Weekly Review February 12 '11

This is the only picture that was taken this week, and I didn't take it. Jared had Tanner take it so that he could have a new profile picture on Facebook. He wanted an interesting photo, and I think he succeeded!



I take that back--I did take one picture, but it's on my phone because I forgot to take the camera with me. It's the last picture I have of Jared before he got braces on. I haven't taken one of him with braces yet, but there'll be plenty of chances to do that over the next year or two. I did remember to take the camera with me one morning when I went to pick up the boys from Seminary. I've been thinking I should do that so I could get some good sunrise photos. Then of course that morning there wasn't much of a sunrise! (Unlike the morning before, when the whole eastern sky was a vivid pink / red! It was gorgeous, but of course I didn't have a camera with me that morning.)



Anyway, back to the beginning of the week. Sunday was nice. The youth in our ward recently completed a scripture reading challenge and our bishop invited them to share during testimony meeting what they had experienced while completing the challenge. We heard a lot of great testimonies from many of the youth in our ward, including Scott and Tanner, so that was extra nice. I got up too--that's probably the third time I've done that in the last 6 months, which is a lot for me. I'm finding it gets easier if I don't put it off too long! Scott was set apart as the 1st assistant to the bishop in the priest's quorum at the end of our meeting block. Frank got to help with that and I got to be there, too. Scott is very excited about the opportunity to serve and we are glad he feels that way!



I forgot to mention last week that we had a really great sharing time with the senior primary kids. We talked about the scriptures throughout the month of January, and for that last week my counselor had asked a few of the kids to share how they feel about the scriptures. Then she invited any of the other kids who wanted to share their feelings to do it also. Several kids got up--mostly from the oldest class--and the things they had to say were amazing! Not only are they reading them, but they are finding that reading the scriptures gives them strength to make correct choices. You had to be there, but it was so powerful. I was particularly happy about this because that oldest class has been a real handful and they have been the subject of a lot of discussion and prayer as well as fasting on my part. They've been doing a lot better the last month or so, and we finally feel like we are figuring out things to do to reach them better. After that week, one of my counselors had the idea to have the bishop come to visit senior primary and give them their own scripture reading challenge, like he did for the youth. So he did that on Sunday and we are hopeful that many of the older kids will choose to meet the challenge. The youth are working on a new challenge now, also.



Now that I have talked extensively about Sunday, I will try to sum up the rest of the week in a few short paragraphs! I had book club on Tuesday. The boys had basketball practice and scouts on Wednesday. Frank coached the practice--their regular coach has a class that just started on Wednesday nights, so he asked Frank to take over the practices for the rest of the season. While the boys had scouts, I had a RS meeting. We had a mini lesson on 72 hour kits and then we talked about depression--recognizing the signs, mostly, and things that are helpful or not helpful to say to someone who is suffering from depression. I was sitting there thinking about all the people I know who have in the past or are currently suffering from depression, and it was amazing how many there are. It really is something everyone should know about because it touches so many people in this day and age. Afterwards, several of us were talking in the hall; I think that's the part of RS meetings I enjoy the most--the social interaction! I always come away from conversations with other women feeling blessed and happier.



Jared got his braces on Thursday morning. He only has them on the top teeth so far, but they will be putting them on the bottom in a few months, probably. His teeth have been very sore since then, so we've been eating soft foods like macaroni & cheese, eggs, and stroganoff. I stopped at Burger King on the way back from the orthodontist's office and bought him a milkshake. I can feel empathy because I can remember how much my teeth hurt when I first got braces!



Tanner went home from school with his friend Ryan on Tuesday and Thursday--they lift weights together. Tanner wants to get in better shape, and I don't want to discourage that desire! I took him Thursday evening to get some new jeans because he is growing out of his. We only found one pair that fit--typical! I'm going to have to order some online, I think. He got a couple of t-shirts also, which made him happy. Tanner and Scott both had to register for their classes for next year this week. Scott's last year--so hard to believe!



Frank has been working long hours again this week, which I guess is good since braces are not cheap! We would like to have him home more often, but really appreciate how hard he works and of course we are grateful he has a job, and a good one at that.



The weather has mostly been nasty this week--very cold and on some days windy also. There have also been a lot of gray days, but we have had some sunshine, too. On those days, I open all the blinds and let the sunshine in! Snickers likes to find the sunshine patches on the floor to curl up and take his naps. Smart dog!



Seth says cute things all the time and I forget most of them. He brought home some things he cut out at school and when I asked him about them, he said that he cut them out with his "zizzors from my supplies box". I love the way he says "scissors"! One day this week I heard him say to Scott "you're killing me!" and just so you know that drama is not totally lacking in this house of all boys, a few weeks ago Seth came sobbing to me that "Scott is ruining my life!"



Good movies I've seen this last week: How to Train Your Dragon and The Young Victoria. (After I watched that second one, I had to go online and read about the real Queen Victoria to see how accurate the movie was. I always end up doing that when I see anything historical; it always piques my interest! It turns out that the movie was pretty on target with what actually happened, except for a few minor details.) I've also been enjoying watching the television show Eureka, starting with the first episode. I watch that while I'm folding clothes. We are really enjoying our Netflix trial!

Last night we were invited over by another family in our ward to play games and eat snacks. That turned out to be a lot of fun, although to our disappointment Frank wasn't able to go. He had been on the phone with tech support for the couple of hours before we needed to leave trying to resolve a problem for a client but they were unsuccessful. They bumped the problem up to the next level and promised they would call back "within two hours", so he had to stay home for when they called back. They didn't call back until 3:30 am, though! Wish we had known that; Frank could have come with us. They did get the problem solved, but not until about 5:30 am.

I had to get up at 6:00 to attend the Worldwide Leadership Training Broadcast, which was at 8:00. It was very good, though. The rest of the day has been a blur of errands, chores (I had a very long list of things to do), and basketball games. Jared's team played this afternoon and lost by 4 points. It was frustrating because they were actually ahead by about 12 points when there was only about 4 minutes left in the game. They played well, though, and I was proud of them--they only had 6 players and the other team had 10, so they got more chances to rest. We are leaving to go watch Scott's game in a few minutes.

We hope everyone has a very happy Valentine's Day--we love you!