I survived my first Primary Activity

All the planning and organizing came down to the test last Tuesday. We had 100 kids show up to a water activitiy in the park. We had so much help from parents and teachers that it really wasn't that crazy. The kids had a blast and I felt like it went really well. Hooray, for that being done with! Next up, the Primary Sacrament Meeting Program. I am a little worried about the writing of and organizing of this project but I am sure it will turn out alright. Everyone loves the primary program.

Fire in Microwave

I feel like Betty Crocker or something! On the day BreAnna got married we were heating some bacon in our microwave and all of the sudden there are sparks and flames and the inside of our microwave is on fire. The bacon was untouched but the side of the microwave was ruined. So I sat on the phone forever making an appt. with the Whirlpool technician for the next week. Needless to say, they did not show up the day they were suppose to and they were extremely late the next day. Then when they got here they said they would have to order parts and they could come back in 10 more days. Aaaah! How did our mothers and grandmothers do it. I mean just heating up leftovers takes forever! I am washing pans like crazy because everything has to be heated up in a pan. Anyways, I jokingly asked the bishop if he had an extra microwave and this morning he called and said he found one in his basement. It has only been hours and I am loving it already. I can't wait to get ours fixed but this large, older version of a microwave will do great for now. Thank you Bishop. Go ahead, I dare you, do not use your microwave for 10 days and see if you are going crazy!

Funny Talk

I love some of the things Calvin has been saying lately.

He doesn't quite know when to use her/ she and him/he yet. So he says things like "I want she to stop" when Lily is bothering him.

He also learned the song "Book of Mormon Stories" in nursery last week and all I have heard for a week is:

Book of Mormon stories that my teacher tells to me
Long ago their fathers came from far across the seas
give this man righteously

He is only missing a couple of lines but I love hearing it nonetheless. I have taught him the actions and all of the words but he likes to revert back to his version unless I am singing with him.

On Saturday we were driving up to Fairview to spend the day with the cousins and Calvin Says "Mom, will my princess Ambree be there." I said "No, we won't see her today" and Calvin replied "Well, I guess I am just going to have to get a new princess then." and he proceeded to ask who would be a good candidate of princess for the day.

I love listening to all of the things he comes up with, I need to remember to write more of it down.

Lily still isn't saying much. She is saying Uh-oh, hi, mama, dada and all sorts of gibberish. She is taking about 5 or 6 steps now before she decides to get back down and crawl. I will have to post a video sometime, it is pretty cute. We also lost her binky at BreAnna's wedding so we decided to not buy another one and just be done with it, she has been quite the grouch at nap time, but other than that she has done great.

Primary Teacher Improvement Lesson

I taught my first teacher improvement yesterday. We teach it during sharing time so I had to teach it twice. I spent a lot of time preparing and I was kind of nervous given the fact that all of the teachers are older and way more experienced then I am. Why would they want to listen to a twenty four year old tell them how to improve their classes.

I studied the book "Teaching, No Greater Call" and I learned a ton of stuff. I love that book. I found a great example that Elder Packer did at a mission zone conference in one of the chapters. I brought a cake in and I said who wants the first piece of cake before we get started. Of course I had some volunteers. It was a beautiful trip chocolate cake. I said " I hope you don't mind but I left my knife at home" and I proceeded to dig my fingers into the cake and plopped some on a paper plate. The teachers looked stunned. Then I said "Well, let me go see if there is a knife in the kitchen." I came back with a knife and cut a nice slice and set it softly on a prettier plate and said "would anyone like this piece?" Then I told them our theme for the day was "Serving" our classes. And we talked about "serving" our lessons in a way that the kids want to eat it up. It turned our really well. But I am glad it is done!

Josh and BreAnna Nixon

My sister BreAnna got married on Friday 8-8-08. It was a beautiful wedding despite the down pouring of rain right before the ceremony. Calvin was the ring bearer and Ambree was the flower girl and they did such a good job. They looked so dang cute I am sad I didn't get better pictures of them at the wedding. I can't wait to see the photographers pictures. My dad got to perform the ceremony and he did a great job. He told them to always make home a place where the other person looks forward to going at the end of the day. One of my favorite parts of the wedding was right before Calvin was suppose to give Josh the rings he went and stood right in between the bride and groom and looked up at them. It was so cute. It was a really nice day. Congrats BreAnna and Josh!

Here they are at the rehearsal dinner the night before. We went to Brick Oven which was really fun and delicious.

The Blue Beast

So, I sold my high pinion Dana 60 to some guy in Colorado on Saturday for $1000. By Sunday night, I had already found a way to spend it.

For family home evening on Monday, I bought a '76 Chevy stepside for $1000. The cool part is that it already had a Dana 60 axle swapped in the front. And I drove it home, albeit narrowly escaping the police. It's not everyday one can sell a Dana 60 and then buy another one for the same price that has a running truck on top of it.

The poor guy I bought it from was almost in tears when I drove away. He had owned the truck since he was 16 and, evidently, was very attached to it.

This truck is truly the pinnacle of redneck engineering. Most of the roll cage is made from Uni-strut and capped with Uni-strut spacers. The brake system was plumbed with compression fittings (leftover from the swamp cooler install) and the bed floor is Home Depot's finest 3/4" particle board. All unnecessary sheet metal has been removed, including the rocker panels and floor. The grill has been painstakingly crafted from some very heavy duty fencing. It even came with a CB radio which can be heard over the roar of the engine thanks to the lavishly appointed interior carpet courtesy of the living room remodel. The only things missing are the Hula dancer on the dash and the trucker girl mud flaps, but the red mirrors sort of make up for that. I think it looks great in our driveway, but Chrissy is not so sure. Hey, if the shoe fits...

Garden Success

I can't believe we have actually had a really successful gardening summer. The last 2 weeks I have eaten so many tomatoes that my mouth has canker sores, ouch! But I can't stop making salsa. We have yummy peppers and squash and our corn is almost ready to pick. This is really fun, everyone should have a garden.

6 years and counting

Jon and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary yesterday. We didn't plan a whole lot because we want to go to Las Vegas in a few weeks and see a play or some sort of show. I am rooting for Phantom of the Opera. We did drop the kids of at Grandma Nancy's and go to dinner and a movie. We have not been to a movie together for I don't even know how long. We saw Iron Man. Jon of course loved that show and I thought it was entertaining. We ate dinner at a little cafe in American Fork called Flour Girls and Dough Boys. It was really yummy. Everything is made from scratch and they gave us free sugar cookies. I am grateful to have such a helpful wonderful husband who provides for our family. Love you Jon!