Jake is a good man and bishop...that is all.

Will had the opportunity towards the end of July to attend FSY. He seemed to have a great time.  We enjoyed hearing the stories he shared and hope he had experiences to treasure forever.

Over the last two weeks, Jake has done two funerals. He does an exceptional job and is eloquent with his words.  He is a comforter.  Last Sunday after church, someone else actually told me that too.  He is soft spoken, kind, and in tune wit the Spirit.  I am blessed to be able to call him mine. Ginny got home a couple of days ago for about two weeks. We are always happy to see her, now if we can get Aubree to come home some. 

 

Clue Destination

 One of Jake’s clues led us to an old time photo shoot. I treasure photos with my family. 

Too behind

Wow, I have really slacked on maintain our family record the last month or so.  We had great time on vacation with our family.  After we left Moon River Ranch, we headed towards Glacier National Park for a few days.  We then drove back to Utah for an evening/day so Aubree could work and Ginny could catch her flight out that Thursday morning.  I was a little sad that our time together was drawing to a close.  Thursday morning as Ginny left, she bent over in the front seat of the car (I had been napping to take over driving and she can me the most tender hug and said "I love you, momma".  It felt as if she was really growing up and it was a sincere I love you. Fortunately everyone was resting so no one saw the tears trickle down my cheeks. We left the Salt Lake airport and began the last leg of our trip with Aubree and the boys. The last leg of the trip was filled with visiting volcanoes, National Parks, and icons from the Twilight series. We saw Mt. Hood, Mt Rainer (and ate fresh Mt Rainer cherries), Crater Lake, Multnomah Falls, Olympic National Park (stopping to put our feet in the chilly Pacific Ocean, walking through a rain forest, and seeing the world's largest Spruce Tree in Quinault).  We had lunch with my brothers driving back from Oregon to Logan and left Aubree that same night to head home. I am sure it goes without saying that I sobbed.  Our trip was almost 3 full weeks of memories.  Jake had even created a game for the kids to solve and had the first clues delivered by a musician in Amarillo TX. Jake had it all planned perfectly, even down to having old time photos taken. We left Bartlett on 6/27 and returned the evening of 7/14.

I began my new position at UTHSC on 7/17.  The first week was fine but I really missed Jake when teachers headed back on 7/26.  I have missed him several days now knowing he is at school and I am not with him.  I have also received some really sweet texts from other.  Two of which came from former bosses, so that meant a lot: "This is a TREMENDOUS loss to education. I brought my heart job to work next door to you. I have not seen that type of passion and dedication in a while. I am so happy for you and will be supporting Jake’s classroom. " (Cecily Shelton) and "You are hand down the best teacher I have ever worked with. Your passion and love for learning shines through so I can imagine what a tough decision it was..." (Kristi Murin).  It is true, I love to teach and love even more teaching side by side my best friend; we could literally open one another's doors from ours.  I will very much miss the time seeing him at school.