Book Club: Murder Mystery

Book Club was at Darla's house on October 30.  Along with our book discussion, we did a Murder Mystery.  It was a lot of fun.  Each of us was assigned a part and came dressed as that part.  It was awesome to see what each of the ladies did.  Super fun.  Nicole couldn't make it, so Darla's daughter, Darci, attended. She also made this awesome cake:

Darla as the Wicked Witch of the West...Bonnie as Captain Barbosa

Bad picture...but me as Catwoman

Bonnie as Captain Barbosa and Kim as Darth Vader

All of us in the It's Not About the Book (INATB) Book Club...minus Nicole...plus Darci...such great ladies!

Kemra as Professor Mysterio

Jackie as Doctor Horrible

Becky as the Grim Reaper...cool addition, she had added names of fictional characters who have died on her scythe

Darci as the Queen of Hearts

Angie as Cruella de Ville and Darla

Bonnie and Penni as The Riddler

Marla as Biff

My enemy Poison Ivy, I mean Liz  :)

 We had a great time acting out our parts and trying to decide who killed Lex Luther.  We also enjoyed visiting and discussing the Agatha Christie books we read.  Great book club!

Officers Hollow

Each year, the University of Utah does a trick or treating Halloween activity in Officer's Circle at Fort Douglas.  Every year, we have other commitments and can't make it.  But this year, the activity was on Saturday, November 1, and we were able to go.  The activity is free and lasts 3 hours, but we were only able to be there for just over 1 hour.  Still it was fun.  You trick or treat at each house, and each house was decorated with a different theme, mostly based on Disney movies.  There was a Finding Nemo house where you fished for your treat.

 There was, of course, a Frozen house where you sang along to "Let it Go" with sparkly microphones.

 There was an elaborately decorated "Alice in Wonderland" house where you climbed through the rabbit hole and played a game of croquet to get your treat.  Another house was all about robots.  Each house was amazing.  Outside there were other activities as well.  Because we weren't there for that long, we didn't get to do all of the activities.  The girls did get their faces painted, but we didn't paint pumpkins or design Day of the Dead masks.   Michelle did get a balloon shaped like a dog, but the other girls were getting their faces painted and didn't get any balloon art.   Our cute friend, Sofie, was able to come with us.  Right at the end, as the girls were getting their faces painted, it got really cold and windy.  Gabby was especially cold and got anxious to go home.  But still, all in all, it was a fun time.

Halloween

Halloween was great fun this year!  It was so nice to have it on a Friday and not have to get up early for school the next day.  And on top of that, the weather was wonderful!  Truly one of the nicest Halloweens I remember since having children.

My friend and coworker, Michelle, made this cute Halloween wreath for me!

 We came home from school and raked up leaves and put into these jack-o-lantern bags.   The night before I wasn't home, but Alfredo carved pumpkins with the kids.

Gabby's pumpkin is on the left and Ella's is on the right.  Gabby's is eating a green pepper.

Gabby was Princess Twilight Sparkle, an equestria girl, from My Little Pony.

Michelle looked so beautiful and so grown up as Athena, the goddess of wisdom.

Ella was a polka dot monster...and such a cute monster she is!

I love Halloween!  I love getting out in the neighborhood and seeing so many friends and neighbors.  I love going to the Gustafson's. They do a spook alley in their garage and backyard.  Most of the young men from the neighborhood help out as monsters and spooks in the spook alley.  This year Gabby was even brave enough to go through the spook alley...as long as I went with her. Michelle and Ella went through twice.  And talked about it all day on Saturday.  The Gustafson's also give out cotton candy.  It is one of the happening places in the neighborhood...and you run into lots of people you know there.  Another great house to visit is the King's home.  Laurel makes scones and hot chocolate.  So delicious!  I feel blessed to know so many wonderful people in our neighborhood and found myself wishing that there was some way to foster the same feelings of friendliness and safety and fun on other days throughout the year.  As we walked up to each house, my children would ask me who lived there.  Many I didn't know...but many, many of the houses I did.  It has been a blessing to get to know so many people in the area.

My kids counted their candy on Sunday and had between 90-100... so they did pretty well.  Plus, by then, they had already eaten some.  

Parent teacher conferences

September 24-26 was SEP conferences for Michelle, Ella, and Gabby...and for me at my school.  It was a long, busy week, but I was happy to meet with their teachers and hear how they are doing. (And for some crazy reason, I started this post back then and then never finished it or posted it. So it contains a mix of what I learned then and what has happened since.)   So far this year is off to a great start for all three of them.  Gabby loves both of her teachers, Miss Finerfrock and Miss Mary Lou.  She is doing well in all areas...except apparently she was talking too much during Spanish class...talking to her friends in English, not Spanish, and not listening to directions.  Then she would get frustrated that she didn't know what to do.  So she got in trouble a few times.  But she has gotten much better, and she is making good progress in both languages.  She is beginning to read better in Spanish and use/understand more Spanish all the time.

Ella is doing very well.  Her teacher, Mrs. Darden, said that she was virtually the only student who didn't experience any summer slump in reading...her DIBELS reading score was the same at the beginning of 4th as it was at the end of 3rd but on harder texts.  She is doing well in every area, and her behavior is good.  She wants to get even better at Spanish reading, so she set a goal to read for 20 minutes each night in Spanish, along with 15 minutes of reading in English.

I was excited/nervous to go to Michelle's parent teacher conference to meet her teachers (since she is going to Hunter now, I don't know her teachers) and to see how she was doing.  Her teachers (Mrs. Pate and Mrs. Olsen) both seem very nice and had positive things to say about her work ethic, behavior and performance.  I was especially happy to see that she is doing so well in math...she has an A-.  Since math is her hardest subject, I was quite pleased.  I shared with Mrs. Olsen, her math teacher, that math was her hardest subject and that I think that was at least partially because half of her math has been in Spanish throughout her schooling.  Her teacher said that if math was her hardest subject, she must be a really wonderful student because she was doing well and didn't seem to struggle.  That was really gratifying to hear.  I know there are still areas of math that need some work, but I am so grateful that this move to Hunter has been such a positive experience for her.  She has made friends, enjoys her classes, and she has been so responsible.  She is home for nearly an hour each morning after we leave for school/work and most mornings she gets her violin and piano practice done before school.  It has been a huge blessing for me, and I am so pleased with her good choices.   She was chosen to be on safety patrol, and she is enjoying that.  (And I am so thankful for amazing neighbors who take her to school each morning and for a friend/neighbor that lets her come home with her daughter each night and spend an hour or more there daily.)

I feel so thankful that my children are learning, progressing and having positive experiences at school.  What a blessing!

First Lost Tooth

Gabby lost her first tooth today.  She was eating a piece of Halloween candy and felt something weird...looked at it and there was her tooth.

She was pretty excited to have lost her first tooth.  She even took it to church in a ziploc bag to show her friends.  She can hardly wait for the tooth fairy to come.  Let's hope the Tooth Fairy isn't far away in Australia or South America tonight and unable to make it until tomorrow night.

If You Really Knew Me

Michelle had to do this writing assignment the first week of school, and I really liked it.  So I asked if I could share it here.  Michelle was happy that I wanted to.:

If you really knew me, you would know that my fear is spiders.

If you really knew me, you would know that my greatest accomplishment is getting student of the month 3 years in a row.

If you really knew me, you would know that my family has many cousins, aunts and uncles.

If you really knew me, you would know that my wish is to go to a cruise in Brazil.

If you really knew me, you would know that my goal is to get a master's degree.

If you really knew me, you would know that I want to bungee jump off a bridge.

If you really knew me, you would know that I need to get more duck tape.

If you really knew me, you would know that I like to play Wii and to play Kick the Can.

If you really knew me, you would know that I like to see butterflies flying around and being free.

If you really knew me, you would know that I like to feel soft things.

If you really knew me, you would know that I am most proud of running two races.

If you really knew me, you would know that my favorite two types of ice cream are cotton candy with gummy bears and cookies and cream.

If you really knew me, you would know that I've lost a wonderful dog named Chester.  And I have no more great grandmas.

If you really knew me, you would know that I love making things out of duct tape.

If you really knew me, you would know that I have fun hanging out with friends.

If you really knew me, you would know that I have learned to always have good times.

Scriptures I Have a Testimony Of

Oh how I have loved conference so far!!  Such inspiring messages and so many words of comfort.

I was touched by Neil L. Andersen's talk today about Joseph Smith.  Elder Andsen spoke of Joseph's name being spoken of for good and ill and counseled us (especially the youth) to find scriptures in the Book of Mormon that we know are true and share them.

So I thought I would begin my list tonight.  These are certainly not the only scriptures I have a testimony of or the only scriptures that are meaningful to me...but they are the ones that come to mind for me tonight.

2 Nephi 25: 26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.
*I have a testimony of Christ and I am trying to share it with my children.  I hope as they get older, they will be able to say that they grew up in a home and family where we talked of Christ, rejoiced in Christ and preached of Christ.  I hope they will truly know that Christ is the source to which they must look for a remission of sins and for peace and joy.

Alma 37: 37 Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

*I am so grateful for prayer.  I am not as good as I could be at counseling with The Lord in ALL my doings but I love prayer and feel the strengthen it brings.

Alma 37:6-7.  6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. 7. And The Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means The Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth to pass the salvation of many souls.

*It only takes small acts of goodness, charity, compassion, etc., to make a difference in lives and to further the work of God.

Mosiah 2:18-25. These verses are long enough that I won't quote them here, but I know they are true.   We are so richly blessed so we are in Hs debt and when we do as The Lord asks of us, He blesses us more and so then we are still in His debt.  I cannot put it into words as eloquently as King Benjamin but I know that my life has been far more blessed by the opportunity to love and serve in my current calling than anyone else has been blessed by anything I have done.  And because I have been blessed, I try to serve my Father more or better but then He continues to bless me so that I am forever indebted to Him for all that I have, all that I am and all that I am given.  

3 Nephi 17--again this is too long to quote in its entirety but I love this entire chapter where Jesus Christ blesses the children and they are encircled by fire.  This chapter touches me every time I read it, and I know that Jesus Christ loves the little ones.


Alma 5:16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?
* I actually really love this whole chapter and love verse 14 which speaks of having his image in our countenance.  But verse 16 gives me great hope.  I look forward to the day when I can fall at His feet and worship Him.  I hope and pray that I will have lived so that He can say these words  to me, that I can be encircled in the arms of His love.

Again, there are many other verses of scripture that I love and that I have a testimony of, but these are a few that strengthen me and that I KNOW are true.


Jenny