Tales from Happy Land

It was kind of a funny week. I suppose weeks never go how you think they will, though. We had a holiday on Monday, and that was really nice. I feel like as a teacher I kind of live for holidays. 😅 But that was the very day I got sick. I'm still fighting it, but I'm starting to feel better!

One cool thing is that Michael got his Patriarchal Blessing last Sunday and Benji got his this Sunday. You have some cool brothers, ya know? And they both have good things they are specifically called to do in this life. It'll be interesting and so excited to watch all my kids' blessings unfold as their lives play out. You guys are magnificent beings!

We did have some sadness this week, though. One day I found out Sister Wren's dad died. He was kind of a cool old guy. It was good he isn't suffering anymore, but sad. And then we found out that a college girl 3 doors down from us committed suicide. There were tons of cars all around that house all day, and people were outside crying and falling on the ground. We were kind of just wondering what was going on. Sister Reed, two doors down the other way, is the one who found out what happened. It's just so sad. Aaron had that girl in his class, and he said she was just such a nice girl. Just last week she'd asked Aaron to introduce her to Brother Clegg, and then she brought him bottled root beer, just like he likes, for doing that.

And then later that day Brother Cline had a major heart attack right there with Aaron at the college. Aaron was able to get an ambulance and get him to the hospital quickly. They flew him to Tucson. He's doing a lot better now. I wonder how that happened. He's so young and seemed like he was in such good health.

And then on Friday night some high school kids, who are part of the GIFT program where they take college classes as well as high school ones, were coming home from a field trip for their auto shop class. One of the vans lost control somehow and rolled. 3 students were ejected in the rollover and died. One was from Duncan, one from Thatcher, and one from Pima. I don't know any of them. I do know the kid from Thatcher was a junior. He was a football player, and he was in his class presidency at the school. It's just so sad.

What a week.

On Monday I had a Zoom call with my guide support. It's a video meeting kind of like you used to have at K12 sometimes. Anyway, she was so helpful! She helped me figure out some problems I've been having with my class and make plans. Technically, at Prenda I'm a guide, not a teacher. This means that education is up to the students. They have to own it. Of course, at the K-2 level it looks different. I have to give them goals and rules and things because they're not really old enough to do it themselves. But the overall theory is the same. Anyway, so that's why they call her a guide support instead of a teacher support. Her name is Emily Crapo. Papa and I call her Emily of the unfortunate last name. 😅 But she's a really nice, helpful lady.

Also, Timmy got his first filling without happy gas. He actually did pretty well, though he didn't like it.

Michael had a concert with the chamber orchestra on Wednesday. It was so great! He's really kind of struggled with some of that music. It's a huge step up from middle school orchestra, but he's so happy that he chose to do it. He's really enjoyed it.

That morning Benji went on a little trip with the band, and he got back on Thursday. They went to some marching band thing at the Capitol. They also went to a musical instrument museum that he really loved. I don't know what all else they did, but he loves that.

And I remember now. Wednesday was the crazy day where the two people died and Brother Cline had a heart attack. That was quite a day.

We went back to the library on Thursday even though all I wanted was a nap. I also emailed my students' parents about noise because it's getting really bad. Emily of the unfortunate last name helped me thing of some tricks to try. So I'm going into the week a little more sure about making things work. I'm really tired of yelling to be heard.

Michael went to the Temple twice this week. His crazy brothers didn't go. Benji's been tired and sick, though. He got the same sick I'm starting to get over. And Joshua's kind of a bum lately, and I think his recommend is expired.

Love you so much, Hyrum! Have a great week! We think of you all the time! I'm so grateful for Elder Taff for being such a good companion for you! I'm so glad you're doing so well. I'm so proud of you!

Love you bunches!

Love, Mommy

Pictures!

Timmy made these time goggles with time fuel cans so he can see into the past.

I hope the sunset pictures are good! I actually needed that sunset. I was stressing out writing that email to parents, and Bubby came and grabbed my hand and made me come and look, and it was just what I needed.

There Michael in his little (but wonderful) orchestra!

And there's Timmy with his primary group. They tied knots.

Papa helping Harry on the haul truck simulator

Pretty sunset

Timmy and Bubby doing green screen

Timmy with Gila Hank

Timmy doing the other simulator while Bubby waits

Benji helping with Aaron's animals. This snake is Johnny

Boys playing with a bucket of Orbees

Jill driving a haul truck. The guy said she did great and that she should go to HR and apply. 😅 She said no.

Bubby said I had to take this picture of him with his new bike helmet and send it to Papa and you! Here you go. :)

Jill sewing in her school

They wanted to learn to sew, and Jen said, "Why not?"

Mad ooze!

When Henry was just learning to talk these were his favorite kind of shoes, the only ones he'd wear. We've been through a few sizes, and these are the current ones. I'm not sure why he started calling them mad ooze. I think because he said ooze instead of shoes, and one day they got muddy.

Hyrum asked me to take some pictures at our house. He misses our house, and the blue skies. Apparently, they're not nearly so blue in Ghana.

He also wanted sunset pictures, so I took a few over a few weeks.

Time travel goggles

Chamber orchestra concert

It was so fun!

Hey, Hyrum! I got your mission book caught up. I'm thinking of redoing it a bit because most of the pages are pictures. Maybe I should squish more of them on a page. I think I will. But for now all the words are in there. Not our conversations on Hangouts and Messenger, and not the memes, but the emails. I hadn't put anything in the book since July, so I had a ways to go. That's ok. It was really neat looking back over the last several months and seeing how we've all changed. Did you know that you've changed a lot in Korle Bu? You have. It's not bad, and I'm not sad about it. I think you've learned some beneficial things, though it hasn't always been easy and fun. Isn't that interesting. The refiner's fire does change us, but it can make us what God needs us to be.

On Tuesday I decided to be brave. You remember those online meetings we had with K12 where you call in and you can listen to your teacher and even talk sometimes? They have something like that like once a month with Prenda, but it's all geared towards the higher grades. Well, this one was art. I decided we could try it. I set my Chromebook on the table where everyone could kind of see. And I have everyone a paper and a pencil, and we had all that and crayons and markers ready. And then the presentation started, and the lecture part lasted too long for my little wiggle worms. They really tried to be patient, but Timmy was running around yelling, trying to deal with the stress of me not letting him play on my computer. (Benji put dolphin and a few old GameCube games on there, but they fight over it and I wasn't getting a turn. I finally put my foot down, but at the cost of Timmy going crazy for a couple of days.) Anyway, I finally told the kids, "Just use whatever we have here on the table and draw whatever you want. I'm going to turn off this meeting."

Your Badger grandparents entered the MTC today. They were supposed to go in tomorrow morning, but since they are from out of state they were let in a day early. Grandma has a bad cold. I hope she gets over that quickly!

Your Uncle Robert is moving about 10 miles away from where he is to Aztec, New Mexico. He's getting a new job as a priest. I honestly didn't know that there were so many different jobs that priests could have. He's changed since he became a priest. He spends his time serving people and trying to bring them to Christ. That makes a difference. It's interesting. I wish he were working in our church, but maybe he can be a blessing to those people anyway. They all love him. That's cool.

We have a lady who comes to clean once every few weeks. We just kind of assign her different areas each time. On Friday I asked her to please clean the kitchen closet. We've had so many mice, and it was getting bad. I was afraid to clean it myself because it doesn't agree with my respiratory system. She did an amazing job. I'm so grateful. It's organized so much better. I kind of want to ask her to do my cabinets too. 😅 (We do pay her, gladly! She does great work.)

I also went to the chiropractor. They took an x-ray and showed me that I do indeed have a compressed disc in my lower back. There was like no space between the vertebrae right there. So they put me on a decompression table. They basically out a belt tight around my waist, and there's a cord attached to the bottom back of the belt thing. And the cord gets pulled by the machine gently and then released gently over and over. It was supposed to help. But getting up off that table was excruciating. That's when it ever hurts mostly - when I get up from laying down. Anyway, we'll keep trying. I guess.

I also was taken to lunch by my ministering sister that day. She's nice. We went to Denny's. Yum!

And then the other two Gila Valley Prenda guides and I got together to discuss things for next year. Also, they have no idea what it's like in my classroom because theirs works differently, so they asked me to please tell them what it's like. I actually loved that. I feel like nobody really knows what it's like, even kids themselves and my big boys who are here every day. So I blabbed on for a good long while. And the other ladies told about their hopes and considerations for next year. I really wish we could recruit more guides here and have more classes. It honestly is time for that right now. Maybe I should have people come and see what it's like. I'm not so afraid as I was before about having people come over. Isn't that interesting. I do clean pretty much every day, focusing on the dishes, the living room floor, and the yellow room floor. So that's good. I don't keep it spotless. Maybe someday I'll arrive at that point. But 6 extra little people on top of the people I already have don't help with cleanliness. 😅 (Snack bags everywhere!!)

I'm sorry. I'm rambling. I don't know what next school year will be like. I definitely want to keep it up. It's hard, but it's good.

I also took Jill to see our doctor, Tajma Palma, on Friday too. I love her. Jill loves her too. She was excited all day to go see her. Her oxygen is good and she's doing great. Her ear infection is gone and she finished all the medicine for it. Phew! And now Jill wants to be a Family Nurse Practitioner like Tajma. (She works like a doctor, but the path to become an FNP is a bit different and shorter than a regular doctor's. But she's a good doctor.) Jill had decided before that she wanted to be a dental hygienist. I guess she's changed her mind.

Anyway, this is a lot of words. I'd better stop now. Tomorrow I turn 42, and that feels old.

I sure love you, Hyrum!! We fasted and prayed for you today that things will go well with your new area and companion. We're so proud of you! Good luck!

Love, Mommy

I don't have a picture of it, but Papa shaved his beard, and it makes his face look thinner. It's interesting. He says he'll grow another beard when it gets cold again.

Jeremy made Swedish meatballs for my birthday dinner. You're supposed to eat them with lingonberries and cucumbers soaked in vinegar. We just had regular cucumbers. And lingonberries are similar to blueberries, so we had those. It all went together surprisingly well. I loved the meatballs and sauce with the blueberries especially well.

Benji made this raspberry cheesecake, and it was yummy! It did crack like it does every year, but it tasted really good. I love cheesecake!

I sure hope you got a nice sleep and that you feel better in the morning! Technically it's 3:30 where you are, but that's too early to feel better. 😁

I taught school Monday, of course. It was my birthday, and I didn't want to teach. 😅 But it ended up being ok. Benji made me cheesecake. It was yummy! It has raspberry pie filling on top. Papa made Swedish meatballs. We watched Alex make them on his YouTube channel, and Papa thought it would be good. In the show they eat it with cucumbers soaked in vinegar and lingonberries, which are related to blueberries. We had just cucumbers and blueberries with out meatballs. If was actually really good. All the flavors went together nicely.

Timmy sure fusses about playing the piano, but it's sure good for him. Jill likes doing piano lessons, but they fight all the time about who practices first or who plays first at lessons.

It actually was mostly a laid back week last week, other than school.

Little guys had a dentist appointment on Thursday. Only Timmy needs work done. Yea!! They all need to brush their teeth, though.

Katie had her surgery on Thursday. I'm so glad it went well. She only had to stay one night before they sent her home, and the screening she had showed no sign of cancer. That's what we like!! We don't know if she still has to do radiation and the other things. I would guess probably so, but things are looking good. :)

I went to the chiropractor on Friday morning. I'm feeling quite hopeful. It actually doesn't hurt nearly as bad getting out of bed anymore. It's so encouraging. I'm grateful.

We really wanted to go camping at the cabins at Roper Lake this Friday because camping would be good and it's still a little cold. On Thursday night there were like 4 or 5 cabins open. But payday was Friday, so I put off reserving them, but by morning they were taken. :( So then we thought we'd go cook hot dogs and bratwurst on the mountain for a picnic, but then our cleaning lady was scheduled to come, so that didn't happen either. :( But we did eat bratwurst for dinner.

We had baked potatoes for dinner. Papa fried some mixed veggies to go with it. :)

I sure hope this week will be better for you as you start setting in, and I hope that the whitewashing goes well! Hello to your new companion!

Love you so much, Hyrum! Just so much!!

Love, Mommy

Henry's pot from the beginning of the school year. He says it's a tornado.

I helped Emmett build this dog.

Abraham Lincoln's birthday!

Hi, Hyrum!

Obviously, our big event last week was the school trip to the zoo. It went so well! I was so happy about that. Most of the kids stayed with us most of the time. They did have to go to the bathroom every time we came anywhere near a bathroom. There are like 5 or 6 bathrooms in the place scattered along the way. The Reid Park Zoo is a lot smaller that Phoenix Zoo, but I liked it. We saw absolutely everything and played on the little play area and had all those bathroom breaks, and all of it was done in two hours. And then we went to the park that the zoo is a part of and ate lunch before driving home. I loved having Papa with me. He was exactly who I needed. He's really good with kids. (Good thing because he has lots. 😅)

Tuesday was I made cupcakes for the Relief Society meeting happening that night and also for Papa's birthday so he could take them to his co-workers. He likes to talk about how his engineers are kind of incompetent sometimes, but he also likes to bring them treats. 😅 I think that's fun and funny.

And then I went to the Relief Society meeting. A lady demonstrated cupcake decorating and then we each got to decorate some cupcakes. It was frustrating because the icing was super stiff and wouldn't come out. It was fun, but overall, I have a hard time with Relief Society meetings. They last long, and all the small talk is not my forte. It wore me out. Still, I love the ladies that I work with on the RS Board, so in the end it's worth it.

Michael has his annual check-up at the doctor on Wednesday. He's large for his age. (Ya think? 😅) The doctor checked him all out and said, "He's a big healthy boy." (He was taller than the doctor too. He's getting closer to 6'.)

Thursday we went to the library. I love being there. Timmy went to coding club and I signed Jill up too because she was all excited about it. Timmy got bored with it and just wants to do his own thing. Jill loved it, though. Next week I'll just let Timmy play while Jill goes to coding club. Ha!

I went to the chiropractor on Friday again. It's becoming a ritual or something. 😅 It was absolutely awful. First of all, as soon as I lay down my back starts hurting. Second of all, he made me roll over this way and that and twisted and squashed and yanked to pop all the things. And then he put me face down on the decompression table. That was so painful! And when you're face down there's not really a way for them to help you up when your done. It hurt. I went out to the car and cried for a minute before I went home. It has been a little better again yesterday and today, though. 🤷‍♀️ I don't know what to do about it anymore.

Oh, on Thursday we had a valentine exchange and decorated cookies. That means I made 4 dozen chocolate cupcakes plus a whole lot of sugar cookies plus a dozen gluten free cupcakes so the gluten free girl in my class could also decorate something. That was a long of baking in a couple of days! I'm sad that all the sugar cookies are gone. I might make some more. 😅

On Saturday Papa took me to the health food store and we got like 5 samples of protein and one big bottle. I hope it'll go good with a banana. Chocolate protein shake with a banana is my favorite. I miss the oatmeal kind. I can't figure out why there isn't any anymore. :(

Papa had his birthday on Wednesday. He got some books and a shirt with snaps, and some new jeans that turned out to be too tight. Dang it! He had chocolate pudding and graham crackers. Yum!

Timmy woke up with a very sore throat today. Papa stayed home with him, but he was feeling lots better by the end of church. Oh well. I don't really regret it too much because they watched some Book of Mormon videos, and Timmy can tell you the stories now. That's magical!

I ended up in the hall again during Sunday School because they never have enough chairs. Jill was with me, and there weren't two seats together that I could see. Jill is a silly. She sat with me out there and wouldn't even go into class when her friends came out and asked her to please come. She says now that she had a bad dream that made her afraid to leave me. I thought she just wasn't feeling well.

And then we fed the missionaries roast and mashed potatoes for dinner. They say that in their mission there are two district leaders and two zone leaders instead of one. Papa's mission only had one. Interesting. We started talking about what we learned at church, and one of the missionaries said he was zoned out the whole time. What?! Papa helped Timmy tell the story of Nephi building a boat and then some later videos that we actually watched again for church today. Bubby was kind of paying attention too. Good stuff! It's so cool that they have those videos! They're long, but they are good. Bubby's favorite part was when the Nephites set up their new city. Houses and a cage for animals. Important! 😅

Henry is climbing all over me, and it doesn't feel great. I'd better get to bed.

I sure love you!! Have a great week!!

Love, Mama

Anteater

Scarlet ibis

Maybe I'm silly, but I think that may be my favorite bird.

Capybara

Squirrel monkey

I thought that butterfly tree was so pretty! All of these big things are lanterns. It was near the beginning of the year, so they had lots of fancy lanterns for Lunar New Year.

So like this dinosaur was a lantern too.

Bubby and Henry

I was so happy when I found all those shirts for just $1 each! I intended for us to paint on them, but it never happened. At least they all matched, and they were easy to spot in their bright orange.