Wordless Wednesday - Beautiful Bossy

I know I did Bossy a few weeks ago, but Baby Doll, Scout, Bossy and I all got our hair cut on Saturday and I think this is likely the first haircut I have paid for her to have in three decades.

Elder Sport: News from North Dakota

Hey Everyone! 

I'm leaving Standing Rock and headed to Williston ND! I'm sad to leave but also hyped! I'm gonna miss Elder H!

This week Elder Meredith of the seventy visited our mission and it was super awesome! We also got to go to the temple for the first time in like a year which was so refreshing. 

Scripture this week is from Elder Meredith at the mission conference, it's Jacob 5:71-72

71 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the last time that I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come.

72 And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things

When we are engaged in the Lord's work, he promises us that he will work alongside us!

Love you all!

Happy Birthday, Princess & Crafty

These two girls have been birthday buddies for as long as they can remember. Princess was born on September 24 and she had just turned 4 when Crafty was born on September 28. They have been friends ever since.

Now that they are grownups, they don’t mind sharing their birthday, but when they were little, that NEVER happened!

I'm so proud of them and the amazing women they have become.

Happy birthday!!

Girls in Aviation Day

We had so much this morning at the Girls in Aviation Day at Airport 2 in West Jordan. They opened up Hangar 3 for us with 25 or so little tables set up with swag and pilots and actual airplanes the kids climb up in.

My grandsons loved getting up in the airplanes!

So did Curly.

Even Baby Doll had a turn.

I think she would be a pretty awesome pilot, what do you think?

She just needs a pair of real aviators...

This one is my favorite. Such good people willing to donate their time and talents. Thank you everyone, for a fantastic day!

Playing General Contractor

We have talked in the past about how busy I get with all the kids and now the grandkids, but you probably didn't know that I am also working as a "General Contractor" too.

Grandpa's house, the one I grew up in, had fallen into disrepair. So much so, that his insurance company gave us one year to make changes or lose insurance privileges. So my brother found a guy who agreed to take a look, but I am the one who has been working with him since my brother lives halfway across the country.

Anyway, the house is looking pretty amazing now with new concrete and stucco. We are still waiting on windows and some paint, but I can hardly wait to give you a sneak peek.

So excited to see it finished!!

Just Finished

You all probably remember that Teach is expecting a little girl around the middle of October (she shared this pic on Facebook at 35 weeks, so I think I'm ok...).

So a few weeks ago, I started working on a quilt for her little one. Then last weekend I just randomly put it on the frames.

October is coming fast!

Tonight I finished it up and I wanted to show you before I put it in a box and ship it off to Teach.

I'm so happy with the way it turned out! Now if only that baby girl turns out to be as awesome as her big sister...

Reading Kingdom Review

Several months ago, US Family Guide asked me if I would like to review Reading Kingdom, a reading program that can help beginning readers learn to read and emerging readers become even better. I decided I needed a little help on this one, so I asked Teach, who has almost completed her Masters Degree in Reading to give it a try with her cute little Twizlet. If you remember, she is just entering Kindergarten.

Here is Teach's professional opinion.

The program provides a basis of sight word learning with repeated exposure and a gradual release of scaffolding. This model was effective in helping my emergent reader learn the letter order for the words that were presented such as "kids" or "cats." The program does not address phonemic awareness, the ability to hear the sounds within the words, which is an essential first step for pre-reading. If the child has already demonstrated mastery of phonemic awareness skills then they would benefit from this program, but parents should make that assessment before jumping in. Each child develops at a different pace, so the age recommendation is a bit inaccurate. I also felt that the sight words chosen were not the most significant words to teach, but I understand the choice based on the CVC word pattern. The graphics were engaging and the activities intuitive. The time required is reasonable for a child that is in kindergarten or beyond. I believe it would be a good intervention for a reader struggling with sight words in the K-2 setting, but is not necessarily a perfect fit for all emergent readers. 

Li'l Sis is a middle school Language Arts teacher who also has a daughter just slightly older than Twizlet who struggles with reading, so I asked her to give the Reading Kingdom program a try. Her kiddo thought the characters were fun, but she struggled to keep up with the typing part of things. Perhaps it would be better if the games had unlimited times or times that were easily changeable depending on the game. 

Last of all, my Baby Doll was in 5th grade and she gave the highest level a try. She thought the games were fun and I thought it was a great way for her to improve her spelling. Unfortunately, after I told her that, she got upset and didn't want to play anymore. 

So let's keep that our little secret, ok?

Elder Sport Looks Great

So much fun talking with this amazing missionary tonight.

He is loving Fort Yates, North Dakota. We sure love him!

A Peachy Weekend

A few days ago, Princess asked me if I wanted peaches. She had found a little fruit stand in Genola that had Lemon Elbertas, my sweetie's favorite. I asked her to get me 4 boxes. I figured I would do a little canning, just not so quickly.

But the peaches couldn't wait, so after we got off the mountain from Grandpa's party, Bossy, Baby Doll, Curly, and I bottled 40 quarts of peaches.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

My dad turned 87 a couple of days ago and when I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, he suggested a little ride in the mountains and maybe a picnic. So today we granted his birthday wish.

We met with the family at a little picnic site by Strawberry Reservoir. 

We grilled some hot dogs and shared salads. Gamer helped the little kids pretend to fish.

Sadly, the weather was not as nice as was predicted and it got windy and cold so we cleaned up a bit earlier than we had planned.

But the ride home was nice.

Happy birthday, Grandpa!

So Proud of Baby Doll

Remember a few weeks ago when Baby Doll made the Jr High Volleyball team? Well, they are tearing up the place!

They have not lost a single match.

Someday this group will be hard to beat. It't hard to believe that most of them are only 11.

Go Bingham!!

Wordless Wednesday - Bossy

Come on, would you even recognize Bossy if she wasn't with me?

Super Exciting News!!

I have some super exciting news to tell you! Remember when the Dog Walker wrote this book for his Senior Project?

Today it is available on Amazon!

Just a Kindle version for now, but soon you will be able to get it in paperback too.

I will keep you posted!

Blast from the Past - Baby Curly

You probably remember that Curly is a 9th grader. So they asked for baby pics to put in the yearbook. I just had to share.

Yeah, you wouldn't know it now, but there was a reason we named him Curly.

Reconnecting

For the last year or so, about once a quarter, my sweetie's siblings have have tried to get together for dinner, memories, and just catching up. Today we met in Utah County for a good old fashioned shrimp boil.

My sweetie's brother and his wife hosted and everyone brought sides to share. My sweet mother-in-law joined us this time and we celebrated her 84th birthday that is coming up on Friday.

Good times.

Happy birthday, Euvonna!

Most Amazing Day

Lemon poppy muffins and errands for breakfast.

Sushi and lots of reminiscing at lunch.

A delicious tomahawk steak and dinner with some of my favorite people and a couple of precious hours alone in my sewing room.

Thanks, sweetie, for the beautiful flowers and a most amazing day.❤