Visiting Teaching...

I love Visiting Teaching! I go to 3 amazing ladies and I love learning from them!

One is Barbara, who is our next door neighbor and our land-lord. She's our adopted grandma and is "basically perfect in every way". She's an awesome host for every party she throws, and has every last detail planned to a "T". Her house is perfect, her food is perfect, her piano playing is perfect. She's just one, super amazing woman!

Another great woman I teach is Betty. She is so fun to talk to! She's so knowledgeable in everything! She obtained her Masters and then came to Orderville to teach English like 50 years ago... thinking she wouldn't be here long. But love caught hold and didn't let go... She was married and has been here ever since raising her family. :) I love learning from her and listening to the words she uses as she speaks... So graceful sounding.

And the third is Bridget. I've gotten to know her so much better this last year and she's hysterical! I love talking to her because I know I'll always end up laughing. She has a son that just started kindergarten (that Dallin idolizes!) and two unbelievably cute 18 mth twin girls! We'll call each other for something... and end up talking for an hour- easy! I love her!

(I wish I had pictures of all these great ladies!)

This month, the visiting teaching lesson was on "Seek Education and Lifelong Learning". It was SUCH a good lesson! It talked about how we never should stop ourselves from learning all there is to learn! There is so much out there to obtain knowledge on- Spiritually, and Temporally. Elder Robert D. Hales said, "“My dear sisters, don’t ever sell yourself short as a woman or as a mother. … Do not let the world define, denigrate, or limit your feelings of lifelong learning and the values of motherhood in the home—both here mortally and in the eternal learning and benefits you give to your children and to your companion." I love learning about lots of random things all the time. I think I drive Jeff crazy with some of my questions I have... (some of them are definitely pretty random), but there's so much out there to know! I love going to Wikipedia and looking up whatever is on my mind. I thought about my great-grandma, Plum, who graduated from college in her 70's! How cool is that?! Learning to her was so important that she decided to keep her mind going with classes even then! :) Continually learning of things all around us, and of things in the Scriptures, is so important if we want to progress in this life! :)

Anyway- These are the "treats" I gave to my great ladies this month...

(and sorry- these arn't the best pictures... I forgot to tie bows before I snapped them :)

First... I LOVE having milk and cookies for a late night snack. I especially loved having them when I was studying in college (which definitely explains why I gained the freshman 15!)
So I tied my "study snack" in with
"Seeking Education and Lifelong Learning".
I looked up scriptures to attach to the goodies and was overjoyed when I found what I was looking for also tied in with the snack! :)
Please click on the pictures to read the scriptures.

The Milk:

The cookies:


Perfect Combo:

In a cute little package:

I also put this quote which sums up the lesson
(but forgot to take a picture):

“Lifelong learning is essential to the vitality of the human mind, body, and soul. It enhances self-worth and self-actuation. Lifelong learning is invigorating mentally and is a great defense against aging, depression, and self-doubt.”
-Robert D. Hales

Emma (Part 2)

Back in January... I was asked to play the part as Emma Smith during a Enrichment night in Glendale. It went so well. I prepared so much and really felt like I had the spirit (and her) helping me that night.
Well... Apparently- word got out, and a lady from Cedar (Jeff was friends with her son in high school) gave me a call one day, asking me to do it again! I was pretty surprised- I was pretty sure I'd never do anything like that again... especially in Cedar! So Jeff found my old "script" (All of the info and things I had written down) and I was able to do it again! :) I was so glad! I put so much work into it before, and I loved being able to have that spirit with me again! I wasn't as confidant this time beforehand, just because I felt like I wasn't as ready as the first time... but it actually ended up being nice because I already had what I wanted to share in my head from before. It was a lot of fun.

Back in Jan. and in Aug...
Notice any difference? haha...

I guess now that I've already done it twice... Anybody else up for performance number 3? :) haha...

Today...

Today,
I went to a funeral...

For one Amazing kid...

Jeff Ashby Wood
Born May 12th, 1994
Graduated July 29th, 2009

Our first year here in Orderville, my husband, Jeff taught 6th grade. One of his students was a quiet, funny, freckle-faced kid who had the same name as him.. He was quirky, hardworking, fun loving, and had a fascination with lawn-mowers. :) He was nice to everyone and had this constant little smile/smirk wherever he went. He took a real liking to my Jeff and invited us to some of his family birthday parties.
Last week, on Wednesday, July 29th, this 15 year old kid went to baseball practice just like any other day. He was there, playing a game he loved, with some of his best friends. Before he went out on the field to catch some balls, he complained of a side ache, but decided to go out and have fun anyway. Coach started hitting some balls out to everyone to catch, and one came towards him. The ball got away from him, and hit him in the side, and he fell to the ground. The coaches started CPR within 30 seconds, and the Ambulance, which happened to be next door at a training was there within two minutes. One of the EMTs on that night was his Dad, the Principal of Valley High School. As much as they tried to save him, Jeff never woke up...
Jeff's death was quite a shock to everyone in Valley. It has hit everyone very hard. This amazing kid was taken from this earth far sooner than we ever imagined.
The funeral was today and it was a sad, sad funeral. I broke down many times, especially after seeing his family...

...But at the same time...

It was a funeral full of hope and happiness. Hope that we would all live lives in order to see him again. Happiness because of the knowledge of Eternal Families and Love.

Everyone gave wonderful tributes to him, and told of funny memories that all made us laugh and cry at the same time. His Aunt called and asked if my Jeff would write a few memories down, since he was one of his favorite teachers. I hope he doesn't mind if I write a little of what he wrote:

"First and foremost the things I remember about Jeff are how I felt about him. He was a very sweet, very pure individual. He was kind and gracious to talk to and when he was complimented he would beam. I remember being amused at his love of lawn mowers when I found out. I thought it was such a cool thing to be interested in. He was a different kid than many out there. I remember him being reluctant to take part in the Pirates of Penzance, this was most likely due to his being shy and also very modest. His grandmother and mother came in a few times to visit about his progress with school work, I never felt very worried about him, because I knew he was a kid who would try hard and that he had the skills in place to be ready for his future. Dedication to good. A desire to work. Kindness and humility. Love for others.
Being invited to Jeff's party (two times!) was quite an honor for Jenna and I, the first time was at their home, the second was up at the family pond in Alton. I was glad he would think to invite me and felt also that his admiration of myself as a teacher was not as much something to be proud of, but more of a responsibility to be worthy of the admiration from such an admirable young man.
It is a sad thing that it is Jeff's time to be gone from this mortal existence, but I feel strongly that he is not a person who would really want a lot of attention and that he would want to get busy with his next project he needs to work on. Too bad for him, because we are going to give him a lot of attention anyway! He'd better be watching, or I'll have a talk with him at a future day...
I hope these memories help with your message on Monday. We will be there and look forward to many positive and uplifting messages and stories about a boy who brightened every life he touched and will continue to influence us not only through his memory, but most likely even more so by his continued service to us and others on the other side. Don't be surprised someday to be going about your work and to feel very strongly his spirit and influence.
Sincerely,
Jeff Corry

At the closing. his funeral, our Stake President said that we all have a certain amount of time allotted for us here. Sometimes that time is completed far earlier than we would imagine. But as long as we're living right, we will live up to our full amount. We have certain tasks to fulfill, and certain lives to touch while we are here on this earth... And we also have a lot of work to do on the other side once we complete our mission on earth. I know, like Jeff, that Jeff Wood won't be able to sit still for long- he has some great work to do with our Father. I'm so grateful at times like these to have that knowledge of the sealing power and eternal families.

We love you Jeff. We'll see you soon...

Lakin' it...

Ahhh... Summer...

Temps rising above 110...

So what do we do about it?
Go Lakin' of course! :)

This weekend we finally got to go out to my grandma's houseboat after delaying the trip a couple of times. We went out to Lake Powell on Friday with Kellie, Garrett and Connor, and met my Grandma Apple Valley and my Papa Bill out there on their boat.
Garrett, Allison, Kellie and Connor:

The Kiddos:

Connor- 3 weeks... Isn't he so cute??

(P.S. Background on the names- I had so many grandparents when I was little, that I kind of just made up names for some of my grandparents. Papa Bill was a name that he already had with some of his other grandkids, so I called him that too. Since they were living in Apple Valley at the time, I just started calling my grandma, Grandma Apple Valley. I did that with my Grandma Gumball too since she had a Gumball machine. It made sense to my little mind at the time. :)
Papa Bill and Grandma Apple Valley:

Then, a little later, my Mom and Darrell, and my Aunt Kate with her two boys, Matt and Carson, and her daughter Brooke with her friend Taylor, all showed up too.
Mom and Darrell with Dallin:

My mom always brings fun things to do to play with Dallin. He loves it!
Feeding the Ducks, and playing with Water:

Katie (with her "stripper hat" as she called it), Carson, and Matt...
and Brooke and Taylor:

It was pretty hot when we got there, but by the time the sun started to go down we were all starting to have so much fun! We had an awesome dinner- ka-bobs, corn on the cob, potatoes, bread, salad... MMMMmmm! My grandma definitely out did her self!
Stud-Muffin Grillin' on the Barbie:

My sis and her hubby, and then with me and kiddos:
(Don't worry... she's only three weeks out from having a baby and looks amazing, and was wearing a bikini already. I give you permission to hate her too. :)

At first, we weren't planning on spending the night, but we were all having so much fun- so us and Kellie and Garrett decided to book a hotel in Page... problem was, there was nothing available!! Luckily, my Aunt had already booked a hotel, but her kids now wanted to spend the night on the houseboat. She decided she'd hang out there with them and give us the room! She was awesome!! So we all bunked up in one room that was definitely
GHETTOFABULOUS!
Seriously... it looked so much worse when we pulled up in the middle of the night! We were all kind of freaked out. :) There were crazies all over the place, and we had to park in the back of the hotel, where we could see hangers stuck in the window so people wouldn't break in. It was crazy. But it turned out just fine in the end! :) It looked a lot better when I went out to take pictures the next day.



The next day, we busted out the boats and went across the lake to a cute little cove. We rode on the tube, and floated around in the water. Darrell, Allison, and I also went for a spin on the boat. Dallin was so cute and hung out with Papa Darrell and Daddy the whole time. He also made some pretty sweet "mud-castles" with cousin Matt. Allison was hungry and tired, and too hot to do anything about the two, but she LOVED playing in the water! This girly is a little fish! Her favorite was when the waves when splash on her legs.
Driving with Papa Darrell:


Hangin' with Daddy and Papa Darrell:

Having fun! Tayor, Garrett, and Brookie Cookie:

Jeff before his wild ride:

The Ladies! Playing in the water, and relaxing in the shade:

"Hi Mom!":

Standing all by herself!

Trying to make herself happy with a cold can of Cactus Cooler:

My funny, cute grandma floating around:


When we got back to the houseboat, we ate some lunch and surprised my grandma for her 67th birthday with a birthday cake and some ice-cream made in an ice-cream ball. These things are so much fun! We also got her her own ice-cream ball to have for whenever she has company on the boat. She loved it! :) Happy Birthday Grandma!