"Camping"

Did you know that scouts can camp down at Bountiful Lake? Lest you campers get all excited, they don't let anyone else camp there. Just scouts.
At first glance you might think Bountiful Lake, located roughly 5 miles away, would not be a good camping spot.
Here's a list of reasons why it IS a good camping spot:

*When you forget the fleece blanket you'll be needing because the temperature will reach 30 degrees that night, your wife a friend of scouting can bring it to you.

*When you realize that nobody brought newspaper to start a fire, said friend of scouting can bring that to you, also.

*When you get ready to have hot chocolate because it's freaking cold outside and you realize you forgot cups, once again the friend of scouting can bring you some.

*When you're playing "Steal the Flag" in the dark and don't see the trench full of muddy water, you can go home and clean up.

Totally Random

Kaden: Teacher, can you make David eat bacon?
Me: No.
Kaden: But I really want you to make him eat bacon.
Me: (What in the....?) Why?
Kaden: Because I want him to eat bacon.
Me: Why do you want him to eat bacon?
Kaden: Because I want to be in charge of him!
Me: Well, if I tell him to eat bacon, then I'M in charge of him.
Kaden: Oh.

S.O.S.

This is an urgent cry for help. There are two adults trapped in a house with 21 chocolate lasagna cupcakes.

I repeat, there are TWO ADULTS TRAPPED in a house with 21 CHOCOLATE LASAGNA cupcakes.

We can't hold out much longer.

The outcome looks inevitable.

(Happy Birthday tomorrow, Zack!)

Politics

My students have been pretty interested in this whole election thing. ....at least they've been interested since yesterday when the school librarian talked to them about it. They keep asking each other who they're going to vote for. Then they give each other high fives if they both said the same person. They're bonding. I think.

Their political views (or those of their parents) have gone so far as to change what is right and wrong when it comes to important stuff, like math learnding.

Today I was giving them a "test". (I use that term lightly because, in my opinion, it was a complete waste of time on the school district's part. In fact, more than being a waste of time, it's actually a detriment to time. Not only does it keep me from doing more important things with my class, it actually decreases the learning in my room. Did you hear that school district? It's DECREASING LEARNING! Anyways...) In the test there was a picture of a row of elephants and donkeys in a pattern. The question asked "Which comes next in the pattern?"
Me, being the bonehead teacher that I was, decided to disrupt their concentration in figuring out the answer to inform them that the donkey and the elephant were symbols used by the presidential candidates and the groups they belonged to. After I told when which candidate went with which animal, I noticed several of them changing their answer to the symbol that represented their political choice. Eh, they don't get to vote, so at least they got to vote in their own special way.

The confusion mounts...
While we were having a discussion about the election (this one wasn't during the test), I asked my kids if they knew who the current president was. After getting a few responses of "George Washington!" and "George Lincoln!" I told them it was George W. Bush. I explained that we called him George W. Bush because his dad was also George Bush and he was a president before him.
I heard one of my students say "Hey, I'm named after my uncle, so I should be Joseph W."

Awwwwwwww

This is a picture I snuck of Zack while he was washing my car windshield tonight.

He does that often. When he does it I feel really taken care of and loved.

Yeah, he's sweet like that.

And no, he's not mad. He's just concentrating.

The Pot Runneth Over

I glanced at my class today as I was walking out of the lunchroom. They were all sitting at a table together, eating their lunch, talking and laughing. I flashed back to my own grade school lunch experience. I'm one of those kids lucky enough to have lots of good memories of grade school and very little bad ones. At lunch I used to sit by my friend, Kim. We'd talk and laugh just like my students do now. The lunchroom was where we declared that when we grew up we were going to college at BYU and we were going to be cheerleaders. I didn't really know what that meant, but if my friend was going to do it, then I was going to do it, too. The cheerleading part never really panned out (thank HEAVENS), but the BYU part did.

I've been reflecting on friends lately. (It might have something to do with all the incredibly nice, supportive, and loving comments I've been reading.) I've been lucky with friends. I've never had to look for them. They were just always there.

Like friends from my neighborhood that are still friends to this day. I don't know what a sister feels like, but I imagine it feels like one of those girls. I still think about them, wonder what they're doing, and hope that they're happy.

My junior high friends were so good that they turned into high school friends. And they multiplied in high school. I realize now that I basically became friends with those kids that were in my classes. Sharlene and Emily who sat in front of me in science class, Leigh, Dan, Neils, and Derek who happened to play instruments and were in the same band class as I was. RaeAnn, Shannon, Crystal, Heather and all those others who were my friends basically, if I trace it far enough, because my big brother was friends with RaeAnn's big brother.
Angie, who just so happened to be my next door neighbor my first year at BYU and was convinced that Kim's boyfriend was a vampire and who wasn't afraid to come in and talk to some girl she hardly knew. (She must have known good things were to come of this relationship...) Her friend, Heidi, became my friend because that was just the way it was supposed to be.

Becca and Angie, friends from work, that are still friends even when we don't get to work together anymore. We still have a connection that lets us share our thoughts without reservation. I like friends like that.

And then there's my family of friends. I consider myself one of the luckiest people alive to have had friends BORN into my family. If you didn't grow up with cousins, all I can say is, you. missed. out. We were so close that even though some of them lived thousands of miles away we still picked up like it had only been a week since we'd seen each other. And some cousins, who were too young or too old at the time, are now becoming better friends.

I haven't even mentioned ward friends, friends from Zack's work, and friends from old single's wards.

I guess the point I'm trying to make (to myself as much to anyone else), is that the friends pot never gets emptied out. If you were my friend 25 years ago, you are my friend now. Friends are added every year, but never subtracted.
My hope is that it continues like this forever.

So When I see my students talking to each other and becoming friends it's easy to think, "They're only friends because they happen to go to the same school and are both in my class." It's easy to think it won't last. But then I remember my past and friendships that started because we lived 2 houses away or were in the same class at school. And I believe I'm watching something great happen. I hope theirs lasts a lifetime, too.

To all our friends who are supporting us and praying for us, I just don't know what to say. I guess all I can say is, Thanks for being our friends.

Secrets Revealed!

We like to be sneaky, Zack and I. We don't always like to say things straight out. We'd rather give out clues, beat around the bush, or say things without really saying them. It's fun, but sometimes plays havoc with our communication. (Miscommunication isn't always the best thing in a marriage. heh heh....)


So, for those of you who have fallen victim to our evasive ways, click HERE for the big news and be excited with the rest of us! Yea for big news!