3/21/11-3/27/11

Monday, March 21, 2011

Morgan and Cole are getting a lot more confident in the water.  I am pretty proud of them since they are able to do things that I've never learned to do. Such as putting my face in the water without pluggin my nose! Alysa is trying to get a little bit braver. She tried to put her face in the water while plugging her nose. She got her nose and eyes in for about 1/4 of a second.  I guess that's progress though!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011
I had forgotten how entertaining plastic easter egg can be!  I pulled out of tiny stash of Easter decorations. There was a bag of plastic eggs.  Cole, Alysa, and Laina could have played with them the entire day if I hadn't made them do some schoolwork.  They were spinning them like tops and having contests to see whose would spin the longest.  They also enjoyed painting and coloring pages for decorations.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011
We sent off two more bags to states.  I am definitely having mixed emotions.  I can't believe how close it is getting to us leaving. Yet at the same time, I don't think it'll ever get here!  I am really going to miss Guatemala but we are ready to come "home"....wherever that may be!
We enjoyed a fun night of Uno tonight.  The kids have been begging us to play with them for a week or so.  They just wait until after bedtime to started asking us.  We keep telling them that they need to ask us BEFORE bedtime!

Thursday, March 24, 2011
My older sister (Brittany) is the food storage specialist in her ward now.  She is also one of the most extreme couponers that I know.  (Yes, she puts me to shame!)  She has combined the two and found a deal for pork that ends up being about $.50/lb after tax, coupons, and weight overage.  Last I heard she was ordering over 1,000 pounds of pork for her ward.  I am desperately wanting to get some pork for when we get back.  The problem lies in the fact that I don't have a freezer and both of my sisters' freezers are full.  So, I have been watching craigslist in hopes of finding an inexpensive freezer.  At lunch time, I refreshed my screen and low and behold, there is an upright freezer for $50!!!  I freaked out and called Meghan on skype.  I was so excited that I was screaming and the kids thought there was a fire or something.  Meghan called the person while I was still on skype with her.  The person had posted the freezer a half hour before and had already sold it!  UGH!!  I told Morgan that I felt like Anne of Green Gables going from an emotional high to an emotional low.  She asked me if I was in the 'depths of despair'.  I still have hope that we will be able to get a freezer and I will enjoy delicious pulled pork when we get back to the states!!!
I went to the sewing class again.  I was on my own today because Sully didn't come and Lily didn't get there until we were finishing.  I think I did amazing well considering I didn't understand half of what was being said!  I think most of the people were more lost than I was.  They said that sewing is its own language that they don't understand!

With all of the Anne of Green Gable talk, the girls and I watched the rest of the movie tonight while Chris and Cole were watching a basketball game with the Bottemas.

Friday, March 25, 2011
Chris took Cole to the dentist today.  It was our last dentist appointment and I am so happy!  I would be happy if I never had to see another dentist for a long time.  (No offense all of my friends in the dental field!!)  While they were out, Chris also took Alysa to pick out some new church shoes.  I was hoping she'd be able to last until we got back to the states and we could get the clothes/shoes out of the storage unit.  No such luck!

Saturday, March 26, 2011
While still being lazy and laying in bed, Chris asked if we wanted to do something different.  So, off to Lake Atitlan we went.  We grabbed some McDonalds to eat on the couple hour drive.  We have been wanting to go on the zipline tour by the lake for quite a while, but just haven't gotten around to it.  Since our time is getting shorter, we thought we better do it before it is too late.  Alysa really didn't want to go, so Chris stayed with her.  The other kids were totally excited though.  Laina wasn't even concerned about having to go tandem with a stranger!  The kid has no apprehension.

Morgan has a thing for flowers.  She got it from her Grandma Hunsaker. 

Pre-tour.

The practice run.  Such excellent form!

We had to hike about 20 minutes up the mountain.  Part way we got to have our picture taken with a couple monkeys!  One is right above mine and Morgan's helmets.

The monkey

We had to cross a ton of rope bridges.  The kids act like they've been doing this their whole lives!

Our scenery for the hike.

The first line!

Morgan and Cole acted like they were professionals.  They couldn't get enough of it.  I attempted to look at the beautiful scenery only to realize that I needed to watch for the red flag to start braking.  Braking consisted of pulling down on the cable with an extra reinforced glove.  Mine ended up getting so hot that it was burning my hand by the last couple of lines!  I also somehow managed to knock my helmet off on the first line.  It's a good thing that I had the chin strap on!  

"Where's Cole?"  -Look in the middle of the picture towards the left.  Look for the tiny red dot of a helmet.  This gives you an idea of how high up we were and how far we were flying through the sky!

Morgan a.k.a. little polka dot above the trees.

Alysa got to hike back down with Chris.  It was kind of ironic that she wore her "Daddy's Girl" t-shirt today!

Alysa's photographic skills.  I really like the pink sweatshirt draped over the shoulder!

Some strange plant thing!

Laina on the last of the eight lines with her guide, Pedro.  After  the fourth line, Laina informed me that she had to go to the bathroom REALLY bad.  How am I supposed to take her to the bathroom when she's got a harness on?  I asked her if she could hold it.  She said she'd try.  That's real reassuring!  I was so worried that she was going to pee on the guide!  She did amazing though.  On one of the lines, something happened and her guide ended up hanging down way below her and stopped about 1/4 of the way out from the end.  Nobody was really sure what was going on.  The other guide had to jump back on the cable and go out to them.  The 2nd guide had to help get Pedro back up to the main cable and then they had to join together and hand pull themselves (with Laina between them) back to the ending platform.  Talk about stressing out a mom!!  They were laughing so I was a little more relaxed but still, my 5 year old is dangling who knows how far above the ground!   She was still smiling and didn't show an ounce of fear or worry!

Out of the 8 people in our group, Morgan and I were the only ones who tried the swings at the end of the trip.
They were a blast!

After finishing at the ziplines, we went into Panajachel to have some lunch and do the tourist trap shopping.  We found a few things to take home with us.  The kids did amazingly well keeping up and not complaining!  There was a specific men's shirt that my brother in law wanted so we looked all over for it.  We found one and they wanted $125 for it.  We asked another vendor if he knew where to get them and he suggested that we go to the market in another town called Solola.  So, off we went.  It is only about 15 minutes away but Laina managed to crash before we arrived.  Chris ended up staying in the car with her while Cole, Alysa, and I searched for the search.  The men all around us were wearing them but we couldn't find any for sale.  It didn't help that it was getting late and the market was shutting down.  I even braved it and stopped a man to ask him where to buy them.  He seemed a little confused with my Spanish (surprise, surprise) and said something that made no sense to me.  It was at that point that I opted to look for the shirt again on another trip!  Sorry, Mitch.  I'm still looking!

On our drive home, we went past the temple and got to see it lit up for the first time!!  Now we just need to get the circus that is in the field below the temple to go away so that the lights don't conflict!

An excerpt from Morgan's journal entry about our day:

         On Saturday, we went on the ziplines in Panajachel, Guatemala.  When we got there Mom,                     Cole and Laina and I got geared up.  Alysa didn't want to go so Dad stayed with her.

         On the first zipline I got really scared.  It is kind of scary jumpng off a cliff and depending on a cable 1,500 feet above the ground!  After the first I was fine.  It was really fun.  After the ziplines, there were swings and things. (I'm a poet and I didn't even know it.  And again!)  Only Mom and I went on them though.

An excerpt from Cole's journal entry:

          My favorite zipline was the fourth one.  The longest zipline took forty two seconds?  The shortest zipline was 5.2 seconds!  Laina had to go with a guide because she wasn't big enough to go by herself.  On either the fifth or sixth Laina's guide got stopped in the middle of the zipline, so the other guide had to go and handpull them to the other side!  I had tons of fun doing the ziplines, and I hope I can do it again in my life.

Sunday, March 27, 2011
The municipality of La Esperanza has started a program in the central park each Sunday for different churches.  Today it was our ward's turn.  I thought the choir was just going to sing one song, but it turned out to be a big huge deal.  There were a ton of people there.  When I got there, a bunch of missionaries were there and asked if I would accompany them for two songs.  Of course they were two songs that I'm not really familiar with.  It was horrible!  Oops!  I forgot to see how many verses there were and stopped playing while they kept singing!  Oh, well.  The choir did o.k.  I'm just glad that it is over!

3/14/11-3/20/11

Monday, March 14, 2011
The kids finished their schooling early so they got to go swimming.  It was a little boring for them without the Bottema kids to play with.
Here are a few recent pictures from the temple.

Baptistry

Gold Leafing

Tuesday, March 15, 2011
I am in clean out mode...have been for a while.  I've been putting stuff in bags and storing them in maids room.  Well, with the whole mouse incident, I've decided to clean out that room.  Tonight, I had Sully take a bunch of stuff for her kids.  She was so thankful and made me really want to give more!
The Relief Society is having activities all week, so choir was cancelled.  Instead of going to choir, I was able to go to the stake center and practice on their piano for a little while.  I am so grateful that the songs that I have to play are relatively easily.  Hopefully I won't mess them up too bad!!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011
I am actually feeling somewhat caught up on stuff.....now what do I do?  I guess I can work ahead on the kids schooling so that when I have busier weeks I won't fall behind.  Or, I could read.  Or waste time on the internet.
In another month, we have to leave the country for 3 days.  Chris is really burned out here and wants to go somewhere other than Tapachula, Mexico.  We looked at some plane tickets and I found tickets from here to New York for $211 each.  We were so excited.  Chris was trying to get some extra time off work and I was looking for activities and hotels.  By the time we looked again, the tickets had gone up to $350 each!!  UGH!

Thursday, March 17, 2011
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
The kids were very sad that for a third year in a row, we were not able to have corned beef for dinner.  Sorry, guys!  I'm doing the best I can here!
The kids did get to go swimming again, followed by a trip to the church for a sewing class.  The lady teaching the class isn't from our ward and she wasn't the friendliest person I've met here!!  I am very glad that Lily showed up.  Otherwise I would have been completely lost!  Luckily, she had gone the previous week and was able to help me out!
After the class, I took a few more boxes of stuff to give away.  Morgan set it all up in a room and everybody went in to pick out what they could use.  I was amazed at how quickly it was all gone and how much the people appreciated it!!
There was a dinner/movie for the Relief Society tonight.  I figured that I hadn't gone to any of the other activities, so I should at least go to this one.  I was very glad that I did.  I picked up about 8 sisters along the way to the church.  When we got there, there were tables set up nicely for the dinner.  I sat down and was quickly surrounded by some wonderful ladies!  I did my best at being part of the conversation.  The sisters in this ward are so patient and helpful!!
The dinner was delicious!  (To be honest I wasn't really expecting much so I was pleasantly surprised!)  While we ate, they played the Emma Smith Story.  It was in English with Spanish subtitles so it was wonderful for me.  I am glad that I'd watched the movie before because I got so distracted by the subtitles.  I kept comparing the English with the subtitles.

Friday, March 18, 2011
Seriously, swimming again?!?!?!?  The kids are being spoiled.  It gives me a good time to get some school work done.  I should get in the pool also, but I am just not motivated to get into a cold pool when I am freezing most of the time anyway!!
I had my LAST appointment with the dentist!!  Yeah!!  He is finally finished!  Chris took me out to dinner afterwards, and I was so nervous to eat on that side of my mouth.  I've been eating on my right side for about 2 months now!!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

There has been no sign of a mouse for over a week now.  That was until the middle of breakfast at least!

 The little rodent ran right in front of me and I almost stepped on it!  YUCK!  Chris got a good laugh out of my little "dance".  It made two appearances, but we failed to get it out of the house.  So, off to the store to buy mouse traps!!

After we purchased our mousetraps (the kids really wanted the snapping ones, but Chris wanted the sticky pads so we got both!)  we went to the temple to take pictures of kids.  I want to submit a picture to the Friend magazine and see if they'll put it in.  I'll probably write (or have one of the kids write it) about being part of building a temple in a foreign country.

This weekend was stake conference.  Chris went to the priesthood session and ended up translating. The stake just bought equipment for translating.  Chris wasn't too comfortable, but the other gringos said it was "Heavenly"  (I will forever think of the Bottema family when I hear that word!!  They are great!)

For the adult session, I got to listen to the translation.  It was the first meeting in over two years that I have been able to understand!!  

After the meeting we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with the Orellanas and the Bottemas.  Afterwards, Chris and I set mouse traps!  

Sunday, March 20, 2011
Success!!  We got him!  Too bad he was still alive.  As I listened to his little squeaks and his struggle to get off the sticky bad, all I could think about was the disappointment on my dads face when Cole "tortured" the rabbit last summer.  Cole shot it with a BB gun but it hadn't died.  My dad kept telling Cole to put it out of his misery. So, against my better judgement, I took care of business since Chris was still in bed and the kids were thoroughly disgusted.  I think my dad would have been proud.

So, after an exciting morning, I got to go play the piano for conference!  The kids loved wearing the headphones and listening to Lily translate for us.  She did a wonderful job.  She told us that she had been fasting and she got up extra early so she could attend the first session of conference.  She wrote down all of the scripture references and was all prepared for our session.  Five minutes before our session started, the stake presidency informed her that they were doing different talks!!  She was definitely blessed for her diligence, as were those of us that got to listen!
We have a great stake presidency!  They even remember our names!!  WOW!!
The piano playing turned out so so.  It is so hard to play when the people sing something else!!  I was caught completely off guard on one of the songs.  The chorister didn't know what to do either.  Oh, well!   On the second song, there are a couple of measures that the piano does in between the verses.  Half of the people didn't know that and started singing.  I am thankful that I have relaxed more in my piano playing otherwise, I probably would have been crying!!  This calling has been a wonderful blessing for me in my life.  I have learned more about myself and my capabilities which I will be able to take with me wherever we go.
So, after the mouse and after playing the piano, I got to go visiting teaching!!  Visiting teaching is one thing that I DREAD doing here, but afterwards I always feel better for having done it.  Today we were going to visit a new sister on our route.  She is a recent convert and we didn't know where she lived.   The Relief Society president went with us to show us where she lives.  It was in the middle of nowhere!  We got lost a couple of times and finally had to ditch the van and walk the rest of the way!
I did the lesson about the organization of the Relief Society (yes, I am a month behind!) and how important it is.  Afterwards, I felt like I needed to share my testimony.  What do you do when you know what you need to say but you just don't know how to put it into a different language?  I just hope that the spirit helped them to understand what I was saying because I felt like I was just babbling!!

3/7/11-3/13/11

Monday, March 7, 2011
Chris and Cole returned home safely today.  Cole was so worried that he was behind in his schoolwork. I had to admit that school was much easier with one less kid!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Good news!  Good news!!  The Bottemas are staying longer!  They were supposed to go back to Utah this weekend but they have decided to stay until May!!  YEAH!!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Thursday, March 10, 2011
So, I was so looking forward to posting that my time at the dentist has come to an end.  No such luck!  I went in to have the crowd put on and it didn't fit!! UGH!!  They have to send it back to the lab and I have to wait another week.
To make things even worse, we came home from the dentist, turned on the light in the kitchen and realized that the "biggest bug ever" that Alysa saw earlier was in actuality a MOUSE!!  We have a mouse in the house.

Friday, March 11, 2011
With the event of last night and my restless sleep due to mouse dreams, I opted to forego school for the morning and clean out the house!  Off of the kitchen is the maid's quarters.  It used to be Dave's room when he came down but it has kind of turned into our packing room.  I've got boxes of stuff to give away, as well as suitcases packed to send back to the states.  Anyway, we completely gutted the room.  We even took the bed upstairs to Morgan and Cole's room so that Taylor could use it tomorrow when he stays with us.
Chris is now teasing me that if he thinks the house needs to be cleaned, he'll just set a mouse loose and I might actually clean.

Saturday, March 12, 2011
The Bottemas had to go to Guatemala City for the weekend but Taylor didn't want to go so he stayed with us.  Taylor and Cole spent most of the day at the Club.  Morgan helped me design and cut out a new baby quilt to use up some of our fabric.  We met a nice couple at the new Subway.  They have been living in Guatemala for 9 years doing some sort of church work.  After hearing them order their food, I am feeling so much better about my Spanish!!
The kids enjoyed their time swimming while Chris and I read, talked, and corrected homework.  Yes, I have procrastinated correcting Morgan's history test for 1 1/2 weeks now!!  Why don't they send an answer key with the curriculum????  6th grade work is so much harder than the 5th grade!!  I can't keep it all straight!
We topped of the day by eating my favorite pizza from Giuseppies while watching 'The Lightning Thief'.  We also got one of our first big hail storm for the year.  Let the rainy season commence!!  I love the hard downpours!  I love the sound of the rain on the skylights.  I love the lightning storms over the mountains.  I love the rejuvenated feeling.  And I especially love the sun shining in the blue sky in the morning!
I have been slowly but surely working on reading the biography of Thomas S. Monson.  Today Chris and I were talking about how we don't have a clue what the future holds for us after this job.  It has been very trying not knowing where we are going next.  I came home and started reading.  This part from Bishop Burton hit home for me:

"When things are very difficult or very complex or have some implications that 

are very challenging, he (President Monson) always relies on his faith.  

'We're in the Lord's hands,' he will say.  

'He'll take care of it.  Do the best you can and don't worry.'"  

(From an interview with H. David Burton, August 27, 2009.)

I really need to work on the "and don't worry" part!!  I know that whatever happens, it will be for the best.  The Lord definitely knows what our family needs more than we do!

Sunday, March 13, 2011
We had the stake presidency in our ward again today.  That is 3 weeks in a row now!  Apparently there has been a problem with the bishop and they are needing to get a new one.  Each Sunday we anticipate getting a new bishop, but no such luck.  Next week is stake conference so it'll have to wait another couple of weeks.
During Sunday school, a member of the stake presidency handed me a paper and said that I have an assignment for stake conference next week. My first reaction is to panic!  Then I looked at the paper and briefly trying to understand the Spanish.  There were two words that popped out to me.  Participate and  present 20 minutes.  My heart just about beat out of my chest.  For a second, I went beyond panic!  There are limits you know!!  Chris played along like I was having to give a talk.  I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest.  A few seconds later, I saw the word piano somewhere in the letter and gave a HUGE sigh of relief.  Who knew that playing the piano for stake conference would ever bring a sigh of relief from me!!  Wish me luck!
We have to leave the country again for Easter weekend.  Chris might have a couple days off of work so we are thinking about going to the states.  The cheapest tickets are to the east coast.  Morgan is going nuts trying to decide what she wants to see and do.  She is really into going and seeing the historical sites that she has been studying about.  Cole is more into trying to the crazy food that he sees on "Man vs. Food"!!

2/28/11-3/6/11

Monday, February 28, 2011 to Wednesday, March 2, 2011
More school.  More choir and piano.  More of the same.  More going through the house looking for what to send back to the states and what to get rid of.  Can you tell that I am going crazy wondering when and to where we will be going.  The future is so up in the air which doesn't work with my planning personality!  I have to keep reminding myself to just enjoy the moment and worry about the future when it gets here!

With Dave being here, Chris has been working from the crack of dawn to the middle of the night.  The kids didn't get to see him for a few days!  The work at the job just isn't improving and he is so frustrated with the progress!!

We did go to the Orellanas house on Tuesday and learned how to make Lily's hot salsa.  It was so delicious.  We also made tortillas on the fire pit thing, and made a whole bunch of other traditional foods.  It was DELICIOUS!  I ate so much that I didn't even eat dinner!

Thursday, March 3, 2011
Happy birthday, Alysa!!  Alysa turned 7 today.  I can't believe that she has celebrated three birthdays in Guatemala!  The week has been so busy that the only time we had to do presents was when Chris came home for lunch!  She was happy that she didn't have to wait for dinner time though.  She received a bunch of books that she was wanting plus some other stuff.
My companion and I went to visit one of our new sisters today.  I have to admit that I DREAD going visiting teaching here.  I have never wanted to not be a visiting teacher but here it is tempting!!  I get so worked up and nervous.  I was surprised at how relaxed the visit was today though.  I wasn't a complete stress case.  I did the lesson and the sister was so patient with me.  Her name is Christina Santos and she is a really nice lady.  She was one of the sisters that came to visit me when I was in the hospital last year.
After visiting teaching, we went to the Bottema's house for their going away dinner.  We loaded up the van with the Orellanas and Sully's family.  The dinner was wonderful and the time together was even better.  I am so sad that the Bottema's are leaving next week.  The kids have gotten to be pretty good friends.

Friday, March 4, 2011
Chris had to take a bunch of people to the airport in Guatemala City, so Cole went with him.  Dave and his son are going to Tikal tomorrow so Chris and Cole are going also.  Cole has been waiting for almost a year for his turn to go and I don't think he could have held in his enthusiasm one more minute!  He was so happy to go!
The girls only weekend began with a trip to the market.  I remember why I don't like to take so many kids.  It is so hard to hold hands, carry bags, talk with the vendors, and not get run over by a bus!
On Monday, I had bought a couple of aprons.  Alysa decided that she liked them and wanted to get her own with her birthday money.  The lady wasn't there and I couldn't find any.  The poor kid was so disappointed.  As we were leaving to go back to the car, we found a lady selling them.  Alysa was able to pick out the one that she liked and bought it.
A family that we visit is out of work so the girls helped me pick out some food at the market and the grocery store.  We packed up a box and Laina joined me and my companion to take it to their houe.  It feels so good to be able to help and serve others!

Saturday, March 5, 2011
The girls didn't want to go anywhere today.  Instead, they wanted to play the WII, read, and make their largest blanket fort yet!  It was so strange to watch the dynamics of the kids without Cole around.  Morgan was quite helpful!  Maybe we need to get rid of Cole more often!

Walking out to the little plane.

Like father, like son!

Chris and Cole took off on the plane at about 6:00 in the morning.  They met up with Dave and his son, Spencer, when they landed.  A bus took them all to the Jungle Lodge hotel in Tikal.  Rather than stay in the town outside of the park, they actually stayed in the park.  They dropped off their bags and went straight to their tour of the ruins.  They got to climb a ton of pyramids and see wildlife.  With the lack of sleep and all the hiking, Cole was a little worn out.

They also got to enjoy the scenery from a zipline!  There were eight different lines that they went on.  They had gloves to "brake" themselves at the end of each line.  One one of the lines, Cole used the wrong hand and burnt his hand a little.  He still thought it was a lot of fun though.  They got to see cacti growing on the trees also.

Cole flying through the rain forest.  Reminds me of "Go, Diego, Go"

Ready for the next line!

With all of the excitement of the day, Chris and Cole welcomed a chance to go back to the hotel to relax for a little while before heading back to the ruins to watch the sunset.  Cole wasn't completely impressed but Chris enjoyed it.  

Do you really have to stand on the edge of 20 story drop off?

After enjoying the sunset, it was pitch black for the walk back to the hotel.  Cole had to go to the bathroom so bad but was scared to go where the animals were.  The guards in the park had to walk with them because they were the last ones out and they didn't have any lights!!  

Sunday, March 6, 2011

A good nights rest after a long day was just too much to ask for.  Cole and Chris were woken up at 3:00 in the morning by the howler monkeys outside of their bungalow!  They were able to go back to sleep for a little while until all the birds decided to wake them up at 7:00.  

Today Cole and Chris walked around, visited a museum, and the gift shops.  They saw a crocodile and Cole's favorite, the leaf cutter ants.  He liked to look at their highway through the forest. 

Why is my kid standing on the edge of the water where a danger sign is posted??

Can you see the crocodile?

Leaf cutter ant carrying a leaf.

They returned to the hotel for lunch and to read before flying back to Guatemala City.   I think that both of the boys thoroughly enjoyed their time together!

While the boys were out on their adventure,  the girls and I went to church, had our family primary, relaxed and worked on updating the blog FOREVER!!  I have been procrastinating a little too much!

2/21/11-2/27/11

Monday, February 21, 2011 to Thursday, February 24, 2011
Nothing too exciting to write about.  (Plus it was so long ago that I can't remember!!)
The girls helped to clean all of the shells that we found.  Any good ideas for craft project that involve shells??

Friday, February 25, 2011
Today was Carson Bottema's birthday and we (Whitneys, Bottemas, and Orellanas) all went swimming at the club.   There were 6 boys ages 9-13 so Morgan opted to stay home and do homework!!  I can't say that I blamed here...especially after sitting on the side of the pool listening to the crazy kids having a blast!  Alysa, Laina, and Isabella had fun though!

Taylor, Georgy, Cole

Sebastian, Isabella, Alysa, Laina

Taylor, Juan Fer, Carson

Saturday, February 26, 2011
Sully's daughter was celebrating her 15th birthday.  In the Latin culture, a girls 15th birthday is a big deal and is called a Quincenera.  Natali is also in my piano class so we went to the party.  I had to drag the entire family but we went!  Once we got there, the little girls had a blast playing on the trampoline (in their church clothes!)  Chris, Cole, and Morgan were absolutely miserable the entire time.  We got there 45 minutes late, waited for an hour and finally left to go to McDonalds to get the kids some food.  When we returned, Natali and Sully had arrived and the party began.  There was a big dinner which Sully had cooked.  There was also music, dancing, etc.  It was awkward as usual being in a different environment but I was glad to be able to go and support Sully's family.

Alysa and Laina in the tree house at the party.

Alysa and Laina in the little playhouse.

Sunday, February 27, 2011
In Relief Society, I was reading the lesson in the Ensign when all of a sudden the teacher said, "Hermana Whitney."  I looked up completely caught off guard.  She repeated a question to me very slowly and I understood the question and answered!  She had asked me what things I do with the kids in the house.  I answered that we do school, clean, and cook.  The people that she asked after me answered, "We have family home evening.", "We read scriptures.", "We say prayers."  Why didn't I think of all that???
After surviving that, I was called out of class to have a visiting teaching interview!  GEEZ!  They're killing me!  I was assigned some new sisters and some of the same for a total of 5!  Luckily 3 of them are in the same family!

Since I hadn't stuck out enough already today, I decided to go to a stake women's choir practice.  I have no idea what it is for but I went anyway.  The stake music coordinator remembered me and even called me out by name to see what part I sing.  (To be honest, I really don't sing!!)  I was doing pretty good until they decided to combine two songs together with each part singing something different!  I didn't quite get the instructions so I did a lot of lip syncing while watching the person next to me to see what I was supposed to be doing!!  On top of that, I couldn't pronounce a bunch of the words in the song and some beats had 2 words combined into one and there was no music to read, etc!  I need to decide if I am going to go again next week!!  (:

When I got home, Dave, Spencer, and Tom came for dinner.  They had just gotten in to Xela for a week of work.  Dave brought a bag with 30+ books that I had ordered!!  He said that at one point there were 20 packages sitting in his bedroom for us!  The books all came from different used book stores from around the country so they were getting multiple packages each day!   Cole should have plenty of reading material to last him for a little while!