my arm." He landed full weight on her straight arm.

Sorry for leaving that out!!

Our Broken Allynn

The day started out well. We all got up on time and were ready for school early. We were able to read all of Enos and say our family prayer. I had almost all of the laundry washed and folded. Kelsey and Renni had been fed and were in their quiet time spots - Renni asleep in her bed, Kelsey watching a cartoon with The Dad. I had one assignment for school done and was half way through the research part of the second assignment when I got a call from the school.

The voice on the other end of the phone told me his name and I knew it was the school nurse. He told me Allynn had an incident at school and that I needed to come get her. I must admit - the first thing that came to my mind was that she got in a fight and was in big trouble. I think because the nurse used the word incident. Anyway - I got to school and her teacher met me at the door with a very panicked look on her face. I finally made it to the nurses office where another teacher was there along with the nurse and the principal huddled around Allynn who was hunched over on herself holding her arm. This was about 2:30 pm.

As I was driving her home, we assessed the pain and decided we needed to go straight to Urgent Care. I stopped by home first to give her some Advil since I didn't know how long it would take for her to be seen by a doctor. My thought process for going to Urgent Care was they would cost less and be quicker than going to the ER. They were just that. We walked in and waited about 15 minutes before we saw the doctor. He sent us right over to get X-rays, but he could tell by looking at it that the arm was broken and that we would probably need an Orthopedic Surgeon to reduce it (set the bone). After getting the X-ray, even I could see the break. Sure enough, we were sent back to Urgent Care where that doctor was able to get a hold of the on call Orthopedic Surgeon. Then we were sent to check out and moved along to the ER where it felt like we started over.

Once we were past the reception desk in the ER, the nurse who came to get us was ready and so was the doctor so they moved pretty quickly. The Orthopedic Surgeon chatted with us for a few minutes while Allynn was hooked up to an IV so they could give her a sedative that put her out while they worked on her arm. I was very interested to watch the process, but I was asked to leave and I have decided I am OK with that.

We finally made it home 6 1/2 hours later at 9:00 pm, and she is much happier than when it all started. She was very brave! She will have a long cast which goes up her arm past her elbow for three weeks, and then she will need a short cast for three more weeks.

I have learned that broken bones need to go to the ER to be taken care of even though the Urgent Care people were very nice and helpful.

Some pictures

The Grandma and The Mom

The Grandma and The Kidlets at Temple Square

The little family at Temple Square

The Whole Family

I did it!!

Another two classes done!!! I am so happy I would like to go to Swensen's to get an ice cream, but it is Sunday. So, I will be happy with the thoughts that I finished my papers early in the day and now I can go to bed. My brain is overloaded with tid-bits of information about the last 50 years. I found history since 1945 to be very interesting, but I am glad to be done analyzing it!!

Tomorrow I start my next class - - Biology. I am also very thankful that I will just have the one class this 9 week block.

Yea Me!!

Engcouragement

Today I got the latest email forward from my cousin's mission. He talks about wrestling with the Lord when trying to understand what is wanted. At the end of the letter he shares a power statement "Pain is temporary. Glory is forever".

I was in need of these words, only I am going to change them a little bit. "School is temporary. Knowledge is forever". This is the last few days of my latest block of classes and I am counting how few points I can get on the final papers and still pass the class. This is not the way I am supposed to do it. I should be working the best I can, to get the best grade. I am coping to get through.

I set myself a plan to accomplish the two papers I need to write. Now if I would just stop finding other things to do, I just might accomplish what I have set for myself.

Here is the plan -
Today - write 2100 words relating as close as possible to the Education class topic. I would like to have this done by 4 pm when all my kids get home. It is now 12:52 pm. I have compiled 1856 words so far, which makes me happy. However, the words are not quite in a nice, flowing, final paper format (certainly not APA yet). I was on a pretty good roll this morning. Then it was time to change a diaper, get a snack, pick up the baby who fell off the chair she was climbing on, ask Kelsey to only worry about her sippy cup (Kelsey's is orange, Renni's is purple). Then since I was upstairs, I stopped to check Quicken to make sure we were not to close to the ZERO line(OK so far). Then it was time to go pick up Enid at school. Then I put baby down for nap and made the big girls lunch. Now I am totally distracted. I may need a nap, but I will forge on.

And that is only one paper.

I will save my ranting about the other paper for tomorrow when I am again looking for other things to do instead of my homework. :)

Post 100

Well, I missed it by one day, but my 100th post has now been made one year from my start. I just hope it has been interesting.

As for today, the sun is out and the temperature is 51 degrees. This is not normal January weather, however I am not complaining. I am still cold. We would like to see some more snow to help with spring and summer water levels, but I don't miss driving in it. The local skiers would also like to see some more snow to cover the brown patches starting to show through. I am also starting to notice the 1 to 2 minuets more of sunlight we have. I am ready for the dark to go away. My brain says, "Dark, it must be time for bed!" my calendar says, "Wait, there are still things to do before you got to bed. #1 - feed family dinner." And the kids are stir crazy. They leave for school at 9 am and get home at 4 pm. They didn't feel like they had any time to play outside. So, yes, we are glad for the days to get longer.

We are also already talking about the end of school activities. In past years the fifth grade went to Science camp for a week in California. This year the Principal asked the teachers for find something else to do. Allynn was so disappointed. As parents, we are glad because this year the school has been able to bring the Science Camp to Reno. And it will cost less for each student to participate. Notes have started coming home will bits of details planned for the week, so Allynn is a little more excited about science week.

It seems like yesterday was the first day of school at the end of August. The time will fly just as it has till now.

Lesson is over

Well, yesterday I gave my lesson in R.S. and I think it went ok. I was having a hard time getting it to flow in my head so I would be able to continue after someone made a comment. I also have a hard time not back tracking after someone gives a comment that leads to the next thing, but they say what I was going to say. I am glad to be done and hope I don't get called to be the teacher permanently - mostly because I would like to hear from other people.

Yesterday was the first time I had gone to Sunday School. I am setting a goal to read the lesson ahead of time so I understand what people are talking about when they make comments. I am not sure I will make any comments, but I would like to be able to know when someone is totally off the mark when they make comments. Doesn't every Gospel Doctrine class have those kind of comments?

I am also looking forward to the new year getting better. I know, we have been told it will get worse before it gets better, but I am still looking forward.

February - Kelsey will turn 3

April will be The Dad's six month mark at Integra which hopefully open more opportunity within the company for him.

June - he will finish his Masters program at University of Phoenix. So good things are coming.

Now I should get back to my own homework. This is the last week of this block of classes and I am not having a hard time finding other things to do.

Subing already

I guess I won't be kicking back too much in R.S. I have been asked to teach the second Sunday in January. I am kind of looking forward to it. This will be the first class I will be part of with the Joseph Smith lessons.

Last week when we went to Temple Square, we saw the latest Joseph Smith movie. I loved it. I started crying before it even started. I even knew how the movie would end and was not disappointed at all.

Christmas in Utah

We had a great Christmas with family in Utah. We drove all night to see them and were so glad we did. We felt like we had an extra day.

Our favorite parts of the trip were:

**Christmas brunch at Grandma and Grandpa Alger's house
**Playing in all the snow (since Reno has no snow)
**Taking family pictures in a blizzard
**Going to Temple Square to see the Temple (no castle, no temple, no castle, OK temple - Thank you Kelsey)
**Taking a tour of the conference center
**Walking into Temple square just as the lights turn on (We could not have planned that!)
**Going to Toucano's (I was good and didn't eat too much! Amazing!!)
**An entire day of movies (Mama Mia, Bedtime Stories, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, High School Musical 3, Iron Man)
**Dinner at Olive Garden (I did eat too much, ARHHH)

**And the roads were pretty dry on the trip there and home.

We are already talking about when our next trip will be.

A release for Christmas

Now that it is official, I guess I can blog about it.

Just before Christmas, I was released as the Primary President in our South Meadows ward. I served in that calling for two years. That is two primary programs, seven counselors and/or secretaries, about 24 sharing times, 48 Sunday morning meetings, too many to count teachers, and even more Cub Scout leaders.

For as busy as I was, it was a great calling. Before this opportunity, I had been a primary teacher and a primary secretary, and was sure that was the extent of primary I would be able to handle. I have said this before, and I am sure it is why I was called, but I am not the biggest fan of other people's children.

It is amazing how much love I have for the children in our ward. Even when they are asking me questions that have absolutely nothing to do with the lesson. I found many times where they knew more than me. And then there were some children that wanted to know the deep doctrine that only one answer ever worked to appease their appetite for knowledge, and that was, "Go ask your dad".

I must admit the let down when I was told I would be released. I started wondering what I had done wrong, or what opportunity of service I had missed. The more I thought about it, the more wrapped up in myself I got. I was not given a new calling right away - in fact, President Chamberlain called Saturday night and asked to see both Jason and I before church. I thought for sure I would be getting a new stake calling. But it was Jason who got the new calling. He is now the Assistant Ward Clerk over membership. This only compounded the heavy feelings I had already been having.

Then as I was being released with a vote of thanks, the impression came to me that it was now my opportunity to work on myself and my family. I will be able to continue my school work and watch children during the week without feeling like I am forgetting to do something for Primary.

The Lord truly knows each of us and the things we are capable of accomplishing in our lives. I am grateful for the experience of working in Primary, but will miss the sisters I worked with the most!! I look forward to the next calling I receive, no matter how scary it may feel in the beginning. Or I could just go to Sunday School and Relief Society for a while and participate in the lessons.

Name and a verb

Thanks Tara for the fun idea. You go to yahoo or google and type in your name and a verb and see what comes up. You get some pretty funny results... Unfortunately for me, some hit pretty close to home.

Elizabeth has... No idea what "saving money" entails.

Elizabeth needs... the fashion police.

Elizabeth likes... air ships.

Elizabeth goes... to school.

Just for fun.

School

It's that time again. I am in the sixth week of my latest block of classes. However, my house is not so clean this time. I am really enjoying my history class. It is U.S. History since 1945. So when it comes to history - it is pretty much about yesterday. It has been fascinating to read about the U.S. after World War II and discover that everything that happens today, pretty much happened already, just with different players. I am always reminded of those Seminary lessons about the Nephites cycles of righteousness. How there is always good time followed by really bad times. And the pattern is the same now. Things go really good until they are so good we loose sight of what is important. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and we stop placing Heavenly Father first. After WW II the people were so happy to have their loved ones back that there was great prosperity and a baby boom. Then people got complacent and wanted - "Keeping up with the Jones". Anyway. I am enjoying this class. I could do without all the writing, but the reading is fun.

The Family

Just a few pictures.

These are just a few pictures from our last trips to Disneyland.

We will start saving now to get Annual Passes again in about 3 years.

.

Allynn & Austin on California Scream'n.

Austin is the head to the right. He forgot to stretch for the picture.

Sydney on California Scream'n.

After going to California Adventure so many times this year, they discovered the "Single Rider line." This line was even quicker than the fastpass line. They just didn't get to ride together.

The Girls and some Fairies.

We stood in line for an hour to see these fairies. And it was worth it. Kelsey was so excited to talk to the fairies.

Mom and Allynn with Steamboat Willey during Allynn's birthday trip.

Allynn and Sleeping Beauty.

Tis the Season to be Jolly

Send your own ElfYourself eCards