Sharing Gifts, the Gospel and Love for Christmas

This Christmas season I felt especially blessed with temporal needs (food, clothing, finances), the gospel and love (from family and friends, most of all Brittney). I felt a great desire to share these three things with as many people as I could. It is not appropriate for me to share all the experiences I had, but I felt the Lord guided me in who I could help and how.

Brittney bought me too many presents for Christmas. I felt like a little kid again as I opened Lincoln logs, a wooden train, and the snap pants I've been asking for since last Christmas as well as CDs and books. I gave Brittney wooden spoons, a mixing bowl, a deep skillet, running pants, the game Life on the Farm, and Santa Claus brought us a toy dairy farm set and Illinois pullovers. Just a comment about the wooden spoons. I knew Brittney wanted some more of them, so I went out and got some for her the Monday before Thanksgiving to give her for Christmas. Two days later we were having a conversation and Brittney mentioned something she was thinking of buying, and I told her not to buy anything for herself during the month before Christmas, because someone might be giving it to her for Christmas. The very next day she went out and bought herself some wooden spoons because she needed them for our Thanksgiving dinner. I laughed so hard; I had to explain to her why, even though it spoiled the surprise.

Brittney signed up to take dinner to a couple people in our ward who were unable to leave their houses on Christmas. I invited some people from my lab and other friends over for Christmas dinner. I was worried how we would be good hosts and take out the meals while it was still hot, until finally it dawned on me that we could have our guests go with us to take the meals out. We had a feast, then I took Ming Feng and Yaodong, both from China, and Andulfo, from Hondorus with me, and Brittney took the Jacks with her to deliver the meals. We tried singing "Jingle Bells" at the house I went to, it was a humble version with only one native singer. It was a good experience though for everyone. When we got home, we all played Life on the Farm, and Dr. Ming Feng won. It was a great Christmas.

Proposition 8

Our local newspaper ran an editorial a couple weeks ago wherein the author questioned why the Mormon church was so concerned about the passing of proposition 8 in California when there were so many people sick and in need of help, so I wrote an answer and it appeared in the Savoy Star today. I thought you might like to read:

To the Editor,
I applaud the passing of Proposition 8 in California. God set the standard for marriage when he commanded Adam and Eve to cleave unto each other. Children are most likely to succeed in a home where there is both a father AND a mother, neither being wholly dispensable.

The people in California are choosing to not endure a breakdown of the true definition of marriage between a man and a woman. Alexander Pope reminds us that first we endure, then pity, then embrace. Embracing an alternate definition of marriage would jeopardize propagation of the human race because same sex relationships cannot produce children on their own.

People of different backgrounds are standing together on this vital issue. Legalization of same sex marriage imposes on rights of educators, adoption agencies, and civil servants to follow religious beliefs. For example, Catholic Charities in Boston stopped adoption services because advocates and government officials challenged their right to follow their religious beliefs, placing children in homes with both a mother and a father.

The joys of marriage between a man and a woman, and the ensuing joys of having children are worth every cost. I have been married to my wife for three years now. It is hard for me to remember now how I ever survived without her. Our differences compliment each other and help each of us become a better person.

Anyone interested in learning more about why Mormons would spend so much money promoting Proposition 8, the importance of family, and what we are doing to relieve the sick are invited to talk with our missionaries or visit www.mormon.org
Sincerely,
Bruce Richards

Thanksgiving

I know I have posted a lot today, but I have the day off, Bruce is napping, and I have nothing else pressing my schedule to do. Bruce and I wanted to stay here for Thanksgiving, but we wanted to have something more than just the two of us. We decided to schedule the church building and invite anyone in the ward who wanted to join us for a Thanksgiving feast. We had some volunteers, so we gave everyone food assignments, brought a lot of games, and had a great time. I cooked a 23 lb. turkey which was ready way too early, and we had more food than we could possibly imagine between turkey, ham, duck, stuffing, potatoes, salad, etc.


We visited for a couple of hours before hand and played a friendly game of basketball. We played card games and more basketball after dinner. Bruce and I were at the church from 10:00 am until 7:00 pm, but it was loads of fun. We had a member in our ward from Taiwan bring a friend from China, and Bruce brought the Akbar from Iran and Dr. Ping from China (they work in his lab) also. They brought the duck and some other Chinese desserts. We had plenty of pie, and I took a boat load of leftovers home. I was really glad we were able to stay here for Thanksgiving. It made things a lot easier, and despite the preparations, it was actually a very relaxing day. I had the day off of school on Wednesday, so I made some of the dishes then. I'm glad we were able to express our thanks to every one sitting at the table. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.


The Saturday before Thanksgiving, we played in the Elder's quorum annual Turkey Bowl. I ended the game with 2 Touchdown, 1 TD pass, and 1 interception. Bruce and I were actually on the same team this year, but our team lost by 2 touchdowns. It was extremely cold in the morning, but we warmed up as we were running around. We enjoyed some great apple cider and donuts during half time.

Bruno!

Bruce has a new friend named Bruno. Let me explain. 5 years ago, I was driving home to Wyoming from a friend's wedding reception in Bear River City. It was close to 10:00 at night and I was traveling through Morgan canyon. As most people know, a lot of deer roam the canyon roads. When I was half way through the canyon, a deer jumped over the cement barrier right in front of me. It was still in the air when I hit it. It took out the front end of the car, broke the hood latch, and ended up totaling the car. The amount of damage far exceeded the worth of the car. This picture doesn't justify the extent of the damage, but it is all I have.
It was perhaps the most frightening experience of my life. In order to reference this deer in the future, my dad named him Bruce after my brother pointed out that I gave him some abuse. From that point on, I have referred to all deer as Bruces. Keep in mind that this was before I actually met my husband or anyone by the name of Bruce. That year my dad said that everyone at school would hear how much abuse I gave Bruce and no one would date me. He also thought it would be funny if I met someone named Bruce. Needless to say, that year in college was the year I had the most dates, and the year I met my husband Bruce. I lived through that experience and hoped that it would never happen again. Unfortunately I was dead wrong. Monday night I was driving home from our regional basketball game (we lost). Sellers road goes between corn and soybean field, and a small orchard. On the left side of the road I saw a deer starting to walk across. I slammed on my brakes and felt them lock up, but I didn't come to a complete stop. I was able to slow down to about 30 miles an hour. While I was slamming on my brakes, I saw the deer stop momentarily. However, right when I got next to it, it dropped it's head and ran full force into the side of my car. That blasted deer hit me. Poor Frank (the car)! I screamed and nearly let go of the wheel. The deer made me slow down to about 10 miles and hour, so I quickly gained control and pulled over to the side of the road. Although it was dark, I tried to make out the extent of the damage. Nothing too bad, except that now our car is ugly with this nice little hole in the side of it. It is hard to see, but there is also a slight scrape all the way across the driver's side door.

As is customary procedure, Bruce and I gave that deer a name. I had to think of something that went well with Bruce, so we came up with Bruno. If you are wondering why there is a hole in the side of our car, you can thank Bruno. Luckily no one else was injured in the slightest, and I think Bruno ran off anyway because we couldn't find him.

Louisville Kentucky

For the second year in a row, Bruce and I traveled to Kentucky for the All American National Livestock Expo centered in Louisville. Also for the second year in a row, Bruce was presented an award from the American Jersey association. Last year, we spent way too much time (3 whole days) with the animals at the Expo center. This year I told Bruce that I wanted to do something else in Louisville. I browsed the internet and found the Louisville Slugger Museum, a tourist attraction, and where they make baseball bats for the major leagues. I forced Bruce to take me, and there we spent an entire afternoon. We went on a tour of the Slugger factory where they showed us up close each step of the bat making process. Originally, they used to turn bats by hand, making one bat in 30 minutes. Now they have machines that do the same thing (with better accuracy) and it only takes 30 seconds per bat. Most bats were made of Ash. However, Barry Bonds uses maple bats and they have become increasingly popular. Maple is a little weaker wood than Ash, so most of the bats that break in the major leagues are made of Maple. The tour guide tried to tell us that Rawlings made all the bats that break. It is interesting to see how the bats have changed over time and which major league player has the most influence over the types of bats used. A major league player can call the factory and have a load full of bats delivered within two days. The longest part of the whole process is staining the bats which needs an entire day to dry. They are still dipped in the stain tank by hand. The major league players who have contracts with Louisville have an engraved autograph which the factory brands on the end of their bats. In the factory, they have separate machines and areas for major leagues, minor leagues, and retail bats. If you want to pay $60.00 or more, you can purchase a signature bat that is custom made for you. In the museum they have a presidential exhibit where it talks about the presidents' opinions on baseball and has their signed autograph from when they threw out the first pitch of the World Series. I didn't actually know that so many of our past presidents played baseball in college. William Taft was the first president to throw the first pitch of the World series, and Herbert Hoover was the only president to be booed while throwing the firs pitch because he shortened the baseball season during WWI. JFK and and one other president were ambidextrous and threw out a pitch with both their left and right hands. In one area of the museum, they have a cage that shows you how fast a 90 mph fast ball is. You stand behind the cage as if you were the umpire, and it takes 1/3 of a second for the 90 mph fastball to hit the catchers glove. No wonder a person who can hit the ball 3 times out of 10 is said to be a great hitter. They also have batting cages where you can use the same signed wooden bats as the professionals. Here is a picture of me batting using a Ken Griffy Jr. bat:

At the end of your tour, you get a free souvenir (a miniature Louisville Slugger). Bruce and I had tons of fun. If you are a baseball fan, you should definitely find your way to the Louisville Slugger museum.
We took a walk downtown Louisville, and enjoyed the view of the Ohio River.
We found the fake Derby horse to be quite funny, especially since it was placed in front of the bank.
Later, we drove for around an hour (supposed to be 12 minutes away) looking for the Louisville temple. Using Mapquest, we put in a Louisville zip code. The temple is not actually in Louisville, which is why it took so long to get there. After making 2 phone calls to the temple to ask for directions, we finally found it sharing the same parking lot as a church. We eventually did make it to the Livestock Expo, and I watched a Llama show. It was funny to watch a Llama try to go through an obstacle course even though I had no idea what they were being judged on. Our 3 day weekend to Kentucky was quite fun, but the Louisville Slugger Museum was definitely the highlight of the trip.
Enjoy the pictures:

Halloween

I know, I know... I am extremely far behind. The month of November brought 10 basketball games in about 16 days of school. We seemed to travel somewhere or do something every single weekend, and now I can't believe that the month of November is nearly over. I guess that is a good thing that life passes me by so quickly that I don't seem to notice the time of day, but at the same time I wonder what have I accomplished today? Surviving another day in front of a classroom is at times accomplishment enough, but I would like to find other things to do in my life than teach, grade, plan, and coach. That is why it is November 28 and I am now getting around to posting about Halloween. Where do I even begin?

To be completely honest, I'm not a big fan of Halloween. I don't really see the point of dressing up as some other object just to get a bunch of candy. In fact, I hate dressing up, and every year it is a debate as to what to dress up as, or if I should dress up at all. I don't want to be a complete "Bah Humbug", so I always go as something. However, I usually decide what I am going to be about an hour before the Halloween party, and then I am never very convincing with my costume. This year however, was slightly different. About a week before Halloween, I was talking on the phone to my 11 year old brother in law, Paul. He suggested that I should dress up as a pink Flamingo. At first I just laughed, but then I thought, what a great idea? No one will expect it, and no one else will be dressed like that. I went to the store 2 days before Halloween, and bought a few pink items of clothing. And Voila!



Bruce wanted to go as a type of clown and wear his "hot pants." However, while we were at the store buying pink clothes for my big debut, he found a small white hat and looked like Gilligan from Gilligan's island. Hence:


We enjoyed the Chilli and cornbread at the ward Trunk or Treat and we brought along some friends from China and Iran who work in Bruce's lab. They wanted to experience as much American culture as possible. They were delighted by the many creative costumes others dressed up as, and took plenty of pictures. They even handed out small Chinese treats.

That night I was invited by the woman I visit teach to go with her to the Illini football game Vs. Iowa. I excitedly accepted. When we got home Bruce went trick or treating to our neighbors house, and they gave him 2 tickets to the same football game because they were going out of town. Bruce had to find someone else to go with because I was already going with someone. We were both at the game, but we didn't sit anywhere near each other. Bruce was one one end of the stadium and I was on the other. Either way the fighting Illini pulled out a close victory 27-24. It was a very exciting game and a fun Halloween.

What kind of pie are you?

I saw this on my friends blog, so I thought I would try it out. I'm not really a big fan of pie, unless it is banana cream or peanut butter - those are the ones I like the best. Apple pie is good occasionally.

You Are Apple Pie

You're the perfect combo of comforting and traditional. You prefer things the way you've always known them. You'll admit that you're old fashioned, and you don't see anything wrong with that. Your tastes and preferences are classic. And classic never goes out of style. Those who like you crave security. People can rely on you to be true to yourself - and true to them. You're loyal, trustworthy, and comfortable in your own skin. And because of these qualities, you've definitely earned a lot of respect.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Bruce on the other hand loves pie.
Bruce is:

You Are Pumpkin Pie

You're the perfect combo of uniqueness and quality. You're able to relate to many types of people with many different tastes. But you're by no means generic or ordinary. In fact, you're one of the most original people around. Those who like you are looking for something (or someone) special. You tend confuse people when they first meet you. But you're not as complicated as you seem. Even though you have a lot of spice and flavor to you, you're never overpowering. You are a calm and comforting force in people's lives.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

I voted!

Usually I am forcing myself to get out of bed by 6:50, sometimes as late as 7:00 so I can get ready and leave for school around 7:20. This morning however, I accomplished a mighty feat. I got out of bed at 5:50, hopped in the shower, dressed, and drove over to the polls to vote. I got there around 6:10, stood in line for about an hour and got back home at 7:15 - just in enough time to leave for school. Although I wasn't completely thrilled with the idea of losing sleep to fill in ovals, I felt like it was my civic duty to vote. I couldn't later because I had work, parent teacher conference, and basketball games to coach. I would not have been able to if I hadn't gotten up early to do so. My vote probably wouldn't have made a difference anyway, but at least I feel like I am a good citizen.

Helpful person!

We won both of our basketball games tonight. When our teams wins, I seal the victory with the ever famous victory dance. Over the past 3 games, I have had about 6 people ask me this question: "What the heck was that?"
Some fans like it, and are sad when we lose and they don't get to see the victory dance. I have even got some of the girls to join in. Others just think I am a little crazy. The principal of the elementary school saw it for the first time last night. He told me that the victory dance is a bad, bad dance. (If you haven't seen it, you might be able to convince me to perform it for you - if you get a victory that is.)
Tonight after the game I had the following conversation with that principal:

Principal Jeff: Brittney, where is the light switch that turns this stage light off.
Brittney: Oh, it's over there (pointing in the direction he just came from) somewhere. It's a button. If you push it, the light will turn off.
Jeff: Thanks, (sarcastically)that's a big help.
Brittney: I consider myself a very helpful person.

Batting Averages?

We had parent teacher conference at my school this week. Needless to say I have had some long days especially since I coached a basketball game both nights after my parent teacher conferences. Bruce has had an equally busy week, leaving us both exhausted at night. However, I must share a classic Bruce story. Last night as we were getting into bed and almost asleep, I started telling Bruce about one particular visit I had with a parent. She asked how I thought her son's writing was in comparison to other 7th grade boys. I paused for a moment, and she said that she thought his writing was atrocious. I relayed my concerns about his writing, and showed her a story he wrote about his favorite memory. He went to a tractor show in Indiana. The kid is a nut for tractors. I was trying to get him to expand a little more on his ideas to make it a little more exciting because his writing was very plain, bland, and repetitive. His mother said that the fact that he saw so many tractors was very exciting to him. Being married to a dairy farmer who thinks that cow shows are one of the highlights of life, I told her I could understand someones passion for something that other people would find ordinary or somewhat crazy (that's what I think).
As I was telling Bruce this last night, I could tell he was falling asleep because I could hear him lightly snoring and breathing heavily. (This happens a lot. I must be a pretty boring individual - I can put some of my students to sleep at times). I continued by saying, "and Bruce doesn't even know what I am saying anymore because he is sleeping, so it really doesn't matter what I say does it."
Suddenly Bruce jerked awake and said, "I heard everything you said to me. What were you saying about batting averages?"
I busted out laughing. No one mentioned a thing about batting averages.
Nonchalantly, Bruce turns over and says, "Okay, so maybe I was dreaming."
Bruce isn't a baseball kind of a guy, I wonder why he was dreaming about batting averages?

Combining Soybeans

When I first moved to Illinois, I wondered why they called the machine that cuts down the corn stalks a combine. After riding my first one last weekend, I learned why. A combine is one machine that does the job of 3 separate machines. For example, in order to harvest soy beans and corn, a farmer used to need a mower, a raker, and a separater. Now, one machine (a combine) does it all. Most combines now even run on GPS, so you don't really even have to steer anymore. One of the teachers I work with has a large soy bean and corn farm. She invited Bruce and I out to ride the combine with Pat since we have never been on one before. It was a fun experience. Contrary to popular belief, farming is not a boring job. I've learned from experience. I was amazed at how many beans they actually harvest. What looks like a small field probably averages about 3600 bushels of soy beans. Some field are even bigger than that. The combine essentially mows up the plants, separates the crop from the stalk and shakes all the beans into the back where they pile up until they are emptied into the truck. We look forward to getting back on the combine when he starts to harvest corn.
Here is a picture of Bruce on the combine.


The air conditioning and radio made it so Pat could enjoy the game while harvesting before we got there. Farming isn't like it used to be.

In case you are wondering about the proportion of the combine machine. Here is a picture of me standing straight up against the wheel.

The head of the combine is too big to drive down the road to the next field. Farmers would have to take the head off the combine, attach it to a trailor on a truck, and pull it to the next field just to put it back on again. Pat said it used to take him half a day to unload and load the head back on. Now, due to the new hydralic system on the combine, it takes him about 5 minutes. Most of that time is spent lining it up right. Combines used to be complicated to fix, but most problems now can be fixed with a couple of nuts and bolts. Not only that, but this combine actually measures the moisture content of the bean and corn. It is pretty neat.

This particular day, Bruce and I sure got our fill of farming. Before the combine experience, Bruce gave a tour of the University dairy to members of our ward. For some reason, unbeknownst to me, people are fasinated with cows. He took them to the milking parlor, the feed bins, the calf pin, and let them milk a cow and stick their arm inside a fistualted cow. The primary children liked the calves the best. That is where they spent the most time. The funny thing is that just because I married a dairy farmer, doesn't necessarily make me an expert on cows. Although I certainly know more than the average person. There are also some things about animals that I don't necessarily like to verbalize that I know. (I know some things mostly because I help Bruce grade tests and assignments from animal science students). I have learned a lot about those dairy animals, and I know more than I ever imagined I would know or need to know. I was asked a lot of questions, and Bruce was quite proud that I knew the answers to most of them. I am getting used to working on a farm, and although it isn't my favorite thing in the world, it does kind of change up my routine to go out there. When Bruce is doing an experiment, I go to the farm quite often. Last week was the first time I have been there in a long time. I am certainly not fasinated with cows, but I sure do like dairy products. Milk fat is definitely a friend, not a foe.

Musical DVD Dinners

As Bruce mentioned in my birthday post, he gave me a collection of musicals on DVD for my birthday. Since then, I have been actively engaged in watching all of them over dinner. A TV dinner is a frozen tray that you put in the microwave on high for 2-3 minutes and eat in front of the TV. I don't have any TV dinners, but I have resorted to DVD dinners. I make my own dinner, take it to the living room, plop down in front of our laptop, and turn on a musical while we gorge down our dinner. On Saturday nights for the past couple of weeks, this has been our routine. With our dinners, we travel to exotic places like Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and even the South Pacific. (It's kind of funny how most musicals take place in the Midwest. I wonder why that is!) Musicals are one of the happy things in life. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all lived in a musical? Not only could we go around town doing tap dances at train stations, but everyone would join in, and everyone would know all the words to all the songs. The world would be a much better place if we lived in a musical. Occasionally when I try to make life a musical, I am answered with odd stares and people I know trying to avoid me. I usually try to keep my dancing and singing for the kitchen in these instances. I often tell others that if I were more talented, I would love to be on broadway performing in these great musicals.

I've never seen a musical that I haven't liked (at least there is always something good about them); however I like some more than others.
I enjoy watching "The Music Man". My Grandma Porter used to put it in quite often at her house when I was younger. Plus, isn't there something grand about "76 trombones in a big parade with 104 Clarinets right behind." I remember walking around singing "Mariam, Madame Libraian when I was younger." At one time, it inspired me to become a librarian, and I started to make a card catalog for the books I had on my shelf at the time. Now, my card catalog is probably lost and completely out of date seeing as how I have added immensly to my collection since then.
I love "The Sound of Music" because: 1) Julie Andrews is amazing, 2) I've been to Salzburg Austria, and 3)it just plain rocks.
I recently saw "State Fair" for the first time. The 1940's version is by far better than the 1960's version. The old farmer in the bib overalls completely makes that show, and he is reason enough to watch it.
"7 Brides for 7 Brothers" is probably my favorite one. I don't really know why, just that there is something so great about a woman kicking a house full of scraggly, onery man into the shed until they can act civilized.
My 6th grade choir director was a musical nut, although I didn't know it at the time. Every song we sang came from a musical. It wasn't until I started watching musicals and becoming more "cultured" that I realized how many songs off of the musicals I knew. This must have contributed to the love of musicals I have deep down inside.

In closing, if any one is ever up for a musical DVD dinner, I'll make the dinner, you bring the treats, and together we'll share "a wonderful night for singing!" (State Fair).

Pudding Pictionary

A couple of week ago for family night, Bruce and I decided that it would be fun if we invited some other families over for dinner and FHE. We made most of the dinner preparations on Sunday (like chopping meat and veggies) so we could be sure to have enough time to get dinner ready after I got home from basketball practice. Dinner was great, the lesson was short, and our activity was one of the highlights of the evening. We played pudding pictionary. This is a game I came up with when I helped plan a P party in college. At a P party, you must only wear things that start with the letter P, eat things that start with the letter P, and do things that start with the letter P. Hence the idea of playing Pudding pictionary.
The rules are very similar to real pictionary. Except, instead of drawing a picture with paper and pencil, you use your finger and pudding.




It can get kind of messy, but it is also more tasty for some than for others.

I'm not saying you have to eat the pudding that every one else has stuck their finger in, but for some that is participation enough.
If anyone ever feels the urge to play pictionary in pudding, let me know and we can certainly hook you up.

Springfield

About 3 weeks ago (September 24), we took our 8th grade students to the Lincoln Memorial museum in Springfield. They are studying American History and are at the time period of Lincoln's assassination. I was lucky enough to be one of the chaperones on this particular field trip. It was a lot of fun. I learned some thing about Lincoln, and the best part about this museum is that it is very interactive. I know there are a lot of people who don't care too much for museums, but if you have never been, this is surely one that anyone can enjoy. They have some 3D movies that really get you into the show. If you have never been, I urge you to try and go. I will have to go back another time and actually see everything there is to see there. I spent most of my time keeping my group of kids together and running after them as they rushed through the museums. I really didn't see much. We only had the opportunity to go to the Lincoln memorial museum, and from what I understand, there is a lot more to see there about Lincoln and Springfield history in general. In the museum though, be weary of the wax figures. They look so real. At times, real people stand next to the wax figures and begin to talk. We had some really freaked out kids our hands at times as I am sure you can imagine. As you can see from these pictures, my students thought that the kids' play house was the best part about the whole trip. Here they had time period toys and clothing. Funny how it seems to be only the boys who got into the dress up game.

School is going pretty well for me considering the age group at hand. Of course, we have some issues with immaturity which have resulted in a change of rules and policied at our school. I still enjoy the kids most of the time, and feel like I have a much better sense of what I am doing than I did last year.
Basketball on the other hand is going better than first anticipated. If you would have told us (Coach Richards and I Coach Richards)(yes, both the head and assistant coach have the last name of Richards) at the beginning of the season that we would be 6-2 for our first 8 games, we probably would have laughed. However, as stated above, our 8th grade team is 6-2. Our 7th grade team is 5-3. Two of the games we lost, we really should have won if we would have played better. We went 4 for 11 from the free throw line and missed about 10 layups in a row. Small things like that come back to bite you when you lose first by 1 and then by 2. However, we really are proud of the girls, they are improving with every game, and some girls have stepped up when we needed them to. Although things keep me very busy (3 games a week both home and away), I enjoy what I do. Time seems to slip away from me too fast, so sorry about the long overdue posts and what not.
I promise I will eventually catch up with the numerous tags that have come my way.

General Conference and related thoughts

This last weekend was the general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As usual it was very uplifting, motivating, and wonderful. How blessed we are to be guided through these troubled times by living apostles and prophets! Two of the themes I picked up from conference were hope and unity.

Our Elders' Quroum can relate very well to President Uchtdorf's talk on moving pianos. We have moved a couple of pianos and many other items in the last couple of months. Hopefully we can stand close and lift where we are in all aspects of our quorum service. My friend Akbar came with me to the Priesthood session of conference. I realized it may have been more appropiate to invite him to a different session. Priesthood was directed specifically to Priesthood bearers and I was concerned how he would take Elder Scott's condemnation of cultures that treat their wives poorly. I am not sure how they treat women in the culture Akbar comes from.

With my sister, Rachel in the MTC preparing to go to Lithuania, it was neat to hear the son of Lithuanian parents speak in general conference about his father. And with my brother, Clay just arriving in Mexico to serve his mission, it was fun to hear President Monson tell the missionary choir about a missionary who was in the MTC that was convinced that he could not learn Spanish. President Monson suggested that he be sent to the Japanese class for a day. He quickley decided it was possible to learn Spanish. I'm posting a picture of Rachel and Clay in the MTC standing in front of a picture of Legrand Richards

5 new Temples were announced, including Kansas City and Rome, Italy. I found out today that the Kansas City Temple will actually be in Missouri, near Liberty Jail, that will be neat. I am excited for our brethren at the St. Louis Temple from Kansas City, however we will miss them. We will have to lengthen our stride to fill the Temple back up. While in Spain on my mission, several people mentioned their surprise that "the Mormons" had a Temple right in the middle of Catholism (Madrid, Spain). Imagine their surprise when they learn we will have a Temple in Rome! It's a miracle!

General Conference time is also mission reunion time. Missing my mission reunions is really one of the hardest parts about living in Illinois for me. I had the great blessing in my life of serving under President Mask and President Bowen, both of which had reunions last week. Sunday night one of my mission buddies, Elder Furse, called and told me all about them. President Bowen is serving as an area president in Argentina and Elder Mask is serving in the missionary department in Salt Lake City. All mission presidents are good, but I got to serve under exceptional mission presidents.

My sadness at missing mission reunions was partially eased by participating in a zone conference here in Champaign. Dale Kirby was baptized last Friday in our ward. The mission president was doing a zone conference on "eyes to baptize" and also wanted to be present for Dale's baptism, so he asked that the baptism be part of zone conference. I got to welcome Dale to the quorum, so I got to speak at zone conference, something I didn't expect to do again so soon after my mission.

Ahoy Matie!

Last Friday, September 19th was national talk like a pirate day. We decided to celebrate at our school by having a contest for who could dress up like the best pirate. Because of my numerous basketball games, I wasn't able to find the time to sew me some wicked pirate pants, but some of the kids at our school sure looked great. I didn't get a chance to take any pictures so sorry, but I did give extra credit to every kid who dresses up. One of my students made a stuffed parrot to prop up on his shoulder. Others had authentic vests, pants, hats, and plastic swords. They won prizes for being the best dressed. It was a lot of fun. Our student council this year is doing a great job getting us excited for every random holiday found in our student planner.
We had a half day, and the other half was meant for teacher inservice. During that time, we created webpages for our students. In 2 hours time, I actually made quite a bit of progress, and it is up for viewing. Unfortunately, I don't have the right program on my school computer to update it or change it. So, it hasn't been touched since last Friday. My principal is working on getting me the software so I can maintain my website and use it as a resource for the students. You can check it out though. Go to: www.pvo.k12.il.us. Click on the junior high building. Scroll down and find my name and click on my webpage. It should come up. Hopefully soon I will have a chance to update it.
So... I thought I would put a plug in about my school year this year. Things are going A LOT better this year. Not only do I already have a lot of planning done already (thanks to all the time I spent doing it last year), I also have a new batch of students. My students this year (7th graders) are a great class. Most of the time, they are respectful and best of all, they actually listen. This is the first year that I know what it is like to teach a lesson without being interrupted all the time. At the beginning of the year, I found that I have to plan more for my lessons, because I always ended with time to spare. It's only because they are better behaved than others. Lately, I can tell that they are getting used to junior high because they have become a little more chatty. However, it's nothing to freak out about - they are a good group of kids, and I don't have to be the police man or whipping task master when they are supposed to be working independantly or in groups. They usually take care of that themselves.
Basketball season is as busy as ever and is going about as well as it could. Our team so far has done better than we predicted, but still not as great as we would like. We are really short on girls and even more so on girls who are athletic and skilled. We have seen a lot of improvment in the girls since the beginning of the season, and hopefully we will continue to do so. So far this season in 7th grade, we have had about the same amount of success we had all season with them last year as 6th graders. We won our first game. Last year, we only won one game. We've lost two since then, but we play again on Tuesday, so we will see if we can get back on a winning streak or not.

Don't ever be afraid to talk like a pirate now and then - it could turn out to be quite fun.

Happy Birthday Brittney!

One week and one day ago was Brittney's birthday. I ordered her present a week before her birthday on-line from Amazon. To my great disappointment, it had still not arrived on her birthday, so I took her to dinner at Biaggi's (a really good Italian restaurant) and told her we could go anywhere she wanted afterwards and buy whatever she wanted. She wanted to go to Wal-mart and buy some shirts she had seen on sale there a few days earlier. When we got home we invited some friends over (Wes and Lesli Peter and Steve and Jessica Gutke, no one with kids because it was past 8:30pm) for ice cream and brownies. Brittney, Lesli, and Jessica are all school teachers, so guess what we talked about. It was fun to have our friends over.

The next day the package finally arrived - nine musicals on DVD - "The sound of music" "The king and I" "Oklahoma" "Carousel" "South Pacific" "State Fair" "Meet me in St. Louis" "The music man" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". Brittney had a basketball game and I had Elders' Quorum visits that night. Before I left I hid the DVDs in various places around the house. When we both got home that night, I sang a song from each of the musicals and had Brittney figure out based on the song where the DVD was hidden. It was so much fun. She got so excited. Instead of seeing her excitement once when she opened the packaged set, I got to see it for each of the DVDs, and Brittney does get excited.

I love Brittney. She is the sunshine of my life. I strive to be the husband that she deserves. She is so talented, currently she is coaching basketball and preparing for a musical Stake Women's Conference and teaching school and being a wonderful wife and being my new running buddy. She has beautiful dark curly hair and a radiant smile. "Somewhere in my...childhood, I must have done something good." She is a few of my favorite things.

Labor Day

On Labor Day, Bruce and I went with some friends down to Clinton Lake to spend the day. It is a small lake about 40 minutes from our house, but they have a nice beach area to play in and the water is warm. We packed a picnic lunch, ate at the beach, and played in the water. It felt unseasonably hot for September and we roasted in the sun. Playing in the water was a lot of fun though. When we first got married, we made it a goal to do something as a family on holidays we had off of school. After 3 years of marriage, we finally did it. Every other holiday it seems like we had something going on that only allowed us to work (experiments, catching up on homework, etc.) so we didn't truly enjoy the actual holidays. We enjoyed labor day so much that we were glad we made that goal in the first place and have vowed to actually follow it. The beach area is actually considered a state park. Our governor is closing some of the state parks in Illinois due to budget cuts. We don't know if this beach area will be affected by it, so we were glad we went while we had the chance.

Arthur Cheese Festival

So I know that a lot of people in our ward have already posted about the infamous Arthur Cheese Festival, but I still must say something about it. The Arthur Cheese Festival takes place every labor day weekend from Friday through Monday. Most of the highlight activities occur from 12:00-5:00 on Saturday, like cheese cutting ceremony, cheese eating contests, and international cheese curling. In all honesty, what dairy farmer wouldn't delight in the idea of a Cheese Festival right? So of course Bruce and I, along with Eggetts, ventured down to Amish Country Arthur and delighted in the magnitude of the 311 pound block of cheddar cheese. Bruce and I got there early in time for the cheese cutting ceremony which consisted of the mayor giving a speech, encouraging us to spend money there so they could continue with the tradition, and the Miss Arthur, Jr. Miss Arthur, and Little Miss Arthur there for moral support. It was short and sweet, and soon the big block of cheese was cut into slices to give to others. They used piano wire to cut the cheese into big blocks. We then ate all the free cheese and crackers we could. We were stuffed to the gills! At a shop near by, they had other types of cheese samples, ranging anywhere from bacon cheese, taco cheese, jalapeno pepper cheese, BBQ cheese, and the best baby Swiss cheese I have ever tasted. We were both in 7th heaven as I adore cheese. Unfortunately we couldn't stay very long due to prior commitments, so we didn't get to stay for the cheese eating contest or the cheese curling competition. Perhaps we will come later next year, since we have experienced the cheese cutting ceremony, and participate in the other cheese activities.



We got our picture taken with an oversized wedge of cheese, and we snapped a shot of a beautiful display of pumpkins and squash. Not to mention the brass band walking around dressed up as clowns. That was a sight to see. It was sure steamy and sunny that day. I should have worn a hat because I definitely got sun burned. After we got home, I had to call my sister and brag about my cheese festival experience. Incidentally, my sister is lactose intolerant and hates cheese, so she wasn't one bit jealous of all the cheese that I ate; in fact, she found it rather disgusting. I believe that every town should have a cheese festival and hand out free cheese! Don't you agree?