* Busy week down in Gillette doing Inventory for Dad. He was there Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
* Mom and Dad went on a date to an Explosions In The Sky concert in Billings
* Nathan had a Dentist appointment where he got 2 baby teeth pulled. He was a real trooper! Also the Nitrous Oxide gas made him a teeny bit loopy and he was pretty entertaining (and much more vocal/bold than he typically is) on the ride home - which I found so fun! For example:
- a bus cut us off on the freeway and he threw his hands up in the air and yelled "Hey!! Don't you see this boy that just got 2 teeth pulled!?"
- Driving down the road, out of the blue he loudly proclaims "I HATE public school!" This caught me completely off guard and was somewhat funny and so I said "Well, why do you hate public school?" and he replied "Because then I'd have to leave the house! I'd have to be gone for like 3 hours!" When I told him it'd be closer to 8 hours that he'd be gone each day his eyes grew so wide and he was speechless! Ha Ha! Since I knew he was being honest (under the influence of the anesthesia) I decided to ask "Well, do you like Homeschooling?" and he said "Yes!" and so I asked him why and he said "Because I have the BEST teacher and the NICEST teacher! and you teach me everything!" I thought that was pretty sweet :)
- Also while driving on the freeway, he looked over at someone in the other lane and waved and then turned to me all excited and said "I waved at that person!"
- Oh, before we left the Dentists office, I showed him his 2 teeth (that he requested be given to him so he could bring them home) and he was legitimately frightened by them! It was kind of hilarious as he recoiled back and made a scary noise!
* Nathan also had an appointment with an orthodontist but we don't quite agree with his "Proactive Plan" - which included going back to the dentist this week and getting EVERY baby tooth pulled (like 8 of them!) and then being in braces for 3 years! We'll get a 2nd opinion for sure!
In Our Homeschool This Week...
* Enrichments on Scriptures, Singing, Faith, Temples, General Conference and Following the Prophet
* Math: Fractions, Adding fractions, Equivalent fractions, Word Problems, Logic Games, Mazes, Uno
* Daily read alouds, independent/individual reading, Proper and improper nouns, Capitalization, crossword puzzles, word searches, Novel re-edits for Ben
* People we studied/learned about this week:
- Martin Luther (the Reformer that started the Lutheran church)
- Gail Halvorson - the "Berlin Candy Bomber"
- Sir Edmund Hillary - Knight of Mt. Everest
- Nellie Bly - traveled around the world in 72 days!
- Neil Armstrong - First man on the moon
- more studies of Alexander Hamilton, reading a biography as a read aloud and listening to the Musical of him
* The "Nation of the Week" that we studied about was Egypt. We learned about their flag, population, wildlife, capital, geography and even listened to their National Anthem (titled: My Country, My Country, My Country - and the kids thought it sounded like a church hymn)
* Listened to a webinar about Positive Thinking and I have shared what I learned with Ben and we've been incorporating that into his morning routine
* Daily attendance at Seminary for Ben
* Trip to the Library
* Nature Walks
* Daily arts and crafting for the girls
August in Nebraska...
* He still hasn't heard about the IT job at The Buckle. He has called over there twice but hasn't been able to get a hold of anyone.
* He went to a job fair with Grandpa and handed out his resume to a couple of Temp Agencies and then applied for a salaried position with the Kearney Hub newspaper
* He has been sooooo close on passing the A+ certification test but missed 1 question too many! See, he really has been sooo close! He has made some additional study goals and will take it again next Saturday - we know he can do it!
* He's been sweet to give mom and dad several phone calls throughout the week! He sounds good and we know he's being taken well cared of by grandma and grandpa!
Seth Spotlight...
* He found out over the weekend that he'd be transferred to La Trinidad in Estili (about 1.5 hours west of Matagalpa). He says that the terrain is very similar to San Ramon
* His new companion - Elder Suares is from Brazil and arrived in Nicaragua at the same time he did last October (except he was in the Brazil MTC so they didn't know each other beforehand)
* In his new zone is Elder Fankhauser (who he was in a trio with for a bit back in Matagalpa after his companion, Elder Quinones went home because of the heart problem) and his first District Leader (from back in Managua) Elder Najera
* This is what he had to say about his new house: "The house is pretty nice, decent size and looks alright."
* Sadly, he left his wallet on the Bus!! It had everything in it! His debit card, drivers license, Mission money and his Nicaragua residence card! I was able to turn off his debit card but he has to call to initiate a new one - so I was able to get him all of the numbers and hopefully he was able to contact them.
* He said a time this week that he felt the Spirit was when he was saying goodbye to some of the people there in San Ramon and was sharing his testimony with them
Spiritually Speaking...
Two Words: GENERAL CONFERENCE!!
This weekend was filled with 10 hours of inspiring, uplifting, encouraging and spiritual messages from the leaders of our church - and I loved every minute of it!!! At dinner tonight, we went around the table and had each person tell their favorite speaker (or story) and what touched their hearts the most! I even called up August and got his favorite part to include (and will add Seth's thoughts in after we email tomorrow)...
Dad: President Uchtodorf's message from the Priesthood session. If I had to pick one thought from his message it would be that the Healing power of Jesus Christ is not absent from our day. Darkness recuses our ability to see clearly and the Light allows us to see things as they truly are.
Mom: Ahhhh! I had soooo many that it'll be hard to choose! Seriously I loved ALL of the messages from giving our all to the Lord in Faith, Serving others - especially those closest to us, the Joy of Repentance and making Christ the center of our lives! But one that is still lingering on my heart is Elder Nelson's talk about how precious the Book of Mormon is. He talked how reading the scriptures is a life changing act and that it has the power to heal, to comfort, to restore, to succor and to cheer us up and to help us make better decisions. Not only should we read daily, but we should PONDER and STUDY the words that we read. He asked the questions: "What would my life be without the Book of Mormon?" (at which point, Nathan leaned over to me and said "Empty!" - so true, my sweet son!) and then Elder Nelson asked "What would your life be missing without the Book of Mormon?" (again, Nathan leaned over and said "A lot!"). These are two questions I want to spend more time on. So many have sacrificed so much and given so much (even all that they had!) so that I could have the opportunity to read the words of the ancient prophets and have the fullness of the gospel of Christ!
August: Elder Zwicks from Sunday Morning session. The part that spoke to me the most was the part about how we shouldn't judge anyone. We don't have the whole picture of anyone's life and we don't know what trials they might be going through and so we shouldn't judge them - but rather look upon their hearts the way God does.
Ben: Elder Rasband and his message that there are no coincidences in life, only Divine Designs!
Nathan: Elder Hallstrom and his talk on Miracles! I really liked the story about the Scout leader on High Adventure that fell off of the cliff and all of the miracles that happened to save his life.
Aubrie: Sister Oscarson's talk on service. I especially liked the story that she told about the 2 sisters where the older one helped her younger sister to get ready for school each day so that their mom (who was fighting cancer) could rest. It's really important that we serve others - especially in our own homes.
Lexi: President Uchtdorf's talk at the Saturday morning session. The story that he told of "Bobby, the Wonder Dog" and how he was able to find his way back home reminded me that I can always find my way back to Heavenly Father.
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