A happy homecoming

Last night we spent a enjoyable evening at an event called "New Beginnings." Most of you probably know what that means, but for those of your who do not, Its a night to welcome any young lady turning 12 this year to the Young Woman's program in my church. Its is also a night for the other girls 12- 18 to have a new start and rededicate themselves to goals they may have spiritually. The theme last night was- "A mighty change of heart" and each leader did a fantastic job. I really enjoyed our Bishop's talk- "The adversary: Thief of hearts." It was a wonderful program and I am sure inspired the girls to work on self improvement goals and being closer to our Savior Jesus Christ as it did me. THEN they brought out the perfect inspirational dessert.
( LOL ok it was just the perfect dessert) Cheesecake with strawberries and chocolate sauce!

We were all chatting, laughing and eating when we heard the announcement that our beloved prophet, Gordan Hinckley had passed away. (Yah it was instantly hushed in the room, as we all thought of the bitter sweet loss. He has joined his beloved wife whom he has missed and I am thankful for that. I will miss his beautiful spirit and jovial sense of humor.

When I worked at Farr's Ice Cream the church built a huge apartment complex right behind the Ogden temple for the Temple workers- and others. For the ground breaking ceremony President Hinckley leaped out of his car before the body guards could open his door and you could see the 60 year old body guard chasing after the spry 90 year old prophet. He was an inspiration of enduring to the end and doing the work of the Lord no matter what age you were.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/

I remember when President Hunter passed away, I had called Ellen Hanks- a dear woman I met in West Virginia. I wanted to make sure she knew the news- because she was especially close to him. He has passed 2 days prior- and she lived in the heart of WV and did not ever watch TV. I am sure she would have had heard at her small branch on Sunday, but I wanted her to be prepared. She was so grateful that she could ponder his life in private, and made me promise to call her the next time we lost our prophet. Now? I can not find a way to get in touch with her, and hope she finds out before Sunday.

and with a side of Hot Chocolate.

So for Family night- we headed out into the cold for some fresh snow sledding. 6 new inches maybe? But one problem with evening sledding- its SO cold!!! We last about 47 minutes! We had a great time!!! Kira was so tired- Dave had to pull her pack up the hill in the sled- but it was very cute.

We had hot veggi soup and biscuits when we returned home. WE meant to drink Hot Chocolate- with the cold and the starving children we absolutely forgot! (can you believe it?!)

Did we learn anything? YES!

a. Bring the hot cocoa with us to the sledding location
b. Dave has the best sledding attire. (ski pants and gloves)
c. Our sleds are HORRIBLE and we need innertubes or something!
d. We need to go in the day time-Jordan suggested Saturdays- at noon.

When I was almost done I found a picture that I thought was lost! I am so excited- So here it is!
This was taken last winter (February) outside of a great dinner. They are my great friends Jeremiah and Rachel! With Bently (aka Core puppy, Lil' puker) Yay! Lost pictures!

Cold, tired, and wish it was spring!

We LOVE walking the dog in the dark cold of the morning! Please let the winter go quickly.

Winds of change...

Last spring we attended a very special event. The Standard Examiner (the newspaper for Weber-Davis counties) has a contest. They invite all their readership to nominate teachers- for the "Apple for Teacher- Teacher of the year" award. ( Which is VERY exciting to bet nominated for! Thank you Kade!) Nicole came to me one night claiming to need help on a paper. I must have respelled 20 words- not knowing what she was really up to. I think her words will tell the next part of the story.

" I want to nominate my teacher Ms. Brooks. Before I met her school was very hard. I could not read. The other kids had started reading Harry Potter and I was reading picture books. She helped my parents decide if I should go into Special Ed. She taught me how I learn, and she taught my parents how to help me learn. She helped me see that big books are just like picture books, only longer.
I feel so good about school. I can DO IT NOW! School is easier to understand, I even understand reading. I am getting all good grades. My parents are proud of me. I am catching up to the girls my age instead of getting behind. She has taught. She has taught me words like disposition, which means how one acts most of the time. Ms. Brooks knows how smart I am, and she is teaching me to see just how smart. She makes me feel good and happy about reading. She is really the best teacher at my school.
Thank you for listening,
Nicole Swaner"

Ms. Brooks was chosen out of hundreds to be honored and given a very nice token because of Nicole's letter. Nicole letter was printed in the paper and we were invited to a ceremony where they read her letter and honored Ms. Brooks. It was a wonderful night!

Why do I bring this up? Tomorrow is going to be Nicole's last day of school. In 6 short months Nicole has gone from the girl you read of above to an insecure, crying, confused, and hard on her self little girl. The confidence and progress Nicole has made is vanishing fast. Her new school has not encouraged her, or helped her. this has been a trial for us, and it we decided thatI would home school her. She deserves not to be slipped under the rug because she requires a few extra moments of her teachers time. We will not stand for it. I am sure there will be more on this topic but now, this is all I have to say on this topic.

I love you Nicole!

* The picture is of Nicole and Ms. Brooks in May of 2007

The other woman-

There has always been another woman- She takes up half of my husbands free time. Half for me- half for her. Usually I am even fine with it. She changes forms from time to time. Sometimes she is small and hard to read. Sometimes she is stubborn and unwielding. Sometimes she make Dave happy and sometimes he curses her. Someday she will make our family independently wealthy- maybe. Right now she is tall, blonde, and ALL that. She is a lot to compete with- but from what I hear- she is easy to master. Her name is Ms. Pacman, and I wish Dave the best of LUCK!


Dave loves to tinker in robotics. He was made 7 so far. His current project is going very well. Now he has this HUGE project. The video is wonky so he has some figuring to do- but There she is! In all her Glory!

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!

Testing 1..2..3...

Christmas Morning at 7 am- we are done opening gifts and Dave said- "I am tired I could fall asleep RIGHT NOW!"
He throws his head back and the kids thought it was SO funny- so they climbed on him to pretend sleep too!

The red- eye is festive?






So there is my test- If it works- I can start taking pictures like crazy! So cross your fingers and hope for the best!

Happy New Year! (well Happy old year too!)

So, I have put off writing a post for a while, because I REALLY want to put up pictures and add some spice to my little blog- but alas, it may never come to be- ( Maybe Dave will feel bad for me and teach me how to do it- surely it can't be that hard- only the camera software is not installed to this computer.) So- here I am- wishing everyone a

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

For us- 2007 was such a great year! So many wonderful positive things happened- I almost hated to see it go. I could list things for hours- but here is my top 3:

• We bought a beautiful new home!
  Technically its the first house we ever picked out. (last one we assumed)
• We left I-15. What an evil evil interstate!
  Dave just drives to work- never breaks, never consider ramming into the idiot in front of him.
• Our children play outside now, they walk to school, and they have scores and scores or neighborhood friends.

You may notice all of this has to do with
Tooele!
We just LOVE it here. We never plan on leaving! No more big city for us.

We had a wonderful holiday season. I think it was our happiest Christmas ever- We actually did not spend hardly any money- but it really was our happiest Christmas ever. We had lots of company, lots of car rides singing Carols, and lots of Christmas spirit around us.

We are thankful for our many blessings and look forward to a great new year! The only thing that would make our family happier would be to have better bonds with loved ones, hope that we always forgive and give others second chances, and that we grow closer to our Father in Heaven this year.