A new calling

Last week I was called to be an instructor in the Relief Society (the women's organization in the church).  I get to teach on the 4th Sunday of every month.  At first I was blown away that they would want me to teach in Relief Society since I've spent about 9 of the last 10 years in Primary teaching the kids.  It almost felt like getting the job you've applied for knowing ahead of time that you weren't qualified for it, but applied anyway. 

When they asked me if I was willing, I was actually speechless.  It's not that it's a revered calling or anything of the sorts, but I still felt like a prayer, actually many prayers, had been answered.  I have been struggling to keep my desire to attend church afloat lately.  I have a testimony, but the monotony of dealing with the kids and the stress of not having Jon there was getting to me.  I wanted a break and I wanted it bad!

So, I thought I had lucked out and would get to wait 5 weeks until I had to teach my first lesson...They called me the day before the 4th Sunday in January and already had a teacher for that week.  But after Sacrament meeting, the counselor over the teachers asked if I'd teach the 5th Sunday lesson.  I about lost it because 5th Sunday's are usually combined...(what a way to break me in!) She said that due to our Ward Conference a couple of weeks earlier I would just be teaching in R.S. and that it would be a talk from the Women's Conference.  Oh boy...

So, my lesson is on President Henry B. Eyring's talk titled: The Enduring Legacy of Relief Society. At first glance I thought this was going to be one boring lesson. I had remembered reading the talk before, but it hadn't left a lasting impression like some of the other ones.  After reading it again, I was able to pull a lot of information out that I think a lot of us need to hear again and again.  I don't want to give too much away, but I think it is worth it for you to read it if you haven't.  It's in the November 2009 issue of the Ensign if you decide to look for it.

I'm excited for the chance to have this calling and for the opportunity to study these great talks.  I'll let you know how it goes!

This is all I have to say...

Picture Collage

Here are a few pictures of the kids that Jabon took for us.  We love them!  Thanks Jabon!!!

Jacob and Ethan

 Megan and Kyra

 The Family

 

Bored Kiddos

 

 Happy kiddos

 

And more of the kids....

 

 

 

And the place where we took them:

The Arizona Mesa Temple

Running in circles

This week we have had the grand adventure of taking the 6 of us to Arizona to visit with awesome family and run. Yes, you may think we can run anywhere, and that is true, but you only get to visit with awesome family occasionally. 

We are staying with Jon's cousin Shelly and her family while we are here.  We usually went on a tangent trip to see them in Great Falls, MT whenever we would go to see my awesome family, but Shelly and Josh moved.....SAD!  So, here we are in beautiful Queen Creek, Arizona- just south of Phoenix wishing we didn't have to go back to the cold weather Hermiston is offering right now. 

As for the running part.  Jon signed up to run in the P.F. Chang's 1/2 Marathon in Phoenix.  The race was today (Sunday) and he did really well.  He completed the course in 2 hours 10 minutes and 29 seconds.  That is 2 minutes faster than his previous time in Wennatchee, WA (which he hopes to blow out of the water in April).  The girls also ran in a 1-mile kids fun run yesterday.  They did great!  They boh ran with their age groups and did really well!  I hope that they gain a love for physical exercise and recreation.  It's fun to do these activities as a family! 

As for the running in cricles, well, let's just say I've put enough miles on the van trying to avoid detours and road closures from these events.  My feet have also been through the ringer!  I've drug the kids everywhere trying to meet up with Jon and the girls, or just Jon that I think we all need to get a medal!  The kids have been troopers through all of this. I'm really proud of how well they have been.

Who knows, after I get over my dizzy spell from all this running around, we may just have to make theis a regular thing and come back next year. 

By the way, I do have pictures, but I'm going to wait until we get home to post them.  There are some major cropping issues that need to be dealt with!

Roadtrip!!

In about 9 hours (hopefully) we'll all be loaded in the van and on the road!  We are embarking on another lengthy road-trip, this one, not nearly as awful as the first.  We are heading to Queen Creek, Arizona to visit awesome family members and to run our little legs off...Ok, Jon and the girls will be running, I'll be pulling my hair out watching the boys!

We have been looking for reasons to get our rear ends down to Arizona for quite some time now.  Part of Jon's family lives down there and we just could never find the time or have the money. Well, now we have the time, and I doubt we'll ever have the money, but we have enough to suffice.  Jon has also started running again.  Last April he ran a 1/2 marathon in Wennatchee, Washington and caught the marathon bug.  When we found out there was going to be a 1/2 marathon in Phoenix, we couldn't resist.  He would get to run and we would get to see family.  Double Bonus!  Then a few weeks ago, I found a kids race the day before Jon's.  The girls both said they wanted to do it and so on Saturday morning, they each will be running a mile with about 4,000 other kids.  WOW!  But at least they'll get a t-shirt and a medal and such (that's all they care about anyway).

We're heading out tomorrow and making a few pit stops in Utah.  I have friends and family there that we haven't seen in a while and we're excited to catch up with everyone.  Then Wednesday morning we'll head out for the rest of the trip.

Here's hoping for good weather, good roads, and a good time on Sunday!  I'll post pics and a full report later...

2010 Goals

I have decided that I work better when I have some goals.

They can't be super big goals, but smaller ones. It's kind of a step-by-step process for me.

So here goes:

• Get homework done early in the day or even before the day it is due.
• Plan a menu out for daily and weekly meals.  (I am horrible at this)
• Fold each load of laundry right after it comes out of the dryer. (Another thing I am horrible at)
• Get one (1) sewing project done a month- even if it's just patching or fixing things.
• Lose the four (4) pounds I gained back plus the remaining nine (9) that I still need to get rid of.
  

I could go on to a much longer list but I don't want to freak myself out by the length of what I feel have been failures in the past.  The past is the past and I am only going to look forward to the future!

Happy New Year!