It Takes a Village

You know the saying:  "It takes a village to raise a child"?  Well, I have learned over the last 4 weeks, it also takes a family to get "Mom" thru college!
Most know that I am taking 2 classes a semester to finally get my college education.  I have found that 2 classes is a good fit with my other responsibilities as a mom, a wife, and a Primary leader.  But, I needed to take a one-credit class for some of my required credits.  How hard can a one-credit class be??  It was on the Arizona Constitution, it was only going to be 4 weeks, the textbook was small and easy to read, it was an on-line class....an easy A!
For the last 4 weeks, I have been swamped with homework.  This class was insane!!  Quizzes, tests with 5 essay questions on each, and a 5 page/10 slide PowerPoint presentation.  Let me share with you some of the questions...
"Describe the 3 levels of jurisdiction in Arizona.  Explain what courts make up each level and create an example of the type of case that could be heard by each court."
OK....so with Brad giving me examples, and Aaron critiquing my answers, I was able to answer this "simple" questions....1 1/2 pages of typing!
Here's another:
"Describe how the process of 'initiative' works.  Be sure to discuss both normal laws and constitutional amendments.  As part of your explanation, create one example of a possible initiative".  CRIMINEY!!!

That wasn't all.  In this same time period, Aly had to present her Honor's Project (Spanish presentation), Jacque was finishing up an 88-page assignment, and I also had to present my informative speech - which was 1/3 of my grade.  Talk about a stressful time.  It was ALOT of fun around here, let me tell you!!!

Here are some of the high-points of the last 4 weeks:
Aly had a near perfect presentation!!
My crazy professor liked my writing and had good things to say.  Here's a sample and I put it in this blog so that my posterity knows I had to work my .............. off......and with all that hard work....sometimes it pays off!!!!
"Dena, do I even need to say 'fantastic work'?  It is my pleasure to give you full points.  If you are writing a paper for the final, I look forward to reading it".
Yes, I wrote a paper and yes.....I received an "A"!! (There was a little pressure on that also!!)
My speech only had a couple of hiccups and everything went well.
Jacque finished up her main classes, worked in the Maricopa County PICU, and is about 2 weeks from graduating from ASU.
Jacque snuck in one more trip to SnowBowl for a last huh-rah AND got her hair colored by one of her friends...it looked fantastic.

JADE came over!!!
She is growing so fast...and we love every new personality trait she develops.  Who couldn't smile looking at her??

Temples, Snowboarding, and....Urgent Care?

That about sums up our Spring Break.  The "Big Plan" was to go up to Utah and watch our nephew, Charlie, compete in DanceSport (more on that), be a part of another nephew's wedding (more to come), drop the girls off at the ski resorts and go to at least 3 temples.  THAT was the plan.....
However, as all know, sometimes plans change.  Sometimes life throws a curve ball and it's up to us to decide how we will react to those changes.

Aly and I left for Utah with Grammy on Thursday.  Spent the evening with Pam and her family.  The next day we all headed to Provo to watch Charlie compete in some pretty amazing dances.  VERY impressed!  We became very educated in the fine art of the "smooth" and "Latin" dancing.  We got pretty good at guessing who would end up in the finals.  It was a very fun day.  (Go to THIS SITE for all the pictures!) Aly and I left a little early to meet up with those who had traveled up on Friday morning - Brad, Grandma, the DeSpains, and Karges's.  On the way to our hotel, I remembered a famous pizza place that was very popular "back in my days at BYU" and thought it would be fun to see if it was still there and get some delicious pizza.  Boy - did that bring back ALOT of memories!!

We were able to go to the Provo Temple for a session as it was Harmony's first time.  That was very, very nice!

Saturday, we drove to Salt Lake, where it was nice and chilly and we were able to be a part of Kevin and Harmony's beautiful day.  I spent the afternoon at DanceSport with Grammy and Pam, and Aly went to Pam's house where she and Bry invaded the arcades and made a killing!
 

Sunday morning, Grandma and Brad flew home and Jacque flew into Salt Lake City.  We spent the Sabbath with Pam and her family and were treated to an amazing dinner with lots of yummy "appetizers".  We've decided that we want to eat there EVERY Sunday!!

In the evening, we headed up to Park City, where the girls were going to try and become experts at snowboarding.  I was going to spend my free time reading, shopping and had planned to go to 3 different temples on Tuesday.  By now, however, the 'small tickle' in the back of my throat has turned into a cough.  Not to be discouraged or thrown off our spring-break-plans, we enjoyed the beautiful drive up the canyon and were very surprised at the convenience of our hotel. 
Monday, my 'cough' is much worse and it looks like I will be spending the day in the hotel room curled up in many blankets.  The girls were off first thing in the morning!

Let's just say I didn't get to any temples while in Utah.  I was really sad about this, but instead spent some time reading and trying to enjoy the quiet of each day.  Tuesday, the girls were joined by Kade and some of his missionary buddies, and Justin and Nick who were teaching up at the Canyons' Resort. It was a good day of skiing .

By Wednesday, the girls were ready to come home and I was very, very sick.  Our plane didn't leave until late that evening, so we crashed at Pam's.  This is basically what I did for spring break:

It was a little discouraging realizing that I didn't get much accomplished this past week.  I've decided that I like to be productive and I do NOT like much on TV.  Even with the Food Network channel, it's a bit much after so many days!
On the positive side - because there is always a good to go along with the not-so-good:
We were able to spend some wonderful time with members of our family on both sides.  Aly and Jacque were able to fine-tune their snowboarding skills, and they were able to take good care of their mother.  While in Park City, I received a blessing from two worthy priesthood holders.  For this I'm so grateful.  I slept thru the night peacefully and was able to return home without coughing too much on the plane.  I was able to spend time reading my scriptures without any interruptions and felt the spirit strengthen my testimony and felt my faith grow.  Came home to wonderful family who had everything ready for me to relax and begin the healing process.
Maybe Spring Break wasn't what I had planned, but who knows...maybe it's just what we all needed!

Middle of January - Oh My!!

So, I guess I missed the first blog of the year - being goal related and inspiring as such.  My life was wrapped up in Primary - in fact, that is what consumes alot of my time - but one goal is to be more organized so that I can keep on top of all the wonderful things I enjoy doing - including a blog here and there.

 The first weekend of January found Jacque planning a Snow-boarding Retreat up to Brian Head (near Cedar City in Utah).  About 28 young adults ended up enjoying an amazing time with freezing cold weather and snow coming down.  She didn't really plan the whole thing, but she planned the food for six, took the truck and luckily, did NOT end up with anything broken or at the hospital.  A tender mercy right at the first of the year!!  Her group included Kade, and friends - Lexi, Taylor, Jesse, and Brett.