Kids Kids Kids

I teach first grade now.  I love it!  I love these kids so much!  All 28 of them!  I wish I could post a million pictures of them and tell you all of their favorite things and how awesome they're all doing, but I can't (privacy laws).  I can tell you some funny things they've said though!  

Me: Hey Josh, are you following the instructions?

Josh: Yes, I'm following the destructions! 

While reading with a kid:

Book: Where did the piglets go? (The picture had little curly tails sticking out of the hay stacks)

Student: They made them into pork chops!!  

I was dying at this one!!  

While walking away from reading groups:

Student: Miss Teichert, you're a pretty good teacher.  

I just wish I could tell you these lines in person!  As I was typing them up I realized that their facial expressions add a lot to these quotes! Haha

Don't be fooled though by the up-beatness of this post.  First grade is hard too.  28 kids is a lot.  Five of them are pretty hard.  But that means that I have 23 that are pretty great!  And let me tell ya, when the stars align and one or two of those five boys have a great day, I am pumped!  So far they've made me smile more than they've made me scream :)  

Also, if you ever need a good confidence boost, teach first grade!  I get told at least 20 times a day that they love me, get about 40 hugs a day, and am constantly told how funny, smart, pretty, ect I am :)  Six and seven-year-olds are the best!

And, because I can't get enough of kids I went home to spend time with my nieces and nephews this weekend.  

Kids+a ski hill=GOLD!  

We had so much fun up Pine Creek!  It was a warm, beautiful day!  Few things make me happier than seeing kids learning to love skiing, and when it's my nieces and nephews it's even better!  

Spring Fun!

This spring has been one for the books!  Since I've been home I've been able to do some really fun things!  Some of my favorites include (in no particular order): 

Branding with the Cornia's

Spending a day with Tami in Idaho Falls

Helping the Child's with sheep

Recovering Kelly's truck seats

(The coolest cloud over Deseret on the way home)

State track with my dad and the Micheli clan

(State Champs!)

Visiting my friends in Provo

Helping Taffy fix up their playhouse

Branding with Nate's

Walks with friends

Docking sheep with Child's

(Lunch Break)

Fires with friends

Working out with Kalbie (she's a fabulous workout partner!)

Getting the cemetery ready for Memorial Day

Sulli's graduation

Becoming an aunt again

Moab with Kalbie

Having all my sisters and their kids come for a day

Skyping Tessa on Mother's Day

Walks with my mom

Taking over the bread business again

As you can see, it's been pretty stellar.  I feel so blessed that I get to do such a wide variety of things with my days :)

Fitbit Fanatics?!

Back in December, in my string of good luck, I was given this sporty purple watch by my lovely friend Faith. 

Her mom had given it to her and just a few weeks later the buckle on it broke.  She called the fitbit people and they told her they'd just send her a new one?!  At school a few days later she asked me if I wanted it.  I knew that fitbits were kind of expensive and was pretty shocked!  She insisted that all of her family already had them and that if I didn't just take it she didn't know what she'd do with it.  So, I was gracious (hopefully!) and accepted the fitbit with the broken buckle.  I wasn't too worried about getting it fixed up any time soon, but I decided to tell my boss Wayne (he and his wife got these things about a year ago and he's lost almost 50 pounds and his wife has lost over 70 I think) about it.  He was so excited and was like, just go to Walmart and get a watch with the same size band and we can just switch it out! Well, I didn't even have to do that, cause the next morning my boss Lee shows up, pulls his watch out of his pocket, and what do ya know--the buckle ripped right through the leather band on his watch?!  He looked at it and deemed it unfixable.  That's when Wayne's eyes got wide and he asked me where my fitbit was?  I went and grabbed it out of my backpack and what do ya know?!  The buckle fit perfectly!  Later that week I went and bought a charger and I was in business!  

And that's how it all began.  I had NO idea what I was getting into?!  A bunch of my Oberg cousins as well as my mom, Aunt Linda, and Aunt Carol have them and each week we compete in the "Workweek Hustle."  These people are crazy! Most of their daily averages are from 15k-25k steps a day.  Trying to stay in these competitions is grueling!  Luckily I'm an active person and hold my own pretty good in them.  One Friday night the competition was closing and I was about 300 steps ahead of my mom.  I was exhausted and had fallen asleep in the middle of the living room.  All of the sudden I was woken up by the sound of repeated footsteps.  My mom was pacing our house trying to beat me?! So, of course I had to get up and get those extra steps to beat my mom!  We were just walking all over trying to out step each other and finally I was fed up with it.  I grabbed her and tied her to a chair!  Enough is enough!!  haha  Anyways, we've had some pretty entertaining comments and trash talk among the group and it's been a fun way for me to connect with some of my cousins who I would have no real reason to have contact with otherwise.  

Aside from the challenge, it's just been fun to see how much I really move around in a day.  Some days I'm shocked at how lazy I am and some days I'm shocked at how active I am.  Like yesterday.  It was my first day off in a couple of weeks and I really had nothing planned.  So, I decided to try and do a bunch of things!  I got a lot accomplished and I ended up with over 49,000 steps.  Crazy.  My day off and I get a new high on my fitbit.  I really wouldn't have it any other way though.  So, If you don't have a fitbit, don't feel like you NEED to get one, but they are pretty fun to have :)

Teaching School

Well, I've been learning about how to be a teacher for quite some time now, and here in the Philippines I was THE teacher.  The only one.  The head woman.  I messed up a lot, I did a lot of things well, and I learned a TON!  

We started school every morning (Monday-Friday) at 8:00 am.  The first few weeks start time was rough.  We were never starting on time and I was getting kind of frustrated about it when I remembered a promptness incentive that one of my high school teachers, Mr. Wilson, used.  If everyone was present and on time we would earn a letter to spell "Popcorn Party."  When we spelled the word out we got to have a party day.  So, I decided to tweek it a bit to fit our situation and I decided that if everyone was on time and had begun writing in their journals at 8:00 sharp we would earn a letter to write out Late Start.  

Once we earned all of the letters they got to start school at 9:00 the next morning.  They bought into it and promptness improved dramatically!  They earned 2 late starts in the last 5 weeks of school, and I was pretty proud of them.  

We held school down in the kitchen/dining/living room.  It worked out pretty well.  Here are "the guys" working hard in the other part of the room.  

So, the curriculum was basically just reading, writing, and math.  Rix and Lillian, the 8th and 7th graders, were signed up through BYU's Independent Study program for English and Math courses.  They were able to basically self run those.  I would make sure they were on track and tell them what they needed to accomplish each day.  I helped with concepts they didn't quite understand and quite a bit with their writing sections which was fun for me.  They have large vocabularies and write with great voice which makes it fun to read their work.  The finals for their courses have to be taken once we get home, so I will go down to Provo to help them get set up with that and get those classes finished up!

Reed and Faith, the 3rd and 4th graders, took more of my time, and it was so fun to be able to work one-on-one with them.  They had some morning work that they had to do together that worked on general Language Arts things like the difference between "it's" and "its," pronouns, adverbs, etc.  Then one of them would stay and do math with me while the other one went and did their individual reading.  Then they'd switch.  Math started out as coming straight from the book.  It was fairly boring, but they were doing pretty good at it, so I didn't worry too much about it.  Then I taught one lesson to Faith using the concept from the book, but I just put it in different, more real life context, and she did so much better with it!  So, I decided to do more of that the last few weeks and it made math much more fun!  

Their reading improved a lot just from reading to themselves for a good 30 minutes every day and then a mixture of them reading out loud to me and me reading out loud to them for about 10 minutes each day.  It was fun for me to see their improvement just from spending time reading.  It's so important.

  

After the first couple of days with the younger kids I knew that I was going to need some kind of incentive to get the younger two students to cooperate and stay focused.  Luckily, I had been taught about these awesome positive/negative charts by my CFA at the last elementary I did my practicum at.  Each morning during journals I would hand them their positive negative chart.  

They would write their goal and then they would get awarded positive or negative points based on their behavior and the work they got done.  It worked marvelously!  If they met their goal they got to do whatever our afternoon activities were, but if they didn't quite meet it, they didn't get to go.  Luckily we only had one or two days where they had to stay home.  

One of my favorite parts about school was science with Faith.  At the start we had to do the water cycle and measuring weather units to cover the standards, but after that we got to learn about whatever she wanted.  It was fun and we learned about many things from whale sharks to how rice is planted and harvested.  

Finally the two younger kids would end each day doing multiplication facts on Oswego.  At the start this was maybe the most dreaded part of their day, but as they got better at them they LOVED Oswego!  Most of the time they would do it more than their required number of times.  They are super good at their multiplication facts and have both passed of mixed multiple times.  I was so proud of them!  

Half way through our home school experience I had each of them write down things they liked and things they would like to see change.  One of the main things they liked was that they got to do school in their pajamas :)  I don't blame them one bit!  One of the things they didn't like was doing work with their sibling.  We talked about families and how sibling relationships are so important.  The partner work improved drastically afterwards, and I learned about how important it is to see how your students feel about how school is going. 

I will most likely never have another teaching experience like this.   I lived with my students.  I lived with my boss.  I lived with my student's parents.  It was interesting.  Some parts were hard, some parts were nice. I learned a lot about a lot, but I still have so much to learn!  Overall, it was a very good experience and I'm so glad I have it to look back on and learn from.  

A Weekend at College

When Tess and I were little, our older sisters were nice enough to come and let us spend a weekend, or even a week sometimes, with them at college.  We thought it was so cool and fun!  Since Tess and I have been living together we've been thinking about how fun it would be to have Mylie and Mariah come and stay with us since they don't have older sisters at college to go and stay with.  So, being the awesome aunts that we are ;) we had them come down and stay the weekend.  

First of all, HUGE shoutout to their awesome mom for bringing them all the way down and then coming all the way back down to pick them up!  So, she brought them down on Thursday and we went to McDonalds to eat so that the kids (she brought Brady and Lewis down with her too) could play at the playplace.  After she left we headed to do a couple of college things: grocery shop and get some ice cream at Coldstone with our BOGO coupons.  Then the little girls came home with Tessa and watched Elf while I went and hung out with friends for a bit. 

Friday was an eventful day!  We got up and ate some cereal for breakfast.  Then I headed to work and Tessa headed to take the girls ice skating.  The skating rink was closed so they decided to go bowling.  That was closed too!  So, being the awesome, spontaneous aunt that she is, Tess showed them some of the coolest things around campus and then brought them back to our place and did their nails.  

Then they came to our work lunch party where our boss Wayne fed us a Christmas dinner.  Turkey, ham, stuffing, the works!  So yummy!  After the lunch we headed back to the bowling alley, cause we knew it'd be open for sure!  We had a fun time bowling and then played some pingpong and visited the art museum while we were on campus.  

When 3:30 rolled around it was time to go and pick up Eden (a little girl I mentor for 4H) and head to the rec center for some swimming!  We had a fun time there as well, and it was fun to see the Spanish Fork lights when we took Eden home.  

On the way home we picked up a Little Ceasar's pizza and stuffed our faces quickly so Tessa could leave to a party with friends and we could head out for our next activity--ice skating!  We were all a little shaky at first, but we quickly got the hang of it!  We were bummed when our hour and a half was over and we got kicked off.  Those little girls were getting good!

On our way home we decided to stop at the Redbox where we picked up Mall Cop 2.  We made some popcorn and paper snowflakes and watched it.  Pretty funny movie. 

Saturday morning we slept in and woke up in time to head to our ward Christmas party/breakfast.  The whole ward sang Happy Birthday to Mylie and we just had a good time.  After breakfast we had to do some real college stuff.  Tessa had to go to a review for one of her finals coming up and the little girls and I headed to the bank.  After I got everything worked out at the bank we went to do some Christmas shopping.  We got some good deals and had a fun time!  When we got back we ate some left over pizza for lunch and headed back out the door!  Taffy met up with us at the BYU vs Utah Women's basketball game.  We had fun chatting and laughing, and the little girls rocked it during the "chicken dance."  

After the game was over (BYU won an exciting one!) Taffy and the girls headed home.  We LOVED having them here for our last weekend of college together.  They were so fun and were so good to go with the flow.  The past two days were actually nothing like our real college life (see previous post haha), but it was just fun to give them a glimpse of what it's like to live without parents and little people around.  They were champs at it!  

A Day in the Life

Yesterday was just a normal day in the life of Livi.  I decided I needed to document a normal college day.  Nothing too exciting.  Nothing terrible.  Just a normal day.  

     5:30     Woke up and headed to the temple with Tessa to do baptisms for the dead.
     7:10     Got back from the temple, ate breakfast, and got ready for school.
     7:45     Left my house and rode my bike up to campus.
     8:00     My practicum class.  I forgot to bring two assignments to turn in and was given 3 more assignments to be completed by next week.
     8:50     Went up to the student services office in the McKay building to talk to an advisor about changing the semester I student teach.  The appointment scheduler was the guy who baptized me this morning!  He worked some magic and got me in right then!  I met with my advisor, Kelly, and got the low down on what I needed to do.
     9:30     Pumped up my tire at Outdoors Unlimited (those darn flats!) and arrived at work.  At work I worked on giant pads for the walls in the gymnastics room on campus.
    11:30    I left work and headed up to campus to meet some friends to go and get free donuts :)
    11:45    Arrived at the location to receive free donuts with my friends, and they were out of donuts.  A little depressing, but honestly, I shouldn't have been eating a donut anyways!
    12:00    Had my literacy class with Brad Wilcox.  One of my favorite classes.  We talked about teaching speaking and listening.  Then he talked to us about being busy and having a lot of things to do in life.  He talked about prioritizing and how that never seems to work because we're supposed to put God first, but in a world where our jobs and school take up most of our time, that is often difficult.  Next he talked about balance and how that is another hard one, because can we really balance every single thing we need to do every single day?  It's nearly impossible.  Then he read us this awesome book, The Clown of God.  It was so good and it talked about this clown that juggled.  He would juggle all of these different balls, but the most important ball (which he never let drop) was a big, golden ball.  This ball represented our relationship with God.  I loved the moral this old folktale told.  Juggling life.  It's real and it's hard, but if we make sure we keep our golden ball up (our relationship with God), then it won't matter so much what other balls drop.  As we get a better handle on our lives, we can pick the other balls up again and keep trying.  This is one thing I love about BYU.  The opportunity the teachers have to teach us about spiritual topics.  Brother Wilcox is great!
     1:00    Class got out an hour early?!  I went and got everything done that I needed to to change my student teaching date.
     1:25     I ran into Andrew Petersen!  It's always fun to see people you know.
     1:40     I met up with an advisor to talk about my scholarship eligibility for next fall.
     2:00     Math class.  We had a fun lesson on teaching Place Value.  Very helpful.  I also ate my lunch during class.
     3:30     Rushed down from campus and hopped in my car to go and tutor out in Mapleton.
     4:00     Arrived at the first house I tutor at, and helped Kamae with math.
     4:30     Arrived at the Ryskamp's where I helped Faith write a fun persuasive paper and helped Reed with his math.
     6:25     Left the Ryskamp's.
     6:45     Arrived at the WILK for a 4H meeting that was supposed to go from 6-7.  I knew I was late, but I didn't want to miss the whole thing!  I forgot my phone at my apartment, so I didn't have any way to communicate that I was going to be late, and when I got there they were already cleaned up and gone.
     6:55     Went over to the HFAC for a minute to watch part of the dress rehearsal for a concert that a couple of my friends are in tomorrow and Saturday.  I would have just gone to the real thing, but it's sold out!  I just listened to one song, Oh Come All Ye Faithful.  Amazing.  I sat by and talked to a nice boy.
     7:25     I left campus and came home for some dinner!  Tess and I had creamed corn and chicken.  It was delicious.
     7:50     I put together some things for my calling as compassionate service committee member and delivered them to some girls in our ward.
     8:20     Returned from the deliveries (and chatting, let's be honest!) and did some homework.
     8:50     Tess and I headed to our intramural co-ed volleyball game, which we lost :(
     9:45     Faith, Tess, and I stopped by a dance party and shook it for a minute.  I'm a horrible dancer.  We ended up outside talking with Dillon and Andy.
    10:30    We went to a Christmas pie party at our friends' apartment.  Zach and Ty were awesome hosts, and it was really fun!  We got there at the tail end of the party, so we actually got to visit with friends and have a good time cause it wasn't so darn crowded.  I met some new people too.
    11:15    We left the pie party and I came home and did some more homework!  
    11:45     I finally crawled into bed.

Throughout the day I was texting planning a 4H activity, scheduling things for the weekend, etc.  Looking back on yesterday I'm reminded how blessed I am on a daily basis.  I am so lucky to be able to do all of the fun, educational, sometimes frustrating things that I do.  Life is busy and great, and I'm going to just keep on juggling my way through it :) 

     

The Cemetery Girls

This post is LONG overdue, but I just needed to write a post about three of the most influential girls in my life.  They all have something in common--they were all my work partner up at the cemetery :)  When you spend about 30 hours together every week, just you and them, you get to know each other pretty well!  

Holly and I worked together the first two years.  Boy was it fun!  Neither of us had any clue what we were doing, but we had fun figuring it out together!  We were pretty good friends all growing up, but in those two summers she became one of my best friends!  I was lucky enough to get to watch her fall in love and marry Ryan.  Now she has a baby and lives in Germany?!  Where has the time gone?!  I can't go too long without a good chat with Holly.  Since she's moved to Germany we've had some good skype chats.  I just love her and her little family!  Holly has taught me to never give up--even when there seems no way out.  She taught me to laugh when you want to cry.  She inspired me with her diligent training for her half marathon.  She's a great friend to all, and I'm so glad I was able to spend so many hours with such a great girl!  

She came home for a little bit to bless her baby, and I was lucky enough to get to visit with her and snap this picture :)

After Holly decided she wouldn't be coming back, I was devastated.  I didn't think that I would ever be able to find someone that great to work with.  Then along came Sierra!  In high school Sierra and I referred to each other as "church friends" cause we were besties in our ward, but we both had different best friends.  Well, we became more than church friends that summer.  We did literally everything together!!  The summer started out pretty rough, but we got it turned around.  At the start of each week we would plan all of the fun things we wanted to do, and then we would plan our work schedule around it.  We did so many fun things!  From fishing to shopping, we did it all!  Sierra has such a deep love for our Savior.  She knows that He knows what's best for her, even if it doesn't make sense to us.  Many of our conversations revolved around the Gospel, and she was so good about sharing her testimony with me.  She taught me to love our little valley more than I ever thought was possible.  All summer long we would say we were the same person because we thought so much alike.  Most days we laughed until we cried.  This last month I was lucky enough to be one of her bridesmaids.  I was so excited for her to meet and fall in love with Trevor.  All the heartbreaks were worth it--he's great!  I felt so honored, and I absolutely LOVED getting to spend some extra time with her and her family preparing for, and enjoying the day.  She was a stunning bride, and had the happiest, best attitude the whole day!  What an awesome, inspiring girl!  

Her wedding day was seriously the best!  She didn't seems stressed at all and was smiling to the last minute!  

When Sierra wasn't coming back, I really thought I was in trouble.  I had already lucked out twice, and there was no way I was going to find a third girl that I would get along with that well.  Then along came Kalbie!  I cannot even begin to tell you how much this girl has impacted my life.  When we started work up there in May we had only talked to each other like 3 times.  We were practically strangers.  After the first day, I knew we were going to be great friends!  She is so happy and outgoing and fun!  You can't help but like Kalbie Harmon.  She has that same love for the outdoors as me, and we had fun doing a few adventures together.  We were always thinking about the next place we wanted to go hiking or running.  It's also convenient that she married one of my best friends from high school, cause now I get to see both of them often!  Kalbie taught me about how important it is to constantly be progressing.  She is always trying to become the best person she can be whether it is spiritually, physically, or improving her relationships with others.  She greets everyone with a big smile, and she just makes you feel so loved!  It wasn't unusual to see Kalbie and I talking for another hour after work, because we never seemed to run out of things to talk about.  I'm glad she lives in Cokeville and that I get to see her, but I also love a good phone chat with Kalbie.  She's just so great!

We actually do have a photo of us in nice clothes, but I just like this one better :)  

When I started working at the Cokeville Cemetery in 2012 I had no idea it would have this large of an impact on my life!  I'm forever grateful for these girls and the things I've learned from them.   

Don't Forget!

Dear Normal Livi,

   Please don't forget to screw your head on tomorrow.  Life will be better.

Sincerely,
  Frustrated Livi

Back to School

   Well, I'm back to school at BYU for my final year.  

We just finished our second week, and I'm feeling pretty comfortable again.  Let me tell ya though, those first 3 days were tough!  I know there's not that much distance between Cokeville, and Provo, but I was experiencing some culture shock!  There's people everywhere.  I don't know like anyone.  I can't ride my bike through all these cars.  It's so dang hot.  It was just a little bit of an adjustment.  When I got back home on Tuesday after school I was about to have a breakdown and I decided that I just had to get out of town for a while.  So, Tess and I hopped on our bikes and headed out to the lake via the Provo River Trail.  I really love that little trail, and it's super easy to access from the house I live in.  Getting out for a few hours was exactly what I needed.  I'm so glad I have my sis here who understands me and is willing to help me out.

   School is going super great though!  I loved it from my very first class!  I'm in Social Studies Methods, Science Methods, Literacy Methods (3-6), Math Methods (3-6), Integrating Technology, Practicum Seminar, and Beginner Tennis.  

They add up to a totally of 16.5 credits, and all of them are really interesting, exciting, and fun!  Along with it comes a pile of homework and reading, but so far I've been able to handle it because I'm really interested in it.  I really do love school.

   I started work up again at the Upholstery Shop, and of course it's going great!  We've made some cool things, eaten some delicious desserts, and had some good laughs.  I seriously work with some of the funnest people in Provo!  My bosses teach me something new everyday, and I'm so thankful for their patience with me.  I feel like they truly care about me and want me to learn all I can while working in their shop.

   I got a second job (huge answer to prayers!) as a tutor for a family.  One night the first week of school I was online for about an hour and a half looking for something super part time that I could do in the evenings.  I was thinking maybe cleaning someone's home or something, but I just couldn't find anything.  I had decided that the next day I was just going to go around to some businesses and see if they would take me on to do whatever they needed done.  Then in my math class my friend Jenica said that she didn't have time to tutor this family anymore and asked if I wanted to do it.  OF COURSE!  I was so excited and feel like it was a direct answer to my prayers.  Heavenly Father is always helping me out.  I really don't know what I did to deserve all of His help, but He just keeps giving it to me.  Anyways, I went out and met the family and everything and it's going to be a great situation.  They have a 3rd grader, 7th grader, and 8th grader who I tutor in math, and then a 4th grader that I tutor in reading.  They're the sweetest kids, and their parents are great!  This job is just perfect for me!

   College just wouldn't be college without fun!  So, we've tried to have plenty of it mixed in with all of our real life work and school stuff.  We've golfed and machete chopped pop cans, played volleyball, basketball, and kickball.  We went to the river rope swing.  We watched some BYU women's volleyball, and a football game.  

I'm a true believer in making the best of what you have.  Even though I would probably rather be enjoying a more summer-like life in Cokeville, I'm so glad and feel very blessed that I get to be here in Provo, studying at BYU, living with the amazing girls I live with, and socializing with some fun friends.  Life is just so, so good!

June 7th Already?!

I can't believe it's already June 7th.  Where has the first month of summer gone?!  It's been a busy month, but a great month!  

I started work up at the cemetery again for the 4th year in a row.  I guess it's safe to say I love that job.  I got a new work partner, Kalbie Harmon, and she's great!  We've had a good time working together.  The first three weeks were busy trying to get ready for Memorial Day.  We were up there lots of hours and we got wet lots of times.  I haven't been alive for a long time, but this was definitely the rainiest May I've ever experienced.  I just felt like I was always soggy... It was all worth it though, cause the cemetery ended up looking pretty great for Memorial Day, and I got to know Kalbie a TON better.  Very successful month at the cemetery.  

At the start of the summer, Tess decided our family needed to set some goals.  So, we had a family home evening activity where we each wrote down some goals we wanted to accomplish this summer.  My favorite one so far has been "a hike a week."  Because of some crazy schedules, I haven't been able to be as adventurous on the hikes as I've wanted to be, but we've gone on a hike each week none the less.  This next week's hike is going to be pretty legit, so stay posted :) 

Up Rocky Peak.  I love these three.  

What would I do with out this sis?  

Tyson and Candace came down for a few days here this last week and we had a fun time with them.  Sunday afternoon Dad, Tyson, Tess, and I went on a drive up to my Uncle Ron's summer range and Tess and I got to hear story after story of my dad and Tyson's days out cowboyin'.  It was a good afternoon! 

Ron's horses.  Everything was SO green!

One night we all met Tami, Casey, Tel, and Kimball up in Jackson at the Bar J.  It was so fun being together, eating good food, and listening to some great music and jokes.  Those guys are hilarious, and so talented!  

The five members of the Bar J Wranglers.

This past week I've been able to go docking.  I sure do love doing that, and the Child's are nice enough to keep letting me come back!  It's made for some long days, but it's been so worth it! It's so fun being out there with all of them.  They're the best!  Tyson and Candace came out for a few days so that was fun! Tess came out for a day as well.  It was fun introducing her to it, and now she understands why I like going so much :)  So, thanks Child's for yet another fun week out dockin!!

Cute little Mason and Katelyn with some lambs.

Finally, this weekend Tel got baptized.  I'm so proud of him and the choice he made to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  As I watched the baptism, I thought about the covenants I made at my baptism 14 years ago.  I covenanted to take Christ's name upon me, to always remember Him, keep His commandments, and serve Him til the end.  Since I was baptized, I've messed up plenty!  I've had moments when I didn't represent Christ well, when I didn't serve when I could have, and plenty of times when I didn't keep His commandments.  Luckily for me, each week I get to renew these covenants as I take the sacrament.  It's kind of like getting baptized again.  I get to repent of all of the things of screwed up on during the week, and resolve to try my best the next week.  I'm so thankful for the ordinance of the sacrament and the chance I have to renew those baptisimal covenants I made when I was eight, just like Tel.  

One of the most handsome 8-year-olds ya ever did see! 

So, as you can see, my summer is off to a great start!  It'll be fun to see what the next three months will bring :) 

1st Graders Rock!

So, I've taken about a month long hiatus from blogging, and basically everything else of normal life.  The reason: I've been doing a month long practicum (field experience) in a first grade classroom in Hobble Creek Elementary up in Mapleton.  What a fun month it's been!  

I went to school every day like a teacher would, arriving thirty minutes early, but I left about an hour before school got out.  I was blessed to have an awesome mentor teacher.  Miss Johnson was so sweet and helpful.  She is one of the most patient people I have ever met and I admire her so much!  She let me take on quite a few responsibilities and it was such a great experience.  I taught the morning routine each day, which in first grade takes about an hour.  Then I would teach one or two other lessons that I had planned throughout the day as well as help with any activity that we were doing.  While teaching was fun, the kids were definitely the best part!  I love those little kids so much.  They are so patient and forgiving.  We all truly do need to become as little children.  They just captured my heart.  

Seriously, BYU's elementary education program does an awesome job of getting you prepared.  If I ever needed questions answered, someone was there to answer them for me.  They came and observed me teach lessons and gave me super helpful feedback.  I gained a lot of confidence in my teaching ability this past month, which was very needed.  I've been questioning my decision of major on and off the last year, but this experience helped remind me I'm making the right choice for now :)  

All of my education classes went on hold for the month, and today it was back up to campus.  I actually quite enjoyed it.  I also got to return to my beloved Upholstery Shop.  That place just makes me so happy.  Here's to the last (roughly) 4 weeks of school!!  

"Look at that sky!"

"Look at that sky!" has been one of my most frequent sayings this summer.  Then, I snap a picture.  Cokeville seriously has some of the best skies.  I don't really know how it happens, but it just does!  And I'm lucky enough to be outside all of the time to witness them!  The other day when I told Sierra to look at the sky for the billionth time she replied with, "You're kinda obsessed with the sky, aren't ya?"  She's right, and here's a little proof. 

Now I know I'm no professional photographer and most of them aren't set perfectly, but these photos were just taken with my iPhone.  No filters, no special effects, just real, natural beauty.  After Sierra called me out on my obsession I started to think about why I am so obsessed.  I think this quote by Elder M. Russell Ballard sums up pretty well how I feel about nature.  

"Men and women in all parts of the world have a desperate need to take time from their demanding routines of everyday life and to quietly observe God's miracles taking place all around them.  Think of what would happen if all of us took time to look carefully at the wonders of nature that surround us…this world that God created for us!"

  I've always loved the earth and knowing that God created it.  Each day the earth changes, and to me those changes are made by God.  So, each time the sky is so beautiful and so different, it reminds me of God's hand in everything I do.  He is constantly putting stepping stones in my path.  I can choose to take a second and be thankful for them, or I can just keep going right along with my life.  Stopping to take a look at the constantly changing sky reminds me to take a look at my constantly changing life and love it.  Every different moment.