We excitedly picked up the kids late Saturday. It was so wonderful to hug them and just have them near me. Not sure that they were too excited to leave family and friends back in Utah. Bode made the comment the other day that he likes Texas a lot he just would like the cousins and some of his friends to move down here too. He’s not asking a lot, just a small request. ;) The late night made it hard getting up for church in the morning but at least church starts at 11.
Getting the kids geared back up to school was definitely a struggle but being involved with basketball helps. The boys were back at practices on Monday so they were happy to be active and playing ball again. Zac had a game Tuesday after school. He had 8 points and felt he was really strong on defense. He has been working on how to take a charge. He actually was successful during the game and was pretty proud of it. His team won the game over Dulles. I didn’t make it to the game. Jessie had a friend over to work on a landforms project for Science. Weird for me to have study session with a friend in 3rd grade but she didn’t have a problem with it at all. Bode had a game on Wednesday. He played almost the whole game. He was really hustling. His team was down the first quarter by 15 but really turned it on to come back in the second half. Pretty heated but tied the game up to go into overtime. Unfortunately they lost but it was a great game. ;)
Aaron took the boys to the Rockets/Jazz game Thursday night. Bode represented Utah well wearing is Jazz jersey all day. He got some flak for it at school but he could care less about what others say. He is such a good kid. Jessie and I stayed home to work on her next creative book report on “If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620”. We made a Mayflower boat out of paint swatches. Then had the preceding paint swatches in the same shape of the boat that Jessie included information and drawings about the book. She also included the written book report because I thought that was the standard but no she was an overachieving student. Yeah!! Finally!! However she came home with her new found knowledge and basically told me she really doesn’t want to continue the overachieving on future creative book reports. Dang! I thought she liked being like all the other overachieving students at school.
Zac had an English assignment this week that really stretched him. It was supposed to be a group-project however He ended up doing most of the work. His group included a young man that recently moved from Egypt that spoke very little English and another young man that Zac is pretty sure comes high to class every day. Any way the project was about the Scottsboro Boys trial. They had to create a power point sharing what they learned from their research. The assignment is to set the stage for reading “To Kill a Mockingbird”. I’m excited for him to read it. It’s a great book.
Zac had another game on Friday. They play Alief Taylor High. It was one of the most aggressive games I’ve seen in a long time. A parent was thrown out. Two of our boys were taken out with possible concussions and another for a different injury. Several technicals were called. It was pretty intense. Clements really held Taylor until half time. It was a tough loss.
The boys went over to the Nielsen’s house on Saturday to watch the Texans game. Not a good game but they had fun. While they were there Jessie and I had a girls day. Jessie wanted to spend some of her Christmas money. She bought a cute hoodie from Justice and a large Lego friends set. Afterwards I picked up the boys, ordered them wings to watch the rest of the game and had them have a night home while Aaron and I spoke in the Houston Stake Conference. The emphasis for all the stake conferences has been how to keep the Sabbath day holy and a delight. It has been enlightening the ideas and experiences that have been shared. The bottom line is as we come to church, partake of the sacrament and do those things that help us individually and as a family come closer to our Savior, the Sabbath will be a delight. That will be the blessing of our efforts. While we were at the conference, Jessie built her Lego set all by her self. This is her second set she has completed by herself. She is pretty proud of her Lego creating abilities.
This week I met with three sets of our sister missionaries to do companionship study. I really enjoy doing this because I can see the light of the gospel in our sisters and their efforts to share their light with their investigators. As I study with them I share insights that I believe will help them clear obstacles that they see on their investigators pathway to come unto Christ. I love to see the excitement in the sisters’ eyes when they see how they can help their investigators take the next necessary steps. It is fun stuff! I highly recommend the experience. On Friday afternoon I volunteered in Jessie’s classroom. The teacher had me put together a “boggle” bulletin for her room. I tried to do my best. I hope it met her standards. Another highlight for me this week was to ride outside on Saturday. It was quite breezy but so nice to enjoy the outdoors. I’ve got to take advantage of this nice weather while I can. :) Have an incredible week. That is what I have planned for. ;)