Gilbert, AZ Temple

Last week I was able to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Gilbert, AZ temple.



Ok, if I am being honest, I actually attended the ceremony from the relative comfort of my Stake Center. I was going to go to the site but had heard that they were setting up 5,000 chairs for the event and the thought of dealing with that many people, no matter how nice everyone was being, was a little too much for me. It turned out that over 7,500 people attended so I am glad I was in the chapel with air conditioning (even though it was November, it was close to 80 degrees. There were a lot of sunburned heads at Stake Conference that night).

I had never been to a groundbreaking before and I learned something. No matter how excited you are about a new temple, a groundbreaking is really kind of boring. Yes, the speakers were good and I am sure there is a certain energy at the site. However, when it comes down to it, it's just a bunch of people in Sunday best turning over the same dirt.



Don't get me wrong, if I had children I would take them and I would wait in the line at the end to turn the dirt over for ourselves. But, I don't and I was happy to leave when it was over and drive away from the building without having to fight traffic.



So, mom and I stopped yesterday to start my photo progression of the temple. There is a large fence with green plastic surrounding the perimeter making a nice, well thoughtout picture was not really possible. But I got a couple great shots of the dirt while standing on my tip toes and holding my camera high above my head. This shot from the Meridian Magazine was better than what I got so I thought I would include it instead. I can't wait to see the construction progress. The drawings look absolutely beautiful and I am excited to be able to regularly attend a temple that has an angel Moroni and doesn't look like a box.

6th Grade Masks

I realize that once schools starts, at the end of August, it becomes harder and harder for me to update my blog. So, in order to make this a bit easier, I decided that you should probably just check out the pictures I have posted of my class on my school website.

This week we made masks out of rigid wrap (gauze with plaster already on it so you only have to get it wet. Certianly beats the plaster of paris mess). Even though we all understand these masks are really nothing like the Egyptian Death Masks we have been studying, my students had a blast making them. And that's what really counts right? OK, that and the fact that the person getting the mask made can not talk, laugh, or move their mouth in any way for about 45 minutes. :)

OK, click here and then click on photo gallery.

Enjoy!

Summer 2010 at the Duffin's

My one any only trip out of state this summer was up to hot and humid Illinois to visit the Duffins. What fun! It was the first time I was meeting the youngest Duffin, Erin. She is just a cutie. It was so great getting to see what the Duffin family is up to. I especially enjoyed Allison's version of The Oddessy in which she starred, directed, produced, edited, etc. If you get a chance, ask to see it sometime. It was also fun to bring Sarah back to AZ with me. I will have to write another entry soon about some of the great things we did with Mom and Dad (or Grandma and Grandpa depending on who is reading this). It was fun to see her fascination with all things "lizardy". Lauren is just darling. She is taking on the role of older sister so well. She is helpful and plays with Erin. Actually, I was impressed with how well all of Erin's sisters play with her, read to her, and help to take care of her. Lauren also really looks up to her older sisters (even though she probably won't like me saying that).

While spending the day in Chicago we watched an Omnimax movie while at the Science Museum, got wet at the spitting fountains, used a groupon at Jamba Juice (love the groupons), listened to a free concert at the band shell, saw the mirrored bean in the park, and cooled our feet at the garden walk stream. It was a fabulous day!

As part of my on-going goal to eventually visit all 50 states, we also spent a day in DuBuque, Iowa. We went to the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. We learned all about the steam ships and Lewis and Clark's expedition. We also say alligators, turtles, otters, ducks, and all sorts of UGLY fish. Carol Lee and I took a walk down memory lane when we went into one room where there were crawdads. It took us back to fourth grade at Green Gables Elementary where we did a unit study on crawdads and had little habitats in the classroom for them. I think Carol Lee was a little disappointed that the guy wouldn't let us pick them up. Much to the glee of Sarah, they also had a great exhibit on lizards from all over the world. Twenty-seven states down, twenty-three to go!

Overall it was an incredible trip! Here is a slide show (if it works, this is the first time I am trying one) of some of the main events.



As you can see from the last picture, one the way to the airport we had a small problem. Our tire was flatter than flat. This could have been a major disaster. Luckily, the highway patrol rescue truck saw us and was there less than 5 minutes after we stopped. We were so thankful! We could have figured out the spare tire, but it would have taken us a lot longer than the fifteen minutes it took them. As we got back on the road we said a quick prayer of thanks. Sarah and I made our flight with no problem.

Thanks for a great trip Duffins! I love you all!

Girls' Weekend in Flagstaff

Two and a half hours...30 degrees! It never ceases to amaze me! I drive just two and a half hours north of Gilbert and the temperature drops 30 degrees. It's just one of the great things about Arizona. You just gotta love it. Now, how do I work out the snow bird thing at my age and income?

This past weekend 10 of us made the trek north to stay at my dear friend Marie's home. We spent time reading (on the patio, overlooking the golf course, lounging on the most comfortable chairs ever!), chatting, catching up, laughing, eating, playing games, and of course... crafting.



What a great weekend getaway. I am so glad that I was able to share it with so many of my Elliot Groves ward friends. I miss seeing these amazing women each Sunday. Thanks for the great times everyone (especially Marie)!

Next summer stop...DeKalb, IL. Can't wait to see my neices! Humidity, please be kind to this poor "dry heat" Arizonian.

Summertime

I know it is summertime when I start to miss out on important news. I went to dinner at mom and dad's today. They were surprised that I hadn't heard anything about Gaza flotilla attack this week. How did I miss it?!? Then I remembered that I get most of my news from TV as I am getting ready for work. Since I haven't been getting ready for work, or up to watch the news, I have been in my own little world this week.

So, I pose a question to you all... Where do you get your news?

Do you read the paper (which one), watch TV (what station), get the headlines online (what sites), listen to public radio? How do you stay informed? I feel like I need to do better than just watching the news on TV. So, I'm up for suggestions.

Birthday Flowers

Thanks again for all the birthday wishes! It was a great day!

My friend Megan gave me these beautiful roses. Some of them are kind of this dusty orange and others are more vibrant. They are kind of unusual and very beautiful!

Summertime Starts

It is always amazing to me how fast the school year seems to pass. Don't get me wrong, there are some days/weeks that are endless and unforgiving. However, as the last few days come around, time has this was of seeming to pass us by. I think this is more true when you have a group of students that are really great.

That was this year for me. I really enjoyed teaching this group of students. We not only learned a lot but we also had a ton of fun doing it. What a blessing it is to love what you do and who you do it with! Thanks for a great year everybody!

Now...summertime!

By the way, I had to show a picture of my new table. It is a Christmas gift from Grandma Stott and my parents. I know, it is June. I had deciding and then finding what I really wanted. The flowers on the table are from one of my great students. Aren't they both beautiful?

My Room

Yes, I'm alive.
No, I haven't been asked for my papers lately.
I know, it is about time I updated my blog.

I just didn't have anything exciting to write about. I thought about voicing my opinion of the highly debated Arizona Immigration Enforcement Law. But, every time I sat down to write anything about that I just got frustrated and deleted it. So, let's suffice it to say...I am sad that it had to come to this but something needs to be done. If you want to boycott AZ for enforcing a federal law, we don't need you here anyway. If you want to support AZ's enforcement of said law, my door is open to family and friends. I have a very comfortable couch. OK, that's it, that's all I am going to say, for now anyway.

On a much lighter, almost frivolous, note, I finally mounted a few pictures from my trip last summer. The new wall looks like this...



I realized after taking these pictures that you can tell a lot about me just from this small peek into my bedroom. For instance, you can see...

• I still have a push button, plug into the wall, phone beside my bed. Some of my friends think it is silly that I have a land line as well as my cell. I think it comes from my need to be able to connect with people whenever I choose. I hate the thought that my cell phone might go dead or break and I won't be able to call for help if I need it.
• I like to read. The stack is there for me to go through this summer. This doesn't include the stack of children's books I also want to get to.
• the books on the floor. These include The Help by Stockett, Jesus the Christ by Talmage, and South Bound by I can't remember. I just finished The Help. It was excellent and I would highly recommend it. It is mainly about three southern women during the civil rights movement. It is very well written and not as heavy as I seem to be making it. Jesus the Christ is one that I am struggling through. I have always wanted to read it but now I see why I never have. YIKES! It's a tough read. South Bound is just for fun. I am only on the first chapter so I can't make any recommendations yet.
• also on the floor are two copies of the Ensign. One is the conference edition and one is April's. Our bishop or stake president challenged us to read the Ensign each month. I have several copies from the past that have never been touched. I decided I needed to take on the challenge. And, when I am too tired for Jesus the Christ or for the scriptures, I read the conference Ensign. It is much easier to understand and apply.
• my favorite scented candle. I love the Salt City Fruit Salad candle. YUM! It smells so good.

Anyway, I have rambled enough. I am looking forward to summer vacation, just a few weeks away now. Maybe then I will get up the nerve to deal with some home renovations I have been wanting to do for a few years now. :)

Light snow?

I am an Arizona girl. I know I like to say that I was raised in Colorado so I can handle the cold. But I grew up in Arizona. I am an Arizonan. Over the last 20+ years I have learned to cope with the heat, cacti, and even dust storms and monsoons. They aren’t kidding when they say it is a dry heat. I know because I have visited many of you in a not so dry heat (don’t know how you do it). Anyway, I explain all this to help justify my reaction to my most recent run-in with Mother Nature.

For Spring Break this year I decided to drive up to Utah. Kathy lives in Draper and David was going to be in town. So, I would have three cute nieces to play with and enjoy.

I kept checking the flights for a great deal but none ever seemed to come up. I had driven up by myself one other time and everything went well. I had a book on tape and enjoyed talking to family members on the phone when we weren’t cutting out. It would be fine to drive up again. Besides, then I could shop all I wanted at the little wood shops and crafts stores that I love. Also I could bring home all the crafty stuff from the last time I was there, stored ever so kindly in Kathy’s basement. I checked the weather (light snow, rain) at several different stops along the way, and was off.

Everything was going well until I reached the 20. The 20 is a two lane, twenty mile stretch of road north of Panguitch that takes you through the mountains and lands you just south of Beaver. This is where everything went wrong. It started to snow. Now, I was expecting a little snow so this was not a problem. However, this was not a little snow. This was a lot. I turned onto the 20 and was immediately stopped. A semi had jack knifed across the road. It didn’t look good. However, 10 minutes later we were on our way. As I was squeezing between the guardrail and the semi, the guy in front of me stopped so of course, so did I. I got stuck. The men directing traffic had to push me through the rest of the way. Bad sign number 1.

Finally, I was on my way. It was bad. The snow, more like slushy ice, was coming at me from the side. The cars in front of me were swerving (probably on their all weather tires from Arizona) and skidding. I couldn’t see the lines on the road. Halfway through I was chanting, “You’re OK. You’re OK. It will be better once you hit the interstate. Just ten more miles,” and at this point I wasn’t sure if I was talking to myself or the car. An hour and ten minutes later I got to I-15. And it didn’t get better. Bad sign number 2.

Now, I like to think of myself as a pretty good driver. I don’t take unnecessary risks but I can pass a semi, with oncoming traffic, on a two lane highway, without too much of a sweat. But when my windshield wiper “squirters” froze over and using the wipers just smeared the grime around, I started to lose it. I called Kathy and told her I didn’t think I could go any further. She encouraged me to get to Fillmore. The weather looked better after that. She said I was already blessed. They had closed the 20 just after I got off. And, there was an accident behind me on the 15 (two semi’s crashed and 10 cars ran into them) and they closed it as well. I said I would try to make it to Fillmore. We hung up. Then, of course, because I had been crying (did I mention this was the scariest driving experience I have ever had), she called Karen. Karen called me and tried to get my mind off of my situation. She did great but I hung up with her because I needed to concentrate on the road. By that time the snow was doing a Star Wars impersonation. Bad sign number 3.

After what seemed like hours (much like this post), I saw the hotel sign in Fillmore. The snow was not better. I was a nervous wreck. I was exhausted. There were at least 3 bad signs so I said to myself, “If they have an room, I’m staying the night here.” I got the second to last room (a suite). The next morning I woke to 5 inches of snow on my car. I had to borrow a scraper/brush from the front desk before I could leave. The rest of the trip up to Kathy’s was uneventful as far as the weather was concerned. She didn’t even have snow on her grass by the time I arrived. I had a great time with Kathy’s and David’s families. They sure are cute nieces. And, the ride home was smooth as molasses.

So what did I learn from this experience? Well… One, Fillmore has a decent hotel with a suite for under $100. Two, weather reports are not always accurate. And three, all weather tires in Arizona are not the same as all weather tires in Utah. Useful lessons. Here are a few pictures I took right after getting off the 20 but before the snow really hit on the 15.

What Matters Most

So, this week we have been working on poetry in my class. In order to generate some topic ideas we did an activity I call "What Matters Most". (Of course this idea is stolen from someone else so I can't take credit, but we did adapt it to what we wanted. That makes it ours right?) In this activity we draw a body, like a paper doll, onto a piece of paper. Then we write all the things that are important to us inside and around this body. For example on my paper person, piano lessons and practicing (or the lack there of) was placed near the hands; red rover/kick the can/ghost in the graveyard was placed by the feet; my family was placed near my heart (ahhh!).

We were all adding things to our lists when one of my students raised his hand. The conversation went like this...

Me: Yes Wyatt?

Wyatt: I know something that you need to put near your heart. (He said this kind of quietly which is unusual for him so I thought something might be up.)

Me: Oh yeah? What? (I was thinking he might say something like, "ME because you love me so much"- totally something he would tease about and say.)

Wyatt: Church (said in a kind of hushed tone)

Ouch! Called out by a 6th grader! I immediately remedied this situation. Church was placed right above my family next to my heart.

Sometimes I get so caught up in the different roles I play in life (the whole separation between church and state and all). I forget that more often than not it is OK for these roles to overlap.

Thanks, Wyatt, for reminding me of what is really important!

Rain

I obviously need to apologize to everyone who endured soggy newspapers, mud splattered cars, ruined hairdo, and of course any flooding this week. It was all my fault. Yep, it was me. I will take the blame. You see, ten days ago, I did the unthinkable...

I WASHED MY CAR!

I know, I know, I was warned. The news said there was a 10% chance of rain. Ten percent! WOW! As we in Arizona all know, 10% means it is NOT going to rain. So, I left work on time (another unbelievable event) and made it to the car wash before it closed. I should have known something was amiss. The car wash was practically empty. I didn't have to wait. I had to hurry and get the trash out of the cup holders because the guy with the vacuum was standing right beside my car ready to get started. So, yes, there were signs, there were hints that I blatantly ignored.

As a result of my car wash, it rained. That night 10% turned into 100% and it poured. And then, it decided not to stop. Over the next week, it dumped 2.5 inches on Gilbert and my little home. Let me put that into perspective for those of you who are not desert dwellers. Gilbert only gets about 9 inches of rain a year. We received almost 1/3 of our total rainfall in just one week. This is kind of crazy. Up in the high country (meaning Flagstaff) they received 5-8 feet of snow! The annual total snowfall for Flagstaff is less then twelve feet. It's only January!

Don't get me wrong. I love the rain! I love the look of excitement and the thrill my students get while standing by the window at school watching the rain (yes, they love to just watch the rain, and yes I let them). I love the outpouring of love I get from them when I actually let them run across the courtyard, in the very light drizzle, to get to lunch. Imagine their joy and surprise during this storm when we actually got hail as well. It was about the size of a BB and melted on contact with anything but the tin roof of our school's hallway. However, I can only handle recess indoors about one day before we all need to have a break from one another that lasts for more than fifteen minutes.

Besides enduring rainy day schedule, just so we are all clear, I have paid for my mistake. My car is now a bigger disaster than before. I need another car wash. But there is a 30% chance of rain for Wednesday and a 60% chance for a week from Sunday. So, instead of rushing out there, just because my car NEEDS to be washed, I will be driving around with my mess at least until a week from Monday when the chances for rain go back below 10%.

Laundry

I just needed to take a quick moment and lament the never-ending household chore...laundry. I hate doing the laundry. If I had enough money I would send all of my clothes out to be cleaned by someone else. The only redeeming quality that laundry has is clean clothes. I love clean clothes and the smell of clean sheets and towels. Thus, I have to do laundry. GRRR!
So, here is my question. Does everyone remember the Jetsons? I was thinking, did Rosie do the Jetsons's laundry like everything else around the house? I couldn't remember any episodes about that. I remember them getting ready in the morning and Rosie dusting and vacuuming, but no laundry. Anyway, I was wondering, how long do you think it will be before we have robots that we can program to fold and hang our clean laundry? I'm saving my pennies. :)

Happy New Year!

Two nephews (Colorado) + Two nieces (Utah) = One very worn out, but really happy, aunt!


What a great Christmas break! I'm here to tell you, six days in Colorado and six days in Utah are about ten too many days of cold. Since I haven't lived in the cold for more than 10 years, the good winter coats have all gone to DI and my little wind breakers were not doing much. I was cold! However, it was heart-warming (I know, pure cheese) to see family and play with my nephews and nieces.


Here are a few of the highlights that were clear enough to share: (It is amazing how fast kids move! I had a hard time getting crisp shots, they don't quit!)



We loved pushing the trees around and throwing rocks to crack the ice on the riverwalk and taking rides at Santa's workshop.

We loved making faces for the camera, breaking the noses off of mommy's Christmas decorations, and jumping off of EVERYTHING!

We loved looking at the Christmas tree, singing Jingle Bells, and taking pictures with mommy's camera.

We loved smiling, laughing, and cuddling.

And just to prove that it really was cold...

I love being an aunt! So, despite that I wasn't in my own bed and that my coat wasn't really warm enough, what a wonderful Christmas Break!

Oh yeah, can't forget... Happy New Year Everyone!