Christmas Break

Christmas break has gone by way too fast! The fact that student teaching starts on Monday is crazy. We have had a blast with my family. It seems like it has been forever since we have all been together. Jeff, Lindsey, and Simon came from Texas. Simon is definitely a favorite. He is too cute for his own good and I found myself waking up quite early each morning just to play with him. Jill came from California and was able to get work off! Joel flew in from Seattle and Andrew and I drove in from Rexburg.

We did our usual salsa assembly line. We delivered nearly 40 salsas to neighbors and friends. This has been a tradition in our family for years. I am always in charge of bagging the chips and stapling them. (Not a job people fight for.) We celebrated accomplishing this task with Cafe Rio. As always, I had a hard time deciding what to order because it's all so good.

The boys went skiing/boarding for a day which was fun for them. I was just thrilled that I didn't have to go. My siblings also watched the second "Hobbit" movie with Andrew and then went to see the third in theaters. I was so happy that I didn't have to do this. I went to theaters with Andrew when the first Hobbit movie came out and slept the entire three hours. (Can you believe I bought and gave Andrew the movie for Christmas!?)

(Dad is taking the pic.)

Christmas Eve included pizza like always which makes any night. We then acted out the nativity which is a tradition. We still use the clothes my Mom made for us when we were young kids, so it's always interesting to find ways to incorporate such small costumes. Simon was baby Jesus of course and this year Andrew and I got to be Mary and Joseph. As siblings, we give each other gifts on Christmas Eve. This year, we did things a little differently. We drew one name to buy a big present for, and then we bought a $5 present for everyone else. My siblings are so thoughtful and got both me and Andrew very meaningful things. (I have already read 2 of the books I got!) I loved watching them open what we bought them. 

(Using a ball to pretend to be a pregnant Mary)

(Dad is taking the pic.)

On Christmas day, we went and saw the movie, "Unbroken." It was a bit much for me. Watching what those American people had to go through was very difficult. It was quite a depressing movie and the happy ending lasted only about 2 minutes after over 120 depressing ones. It was very eye-opening though. One thing I almost forgot to mention is that we woke up to snow on the ground Christmas morning. It was really pretty and Christmas is the one time I won't complain about snow. (Speaking of snow, it snowed over a foot in Rexburg. Beyond happy I missed it.) 

Throughout the week, we played a lot of skum, Joel also introduced us to the "bag" game. This game requires a lot of flexibility and balance which I lack, but it was really funny. The point of the game is to pick up a bag up off of the ground with your mouth. The only part of your body that can touch the ground are your feet. Once you get the bag with your mouth, you tear off that piece of the bag making it even lower to the ground/harder for the next person to reach. Mafia has also become a family favorite. I am TERRIBLE at lying and need to practice before we play again. 

We usually go watch a Jazz game as a family, but it didn't workout this year, so instead we went to a BYU basketball game. BYU happened to be playing Gonzaga which is the team near Andrew's house. I was nervous he would be that one fan that cheered loudly each time Gonzaga scored. Luckily, he wasn't. The game was really close the first half, but BYU was out-played in the second half. Still really fun. Unfortunately, Jill flew out a couple hours before the game so she missed it. Also, Simon didn't come to the game. My Mom did come, but she took the picture below.

                    

I love the spirit of Christmas and that all of my family was together this year. Why does it have to end? 

Goodbye Kindergarten and Hello 2nd Grade!

I'm officially done with Senior Practicum. The semester went by soooo fast which is a good thing. :) Graduation can't come soon enough. I technically could have "walked" this week and part of me wishes I was, but I decided to wait until April because Andrew will be graduating then too. I'm already planning the picture we will take together in our caps and gowns.

I learned a lot working with the cute Kindergartners. They were adorable on my last day and did a great job making me feel loved. I was told numerous times throughout the day that I would be missed. I was also asked a lot if it was my last day. I gave the students smarties after teaching my last lesson as a little goodbye present. They were so excited to give me my present. Each student made me a card. I could really tell the students spent a lot of time working on the cards because they were really well done. Some kids even wrote a sentence or two on their card which impressed me.

My cooperating teacher gave me some really nice pens that all teachers should have. I can't wait to use them. On the package of markers, she wrote me a note: "We think you have a "FLAIR" for teaching! Good luck with all your new adventures." It was really sweet and I will definitely put the nice marker/pens to use.

Something I am quite excited about is retiring my former name-tag which just says Mrs. Ditto and Teacher Education. My new name-tag still says Mrs. Ditto, but instead of Teacher Education, it says Teacher Candidate. It's also nice and white. The other one was gold and had tons of scratches on it. I will officially get to wear my new name-tag and start student teaching on Monday, January 5th. I'm excited to work with a grade that is a little older, so I can teach more content. Soon I'll be a certified teacher which I have waited for my whole life.

10 Days of Relaxation

I have been looking forward to Thanksgiving for months. This year, I missed some classes to prolong my break as much as possible. 10 days of not thinking about school has been awesome. I got really on-top of my work before the break, so I would not have to think about it. 

My break started with a Ditto tradition known as AGW which stands for All Girls' Weekend. I flew into Spokane on Thursday, November 20th. We left for AGW Friday morning which was in Yakima, Washington. I had such a fun weekend! On Friday night, an awesome cook came and taught us how to make tamales and carne asada. We also made homemade tortillas. It was a lot of work, but definitely worth it. The meal was absolutely delicious. (I don't know that I will ever attempt it on my own though.) 

On Saturday we got pedicures which was enjoyable. My feet are quite tickleish though which always makes things interesting. Too bad nobody will get to see my cute purple toenails because we are in the dead of winter in Rexburg. There were only 2 workers for the the 8 of us getting pedicures, so it took awhile. When it was finally my turn to get my toes painted, my feet were so pruney and my water was cold. The massage chair was definitely a highlight.

Saturday evening we went and saw the movie, "Mockingjay." This was my favorite movie in the series. We went to a really nice theater that serves dinner while you are watching the movie. Even though I could hardly walk after eating too much at Olive Garden for lunch, I found myself ordering a pizza. ( I may or may not have undone my pants at one point during the movie. ) No children are allowed in the theater and I was asked for my I.D when entering and then received a congratulations for barely making it. I sat next to my sister-n-law, Sara, and during one part of the movie, she was caught off guard and jumped and screamed while grabbing my shoulder. This scared me. 

Andrew finally arrived on Wednesday and I was so excited to see him. We spent 6 nights apart. He had a mandatory field trip on Tuesday to Utah which was kind of annoying. He finally made it though, despite the dreadful road conditions. 

One of my favorite parts of this vacation has been having the time to read. I haven't really had the time to read anything other than my textbooks lately, but this trip, I have read 2 fantastic books. The first book is called, "The Rent Collector" and it is by Camron Wright. I highly recommend this book. It's about a family that lives in the dump and what they do to survive. The second book I read is called, "Because of Mr. Terupt" by Rob Buyea. This book screams Jenna. It is about a 5th grade class. Each chapter is written by a student in the class. The book is broken down into each month of the school year. An event happens in the middle of the school year that crushes the children and teaches them some valuable lessons. I had a hard time putting this book down. Read it!

I'm sad this break is coming to an end (we drive back to Rexburg tomorrow), but I am also ready. Only a couple more weeks of school left and then the semester will be over. Christmas break will be here before I know it. 

Hope

Andrew and I have moved A LOT in the almost 2 years that we have been married. (5 times to be exact.) Based on the number of times we've moved, you're right to assume that we like moving. Wrong. It is not fun. We will be moving in May of next year and I don't even want to think about it. (But, this move means we're finally done with this college thing which is exciting!) Anyway, because we have moved so much, we have been in multiple wards.

Andrew and I seem to be walking targets for speaking assignments in church. We really have nobody to blame but ourselves though. It seems to be the thing to do to ask the couple that just moved in to speak in Sacrament Meeting. We have lived in our apartment since September and I bet you can guess who got asked to speak in church today.

Because of all the practice I've had, I am finally getting better at not being nervous. I used to get so nervous my entire body would shake and everyone in the audience could see my skirt swaying back and forth due to my fear. Boy am I glad those days are over. Today I was pretty calm. I still do write my talks out word-for-word which helps me.

Andrew and I were both given the topic of hope. At first, we were both a little concerned because we were given the same topic and no specific talk to go by. I think our talks turned out well. It's always such a good feeling to be done speaking. What a relief. We celebrated by having homemade Cafe Rio. Yumm.

I based my talk on President Uchtdorf's talk from 2008 called, "The Infinite Power of Hope." I used Stephanie Nielson as well as Elizabeth Smart as examples of hope. Both of these women were put in situations that are incomprehensible and both didn't lose hope. Meeting both of these women is definitely on my bucket list. 

I want to share a story from Elizabeth Smart's book that gave her hope. (pg. 131) One night she was starving and extremely thirsty. She hadn't had water in a very long time. Elizabeth went to bed and had a restless night because she was so thirsty. In the middle of the night, she woke up and noticed a cup of water. It was cold and filled to the brim. At first she thought she was dreaming, but she touched it and knew it was real. Making sure her captors weren't awake, Elizabeth drank the cup of water and said it was the best-tasting water that she had ever had. She says that she knows this water came from God.

Even in such a horrible situation, Elizabeth was still able to have hope. Luckily her family didn't lose hope either because she did end up returning to them several months later.

I'm grateful for the opportunity that we had to speak. I love hearing Andrew give a talk. He never lets me read his talk beforehand, so I'm never sure what he is going to say, but it's always good. :)

The good news is that we are off the hook until at least May for speaking. Hooray!

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza!

I can be asked at anytime of the day what sounds good and my answer will always be pizza. My Mom and I share this obsession and maybe I'm addicted to it because she ate so much of it while I was in the womb. That being said, Andrew and I have pizza at least once a week (and that's when we are hold ourselves back). Yes, this obsession can be quite costly, but we usually eat homemade pizza.

I love trying out new pizza crust recipes, so homemade pizza usually tastes different every time. The best news of all is that I now can make delicious homemade crust. Here's the trick... use a cooking thermometer! I have always had the hardest time knowing how long to heat up the water to use in the dough. Often, I over-heat it and end up killing the yeast, thus making a disguising pizza which usually results in a pizza run to a place we can trust. This is usually the protocol we take anytime a meals goes south. Sometimes I might even intentionally mess up dinner, just so we have an excuse to get pizza. Anyway, back to the heating up water... I usually just put it in for a minute in the microwave because that's how long my Mom does it for at home. The only bad thing about this theory is that I have a different microwave that cooks at a different speed. (Science has never been my strong suit.) 

We have had a kitchen thermometer for who knows how long (Andrew had to buy one for a class) and I haven't been using it. Now that I have discovered ours, I have used it every time without fail. When the water temperature gets to 105 degrees Fahrenheit, some wonderful pizza is produced.

Andrew and I are still kind of newlyweds and have had fun making traditions. Anytime a holiday comes around, we usually make pizza the tradition. I'm quite excited for Halloween because I know that we will be eating pizza. When Andrew asked me if I wanted to go to the haunted straw maze, he wasn't surprised when I told him I would rather spend that money on a pizza! On Christmas Eve in the Denning home we always had pizza from my recollection as well, so I have that to look forward to this year as well.

I'm often asked where my favorite place to get pizza from is. To be completely honest, I don't have one. Pizza is pizza and I find that every place has its pros and cons. Little Ceasar's is often chosen because of the price, but we visit every pizza place in town. At the beginning of the semester, my teacher assigned each of us to bring in an object that describes us well. I brought in a pizza cutter. (I was a little embarrassed when many classmates brought in quite serious things.) My description of myself was that I love to cook and eat pizza. Now everyone knows me as the pizza lover, but I don't think that's a bad thing.

At my summer internship, I was known for having an obsession for pizza. The other day, one of my co-workers posted that she felt like a pig after eating 2 pieces of pizza and 2 bread-sticks. My response was, "only 2!? Go big or go home." Another co-worker then commented something like, "Jenna, not everyone can love pizza as much as you." This is probably true. And let me just tell you, I'm not one of those girls that can only eat 2 pieces before feeling full. 

Pizza is probably on my mind because our friends invited us over tonight and they're providing pizza. I can't wait and it has been on my mind since the day they invited us. In fact, on Andrew's note in his lunch today I wrote, "pizza tonight!" Nothing else needs to be said.

My First Relief Society Lesson

At 9:30pm Thursday night I got a call from a member of the Relief Society Presidency. She asked if I would be willing to teach on Sunday (today). I have always thought that being a relief society teacher would be fun. I told her I would teach and I immediately paused "Psych," our newest Netflix addiction, and skimmed through the lesson. (Lesson 18- Joseph Fielding Smith)

I was pleased when I saw the title of the lesson was, "Living by Every Word that Proceeds from the Mouth of God." I immediately texted my mother telling her the news. She is the go-to woman whenever you need to teach or speak. She has an entire filing cabinet full of various folders on different topics. She had just heard this lesson taught in her ward, and gave me some great ideas the teacher used.

I started the lesson with an object lesson. (What do you expect, I am an Elementary Education major.) I had a shoe box full of candy, but kept the lid on. I asked the class if they wanted what was in the box. I then let one person look in the box and tell the class if it was good or bad. We then took a vote, and I passed out the candy. I related this idea to the fact that sometimes we really like what the prophet says (the candy), but sometimes we might have a hard time with one of the commandments we have been given. (a piece of candy we don't like, or a shoebox full of rocks.) I figured I would start the class off on the right foot with candy. (Thanks mother for the idea.)

I'm not going to go into every detail of my lesson because that would probably be boring. I do want to share a few of my favorite parts though. At one point, I posed the question, "Which commandment do you think is most important?" I was surprised by the dead silence because usually about 10 hands go up for each question. After a few seconds, someone said to the love the Lord thy God. I then read the following quote by Harold B. Lee, "The most important of all the commandments of God is the one that you are having the most difficulty keeping today. If it is one of dishonesty, if it is one of unchastity, if it is one of falsifying, not telling the truth, today is the day for you to work on that until you have been able to conquer that weakness. Put that aright and then you start on the next one that is most difficult for you to keep. That's the way to sanctify yourself by keeping the commandments of God." 

At the end of the lesson, we talked about the blessings that come from keeping the commandments. I shared the story of our wedding book. A few weeks after we got married, we had an open house in Spokane. We flew there, and I brought our wedding book along with us to show some family. I made a point of keeping the wedding book in my sight at all times so I wouldn't lose it. (It cost several hundred dollars.) I made the mistake of leaving the book on the airplane. I was so sad when I realized it was gone when we got home. A few weeks later, I got a call from a flight attendant in Tennessee. She had found the book when cleaning out the plane. She looked through the book and found out we got married in the Oquirrh Mountain temple on December 28, 2012. She called the temple and got my number. She then mailed the book to me. What a blessing. The Lord has promised us all that he has when we keep his commandments.

Let me back up to last night. (Saturday night) I slept HORRIBLY. I was extremely nervous to give this lesson. I had never taught Relief Society before and didn't really know what to expect. I'm used to teaching Kindergartners, not adults. I spent most of the night tossing and turning and finally ended up just getting up before my alarm. At the beginning of the lesson, I was a little nervous, but I was surprised by how calm I felt while I taught. I am glad to have the lesson over with, but I really did enjoy preparing for it and learned a lot. Maybe they will call me as a Relief Society teacher or maybe not. One of the best parts of this whole teaching adventure is that there is a lot of leftover candy! (and one of the pieces was even a Reese's, but it didn't last long!)

Kindergarten

A common question I get as an Elementary Education major is "What grade do you want to teach?" To be completely honest, I will take a job in whatever grade there is an opening, but if I could choose, I usually say 3rd grade. This is because by 3rd grade, nose picking isn't as prevalent and I won't be asked to help tie shoes or zip zippers consistently. Along with my response, I usually say, "anything but Kindergarten." I think I made a big mistake by telling my teacher these words this semester in a pre-semester interview. A few days later, we got assigned a school and a grade and I suppose I signed myself up for Kindergarten with my big mouth. I was quite disappointed with my placement, but have tried my best to grin and bear it. 

This is my 3rd week with my Kindergarten class. (I spend all day at the school on Mondays and Wednesdays.) It has definitely been a big adjustment for me, but I'm surprised by how much I actually like it. I don't know that I would say I would choose it at this point, but who knows. One of the biggest perks of working in Kindergarten is the fact that school is only half of the day. So, you basically get to teach the same thing twice which makes planning MUCH easier. On the first day, learning 41 names of students seemed pretty daunting, but I have most of them down now. (Let's not talk about the time I called a student Cadence in the middle of teaching and asked her to come to the board. She came to the board without hesitation. No, there is not a student by the name of Cadence. What a good student for listening even when being called the wrong name. Luckily the teacher corrected me.)

Something I didn't realize is that things that seem like they should be common sense to students are not at all at this age. You really have to explain every little detail and even then you still have kids that don't write their names and ask what to do when they're done. I taught the students the game "4 corners" and they have now played it twice. Even after reviewing every rule the second time we played this game, the children still don't understand why everyone shouldn't go to the same corner.

I love the compliments kids this age give though. They notice all of the little things and make sure to tell you. One thing that surprises me is that most of the students still don't know my name. In fact, they don't even know their classmates names. They refer to friends by what color shirt they are wearing. It's quite funny.

Based on the 3 weeks I've spent in the classroom, the biggest setback for me in Kindergarten is content. I have been taught numerous fun ways to teach multiplication, and other math topics. By the end of Kindergarten, they will just barely be introduced to a plus sign. It is sometimes difficult to come up with activities for this age group when the material is so simple. I teach daily, and I have taught the Letter U, the Letter R, P.E, etc. There are only so many ways to change up how to teach a letter. It needs to be done though. Just like we need to go over the day of the week daily because many students still struggle with that.

Although I would NEVER have chosen to be placed in a Kindergarten class, I'm grateful that I have been. I don't know that I would have gained the experiences I'm having now any other place. Part of me thinks that after putting so much work into lesson plans, it would be easy to just take a job teaching Kindergarten, but then my gut says no. All I know is that I won't be placed in Kindergarten for Student Teaching next semester. I'm anxious to know what grade I'll be working with... Regardless, kids are kids and there are cute ones no matter where I go.

Be Nice

Don't we all hate getting phone calls from unknown numbers that are trying to sell us things or get us to take a survey? I am part of the majority in saying that I don't like getting calls like this and usually just say no-thank-you and hang-up. A lot of the time I don't even answer. Well, my eyes have been opened now that I am the one doing the calling...

Did I ever think I would find myself working in a call-center? NO. Am I happy to be employed in a small college town where it's pretty difficult to find a job? YES. I started my new job on Friday. After only 1 hour of instructions, we were sent to start calling people to answer surveys. At first it was nerve-racking, but that ended quickly. When you make over 100 calls an hour, you don't have time to be nervous. After a few minutes, they brought us back into training and we discussed what we learned. They then taught us some more. Who knew reading a word-for-word script could be so hard? 

On my first official day on the job (yesterday), I was told that the survey would take 15 or so minutes to complete. Who in the world would want to take that on a Saturday morning? After 4 hours on-the-job, not one person had taken my survey and thankfully it wasn't just me. Lots of people were struggling in the call-center. 

I'll put it nicely by saying that I didn't know people were so mean. I understand if people don't want to take my survey. What I don't understand is why they think being so passionate and upset is going to do anything. Someone screamed the F word at me yesterday. I don't want to be near that person when something bad actually happens. It is sometimes difficult to be professional back to someone who is screaming at you, but it surprisingly comes easily. It was kind of fun to tell the man cussing me out to have a nice afternoon in a really pleasant, enthusiastic voice.

The point of this rant/post is to tell you to be nice. I bet the person calling you didn't plan on working in a call center. Sometimes they probably don't want to be giving the surveys themselves, so make their day and take some time to answer their questions. If not, NICELY reject them. Just something to think about...

P.s- It is pretty obvious to tell when someone makes up some random excuse as to why they can't take the survey. "I'm sick..." "I have bacon grease on my hands." "I'm really really busy right now and don't know when I won't be..." 

Watched Over

The past couple of weeks have been busy. With wrapping up our summer internships, packing, purchasing a second car, and more we are happy to finally be settled into our new place. We even had a few days off of work which has not happened in who knows how long.

This past week, we have had some pretty simple, yet eye-opening experiences. After buying my high-school car from my parents, we decided to put some new tires on it. We were happy to find out that we only needed to replace 2 of the tires which was cheaper. :) After picking the car up with the new tires, I noticed the car was driving sort of funny. Know that I am EXTREMELY paranoid when it comes to tires. I have always been terrified of getting a flat tire and have yet to have one. (Knock on wood) Anyway, on my drive home, the steering wheel started shaking a lot and veering to one side. There was also a loud noise. From what I have heard others say, this is what having a flat tire is like. At this point, I was almost home though and decided to just drive the one block there. Once home, I had my Mom drive it to see if she noticed anything. She did not. A few hours later I left on a work trip for the weekend, so the car was put on the back burner.

Once home from my long trip to Moab, the car seemed to drive a little better. I did have my husband drive it to see if he noticed the noise, and it actually happened when he was in the car. I was happy to know that someone else heard it too and I wasn't just making things up or being my paranoid self. After the drive with him, we decided that the noise didn't happen enough to take the car back in.

The day before we moved, I kept questioning whether or not we should take the car back in. The drive to Rexburg is about 4 hours, and I didn't want something to go wrong with our tires. Fortunately, I decided to take our car back in. On my way to the place, the car was making the noise worse than ever and I could really tell something was wrong. It was terrifying to drive. When I entered the tire shop, the same man that helped me a few days earlier was there again. You could tell he did not think anything was wrong with the car based on my vague "it sometimes shakes" description. He proceeded to tell me how nice the tires I bought were. A few minutes later, I noticed that another employee took the car out on a test drive. The entire time I was hoping it would make the noise, so I didn't look like a fool. It did! Hooray! I saw the guy speed the Lancer back to the mechanics and I was relieved.

A few minutes later, the guy called me back into the garage. He gently tapped the front drivers-side tire and it about fell off. He then told me that the tire was pretty close to falling off and that I was lucky it hadn't. I won't get too technical here, seeing as how I don't even know the name of the part that was broken, but I do know that something was broken on the drivers side, as well as the passengers side relating to holding the tires on. The employee could not believe that this problem went unnoticed in the first tire installation and gave me a discount.

The point of this long, rambly story is that Andrew and I were watched out for. Imagine if we hadn't brought the car in before our 4 hour drive to Rexburg. We were very blessed and I am so grateful. I'm also happy that it was proven that I wasn't just being paranoid about having a tire issue this time.

The other experience I want to mention that happened this week was small, but yet another sign that Andrew and I are being watched over. After hours of unpacking, we took a big load of junk to D.I. Later that evening, I sat down to play my keyboard but soon realized that we accidentally put that piano chord in the D.I pile. Oops. I was not very happy to say the least and Andrew kept telling me that we were going to have "an adventure" to try to cheer me up. After calling D.I, we were told that we could come and look through all of the donations to see if we could find it. Just how I wanted to spend my Thursday evening.

Once there, an employee took us back into a HUGE room full of tons of donated items. It seemed unlikely that we find our measly piano chord. Luckily, the donations from that day were clumped together and we just happened to bump into the white garbage bag full of our donations. Inside was the piano chord. The employee was stunned. Apparently people come looking for stuff a lot and never find it. Once again, we were watched over. Even though this wasn't a super significant thing, it was important to me and Heavenly Father knew that. I know that God is aware of every aspect of our lives.

Goodbye for Now

Today was my last day as the Primary Chorister because we're moving back to Rexburg. I am really sad and will miss my little kids. (Hopefully they will miss me too!) Last week I got a little choked up while they were singing just at the thought of leaving. Today was kind of rushed, so I was fine. I have had so much fun being the primary chorister and am so sad that our new ward won't really have a primary. (It's a student married ward) Here are some of the highlights I've had while serving in this calling:

• Going on a walk and at some point along the way hearing a little kid shout, "Hi Sister Ditto" from afar excitedly. 
• The children being very concerned that I cut a teacher's tie on Father's Day. "Can you sew that back together for him?" "What about tape?" (Good thing I brought a tie for him to put on that was in our D.I. pile)
• Having children guess what kind of skittle I put in their mouths. This was funny. The first boy guessed all of the wrong flavors. I think I finally had to just tell him. For the next kids that were guessing, I made sure to say the flavor first when asking if that is what it tasted like. (Is that Lemon?")
• The spray bottle. The kids were so eager to sing, so they could get a squirt of the "magical drink" aka Capri-Sun. I don't think I have ever heard them sing so loud.
• Leading the children in Sacrament Meeting while they sang the song, "The Family is of God." The words are so powerful and the kids were smiling so big at me. I was very proud of them.
• After being disappointed in the behavior of some of the kids, I had a little talk with them. I said something like, "It makes me sad when you talk instead of sing. It makes me sad when you don't stand when I ask you too. But it makes me happy when you sing loud and give me the chills." After this little chat, one of the younger kids came up and gave me a big hug because he thought I was really sad. It was adorable.
• One of the sunbeams doesn't know many of the words to the songs, but always wants me to choose him as a helper. His solution: scream/sing as loud as possible and not enunciate any words.

I'm not going to pretend that everything went perfectly each week though. Here are a few things that I can laugh at now, but are semi-embarrassing.

• Noticing when I got home from church some outrageous pit stains. (I don't know that I can wear that shirt to church again.) These were definitely noticed-- I mean my job does entail moving my arms wildly.
• Teaching the children how to pronounce the word "fervent." I spent like 10 minutes on this and made a big deal about it. The next week I realized, I taught them how to say it incorrectly... Yikes. Fervent is not spelled fervrent. 
• Almost taking someone out in the hallway each time I tried to quietly make my dash to primary (before the closing hymn) to beat the children there. The other ward is always in the hall standing right by the door, and I bump them.

I hope that sometime in the near future I will get this calling again. I'm counting down the seconds until that day comes.

Labor Day

Labor Day came just at the right time for me. I worked a lot last week, and had to work Friday and Saturday in Richfield which is kind of a drive. When Monday came, I was so happy to have a day off with Andrew. Originally, we were planning on running the Steeple to Steeple run from the Oquirrh Mountain temple to the Jordan River temple. I have done this race in the past and it is a fun one. It is 5 miles and mostly downhill. We didn't sign up before a certain date which increased the price to run it. I also was having some shin problems and Andrew's foot was hurting him, so we ended up not doing it. Maybe next year...

Instead of the race, we went on a hike with my family. We never seem to have much luck finding the hike we want to go on. This day was no different. The first place we arrived to was just a random trail and quickly left. The second place we went to wasn't what we thought it was either, but we did it anyway. This hike was in Pepperwood which is such a beautiful area. I think the sign called it "The Rocky Mountain Trail," but I could be wrong. The hike was secluded in the shade which was very nice. The best part of the hike was the end which led us to a gorgeous waterfall. We climbed right up next to the water (which kind of scared me) and it was more difficult than it should have been for me to get down. Here are some pictures:

            Me and Jess. Sisters who have completely opposite hair types.

My Dad was given a lot of grief when attempting to take our picture.

Andrew is completely fearless when it comes to hiking. Maybe our children will have hope. He even went exploring in some disgusting cave that I refused to step foot in.

This hike turned out to be much shorter than we expected, so we decided to go on another one which was a little further down the road. The second hike was up Bell's Canyon and it was quite crowded. This trail took us to a Reservoir which was stunning. Let me point out that this hike was not easy. Almost the entire way up you go up tons of stair type things that are quite steep. I was surprised by how many children we saw on this trail. It isn't very long though. I think it is a little over 0.7 miles up to the Reservoir and very worth it.

It took me a few minutes to walk out to this rock because I was "extra cautious." My family was laughing at me. When I finally got there, Andrew pretended to push me in and I screamed. 

Our Labor Day hikes turned out to be very successful. What a fun way to spend Labor Day morning. (Lots of other people thought so too.) And because it was Labor Day, Best Buy was having a sale and Andrew and I FINALLY bought a flat screen. (Goodbye to our 55 in box TV!) We can't wait to open it when we get to Rexburg next week. Pizza was the icing on the cake for such a wonderful day. 

My Dream

I have always wanted to go to the U.S. Open in New York City. Of course, when my family was in New York years ago, we didn't think about even going to see the courts, let alone planning our trip around when the U.S Open was. It's fine, we still had a fun trip and I'm really not that bitter.

That being said, every year my family fills out a bracket for the U.S Open. We use this website: http://bracketchallenge.usopen.org/#/ Make sure to save it as a favorite on your computer, so you can fill out a bracket next year.

Whoever wins on this website nationally, gets a free trip to the U.S Open for 2 the following year. (I think) This has yet to happen to anyone in my family. When it does though, I'm sure they will pick me to be the 2nd person going on this free trip. My family has a separate bracket just for us on the website called "The Denning League." It constantly updates and tells us who is winning on the men's side, women's side, and overall. At the beginning of the tournament, I looked at this site often because I was winning the men's side for a few days. Now, I prefer not to look because I keep getting further and further down in the rankings.

We always have a hard time determining what the winner of our family gets. Some of the ideas thrown out this year have been: an amazon gift-card, a free-flight, personal satisfaction, and a trophy. You can guess which idea was mine... (Anything that has do with the word free) I think we are going with a trophy and whoever wins has to keep it on display in their house all year, until it's time for the U.S Open again which is when the new winner will take it over. (Unless of course, the same person (me) were to win 2 years in a row.) By the way, I would not be happy just to have "personal satisfaction" after my win. I want something to show for my dominance.

I am a tennis fanatic. I get REALLY into tennis and have a hard time not watching every match. I'm not quite on the level my grandmother is on though. Watching the U.S Open becomes her full-time job and she doesn't even need to be paid to do it. A big debate in our family includes some of the top men. A couple family members seem to think Nadal is the best. Many others have Djokovic (Jokey) winning. My question is why wouldn't you have Federer winning? I love "Fed." He is so classy which can be hard to do. I don't ever see him throw his racket or lose his temper. He is a family man and has 2 sets of twins which I think is so cool. He is always funny and nice when he is interviewed before/after a match. That being said, Go Fed! I'm routing for you even if I stand somewhat alone in my family.

Andrew and I should both graduate this coming April, and I told him that I would love to go to the "US Open" to celebrate... We'll see if that happens. If not, I will continue to do bracket after bracket until I win that free trip.

It's A "Cecret"

We went on the prettiest hike recently (8/16) to a place called, "Cecret Lake." It was up Little Cottonwood Canyon. When we arrived, we had to wait for a shuttle to take us to the hike. When the shuttle finally got there, there wasn't enough room for us. We decided to just walk on a trail that was near us, so we wouldn't have to wait another 20-30 minutes for the next shuttle. After walking for quite a while, we realized that our trail connected with the "Cecret Lake" trail. We sure added some miles to our hike. I was happy we didn't wait for the next shuttle though because on our little excursion, we saw 3 moose! Andrew got a pretty decent picture-- see below. I was a little nervous to get too close to the moose, so none of my pictures turned out very well. They sure are big creatures!

Along the hike, we kept wondering if there really was going to be a lake... My Dad kept pointing out little mud puddles and saying, "there it is!" Good one Dad. When we finally got to the lake (4 or 5 miles later), we realized that it was more than just a puddle. It was really beautiful. Here are a couple of pictures:

I would like to add that we did not take the long trail all the way back. We raced to the shuttle and I am glad we did. It was about a 15 minute drive in the shuttle, so you can only imagine how long it took walking. If we would have gone on this hike this past weekend (2 days ago), there would have been snow which is insane! Just a little reminder that winter is coming much too soon. This hike happens to be near the ski resort where I "learned" to ski. We walked right by the hill that I was speeding uncontrollably down while praying that I wouldn't die. Good thing nobody cut me off that day on that hill because they would have been toast. I never thought I would visit that resort again, but I was wrong. I don't think my skis will ever touch that mountain again though. (Not that I have skis.. I rented for a reason) 

After the hike, we saw, "The Giver." I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. I have read most of the book and it followed it pretty well. The ending of the movie was apparently different though. (I'll be honest, I never finished reading the book.) This movie is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time and I was really entertained. I'm not a big movie person, so this is saying something. I must admit, I did fall asleep for a brief moment near the beginning of the movie, but this has nothing to do with the movie and everything to do with the 5 mile hike I had just taken. 

Blessed.

I have always loved houses. When I was growing up, instead of playing with bubbles or other normal toys children my age played with, I played "Ivory Homes" with my little sister, Jessica. It was so fun to pretend to be realtors. We even had our own copies of the "Ivory Homes" pamphlet. To this day, I still remember some of the names of the different floor plans/models. My favorite always was and will be the Savonna because it is a rambler. If you know my mother well, you know I can blame her for this hobby.

If someone were to ask me what my favorite TV show is currently I would respond without hesitation, "House Hunters." Call me crazy, I know. I feel bad for the realtors on that show because all of their buyers are always so picky... And then I think about myself and realize I'm probably even pickier. Good thing we won't be buying a home anytime soon.

You would think with my obsession regarding real estate that I have lived in the best apartments. You're wrong. The competition in Rexburg is outrageous and I feel like I'm always just trying to find a place that isn't a million bucks a month. Let me back up here. Andrew and I have moved A LOT since we have been married. I guess we're copying my parents in that way... Don't know if that's a good thing. 

We signed the lease on our 4th apartment in Rexburg today! At this point, we know exactly what we do and don't want in an apartment. The one thing holding us back is me and my constant worry about the budget. (Both a good and bad thing...) I feel like I'm steeling with the deal we got on our new apartment. It is $540 a month with EVERYTHING included. That is unreal in Rexburg. (Our last place was $620 and we had to pay gas and electric.) Do you know what else this means? Now that I don't have to pay my own heating bill, I will actually turn the heat on in the dead of a Rexburg winter. Maybe this winter I won't actually have to wear gloves in my own apartment!

Our new apartment is a basement apartment which I am excited about because we won't have neighbors above us, below us, and sharing every wall with us. Through this whole process of trying to find an apartment (which has been a long one) I have learned what I really need. Do I need covered parking? No. Yes, it would be nice especially when it snows 3ft a night, but I can live without it. A dishwasher is also wonderful, but we don't have a big family right now and our dishes are kept to a minimum. We even made a deal with the Landlords and they are going to let us use their washer/dryer upstairs for a few hours a week. (An added $10 a month which is nothing compared to going to the Laundromat weekly.)

Today I am overwhelmed by how blessed we are. We are getting such a good deal and I still can't even believe it's happening. I feel like now is a good time to explain my money worry... Starting in January, I will be student teaching. I'm excited because that means I'm almost done with my degree, but I am dreading working 40 hours a week for no pay. It is really hard to have a job and student teach, so I want the cheapest rent possible.

 I'm so relieved that I don't have to be constantly watching the "Rexburg Renters" Facebook page or checking the Bulletin Board. Phew! And you know what else, I'm actually kind of excited to go back to Rexburg... (Shh.. don't tell.) I'm excited to make a new recipe every night and decorate our new apartment. I'm eager to see what our apartment looks like in person too. (Thank you Cindy & Derek for checking the place out for us.)

"Wicked" Deal

"Wicked" is in Utah! Having said that, I have been regularly looking for good deals on tickets. Lets just say that I never found a good deal. I was not willing to pay over $100 a ticket for the worst seats in the house. Luckily for me, my Mom looked into getting tickets for cheap which is how we ended up going. Each night of the show, there is a raffle that you can enter your name in to win highly discounted tickets. They usually give away 10 tickets for $25 a piece which is an unbeatable deal. 

My Mom, Jessica, Andrew, and I set off quite early (at 4:15 for the 7:30 show) to put our names in the drawing for the tickets. My Mom and Jess previously had purchased tickets, but they put their names in hopes of getting the two tickets for me and Andrew. Let me just say that the way the employees at Hale Theater treated this process made me feel like I was a part of the Hunger Games. You can start putting your name in the cauldron at 5:00pm and they announce the winners at 5:30pm. I was unusually sweaty and nervous during this time. One reason may have been the fact that they said you had to show I.D if you won the tickets and I did not have any. Apparently having my mother and husband there to vouch for me wasn't enough. Luckily it didn't matter-- I didn't win... Let me also point out that you had to have cash for the tickets.

We had made all types of pacts with "friends" my mother had made in the short few minutes waiting in line. "If both your names get drawn, we get your tickets." etc.. The people that were standing both in front and behind us in line to put their names in the cauldron both got called. Lucky them. After the dramatic experience of not hearing my name (which would have been devastating anyway), my Mom's, Andrew's, or Jessica's the announcer who had the loudest, most suspenseful voice told us that there were some tickets still available for the night and we could get them for $40 a piece. Not bad if you ask me. We were able to get them, even with all the shoving going on around us. Andrew and I even got seats together which was really fortunate because they only had a few. 

After those dramatic and tear-jerking few minutes, we went to Macaroni Grill to celebrate the fact that we had tickets at all. Here is a picture of us waiting to be seated. We were all smiles at this point... (note that we took dozens of pictures during the stressful time waiting for the drawing, but NONE of them turned out) 

After dinner we raced back to the theater, but not before taking more pictures. 

There was definitely a line to take a pic in front of this poster and we may or may not have started this trend... 

Andrew and I had seats in the back row, but I'm not complaining. We didn't have to sit up in the balcony seats and we also had one aisle seat which is prime for us long-legged humans.

The play was worth every penny. My family had previously seen "Wicked" in San-Diego nearly 6 years ago and I realized quickly that I forgotten many major plot details. Andrew had never seen "Wicked" though and he absolutely loved it. Elphaba was by far my favorite because she had an amazing voice. Glinda was really good at acting and could sing very very high. The ending of the play was a little different this time, but it didn't disappoint. "Defying Gravity" was definitely the highlight of the play and probably always will be for me. It was hard for me because I know almost every word to every song and I really wanted to sing-along.

Good thing we own the "Wicked" piano music. Bad news... I can't find it. I have searched EVERYWHERE multiple times. Here's to searching once more....

"Volunteered"

My Mother is the Relief Society President. That being said, she is a very busy woman. In fact, I feel like it's her full-time job. She does an excellent job. For every lady who has a baby, my Mom makes a blanket. (Now you see where I learned to crotchet.) Now that I'm in the same ward as my Mom, I tend to get volunteered to do things by her which is fine. The latest and greatest thing I "volunteered" (thanks to my mother) to do is hold F.H.E once a month for all of the newly married couples in the ward. It has actually been pretty fun. I try to keep things pretty low-key so that people will actually come. I even hold it the same Monday night each month, so people know (are forced) to keep that night open.

Last month for our first activity everyone came to my house. I prepared a short lesson (10 minutes) and we ate yummy treats and played games. When Telestrations is involved, you are bound to have fun. I am about the worst artist out there though and can't even seem to comprehend how to draw a chicken. Andrew naturally sits by me each time we play, but instantly regrets it. We also played Bocchi Ball outside which is always a hit. We did boys vs. girls which started out well, but we won't talk about how it ended. I will say that we didn't even have to pull out a belt out this time to measure which ball was closer. There was a pretty good turn-out and I was happy. 

Tonight is round 2 of F.H.E. and it isn't at my house this time! We are actually having a BBQ which should be delicious. Because I'm in charge of this group, I made all of the food assignments. Lets just say that there will be PLENTY of food. Today I bought 16 hamburger patties as well as 16 hot dogs just to be sure. I also made cupcakes, and am bringing chips and dip. This is on-top of what I have assigned everyone else. I would much rather have too much food than too little. I think this is a "Denning" thing. My Mom is quite good at cooking for an army, even when there are just a small amount of us eating. I'm just hoping people show up and are grateful for the $40 I invested into this baby. Wish me luck!

Following in my Mother's footsteps, check out the latest blankie I sent to my new nephew, Lincoln. 

I may or may not have finished another blanket today for a baby that is due in December. You're right in thinking that my sister-n-law having the baby doesn't even know the gender yet, but don't worry, I chose a neutral color. :) Pictures to come in December!

Boise for the Win!

After hearing that my parents and sisters were spending the fourth on the beach watching one of the greatest firework shows, I had doubts that my fourth of July would ever be as good as theirs in Boise, Idaho.

Boise is the place to be on the fourth! Andrew and I decided to drive up to Caldwell for our nieces baby blessing. Her name is Eliza and she is absolutely adorable. We ended up leaving Friday morning at 5:30am on the dot. I think I still sometimes surprise Andrew by my early morningness. One of the greatest perks about being married is the fact that Andrew drives the majority of the time. I did not have to drive the nearly 6 hours to Boise-- he did. :) 

We arrived in Caldwell right in the middle of a parade which was problematic because every road was blocked off. We spent the afternoon swimming with our nieces and nephews. Lots of diving was going on, and I was tempted to try until I realized that I might lose my bottoms. After doing a summersault contest underwater, I learned my lesson. 

We had a huge meal to top the night off and I made some mean deviled eggs. We enjoyed the Caldwell firework show from Tavia's backyard which was nice. My family isn't one that gets into the fourth of July like at all. In fact, I have vivid memories of my parents telling us to go look on the back porch at the fireworks and after one minute excusing us to bed. That being said, I don't think my parents have ever purchased a firework. The people we were with on the fourth did purchase fireworks and it was fun to see how excited the kids were. There was one firework that went ballistic and nearly started a neighbors house on fire which made the show much more entertaining. 

Saturday was spent at the man-made lake near Boise. Call me a wimp, but I didn't go in. I was quite comfortable in the shade. The water was really cold from what I hear. Good thing I didn't test it myself. Pizza was definitely a highlight of the day. I could eat pizza for every meal and not get sick of it. Andrew knows that when I'm upset or angry pizza is what makes things better. Good thing he likes it almost as much as I do. The night was topped off with my favorite dessert, "Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars." They are quite peanut-buttery, but I'm glad they were a hit with this crowd. 

I love Sundays and always hate to see them end. After the baby blessing, we spent a couple hours making food like crazy. There were over 30 people that came to dinner! We had homemade Cafe Rio which really hit the spot. Unfortunately we had to dash home pretty quickly after dinner, but the Cafe Rio was definitely worth waiting for. 

Another highlight from the weekend was singing with my nieces. I brought my "Frozen" piano music and words and they absolutely loved it. I think in the short time I was there, we sang through the book at least 3 times. In other news, Andrew finished his book while we were there which I'm thrilled about. Maybe I'll finally get to see and talk to him again...

I told Andrew that Boise is one of the few cities I wouldn't mind living in if we are going to live in Idaho, so maybe this fourth of July in Boise will become a reality. (Just so you know, Rexburg is not on this list...)

Piano Lessons

Warning: This post is a result of me waking up at 6:15 on a Saturday morning. The rest of the world will join me in a few hours.

Recently, I saw this post on Facebook. "I really want to learn how to play the piano, who will teach me?" Without thinking, I immediately replied with one word-- ME. I instantly regretted it. I have taught piano lessons before, but never to an adult. Also, I am only here temporarily. Luckily, the girl only just "liked" my comment and never responded to my message about teaching her. This experience caused me to stop and think about teaching piano again which is when it hit me...

Why haven't I taught my husband how to play? While in Utah for the summer we have a nice grand-piano and when we leave, the keyboard we have will suffice. I brought up the idea to him and he didn't reject it. In fact, he has taken piano lessons twice before, so we didn't have to start from scratch. Andrew agreed to let me teach him piano on one condition: he gets to teach me how to properly through a frisbee. (Not my strong suit.) 

After one short frisbee lesson, I rushed Andrew to the piano. I didn't realize how much he already knows when it comes to piano. What a relief for me. In fact, I just worked with him on a few LDS hymns. He almost has "Come Follow Me" down as well as "God Be With You." 

I didn't really know how into the piano lessons Andrew would be. In fact, I thought the only time he would touch the piano was when I told him it was his lesson once a week. I was wrong. I came home from work yesterday to hear the exciting news that he had practiced! Music to my ears.

(Notice his new glasses. I am kind of biased because I did heavily influence this purchase, but don't they look great?)

Just in case you are wondering, no, there will not be a picture of me playing frisbee posted for quite some time. I still have a lot of work to go. Andrew constantly has to remind me to keep my feet planted and to flick my wrist instead of moving my entire body. Maybe when I'm not sore after playing frisbee for once I'll know I'm making progress. Wish me luck.

Scorching St. George

This weekend we went to St. George which is an annual tradition for our family. Unfortunately, Andrew and I were in school last summer, so this was his first experience going. The main reason we go is to see a play at Tuacahn which is a really fun outdoor theater. This year "The Wizard of Oz" is playing. We had an enjoyable time watching the play. My family has been to Tuacahn a number of times and compared to other shows we have seen, this was not the best, but it was still good. Andrew really enjoyed it though and had nothing to compare it to.

St. George has some great outlets, so it is always a must to hit them up. The girls went shopping while the boys played golf. We had a lot of success shopping, maybe a little too much, but I'm happy with my purchases. (The outfit pictured above is one of these purchases.) At church yesterday, Mom, Jessica, and I all wore new outfits. The boys have some funny stories about golfing. The course they golfed was apparently quite challenging for their beginner level and lots of the golf balls ended up in the water. I volunteered to go with them, just so I could drive the golf cart, but they weren't interested. (They just walk.) 

One of the prettiest buildings in St. George is the Temple. I'm pretty sure the St. George Temple is the oldest temple in Utah. The grounds of the temple are so beautifully kept and the decor is very ornate. I'm really glad we went, even though we were all pretty tired from the long drive to St. George. 

We decided to go on a hike because there is such great hiking near St. George. We went after the boys went golfing which happened to be around 11:30--the hottest time of day. According to the internet, this hike was supposed to be just over a mile long, so we weren't worried about the heat because it was just going to be a few minutes. The mile quickly turned into 3 miles and a 90 minute hike just one way. We finally realized it would be best to go back, even though we didn't make it to the Indian petroglyphs. We were nearly out of water, and still had to make the hour and 20 minute trip back. I might also add that it was nearly 100 degrees outside at this point. Dehydration started to become a concern and we cut off a lot of the trail on the way back to the car which made the journey much faster. When we made it back to the parking lot, our car was the only one there. Who in their right mind would hike during the hottest part of the day? We immediately drove in search of drinks.

There are specific restaurants we always go to while we are in St. George. Nielson's Custard is one of them even though it brings back the memory of me holding my custard upside down, and the entire thing falling out ending in tears. Fortunately, they gave me a new one. This time, I had learned my lesson and enjoyed my custard. Outback Steakhouse is usually on the list and we did go there. We also went to Brick Oven which my little sister has nicknamed "B.O" because she used to work there. They have a gluten-free pizza and Jessica is on a gluten-free diet for the next few weeks. The whole weekend I don't recall ever being hungry.

A big highlight worth mentioning is playing the game Mafia. I had played this game before, but have never really liked it. It was fun to play with my family--my parents especially. The biggest reason I have a problem with this game is because I have the hardest time lying. Even when I'm telling the truth, people think I'm lying. It was probably funniest when my Mom was the facilitator. "Okay people, welcome to the show..."

What a fun weekend! And we even made it back in time for church Sunday which is good because Andrew got a new calling... He is a Sunday School teacher for the 14 year-olds. (Good luck to him!) On the long drive, I read the book "Wonder" by: R. J. Palacio and I was surprised by how good it was. It is about a boy with a deformed face who has been home-schooled his entire life, but decides to go to a public school for 5th grade and how he is treated. I highly recommend it.

Next year can't come soon enough, "The Sound of Music" is playing at Tuacahn which is my favorite movie.

Perfectionism At Its Finest

I learned  to crochet years ago and what do I have to show for it-- nothing. I am known to be a perfectionist and it comes out most when I crochet. If it doesn't look perfect, I unravel it all again and again until I finally give up for good.

The most recent example of this was in January when I attempted to make a babies blanket for my unborn niece due in April. I gave myself plenty of time to complete this task, despite the fact that it could be completed in a day or two. That niece is now almost a month old.. Has she gotten her blanket yet? No. She even has a name now, Eliza. 

Drum-roll please. I finished Eliza's baby blanket tonight! I honestly can't even count the number of times I have started over. I have tried many different colors and textures of yarn hoping that something would work, but to no avail. Every time Andrew would come home from work or school he would ask if I started over again. He finally stopped asking. (Smart man.)

Before heading out on the long journey to Spokane, I decided to give crocheting another whirl. Things were looking up until I noticed that my blanket was expanding which is usually the problem I face time and time again. I always gain or lose a stitch. After asking Andrew how bad it looked and seeing his face, I decided it was worth starting over... again. Hey, I had a 10 hour drive. 

Things started to look up until I ran out of yarn. After searching 4 stores in Utah and Washington, I gave up on finding the perfect pink to match the one on Eliza's blanket. Stores had both the darker hue and the lighter hue, but never the one I needed. I ended up taking out some of the pink and adding more purple. 

I finished!

I even added little tassels on the ends to try to make it look cuter. (Choking hazard, I know.) Here is the final product:

 I hope Eliza's Mom doesn't see this before it comes in the mail... Thank goodness I didn't join the family years ago because I would have had to make like 26 of these puppies... 

And for the record, the next nephew is due in July and I'm proud to say his blankie is well under way. :) (Shh.. Don't tell Annie)

Memorial Day Weekend

Spokane was a fun place to be on Memorial Day weekend. Andrew and I drove all night Thursday and arrived at his house at 3:00am which was 4:00 our time. It was a lot of driving and felt like it took forever, but it was worth it. I don't know that we will ever make that drive through the night again though. I could hardly keep my eyes open, but didn't want to fall asleep to make sure that Andrew didn't. 

On Friday, we had dentist appointments with Andrew's brother. (which is why we drove through the night) Every time we go to Spokane, we visit the dentist. At first I was a little embarrassed to let my cavity-filled teeth be seen by Andrew's brother, but I'm over it. People have much worse teeth than me. The good news is that I didn't have a cavity this time and that I didn't have to watch Logan surgically remove a cyst on Andrew's head this time. 

Andrew also took me on a pretty drive by his old house. I had never seen that area of Spokane and it was absolutely beautiful. Here is a picture.. 

We topped the night off by having a BBQ at the park with lots of family. The weather was less than ideal, but we still had a blast. I won the "worst aunt award" by not taking my nieces and nephews to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Hopefully they'll forget about that. I made a new dessert recipe called "Cookie Monster." It was pretty tasty.

The majority of Saturday was spent at Kelly and Annie's house. My job was to sit there and look pretty while Andrew helped build a massive fort for his nieces and nephews. Things got a little dicey when the whole thing collapsed and they had to start over, but it worked out in the end.

Cafe Rio was definitely a highlight. I'm thrilled that it is within 10 minutes of Andrew's house. This probably isn't good for my budget, but does wonders for my happiness. After Cafe Rio, we hit the Theater and saw "X-Men." Not my first choice, but it ended up being pretty entertaining. 

Sunday was relaxing. I didn't love meeting another one of Andrew's past girlfriends at church and having an awkward conversation, but oh well. I have the ring. :) Once again, lots of family and nieces and nephews, and lots of fun. The girls may or may not have won in Catch Phrase.

Monday morning we attended the temple for a special session. It isn't usually open on Mondays, but because it was a Holiday, they decided to open it for a few hours. The Spokane temple is quite small compared to the temples in Utah, but it is beautiful. Just in case you were wondering, I met another one of Andrew's old girlfriends in the temple. Aren't you jealous? 

We ended our trip with a bang in Spokane. Brent and Deena had us over for a BBQ and volleyball. It was tasty and the weather was better this time. I made s'more cookies which I think are absolutely delicious. Here is the recipe: http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2013/08/smores-hersheys-kiss-cookies-recipe.html

We had a fun and jam packed weekend in Spokane. I'm blessed to have married into such a neat family. I feel so welcome every time we visit family. And for once, I might have found myself actually wishing that I lived in Rexburg to cut off 3 and a half hours of the drive.