Catch up!

I can't believe it's already February! But my neighbors still have their Christmas tree up (it's covered in valentines-day themed ornaments now), I figure it's not too late to post about our Christmas break...

We had so much fun in Tucson! Brian was officially initiated into the Evan's boys brothership, as he received his very own "Ultra-Saber" on Christmas morning:He can now duel in realistic hand-to-hand lightsaber combat with James (17), Clark (15), and Michael (9). :) Unfortunately, the ultra-saber had to be left in Tucson because it wouldn't fit in our checked baggage and I don't think the airport personnel would let him carry it on. We'll have to wait until May when we drive down to get it.

Brian was also privileged to experience several of Dad's "bike trips." Between two excursions, they rode over 60 miles together in the beautiful Tucson desert.

Here's Brian after donning all the gear:

...and off he goes!

My favorite part of the trip was hiking Picacho Peak (the site of the only civil war battle fought in the west). It takes about 2 hours to reach the peak and 2 hours to get back down.

at the base

at the peak

I wish we had taken more pictures as we went, because it is a fun hike! There are parts that are so steep, they have installed wire cables to hold onto as you climb up the rock.

We saw a lot of UofA fans on the hike, and of course we were all decked out in our BYU gear (BYU had beat the UofA basketball team the day before, with Jimmer Fredette breaking several records during the game). We heard all kinds of comments-- mostly positive ones about what a great team BYU has. :)

Another fun part of our stay in Tucson was dodgeball. Almost daily, we would go down to the church gym and play our version of dodgeball (I think my siblings have named it "fungus"). It is a blast to play or watch. Basically 2 teams throw things at each other and if you get hit, you go to the other team, until everyone is on the same team. It's great because everyone wins in the end!

We can't wait until we are in Tucson next! Even though it will be a bit warmer...

DELAYED-- our new favorite word.

Holy. Worst. Experience. Flying. Ever.

We got to the SLC Airport 2 1/2 hours early because there was a storm coming in and we wanted Alene (who was SO nice to drive us to the airport) to be able to get back to Provo before it hit. (not to mention get back in time to watch the Las Vegas Bowl Game)

Our plane was delayed in getting there. Of course. But it eventually came and we only boarded 15 minutes late. We were thinking "great! we will still be able to make our connecting flight in Las Vegas!" We taxied out to the run way..... then sat there for an hour. Yes, delayed 1 hour. The storm just kept getting worse and they had to de-ice the plane for a while. Just when we thought we would be stuck there all night, they were able to take off. We were starting to get a little nervous about making our connecting flight. We talked to a flight attendant about it but he was not helpful, even a little bit RUDE.

(Sub plot: Brian was by the window and I was in the middle. Our flight was full and an older woman sat next to me who smelled r e a l l y w e i r d. On top of that, she ordered coffee, which I cannot abide the smell of. Not a good combination...)

Due to adverse weather conditions, our 1-hour flight took 2 hours. We had long since given up hope of making our connecting flight. Also due to adverse weather conditions, our flight was more like a roller coaster/elevator on steroids. I am not usually prone to motion sickness, but combined with all the lovely odors coming from the woman next to me, I was rather ill. I will spare you the details, but I will say that I hope I never have to use the little white bags in the seat-back pockets again.

But wait. The drama is not over! We landed in Vegas. If you were watching the Las Vegas Bowl Game BYU vs. Oregon State, you know that Vegas was experiencing winds upwards of 60 mph. Apparently winds like that make it hard to fly airplanes, so the Vegas airport only had 1 runway open. The place was mass chaos. Every flight was delayed. We had completely missed our flight to Pheonix, but after a lot of talking and negotiating, we were finally able to get stand-by tickets on a later flight, that also got delayed.

I still wasn't feeling well but sweet Brian braved the mobs and bought me over-priced food and very over-priced motion sickness medicine (the drowsy kind), which knocked me out until we arrived in Pheonix at 11:15 pm (3 hours after we should have been there). I hope I am worth it.

We got to the baggage claim and couldn't find any information about our flight. Finally, an announcement came on: "Passengers of flight 3926, your baggage has been delayed. Thank you for your patience."

By the time we got our baggage it was midnight. My poor grandparents who were picking us up! We are so grateful that they were willing to come get us!

We are just glad that we've finally made it to Tucson. It was a rough trip-- and it's debatable if it would have been faster to drive or not-- but I'm just glad we're here!

Birthday Bash

It was my birthday on Saturday! Brian was the best-- he did an hour and a half of dishes for me! He also surprised me with a book-- "Peter and the Sword of Mercy." It's the 4th book in a series... and until recently I thought that the series was a trilogy! I am excited to read it on our flight (we are actually in the airport right now, 1 hour to go before our flight leaves).

We didn't eat breakfast because we went to Tucanos Brazilian Grill for lunch. We ONLY go there when one of us has a free birthday meal, and we only go for lunch, because it's cheaper for the person who has to pay for their meal. Yay for being poor students! But Tucanos is amazing. There's a buffet-style salad and pasta bar that you visit as many times as you want and then waiters come around with about 10 different kinds of meats (and pineapple) grilled on an open flame. My favorite is the pineapple. There is a cylinder on each table that has red and green on the ends and that's how you show the waiters that you want more grilled meats or if you want them to stop bringing them. So towards the end of the meal, Brian and I put it on the red side, but whenever we saw the pineapple coming, we would switch it to green. The waiter started making fun of us! (We didn't even need to eat dinner that night, we ate so much! I'm sure that wasn't very healthy to gorge ourselves that way, but it was SO good!)

After Tucanos we did laundry.... SO glamorous.....

But then we went to Salt Lake for the Eclipse Christmas Concert. If you've never heard of this group, go here and listen to "We 3 Kings." They are such a fun group to see in concert! Brian even bought me 2 of their CDs!

So now I'm officially 23.... I need to remember that, I keep forgetting how old I am because I don't tell my students my age. They spend all year guessing, then I tell them on the last day. But every once in a while I have to stop and think wait, how old am I?

I am excited to see what will happen in this next year of my life. There will be a lot of big decisions to make and a lot of changes, with Brian finishing at BYU and starting Medical School. We will probably make the choice of where we are going in March, move out of Provo in July, and Brian will start school again in August. Hopefully I will be teaching.... but who knows? It will be interesting to see where we are a year from right now. This year will definitely be an adventure!

Dear Santa,

Macy's has partnered with the Make a Wish Foundation to donate $1 to them for every letter to Santa that they receive. So my class wrote letters to Santa Clause this week. Here are some of my favorites:

Thank you for the stuff you gave me last year. I hope I will have fun like last year. I rilly want to see a rain deer.

Nevermind the ear piercing from the email. I got it for my birthday. But I would like earrings now like pink blue green black white.

Do you get presents? I hope you have a WONDERFUL Christmas. I want books.

I want a family trip to Californya.

Do you like to go golfing. Have you gone of vacation to Hawaii. How many elfs do you have. How many children are there in the world.

Thank you for reading my other letter that I wrote. My sister gets to be one of your elfs in a play.

Can I have a elf for Christmas? Plese I will triy to be good a lot! I ascked you last yer! I mustf bin bad. sory.

I just want to say thank you for all the toys you have gave me the last few years and especially my baby alive. Merry Christmas

You are the nicest person in the world. I know Rosey and Buger, they are nice elfs and they always come to my house. how are you and mrs. clause. I’ve been having fun.


Apparently I need to teach them how to use question marks.

What I am thankful for

With Thanksgiving coming up, I was thinking of some the things I am thankful for:

#1. I am thankful for BrianThis is Brian after eating a cream puff the size of his face

I am so blessed to be married to by best friend! He is everything to me! He makes me laugh and laughs with me. He plays the piano and violin with me. He explains the finer points of football to me. He listens to my endless stories of third grade. He plays frisbee with me. He is patient with me in every situation. He respects me and honors me. He tells me everyday that he loves me. He tells me that the macaroni and cheese tastes great even when the sauce comes out lumpy. He keeps me warm when I am cold, which is most of the time. He puts up with me talking (and singing) in my sleep. He tells me I'm beautiful when I don't feel like I am. He encourages me to be my best and inspires me to be even better. He is the best husband I could ask for. What would I do without him?!

#2. I am thankful for my family

I am so blessed to be part of such a wonderful group of people! The Wrights, the Evans, the Oldhams, and everyone in between! I am thankful to have so many people who love and support me and are such great examples to me.

#3. I am thankful for the temple

The temple is such a beautiful place where such beautiful ordinances are performed! I am so thankful that our Heavenly Father has provided such a great plan to help us to return to him. I am thankful for the eternal truths that I can learn when I go to the temple. I am thankful that I can serve my brothers and sisters by going to the temple and serving to unite families forever. I am thankful that I can be with those I love forever because I have been sealed to my parents, my brothers and sisters, and my sweet husband for time and all eternity.

#4. I am thankful for good friends

I can't put a picture for this one because inevitably I would leave someone out. I feel so blessed to be friends with such amazing people. I work with amazing people at school who are always there for me and love me even when I'm not perfect. They help me "lower my affective filter." :) I also have so many great friends in our complex and ward. Just this week while Brian has been gone, someone has invited me over every night to make sure I wasn't feeling lonely. They are such great examples to me of loving service. I am thankful for wonderful neighbors who are our great friends. I am thankful for those friends who, even though we don't see each other often, are always there-- all of those friends who can pick up our friendships right where we left off, no matter how much time has passed. I am so thankful for all of my friends-- they are all wonderful examples of strength, endurance, kindness, and service.

#5. I am thankful for my job

These are my students eating noodles with chopsticks. We were reading a story about a girl from China.

I have the best job in the world! Every day is different and exciting. I love my students to pieces (even when they drive me crazy!). I am so thankful to be a teacher and learn so much from these fun boys and girls. I love watching them learn. I love seeing their curiosity grow. I love it when they find that book that sparks a love of reading inside them. And I love reading Harry Potter to them on the rug.

Great Books

I just read a great series! I actually read the first one because I was going to have one of my higher-level guided reading groups read it at school (it is about a 4th grade level). After that I got hooked. I'm not going to lie, the cover initially turned me off:
but this particular book definitely proves the adage "don't judge a book by it's cover" true. It is about a group of people who live in a village beneath a forbidden mountain. Because their culture puts a lot of value on strength and courage, Rowan is looked down upon for his timidity and small, weak stature.

In the first book, "Rowan of Rin," the river running down from the mountain goes dry. The village wise woman, Sheba, gives them a prophesy/riddle to solve that will help a small group navigate their way up the mountain.

Seven hearts the journey make,

Seven ways the hearts will break.

Bravest heart will carry on,

When sleep is death, and hope is gone.

Look in the fiery jaws of fear

And see the answer white and clear,

Then throw away all thoughts of home

For only then your quest is done.

In each book there is an adventure, usually guided only by Sheba's seemingly confusing and helpless prophesies. Each one is a great read!

The series is in this order:

Rowan of Rin
Rowan and the Travellers
Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal
Rowan and the Zebak
Rowan of the Bukshah (Alternate title: Rowan and the Ice Creepers)

I particularly enjoyed these books because they were quick reads (around 150-200 pages-- I read each one in 1-2 evenings), but they were still intricate and exciting. I think Emily Rodda does a fantastic job of developing her characters and setting, even in such short books. I highly reccomend these books to anyone who enjoys fantasy and adventure!

Halloween

We love Halloween!

Despite the fact that we both woke up feeling under-the-weather (which resulted in not being able to spend the evening with our good friends the Hamiltons... sad day!), we still were able to take part in a few Halloween Traditions:

Carving Pumpkins

Costumes!

And, of course, Garfield's Halloween