Sunday, April 18, 2010

In April...

JOHN'S EAGLE COURT OF HONOR
We drove out to Heber to watch John receive his Eagle Scout award. Dana did a wonderful job of putting it all together. The ceremony was really neat. I liked watching all the younger boys pick up badge after badge that they'd earned. It made me a little excited to have my own boy scouts. I was especially proud to watch Josh sit in the Eagle's Nest with the other Eagle Scouts. Scouts are cool!

During part of John's ceremony, a man came in with a local bald eagle named Liberty. He told all about the habitat she came from, what she did for food, and why bald eagles were so majestic. It wasn't difficult to see why when you saw her so close...especially when she stared you in the eye. At the end, John had a chance to help hold her up in the air. His face is classic!

COOKING AND PHOTOGRAPHY
Spring Break brought a closing to the after-school classes I was teaching at a local elementary school. Despite my lack of experience with kids, the cooking and photography classes turned out great! Once rules were laid down and consequences were applied, I had a lot of fun helping the kids learn new things. In 1st-3rd and 4th-6th grade cooking classes we made things like cheese balls and flower pot cakes and ratatouille. They were messy but really fun.
In photography class, I worked with the 4th-6th graders on the macro setting, finding the alphabet in the architecture around the school, and building and using a light box. They did such a great job! At the end of the semester we held an art gallery where a few of my artistic friends came in to judge their photographs. The kids worked hard and were really excited. I was so proud of them! I've included a few of their photos below.
Last week I attended the school play that several of my students were in. The school put on a Willy Wonka musical. The kids were so awkward and nervous and fabulous! They made for adorable ompa loompas!

THE SOCIAL GATHERING OF THE LADIES OF LILA
This was our first get together with the female Abersold cousins. Rachel, Christina, and Liz came down from Salt Lake and Darcy walked the two blocks over to my house. The only one missing was Grandma Lila! We stacked plates high with delectables and caught up on what was going on in each others' lives. Short and sweet and really funny.


WARD TEMPLE TRIP
Last Wednesday we gathered with our ward for an endowment session in the Provo temple. We had at least three-fourths of our married-student ward members there (it helps that they all come in pairs). On our way up to the temple doors we ran into a group of missionaries. One of them was wearing my name tag. "Sister Whetten? Umm...I used to be a Sister Whetten. We must be cousins!" I didn't know her grandfather and didn't know there were Whettens in Lindon but it was exciting to meet family. Finding cousins and other family members is easy to do when your family tree explodes from the base of the trunk.

The temple session was wonderful. We met in a small room to listen to the temple president, President Bateman, give us counsel and direction. He reminded us that people on the other side of the veil were with us and hearing the words of the covenants for the first time and that we should represent them well. You never know but you always like to hope that the people of the names you're holding are accepting the work done for them. Josh and I were able to hand out over 20 of my mom's family names. There was one parent and at least nine of her children that were represented by our ward friends. It was neat--a good day at the temple!

END OF SCHOOL
Last Tuesday marked the last day of BYU's winter semester. We celebrated at J-Dawg's with money from selling back our books. Josh has worked really hard this semester to get straight A's in his classes. I haven't worked nearly as hard but I've really enjoyed my human biology class with Josh!

Eating Provo's best hot dogs on the lawn with Ashley on a gorgeous afternoon is a happy way of ending the school year.

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