Aug 2010 update

Hello again! 


The month has gone by fast and furious as the saying goes. I always enjoy the end of the month because it’s full of fun things for me to do that keeps me up-to-date in my friends and families lives, however, it’s also full of more things to do and can be somewhat busier than the rest of the month. I don’t particularly care for that part of it. Hahaha

This past weekend the youth got the opportunity to travel to Chicago and do baptisms for the dead. I got to go and so did my husband who serves in the Young Men’s and my daughter, who is a Beehive. She rode with most of the other youth who went on the trip and she seemed to enjoy herself. I enjoyed talking with the other adults who rode with us, especially since it’s the rest of the YW presidency, except one of them just got released. Still, it was lots of fun. There is a beautiful spirit that can be felt only in the temple and I’m always grateful when I am able to attend. In the room where the ordinance is performed there is a very large mural of the Savior’s own baptism. I just kept staring at it for the couple of hours that we were there. It was very moving and I wish I could get a picture of it, though it would need to be much smaller of course and probably cutting off parts of the ends. It was probably about 25 feet long and 4 feet high or so. I would describe it better, but I would fail. It portrays many who might have watched the actual event and is absolutely stunning to look at.

I registered Megan, my daughter, for 7th grade yesterday. What a pain that was! Hahaha I am so glad I only have to do that once a year. She got her yearbook, ordered a t-shirt, bought a new flute book for band, signed up for cross country (that surprised me, but I was glad she did it) and we got her picture taken all while hearing about volunteering at the school, learning about fundraisers and the like. It took quite a bit of time to get through all the lines, but we made it through and now she is officially in 7th grade which makes me officially sad. I can’t believe how quickly she has grown up. She is going to be driving and dating before I know, in high school while I’m not looking and then out of the house, off to college and have a family of her own before I can turn around and catch my breath! Watching children growing up is an amazing process, but I’m trying to enjoy her all I can while I can. I want to have the same relationship with Megan that I have with my mom. We are best friends. Having one child makes it an all-or-nothing proposition. I sure hope I get it all. I’m sure those with more children still feel the same about each child, all-or-nothing that is. I am amazed at how different it is to parent one child vs. multiple children. There is no easy way. Both are difficult. Both have unique challenges.

We had Branch Conference and it was wonderful. All three members of the Stake Presidency spoke as well as Pres. Montross. I was going to include some of their comments, but sadly I took notes on my phone and the phone broke later that day. I can’t retrieve my notes until after I get the broken one replaced and due to several factors that won’t be until the beginning of September. I don’t remember things like talks for very long usually so I don’t remember what they spoke about (thus I take notes) or I would at least tell you that much. Sorry about that. Perhaps I will remember in a few weeks when I get my new phone to record some of it. I’m anxious to read again what I had written.

Our chickens are getting bigger and bigger. We finally started getting eggs from the full-grown ones. We only have four of them. The smaller ones that we bought later on are probably at least half way through the growing process. They sure eat a lot! I’m hoping they’ll start producing eggs in another couple of months. Ideally before that, but definitely by the end of October. I’ll keep you posted on that one. We have several people who want to buy eggs, but as of yet we’ve not sold any. We want to make sure that we are selling a quality product, so we have been holding off to see if there is anything that we aren’t catching up-front. We also have to decide on packaging and price etc. I would like to use plastic egg cartons that are reusable, but we have to see how that goes.

I went and took my mid-term for my math class. It went as well as it could I suppose. I did well, just short of an A, but I barely got to study for it, so I’m OK with that. Now I’m trying to stay focused and motivated long enough to finish this course and begin the next one. I have three more to go and I can’t wait to be done! I am hoping that they are going to be easier since they are supposed to focus on learning math for elementary –aged students. I’m really hoping and praying for that. I could use some easy math right about now. hahaha

Road show practices have begun. The Stake asks each Branch or Ward to put together a long skit basically. It is supposed to be 9 minutes long, be about the evolution of teenagers and somehow have kittens in it. Our is about a history class student who falls asleep dreaming of three events that happened to other teenagers and works in wearing modest clothes, including others and standing up for what we know is right. It sounds boring to describe it that way, but really is very cute. The youth are learning to triple swing, Charleston, and do the Virginia Reel as part of it. The actual Road Show will be on October 16th at the Vicksburg High School. I think the performances begin at 6pm. Each Ward or Branch will do their skit and then we will be done.

Our garden is winding down; as I’m sure most are. We got lots of ugly tomatoes, some pretty ones, onions, potatoes, huge zucchini, yellow squash, a few pumpkins and some corn. We might have gotten more, but my sweet husband decided to go big or bust and it turned out closer to bust as we could not keep up with the garden that he envisioned. I asked him to please scale it back next year, but we’ll see if he does that or not. Weeding here is much different than in AZ and the whole growing process is really much different. Things grow faster here and so you must care for it all much more frequently. It’s funny how something so universal as growing food can be so different from one place to another.