Grateful Friday

Today we are celebrating Halloween at school.

May the odds be forever in our favor.

I'm prepared for a tiring day.  You can't put that many amped up children in a space and expect anything different.  

Every year, my costume is more comfortable than the last year.  No use getting older if you don't get smarter.  I'm grateful for that.

Yesterday Janelle and I had training to do and decided to do it at my house.  A second grade teacher, Madi,  was doing it too so she came over also.  It was nice to be in a more relaxed space.  The training was over zoom and it was nice to have Madi there for that.  She's a BYU intern so she has lots of experience with zoom.  I kept having her show me how to navigate.  (Is it possible to do other work on your computer while still being in the zoom meeting?  Yes.  Yes it is.)

We went to MOD for lunch.

What's not to be grateful about that?

After they left, I went out to pull the garbage can up from the street and it was such a lovely day and it was still early and I didn't have the energy sapped out of me from third graders.  I texted Nola and we went on a walk.   I am grateful for this beautiful world, sprinkled with autumnal colors.  You can't beat a sunny fall day with perfect temperatures.  

Nola and I chatted about school.  She told me how things had gone with my sub.  I told her to prepare herself for today.  I said, "I have learned elementary teachers don't go halfway with Halloween costumes."

Then this morning I saw this, from Jamie (I don't know if you can see her message, but she said "prepare to bow and exalt."

I'm looking forward to seeing all their costumes.

Am I weirdly, uncharacteristically, starting to like Halloween?

18 is still a teenager

Medically, kids are a pain once they turn 18.  You still worry about them the same amount and you still pay for their healthcare the same amount, but no one will tell you anything.

Because FERPA or HEPA.  I don't know.  One of those acronyms.  Maybe both.

Mark's roommate tested positive for Covid.  Mark has both been vaccinated + he's had Covid, but he had symptoms so he had to be tested and he had to quarantine.  

I talked to him on my way home from school.  They were going to deliver him food from the cafeteria but didn't deliver him lunch.  He was kind of cranky.  I just wanted  it to be a cold, especially since he's been vaccinated and has had Covid.  I want the world to make sense.  

After I was home awhile, my phone rang and the number was listed as USU Covid Case.  I answered.  She said, "Mark?"

I said, "I'm his mom."

She said, "Oh, well I can't tell you anything....I need to talk to him."

I said, "Well then you will need to call him, not me."

I made sure she had the correct number.  (Mark said he put his number on the form he filled out, but these things happen.)

I texted Mark about it.

He didn't answer me.

I texted him again.

He's maddening (like the teenager he is) and I'm impatient and harpy (like the mom that I am).

At least we know our roles.

Later he sent this:

So this all has a happy ending.  Except I'm still impatient and harpy.

When you know, you know.

Just don't whine

I can't actually handle whiny kids.  I think that's why my own kids were never very whiny.  I couldn't.  Just don't.

I struggle to be charitable when my students are whiny.  I struggle not to be sarcastic.  (I may or may not have recently told a student that was whining about their computer not working properly to keep whining because that may help. Also, the reason their computers don't work is because they misspell their passwords.  Always.)

I also don't love girl drama.  A few weeks ago, a girl came in from recess, weeping.  I asked her what was wrong and between sobbing gasps for air she told me her friend had said she was a drama queen.

Um.

What I can handle better / have ample experience with is recalcitrant boys who can't sit still/ can't suppress their impulses/ can't stop talking.  

Yesterday, my little guy who doesn't speak English had a struggle.  Nola, who is a saint, was working with him and other non English speakers.  He wouldn't sit still/ suppress his impulses/ stop talking.

After she left and he had had lunch.  I took him to the ELL teacher and told her his misdeeds and had her relay a message for me in Spanish.  I left him in her charge.

Later, he presented me with this:

The outside of the envelope

My closest approximation I could come up with on Google Translate is this:

 I'm sorry teacher for misbehaving now I'm going to be a teacher, I love her very much.

I don't know?  Maybe someone who speaks Spanish could tell me.

I don't know Spanish, but I understand little boys who have big personalities in little bodies.

When Mark was about the same age, he threw a ball and decapitated a reindeer, which was a Christmas decoration.

He wrote me this:

 Of course I forgive them.  Every time.  They're so cute it would be impossible not to.

My little friend at school gets to play with Legos for a few minutes in the afternoon if he's good with Nola in the morning. (I always think, how would I handle this with Mark at this age?  That kid trained me up!) My student didn't get to play with them yesterday.  Instead I had a few projects for him, including putting papers in the take home folders.  He attacked the chore with gusto and smiles.

I love my job and these little people.

(Especially when they don't whine.)

Rattling around

When I drove home from school yesterday, I talked to Adam on the phone.  He described his day and how he had spent it with his mom, two aunts, his sister and three cousins.  He told me last week, two other cousins from Utah visited.  His aunt Susie has never married and never had any children, but it tells a lot about the kind of person she is that her family has gathered around from across the country.

It was kind of a blustery day and I changed into pajamas right when I got home.  Emma and I had dinner and cleaned the kitchen and then she went to her room and I went to mine.  I turned off all the lights in the house after me and I decided I was a very close approximation of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Up Scrooge went, not caring a button for that. Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it. But before he shut his heavy door, he walked through his rooms to see that all was right. He had just enough recollection of the face to desire to do that.

Sitting-room, bedroom, lumber-room. All as they should be. Nobody under the table, nobody under the sofa; a small fire in the grate; spoon and basin ready; and the little saucepan of gruel (Scrooge had a cold in his head) upon the hob. Nobody under the bed; nobody in the closet; nobody in his dressing-gown, which was hanging up in a suspicious attitude against the wall. Lumber-room as usual. Old fire-guard, old shoes, two fish-baskets, washing-stand on three legs, and a poker.

Quite satisfied, he closed his door, and locked himself in; double-locked himself in, which was not his custom. Thus secured against surprise, he took off his cravat; put on his dressing-gown and slippers, and his nightcap; and sat down before the fire to take his gruel.

(I didn't see any ghosts though.)

 

Empty nest + full hearts

Friday Emma texted us pictures of apartments she had been looking at.  She is looking to move on at some point and Adam and I are looking to keep her as long as we can.

When I got home, she sat across from me and said, "Besides you don't want me to, what do you think about me moving out?"

This is how I feel about it.

I want to keep that little girl with the milk dud eyes on my lap for as long as I can, but we're both a lot older than we were in that picture so I guess I need to be a big girl about all of this.

Since I looked into the archives anyway, here's another picture of my girl, surveying the scene at Trafalgar Square.

She's always been quietly watchful, waiting to make her move and then heaven help anyone who tries to get in her way.

I know I can't get in her way.  I don't want to.

Saturday we did all the things and then in the evening, Emma was gone with friends and Adam wrapped up his church stuff (which is never actually wrapped up as long as he has a cell phone).  I said, "Let's go do something."

He said, "Want to walk around IKEA and look at stuff?"

And I did. 

We like the same things and each other.

We drove to IKEA and chatted the whole time and then we walked around and pointed at what we liked and what we didn't.  We had dinner. I had Swedish meatballs (like a normal person) and he had a salad with marinated salmon that wasn't cooked.  I'm the one who sends a hamburger or steak back if it is still pink (Go ahead and tell me it's better when it's pink.  I like my meat well done.  I will die on that hill.) and I tried to give him dire warnings if he ate that uncooked salmon and he tried to convince me that marinated salmon has undergone a chemical reaction like cooking and we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

I started to tell him the plot of Howard's End, which he'd seen, but a long time ago.  

I got distracted and never finished. 

I asked Adam if I should get another plant and he said no.

I said, "Not even if it was a rescue plant?"

He said, "No."

I said, "Doesn't that make it seem nobler if it's a rescue plant?"

He said, "Yes, it does seem nobler."

I resisted those noble urges and walked past the plants.

We walked around some more and my pulse quickened at the Christmas decorations.  IKEA looked in my heart and got all the red I could want.  I was tempted to get another big straw goat but maybe we're just a one pukki family. 

Braeden and Anna called so we chatted with them on the drive home.  It was good to have an extended conversation with them.  They told us about their lives and their plans and the landscape around them, which is farmland. They go to institute and the local stake members have a sign up and make dinner each week for the kids that go to institute.

Doesn't that just warm your heart?

Before we hung up with them, Adam said, "We are going to need to sit down and have a conversation at some point about strollers and carseats."

I dream of buying books and footie pajamas and Adam's been researching the best strollers and carseats like it's his job.

Adam said one time that his dad only bought camping equipment that had been tested on Mt. Everest.  Adam is that guy. 

The eventual carseat that man buys will be the best.  We already have so much love for that little baby we have to channel it somewhere.

In addition to Adam approaching a carseat/stroller purchase with the same style of his dad, he's flying off to Atlanta this morning.  His beloved aunt Susie is sick and Adam wanted to go see her.

When he was deciding about it, he said, "I keep thinking about what my dad would do."

I love that.

I want Adam to keep thinking about what his dad would do and I want our boys to do the same.

Grateful Friday

I love these bushes:

Every fall I am delighted by how bright red they are.  Every not fall I forget about them so it's a happy surprise.

Speaking of surprises, I woke up yesterday morning to A LOT of text messages in our family group chat.  They were all from Adam, Mark and Braeden and all about Star Wars.

Emma summed it up:

My dad and brother talked in John Wayne quotes.  I guess that's just how things go.

Also, Emma texted me this picture and I love it.  Adam and Emma went to the Jazz game and I would have gone too except I turn into a pumpkin at 9:00 and no one wanted a cranky pumpkin on their hands.

The Jazz were playing the Oklahoma City Thunder which used to be the Seattle Supersonics.  Adam's not bitter about his team leaving Seattle.  He's over it.  (Maybe not all the way over it.)

They were glad the Jazz won.

Yesterday I had a sub.  In the morning I had a leadership meeting and no one was picking up the half day sub job.  Jami said to put in for an all day sub and have the sub stay and help me in the afternoon.  The job was immediately picked up for all day.  In the afternoon I had vocabulary (didn't need help), prep time (didn't need help) and writing (didn't need help), so I took a half day personal day and went home and worked on my LETRS training, which was nice. (The training isn't that nice but having some time to devote to it was.)

Also, during the leadership meeting we were talking about Halloween parties and how several room parents are room parents in multiple classes so we need to stagger our parties throughout the day.  

I can't stop thinking about those parents.  

At church there are the STP, the same ten people who do everything.

It's the same at school.

(And those people are probably the STP at both church and school.)

Some people are just awesome.  That is all. 

Thelma gets political

I read these words in a NYTimes opinion piece that was pro-abortion.

 

This is what happens when the law treats embryos and fetuses as people with rights that supersede the rights of those who carry them.

Michelle Goldberg

I think my head jerked up at the words.  Kind of like when someone says something bizarre and you say, "What?!?"

It was as if I had read:

This is what happens when the law treats other drivers on the road as people with rights that supersede the rights of those who want to drink and drive.

Motherhood is when your baby's rights supersede the mother's.  Hormones cause mother's bodies to get all crazy when they're pregnant.  Then their bodies get stretched out of shape.  A pregnant woman feels real and intense pain.  And that's all before the birth.  Afterward, there's the healing and recovery while you're trying to take care of a needy and insistent human that is completely dependent on you.  Mothers lose sleep when they need it most.  Mothers can't eat, shower, rest, work, or do literally anything unless it is in the parameters of this tiny person's erratic schedule. 

How could someone give a dire warning that if people don't pay attention, Roe v. Wade could be overturned and mother's rights wouldn't supersede babies' rights?  Mothers rights have never superseded babies' rights.

That's part of the gig.

This is yet another example that I see everywhere of people trying to ram and twist something true into something false so it will fit their narrative.

The only way it works to negate an unborn child's rights is to decide they aren't a child.  That same dehumanizing must have been what enabled people to own slaves.

There are truths in the world and you can twist them all you want, but they are still true.  Motherhood is hard and selfless and a wholesale giving over, at least for a little while, of all your rights and needs in favor of a little baby's.

Then one day your redheaded baby who was never, not ever, easy to raise, texts you this:

It's hard.  But it's worth it, because someday that tiny tyrant who you loved so much from the moment you found out you were pregnant that you'd sacrifice everything, loves you back.

The return of Dreamer, Box and Dan

I renamed the skeletons.  They are now Dreamer, Box and Dan.  Tomorrow morning, the students will see them peeking over the hooks when they hang up their backpacks.

Years ago, Adam gave our kids the names of Dreamer, Box and Dan.  He said Emma was Dreamer and the boys were Box and Dan.  It bugged Braeden, who is always laid back and cheerful except for a few random times like being called Box and Dan indiscriminately.  He would say, "Why Box and Dan?" or "Which one am I, Box or Dan?"

Adam gave no reason for the names and never said who was Box and who was Dan.  The collective is just Dreamer, Box and Dan.

It works for the skeletons too.

In other news, I was telling my students about me being a grandma soon and they were excited on my behalf.  I had told a few of them earlier and one said, "What?  You're not already a grandma?"

Other times, they are shocked that I am older than their parents.  They have a sketchy concept of age.  

Yesterday, I said, "I have bought one gift for the baby."

One of them said, "Are you going to be that kind of grandma?  That spoils them with gifts?"

Honestly? Probably.

I had them guess the gift.  They had some good guesses, like a teddy bear, a goat, or diapers.  I said, "What kinds of gifts do teachers give?"

Immediately they said, "Books."

Yep.

I felt seen and understood.

(And also I should probably get a goat for the baby.)

Yesterday

Yesterday I:

...forgot my keys.  Tyler, who is a 6th grade teacher, also forgot his.  We stood outside the school, perplexed, and then the custodian saw us and came to our rescue.  It's hard to recover from school vacations and get back into your routine. I texted Adam that I'd left my keys in his car so he could help me remember them. He brought them to me on his way to work.  I was in the work room with my team, assessing and organizing our STEAM cart so I missed him but he left them on my desk like the knight in shining armor he is.

...zipped my team through several tasks--we are a lean efficient machine.  (Although sometimes we get super distracted....)

...had lunch at Zupa's with my friends.  We pull Kate into our third grade team group whenever we can.  I loved hearing all about her honeymoon in Boston.  

...got lots done in my classroom--including filing which is always the worst.

...drove home in the pouring rain.  There were small rivers in the gutters rushing down the hill as I was driving up the hill towards home.

...I listened to my audio book while I drove, which is stressing me out (The Girls in the Stilt House by Kelly Mustian).  It's good, but it's stressful.  

...talked to Braeden on the phone while I started the laundry and straightened up some things.

...realized when Adam called on his way home that we didn't have a good dinner idea because we plan/shop on Saturday and this weekend we were in Nevada.  He said, "I'll pick something up."

And that was the best idea I'd heard all day.

Right in the heart of the golden west

Gluten free report:  

Mark liked the bread I baked and everyone liked the dessert.  The pizza at MOD was good except it had a lot more carbs than the regular crust which Mark wasn't expecting until his monitor let him know.  We are on a learning curve here....

We weren't prepared for road trip options.  Here's a takeaway:  the sushi at Pilot's in Wendover isn't a good choice.

(Why would anyone buy sushi at a gas station in Wendover?  I don't know, but I doubt Mark will do it again.)

Chubby's gluten free bun was OK, Culver's was good.  The cookies and snacks we bought were pretty good.

We went to Nevada and it was lovely.  It always is. 

They always have a Fall Party and this was our first time attending.  We ate delicious soups and breads, we played games (including but not limited to writing haikus), we watched Desi and Liberty and Lili perform a Polynesian dance (they are taking a class together from BYU).

Here is a picture I took from Olivia's blog.  Carolina and I are modeling some of the prizes.

We're nothing if not fancy.

We also walked over to my grandparents' house.

Someone took this picture and I also got it from Olivia's blog.  I correctly predicted I would look derpy and my nieces all chorused that I looked beautiful.  What's not to love about those girls?

I dearly love being with my sisters.

Adam took some pictures and rightly commented that Starr Valley had been touched with gold.

After church, we drove back an alternate way to Logan.  It occurred to me to be worried about bathroom stops because we were going on a very remote road.  Marianne said, "We are basically the same person and it was no problem."

Emma agreed that we are the same person, just in different fonts.

And it was true.  The trip was nice and there was nothing to block the view.  Seriously.  Nothing.

We took Mark back to Logan and my heart dies a little each time we leave him there.

Today I'm back at school (the kids aren't, but the teachers will be developing professionally).

I love fall break.  

Grateful Friday

 

Adam told us to go outside and pose for a picture against the backdrop of the sky.  I said take a picture of just the sky.  I said that I looked rumpled.  My eyes are swollen from my pesky eye infection that is rearing its ugly head and I definitely had...staycation...hair.  No one seemed to care.

I love having Mark home.  

The end.

Fall Break!

Yesterday we had a minimal day and the students left at 11:30.  Before they left, a few of them started writing on my whiteboard and then a lot of them got on that bandwagon.

This was my favorite note:

I stayed at the school and work, work, worked.

Janelle and I scored math Acadience tests with Jamie.  It took forever and I thought it would be fast.  Jamie softened the blow by bringing me her favorite Swig because she wanted me to try it.

I think there are 6 love languages and Swig is a category unto itself.

After all that was done, I pulled out a few Halloween decorations for my classroom.  I hate Halloween but I love third graders, so I decorated.

I got these three skeletons and Janelle said I should do an Elf on a Shelf type situation and put them in a different spot every morning.

She said I should name them so I opted for Braeden, Emma and Mark.  I gave them leg bands with their first initial.

Is that weird to name skeletons after your children?

Not any weirder than decorating with skeletons in the first place....

I also bought a bunch of bats so I hung them up all over the room.

The best part of Fall Break is that Mark is home!  We were going to go get him today but his classes were canceled so Adam went yesterday afternoon and got him.  

Today we're sampling gluten free everything.  The sky is the limit.

Nice

Yesterday I graded opinion essays written by my students.

This was one of them:

I am pretty good at deciphering errant spelling and grammar but I don't understand it all.  I do understand enough to appreciate the sentiment.

Sometimes my students are naughty.  Sometimes they are defiant.  Sometimes they whine.  And sometimes they say I am niss like vere niss.

I'll take it.

I got texts from Mark about winter yesterday too.  (All along I told him Logan was cooooooold.)

They got eight inches of snow and he wondered about getting warmer socks and base layers.  I will get him some.

Because I'm nice, like very nice.

Friends

 Kate got married yesterday, in Eden, UT.  Janelle and I went to represent her work friends.  We wore dresses to school.  When we walked in the faculty room at lunch time the 4th grade teachers said, "Wow, did you plan to dress up on the same day?"

Janelle said, "Yes."

Then we explained we were going to Kate's wedding.  It's not like we texted each other and said, "Hey, I'll wear a dress if you do."

It threw me off to wear a dress.  I usually wear pants that are the closest approximation to jeans that I can get away with.  I didn't have pockets and I realize I need pockets to be a teacher.  I always have my phone (for a timer and google translate) and a pen and a couple of paper clips in my pockets.  

Maybe I need a tool belt.

We left straight from school (which will let you know that today we aren't super prepared) and Janelle drove.  It was an hour and a half each way and we for sure didn't run out of things to talk about.

Kate looked beautiful.

When she was walking with her new husband down the aisle after the wedding we smiled and waved at her and she smiled back but was too dignified to wave.

The friends I've made since I've started teaching have been an unexpected benefit of working.

Kate's husband is the nephew of one of Janelle's college roommates.  I enjoyed meeting her and lingering nearby while they chatted.  It made me think about my own college roommates and how, like Janelle and hers, we can pick up and talk like we have never been apart.

Make new friends but keep the old.  I am grateful for friends.

Weekends are the best of fall

Friday night we had dinner at Waffle Love.  What is not to love?

Saturday we watched Isaiah play basketball at American Fork High School.  It was raining and had been raining and we desperately need all the rain we can get but maybe American Fork High School has enjoyed the drought because one gym was closed because the roof was leaking and in the gym where we were the roof was leaking a little because every once in a while a drop of water would fall and me and startle me.  Every time.

I startle easy.

I loved sitting with Jennifer and Savannah and Luke and Boston to watch the game.  Isaiah was throwing the ball in nearby and Boston was losing his mind with excitement of having his brother so close.  He was cheering "Go go Saiah!"   How could you not do your best with that kind of cheering section?

We had lunch with them (Adam tried out a gluten free pizza--we are auditioning gluten free options) and I was grateful for an opportunity to visit and catch up a little.

After the marathon that is our Sundays (After our church where I taught Relief Society, I went to the rest home for sacrament meeting there.  I had ministering interviews and then a presidency meeting.  Adam was busy that whole time too with his own stuff.), we had Lili and her roommate Katie and Liberty and her boyfriend Nikki over for dinner.  It is always nice to have them over.  We sat around the fire pit a little and caught up on all the news.

I enjoyed talking to Braeden and Anna and Mark.  Sometimes I look at their faces on the screen and I just want to say, "OK, it's been long enough.  Just come home now."  I miss those kids.

Otherwise, I moved in my plants and we turned on the heat. 

We pack in a similar amount of busyness and goodness where we can but time continues its march.  The season is changing.

Grateful Friday

This week was Parent Teacher Conferences and I'm really grateful they are over.  They are exhausting.  I had to do all 35 students too....

There are good things about conferences too though.  I like meeting the parents and I love the way the students proudly show their desks.  If younger siblings come, they show them the library too.  It makes me happy.

I love the earnest way some of the parents ask me what they can do at home to help.  I love when parents are taken back by compliments directed at their children.  I love when they say, "Wow!" or "Good job!" and the student smiles at them shyly.

I bought some books at the book fair that happens during Parent Teacher Conferences.

I'm grateful I can buy books for my classroom.

I'm grateful for the dinner the PTA provided for the teachers.

I'm grateful for my friends to laugh with over dinner.  They are my people.

Yesterday was not without its excitement.  You can always be grateful for excitement at an elementary school.

This was outside the classroom in the morning and it caused a stir.  I took a picture with my foot for reference.

I wouldn't let them bring it inside to be the class pet although they wanted to.

We had rain so it was worm city and third graders do enjoy worms.  Especially the "fat juicy ones."

I also said no to it as a pet.

(I think what it comes down to is that I'm not much fun.)

Speaking of the wild animal kingdom, Emma had left this note for me when I got home last night.

If you ever need to leave someone a dramatic note, ask Emma.

Third grade is the best

 I have a student with thick brown hair she wears in a long braid.  It goes well past her waist.  She has big brown eyes you can only describe as mirthful.  She laughs a lot.  In fact, when she was participating in the storytelling festival, she laughed so much she couldn't finish her story and I told her to sit down.

She is bright and social.  She is new to the school but made friends the first day.  

She sparkles.

She brought this for a water bottle.

Also, notice the earrings.  The girls take their earrings off during the day and I don't know why they even bother to wear them in the first place.

I can only imagine the steps that led her to bring this as a water bottle.  Were her parents aware of her choice?

I know this: it is spill proof and it works.

Also, I laugh every time I see it.

My grandparents

A few days ago, Braeden sent some snippets from my Grandpa Dahl's life story.  First of all, I'm so glad that we have the life stories of all my grandparents and I'm very grateful to my mom for her hand in making that happen.

The stories are a blessing in our lives.

I love this:

Margaret is my Grandma Dahl and Homer is my Grandpa Jaynes.  I love that they knew each other and I love that my grandpa was mindful of my grandma.  Grandpa Jaynes died before I could remember him and each little story I hear about him is a treasure.  It pieces together a picture of what he was like.

I look forward to meeting him again some day.

Braeden also sent this:

I do have a lot memories of both my dear Grandma and Grandpa Dahl.  I know enough to know that my grandpa did try to be a good man and I saw evidence in the way they lived their lives that they loved their Heavenly Father.

Their goodness propelled them along during hard and good times.

I'm grateful for the legacy of all my grandparents and grateful we have records so my children can know too.

I agree with my grandpa:  sometimes our blessings are so abundant that we can't quite comprehend them.

Four of my incomprehensible blessings are Harvey and Margaret Dahl and Homer and Thelma Jaynes.

I pray He'll use us

One of the (many) talks I loved from conference was Sister Sharon Eubank's.  She talked about the humanitarian efforts the Church has participated in lately.  It makes me grateful for so many good people who give their time and talents.  My own contribution feels puny, but I know lots of puny contributions add up.

During her talk, I also thought about some of my students.  Some of them are newly from other countries.  Since school started, we've had a boy from Mexico and a boy from Guatemala move in.  We've learned we'll have another third grader from Columbia and one from Uruguay.  

I don't know their stories.  I don't know why they are here or what they had to go through to get here.  

Here's what I do know:  I know we're going to welcome them.  We will try to communicate with them.  We will smile at them and include them and feed them if they're hungry.  Every teacher has snacks.  Every teacher.

I wish we could communicate with them better and teach them better.  Our small efforts feel puny and inadequate.

But I'm hoping it will add up.  Talking about answering other peoples' prayers, Sister Eubank said, "I pray He'll use us."

I don't know if any prayers have been uttered for these little ones that come my way.  I pray that I'll be able to help though.

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

I'll never be a build a wall kind of person.  Welcoming immigrants makes me proud to be an American.

Weekend

Oh how lovely was the weekend!

I love General Conference and I love autumn so the first weekend in October is about perfect.

Adam took this picture and I was wise enough to scoot back and not be in it.  Emma and I were sharing the table.  I was working on the Christmas ornaments I make every year for my students.  I spell their names in Scrabble tiles on red ribbons.  I hang them on our little classroom tree and then they take them home at Christmas time.  I'm glad that I didn't have to make 35....

We enjoyed watching conference together and we enjoyed talking to Braeden and Anna and Mark too.

After the Saturday evening session of conference, we had s'mores at our new fire pit.  It actually works now!  

Does it seem like the flame is on one side of the fire pit?  Yes, yes it does.

When we texted our kids about it, Braeden called it a conference miracle.  Maybe it was a conference miracle, but also our landscapers had to come several times and troubleshoot and Adam had to send 10 million texts to make that happen and I drove Adam crazy asking if he'd sent the texts.

(He refused to give me the contact information to send the texts myself because he thought I would have "a tone."  Hmph.)

Speaking of texts, I texted this to my siblings on Saturday:

All summer whenever I was with my mom, preparing strawberries, she told me I should get that tool.

In our family with three girls and then three boys, it's like we have two sets of siblings.  The two oldest children had to make it about them:

And then you can see above and below that the two youngest children had to be cheeky.

As for my fellow middle child, I got no solidarity.  Tabor was probably out on a horse somewhere when I needed him most.

Sunday morning, Adam and I went for a drive while we listened to the Sunday morning session of conference.  We decided it will be a new tradition.  It was gorgeous out and we enjoyed the view and listening to conference.

Emma said she would listen better at home because she zones out in the car.

She said, "Then it will be romantic for you two."

We held hands most of the way and Adam didn't notice me taking this picture because he had his eyes on the road like you do in a canyon.

We went to the Salt Lake Valley and drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon, over the mountain to Heber Valley, (which is getting a new temple!) and back home through Provo Canyon.

I think these pictures are pretty and they were taken out the window while we drove so you can imagine how lovely it was in real life.

When we got home we watched the afternoon session with Emma and cooked dinner and had just the kind of relaxing Sunday I have been needing.

Can we have October General Conference every weekend?  Can that be a thing?