Temples in Utah

I was recently thinking about all the temples we have operating right now and wanted to know the exact number. I got onto www.lds.org and found out we have 136 operating temples, 3 under renovation, and 15 under construction, and 14 just announced. There are a total of 16 in Utah:
Bountiful
Brigham City
Draper
Jordan River
Logan
Manti
Monticello
Mount Timp
New Provo Temple (Tabernacle being rebuilt)
Ogden
Oquirrh Mountain
Payson
Provo
St. George
Vernal
Salt Lake City

Another Funny From my Classroom

At the beginning of the year, I had the kids write about their favorite part of summer break. One little boy wrote he went to Sea World. He explained his favorite part was seeing the sea lions, only he didn't quite get lions spelled right. He got the o and the i mixed up. I laughed. The day kids want to see the sea loins will be an interesting day....

Funnies from my Classroom

I was reading a child's writing piece he had started earlier this week. I was editing it but noticed as I read along, one of his sentences didn't make a whole lot of sense. It made me laugh, but didn't make a whole lot of sense. At least, not the point he was trying to make. The story was about a boy who falls off a boat and is attacked by a shark. The solution was the father came to the rescue "with a rope and some boards to make a fart". Wait a second. I asked the boy how he could make that from a rope and boards and how that helped the boy get rescued from the shark. He responded he accidentally added a line across the letter in the beginning. Even then, it wouldn't say raft.....

There is a boy in every classroom who likes to do things for attention, a class clown what have you... I had 2 for awhile, one moved but I still have 1. This kid usually drives me bonkers, but today he was actually quite funny. I'm constantly asking him to spit things out of his mouth. Usually he is chewing on paper. Apparently I don't understand how tasty lined paper could be. He saw I had a rice cake on my desk (left over from a previous lesson on using salsa verbs instead of boring rice cake verbs in a writing piece). He asked me if I actually eat them. I told him I did. He explained how rice cakes didn't have any taste. He continued by saying, So you eat rice cakes like I eat paper...so you don't get hungry!

This same little boy, who isn't a very big kid at all. Actually he is quite tiny, even for a fifth grader. I was helping another student but jumped when something touched my leg. I looked under my desk to find this little boy curled up in this tiny space. I told him to get out from under my desk and that no one should be touching my legs! He laughed, and expressed how he was going to tell the guy I am dating that he should rub my feet. Where they get these ideas, I don't know.

One little girl (rather a mischievous, but not in an annoying way at all...) found out I was dating someone. We were studying our vocabulary words for the week, one being disengage. I explained how that meant to unhook or take apart. She raised her hand and asked what engage meant then and why we say people get engaged. I explained that it meant to join into something, in the case of engagement means to join in purpose and marriage. A few minutes later, this same little girl expressed "When your boyfriend comes to meet us, he is going to engage you! He's going to get down on a knee...." She then acts out someone opening up a ring box... "and then you are going to go...Woohoo!" (With her jumping in the air with both hands in fists punching the air...)
I laughed and sent her down to PE.

The past several months have been difficult at times because my boss sets some unrealistic expectations. This week, however, has made it all worth it!

Dear Thanksgiving,

My dear friend, it may seem you have been over looked and pushed to the side. You are important to me and appreciated. However, under the current circumstances, I want to clarify my actions to some degree. The other night (or morning depending on how you look at it) I was traveling home from a friend's house when a Christmas song came on the radio. I was quite surprised, but must admit pleasantly surprised. I didn't change the station or even poo pah at the fact it was November 1, 2011 and Christmas music was coming out of my speakers. I understand your great significance to our great country, and hold firm to the necessity of this celebration. Please don't take it personally when I listen to Christmas music, buy Christmas ornaments, create Christmas presents and am hunting for a Christmas tree already. I treasure you with all your pumpkin pie, turkey, mashed potatoes and eating until I feel my innards threaten to become my out-ards. In fact, some fond memories have come to pass because of you. I will never forget standing in line waiting to eat at Chuck-A-Rama when Ashley called back that she didn't pay for any of our family, in the process shouting at all the customers in between. We've been laughing at that for years. But, that one little shining moment doesn't hold a candle to the Christmas lights (especially at Temple Square), putting together a puzzle piece in the puzzle in the kitchen and many more. I've been thinking about a solution to what may seem to you as a frustration, or more severely, a problem. You may consider having a song. But I suggest this with caution. Don't be creating songs about growing corn stalks blade by blade or stuffing our faces full of food. No one wants to sing about that. Good luck with this endeavor and let me know what solution you come to find. In the mean time, I will listen to my Christmas music, and shop for tree decorations. Thanks for being a steady and faithful friend through the years.

Your friend,

Aimee

Super Saturday in Boise

The trees in Boise right now are absolutely beautiful! I loved the slight color change on them. During our drives around town, we saw all sorts of colors, brilliant red, orange, and everything in between.
So, Mom and I talked for about an hour before anyone else was up. Then Ash woke up and stole the phone to talk to Mom. She wasn't on the phone longer than 5 minutes and they were disconnected. Ash was less than thrilled about that. Then Mom called back....
...then Donny stole the phone from Ash and talked to Mom for awhile.
While all the stealing was going on, I got ready for the day.
Ashley got the phone back from Donny and talked to Mom all the way to our next destination....








After playing in Winco, we checked out. Ashley got Donny chips that were Halloween Ghosts, pumpkins and bats. Clever....


After drinking all sorts of yummy things, I really needed a little girl's room. This was the next stop.
Ashley got Halloween candy to go in the Spider web and ghost.
We went to Good Will next. We found these CUTE shoes, but they were too big for either one of us!
Treasures we found at Good Will and DI that day: microfich reader, mail box, fake trees (which I got for my room) and full adult size feety pj's with snowflake gem on the zipper....
Yes, we shoved that tree in the back of Ashley's car. I put my seats down and drove it all the way back to my house. It looks perfect in my room!
Ashley found all sorts of goodies, and paid exact change for it. It might be surprising people use cash anymore, but the most amazing thing about the exact change was it was ALL the change she had in her wallet. Not even a loose loner penny left over....
Our last stop was at Costco for some essentials and parked next to a van with some unique curtains....
Lunch on the go.....
The essentials included: pizza slice for Donny, pumpkin pie for Donny and Dad, and Roasted Red Pepper soup for everyone.
In case there was any mistaking where we went for lunch, I included my Costco card....


Friday night, we went to Thai Pan Trading and found this cute white owl ornament. (Can you believe we can buy Christmas decorations already??) Ash needed to introduce one little owl friend to the owl ring (which she previously got at Thai Pan).
Dad and Ash looking up movies for tonight. We ended up going to Cowboys and Aliens. It's definitely a guy movie, through and through.
At Good Will, I tried on a shoe that Ash decided she didn't want. As I was straightening back up, I found this cute gray shirt calling Ashley's name. It came home with her.

Dad wanted to spray off "a couple things" as he said it. We wondered which bees he wanted left on the front of the van.
That guy in the suds is a goner either way. No surviving the soap bath.



Second trip to Costco for half this party....


We exhibited our best behavior as there were many people at Costco following the BSU game. (Which was a close game, but BSU won). We killed a lot of time while waiting for the movie to start. Later that night, I was introduced to the all so famous Angry Birds game. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! I love visiting my family. It was so enjoyable for me to spend the weekend together!

I bought all these pavers from my neighbor for 35 dollars. I am gearing up, thinking about and gathering ideas for landscaping my yard next spring....







I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted something! During that month span, I hit my 6 month mark in my house. It doesn't seem like that much time has gone by! I have accomplished a lot in my cute house. Some of which includes: changing toilet seats, adding shower heads, adding knick knacks to faucets, got a new fridge, caulked, painted, replaced vent covers, added curtains to my room, painted a wall green, got a queen size bed, looked and gave up on my garage door opener, grew a garden, sprayed for bugs, sprayed for bugs again, sprayed for bugs again, sprayed for bugs again, sprayed for weeds, sprayed for weeds again, sprayed for weeds yet again.

The last picture is of a cake I made on Monday. It's with a white cake mix on the bottom. I mixed together raspberry jam with cool whip and spread that over the cooled cake. I then cut up kiwi and put that over the cool whip. I added raspberries, and strawberries and coconut on top. It turned out looking so yummy (and oddly like a Christmas cake...)

Happy 6th month anniversary!!

lightbulb, spider and bone

You may be wondering what these three seemingly random items might have in common. Well, these all happened TO me in the period of an evening in my garage. I bought a lightbulb to replace my headlight and parked my car in the garage to stay out of the sun while changing it. While I was proud to say I remembered how to change the light bulb, I was not pleased with a huge, big, nasty spider who thought he was going to help me change the light bulb. He was parked right in front of my front tire. If I had driven another inch, that fatty would have been toast. (It would have also saved me the experience of smashing him with a shoe. Not sure which way he preferred to die...) After changing the headlight, I was cleaning out my car. I threw some trash in the garbage sitting outside my house, and saw a bone on my way to the garbage. This was not a dog bone, but I sincerely hoped it was an animal bone and not something else....I didn't want to touch it either way. Having put my beautiful bed together recently, I had a bunch of cardboard and Styrofoam waiting to be taken away. I took some pieces of styrofoam and discarded in the trash. Ok, if this day wasn't considered random, I don't know what is.... How was your day?

Blessings from Heaven

I called the PT office yesterday to clarify some things on a bill I didn't understand. While I was on the phone with them, they told me my account had a 140 dollar credit somehow and asked if I wanted that applied to the surgery bill I still owe. I immediately agreed. Now, I only owe 272 dollars on my knee surgery and I am done! Now to pay for the hyperbarrack chamber.... The Lord is so good to us! I feel so blessed.

Shanghai's Orchestra and Opera

I went to a performance by a famous Orchestra and Opera group from Shanghai. They performed at BYU last night, and at BYU-Idaho in Rexburg the previous night. They said how they loved the being able to see the mountains and friendly people, but especially the clean air! They played a few songs and then introduced their instruments. They had instruments I saw when I visited China a few years ago, and some I had never seen before. They had instruments that sounded like a banjo, and a guitar. They also had ones that literally looked like all they did was cut a violin into several smaller instruments that only had 2 strings. The instrument itself was held parallel to the body and balanced on the player's lap while the string is brushed across the body of the instrument perpendicular to the player's body. They had drums and a long guitar/harp instrument that was plucked and pounded rather than strummed. I laughed at the names, and chuckled at the sounds produced by these instruments I had never seen before. I loved it! How cool it was for me to receive such a cultural experience by just driving down south for an hour.

Out of the mouth of babes....and a little older

"You're not a copy catter, you're a doggy catter!"
"If Dora the Explorer was a real explorer, she would have been shot at least 6 times by now."

Freedom is....

For writer's workshop today, I read the picture book called Courage. Each page has a description from a kid's perspective what Courage is. After reading the story, I had each group of kids write what they thought Freedom was on a sentence strip. This is what they came up with:

Freedom is when you go out and having fun.

Freedom is the right to be free!

Freedom is staying up late on Monday because friends come to your house to watch Monday night football.

Freedom is riding a horse.

Freedom is a reward after working.

Freedom is the unimaginable joy when you are doing the thing you love!

Freedom is being born!

Freedom is being yourself.

Freedom is America.

Freedom is going to the bathroom after sitting through a movie after drinking 2 sodas!

Freedom is a dream of a wonderful thing!

Freedom is a happy feeling when you are trusted with a responsibility.

Freedom is having nothing to worry about.

One of my favorites: Freedom is when your parents are gone.

What is freedom to you?

Drum roll if you please....

I have always wanted a green wall in my room. So, I lived with paint chips taped to my wall for a couple months, but couldn't decide on one. I went into TJ Max with a friend of mine and came across a bedspread set I fell in love with, and bought it. Then I came home, and found exactly the color I wanted and bought the paint the next night. Friday, we were off from school and I spent the day painting my room. Saturday, I set up my queen size bed. Today, I brought home my queen mattress. Ta-da! My room is looking more than an adult rather than a kid room. I LOVE it!! I am so excited to go to bed tonight!