Countries Fair

Ruth took part in the 9th grade countries fair this week, where she featured the country of  Iceland. She and her partner offered tasty spice cookies, as well as played Disney tunes in Icelandic.  There were hundreds of kids participating, and as we looked at the displays we were able to sample various foods from different countries.

 I was amazed at the huge span of quality that was present; everything from kids in jeans who had drawn on their board with a marker, to girls in full costume with large hand painted displays.   It makes me question again our nations insistence to educate children according to age, rather than ability; it just seems ludicrous to me.   Though, in the spirit of true disclosure, Ruth had procrastinated making her display to the last minute and was saved by Kaitlin and I pitching in to help the night before.   Still, Ruth's was one of the better ones, and she is getting all A's again this quarter.

Temple Visit

This week we braved the rain and storms and toured a new temple just about to open in our area.  I think it was the most beautiful building I've ever seen.   It was especially impressed by the hundreds and hundreds of beautiful stained glass windows that filled the whole building with colorful natural light. I wished that Chuck's dad had been there with us to see it. I'm sure he would have appreciated the beautiful windows and skylights with the eye of a craftsman.



Library Service

Ruth was recruited to cosplay at a library event this week where she ran a game booth.  She had a couple of shy 10 year old boys come up to her and tell her that she was their favorite.

Job Update: 

As we enter our fourth month of unemployment, Chuck continues to have a couple interviews a week, but no offers yet.  We are hanging in there, and local friends are looking out for us.

Happy Birthday Me!

I've lost track of how old I am, but regardless of my age, my birthday was this week.  We celebrated during the day by going to Savers (you get 20% off on your birthday) and DI where I bought 2 pairs of leather boots and a jacket for myself.   In the evening we had a pirate party where we wore costumes, ate pizza, and played games. 

To finish the evening the family helped me make a life sized mannequin that will help me with my costume making.

I had many lovely birthday wishes on facebook, and little gifts from neighbors at the door, and a few pre-birthday lunch dates. Thank you all for your kindness. It has meant so much to me, you don't even know.

Making the Copies

Kaitlin was offered two jobs this week, one at Walmart, working in the clothing department, and one at Office Max working in the copy center, and even though the Office Max job paid a little bit less, Kaitlin took the Office Max job.   She's worked two shifts so far and it a bit overwhelmed with how much she has to learn, but photo shop and photography are right in her wheel house so she will do fine.

Shopping

I am not a big shopper. As a result of this, my daughters are not big shoppers, but out of necessity we have spent this week shopping.  After several trips we have managed to get almost half of Kaitlin's mission wardrobe.  We are trying to get as much done as we can now, because Kaitlin is also looking for full time work  (she's already had an interview at Walmart), and once she settles into a job, shopping will be much more difficult.

Mother's Day

Today, for mother's day, the kids made me chicken teriyaki while Chuck and I took a nice walk in the sunshine.  It is nice to enjoy some of the fruit of my motherly labors.

Just Keep Swimming

Some of you may be curious about our job hunt progress.  Things have slowed a bit on the job front.  Chuck is still getting in resumes and still has leads to follow. There are a lot of jobs out there but the wheels of business seem to turn very slowly.  He has an interview this week, so we just have to keep plugging along and wait and see.

Eyes Towards Nauvoo

We are determined to make our Nauvoo trip regardless of what happens with the job hunt. We have felt to make it a priority, so we have done so.  We've been practicing the music and everyone (but Jared) is getting excited.

Welcome Home Kaitlin

We moved Kaitlin home from college yesterday. I thought she would be sad, but truly she has been very happy to be home and glad to be done with school. This semester was a real struggle for her, with some very difficult classes, but preliminary info makes us believe that she has passed them all, and she is feeling very relieved.  We've moved her into the basement where she will live for the next three months. She's looking for a temporary job to help earn some money before she leaves for Paraguay in August.  She is also planing on going on our family summer trip to Nauvoo.

Becky at Woman's Conference

This last weekend was my annual trip to women's conference. I always have a great time reacquainting myself with old friends, going to great classes, doing some service, and eating tasty food. 

Jared's Rank Advancement

Jared was officially awarded his 1st Class rank at a Court of Honor this week. He also got 5 merit badges.   I was going to put in a picture of him pinning his rank pin on his mother, but instead found this adorable selfie on the camera that I think catches Jared's personality perfectly.

"The No Names"

Ruth's band didn't come up with a name so they were introduced at their band recital/concert as The No Names.  This was their first performance and they did really well.  Ruth played mostly rhythm guitar because she is also lead singer in the band, but she did do one guitar solo. She also did some singing for the other 4 bands her teacher teaches, so all in all she sang about 9 songs at the recital/concert. This was a new kind of thing for Ruth and I was really proud of her!

I'm posting a video of her band playing Zombie by the Cranberries (an anti war tune) on the blog. If you get this via email, yes Grandmas, I'm talking to you, you'll have to visit the site to see the video.

Wrapping up Seussical

Ruth's final performance of Seussical was to a sold out crowd.  They set up an extra 30 or so chairs in the isles and then locked the doors turning quite a few away. That means some 700 or so people came to Ruth's final performance.  What a great high note to end her middle school drama career on.