Shantel - Primary President

In November 2013 Shantel was called to be the secretary in the primary presidency. A year or two later she was called to be a counselor in the presidency. Then about 3 1/2 years ago, she was called to be the primary president. Overall she has been in the presidency for about  5 1/2 years. Here are a few pictures with her current presidency. The only person who has been in the presidency the whole time she has been president is Jessica Benedict (in the white coat below). 

Today she was released as the primary president. She has known for a few weeks and has been mentally preparing herself, although it will be a huge adjustment. 

Just a few things to note about this.

Shantel has grown so much spiritually during that time. She has always listened and followed the spirit, but I think this has helped her as she has sought inspirations for callings, classes and how to run the primary. She has sacrificed so much over those five years of her time to make sure that the primary kids in the TM 2nd ward have been spiritually taken care of while at church. Our primary has about 160 kids and 40 nursery kids. That is over 200 kids and it means there has been a ton of work. Shantel had a army (not even going to call it a small army) of primary teachers, scout leaders, activity days, nursery leaders, music leaders etc. She spent countless hours coordinating and even more time calling new teachers and making changes that needed to happen. She did an amazing job during sharing time of engaging the kids, testifying and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Shantel always volunteered in ward counsel for any assignment. The ward walkabout, fall festive, ward Christmas party, she did them all (and sometimes all of them in the same year). 

I am grateful for her service as the primary president. I know the Lord is even more grateful. She had an impact on so many primary children and they have been blessed by her leadership. She also has had a huge impact on members in her presidency and the many other teachers. She did not just consider the well being of her primary children, but of each and every member of the primary including all of the teachers and leaders. 

There is not a way to adequately express my love for you Shantel. Thank you for serving the Lord with all your mind, might, heart and strength. You have done the work of the Lord, and he is well pleased.  

End of school year Homeschool Adventures

Okay, I'll be completely honest. We have been all but limping to the finish line of our school year. I've tried to take comfort by reminding myself that the teachers and kids (and their parents) in public school are facing very similar feelings and that we're all going to make it and it's going to be just fine. We're making the most of things - here are just a few highlights from our end of year adventures!

Also, I've been telling myself that baby girl is coming halfway through summer but I recently realized that June isn't halfway through summer, it's the very beginning of Summer! We would really only have two weeks of summer if we school all the way through the end of May - so I'm calling it and we are ending this week (a week early)! Hooray for giving ourselves an extra week of summer and for filling our last couple of weeks full of some fun things in addition to our regular coursework and home-activities. 

Hikes.

We've been going on a hike every week this whole spring. Our hikes started out with bigger, longer hikes and have slowly turned into "nature walks" as I've gotten further and further into this pregnancy. But it's been great to be out in nature and in the sunshine. (My kids will always say that they love "nature" and it makes me laugh.) One week my friend Tami came with us, and the kids enjoyed having her along with us. We hiked a paved trail, threw rocks into a river, and just enjoyed the sunshine. You were supposed to be able to walk down to the river onto a dripping rock path, but it's been such a rainy spring that the river was really high!  

Bear Unit

Our last unit for the year was on Bears. We learned about the 8 different types of bears, where they live, what they eat, etc... We even went to Cabella's to look at all of their stuffed bears there. To finish our unit, the kids got to watch a movie with a bear in it (Brother Bear) and we took the kids out to eat at Black Bear Diner for an End of School celebration. 

Bean Museum

For our final field trip of the year we went to the Bean Museum at BYU. There were several bear exhibits (see above about Bear Unit, ha) - plus several "Big Cat" exhibits which are basically Lydia's #1 favorite animal right not. (All big cats are included: leopard, cheetah, lion, jaguar, puma, etc...) 

We love when David gets to join us on our adventures. He's such a huge support to our schooling efforts and these kids adore him. I wish that we could co-teach all day every day, but mostly just because I like to be with him. 

This year has been really wonderful. Just a really good fit for our family and Lydia has really excelled. I'm grateful that we took the big leap to do this because it's been such a blessing to us. I feel like we were really able to slow our lives down (which was one of our biggest priorities) and that we were able to nurture our relationships with each other. So many blessings for our little family and now...  Hip-hip-hooray for the end of school! Bring on the Summer! (or at least the next few weeks of Summer before baby sister gets here!) 

Austin Speech Therapy

 This week was Austin's last week of his speech-therapy "Talking Time" class. I wanted to take a minute and write down a few thoughts about the class and how proud I am of Austin. 

I know I've written here and there about this - but Austin qualified for services with the district this year for a speech-articulation delay.  His mouth struggles to make the sounds needed to form words clearly. Making sounds is tough work! It's something that you don't realize if it comes naturally, because it's just... normal. But when you have to learn how to make your mouth form certain letters and have to figure out how to use those sounds in words AND have to remember to use them when you're speaking, it can be overwhelming and frustrating. 

I have watched Austin work and progress so much this year. None of it came easily but I have watched him work for weeks and weeks on one tiny sound, making small bits of progress at a time, fighting discouragement, and struggling to get his lips and tongue to cooperate. I watched him go from not being able to say the "G" sound at all - to being able to say it if he looked in the mirror - to being able to say it on command. We repeated this long process with the "K" sound, where he physically could not make his mouth produce the sound to being able to do it! It seems so simple, and we have a long way to go - but I am hopeful that things will keep progressing and get easier for him as he works through it. 

It's been hard for me not to get frustrated as I've watched him. Not at him. Never at Austin. But frustrated with his teachers who keep doing the same things with such little progress. Frustrated that I don't know how to help him better. 

Even through the frustration, I am grateful that we live in a place where there are the resources, teachers, time, and ability to help.

Austin, I hope you know that I am proud of you. I hope that this prepares you to work hard for the things that you want, to learn how to deal with frustration, and to be able to persevere through difficulties. Even though you haven't loved Talking Time (other than the craft, you love the craft! You ask me every time we are on our way "What do you think the craft will be today?") - I have loved getting an hour out of each week to spend with you - talking with you in the car and sitting with you through your class. I love spending that time with you. I love YOU.