Goodbye, August; Hello September

Well, school began this August, and is well under-way, but that's not all that has been happening for me this month.  I had the most wonderful experience this month: I had the opportunity to sing in the Oquirrh Mountain dedication choir.  Not only that, but my choir got to sing in the very first dedication session.  It was so exciting to think that when I entered the temple on Friday morning, August 21, 2009, the temple was just another building.  But when I left, it was a Temple, dedicated to the Lord where sacred ordinances were to be performed.  I don't cry a lot in church meetings, unless I am the one speaking, but I cried the whole way through the session.  The feeling I got when I entered the Celestial room and began to sing the words to our first song, "Let the mountains shout for joy!  Let they valleys sing and the hills rejoice!  Let them all break forth into song, let them shout and be glad before the Lord!"  I had an overwhelming feeling that the mountains and the valleys really were shouting for joy, as were the spirits whose work will be performed in that beautiful building.  I was so overwhelmed by the brightness and the spirit in the Celestial room, that as soon as I left, I cried and cried and cried.  Luckily, we didn't sing again for about 30 minutes while the Prophet went outside to do the Cornerstone ceremony.  The Hosanna Anthem was the crowning moment of that day, along with the up-close-and-personal view I got of Pres. Uchdorf's hair (nice and thick).  When everyone sang "The Spirit of God," I knew that He was there in His house, glad and well pleased with all of us who visit the temple so much that there was  need for this one in the Oquirrh Mountains.  It was the second time in my life that I have sang for a prophet, and I believe it will be my last; I am so grateful for that opportunity!

Alice is my sweet little girl, and she has gotten to be so fun lately!  I do believe that she is like her mommy in that she wants to be a big girl right now, and do all the things big girls do (I was too anxious to grow up, and always ready for the next "adult" move that came my way).  Her first attempt at being a big girl was brushing her teeth:

She enjoyed it so much that she cried when we finally had to put the toothbrush down. Her next big-girl attempt is cereal. I know that the calendar says that it's a little early to start food, but Alice doesn't seem to care what the calendar says, she is ready right now. She watched Joe and me like a hawk when we bring food to our mouths. She almost started crying tonight when Joe wouldn't let her touch his can of root beer. She finally got a handle on it and PETTED it. She is fascinated with what we put in our mouths. She doesn't like to eat laying down anymore. She would rather recline slightly. And she wants to be in charge--she always holds, not the bottle, but the nipple which gets annoying because she either suffocates herself, or she pushes the nipple out of her mouth. I finally got frustrated enough on Sunday to go ahead and give her a taste of rice cereal mush. And, as you can see, she thoroughly enjoyed it, although she couldn't figure out how to eat and not suck. She is four months going on 3 years, apparently.



Tonight we had our first official Family Home Evening, complete with a song, prayer, lesson, and a Living Scriptures cartoon to round out the hour. I was sure that Alice would zonk out during the movie, which was about 25 minutes long, but boy, was I wrong! That little girl was glued to the screen, from beginning to end. She oohed and ahhed at all the right times (when the angel stopped Laman and Lemuel from beating up Nephi) and even shrieked her disapproval whenever Laban was on the screen, and then she would look at us, hoping that we, too acknowledged her scream. I am not kidding about that, nor am I exaggerating. I should have gotten it on camera, because I don't know if anyone will really believe me when I say that she really didn't like Laban. We couldn't believe it! Every time Laban appeared or talked, she would squeal. She knew he was a bad guy. She was really happy when she saw the angel, though: she LAUGHED. I think we have a very special spirit on our hands. I hope I don't screw her up.

As previously mentioned, I have also gone back to school, and have been going full time now for about a week and a half. Once I get to school I am a very productive adult. On my way to school, I cry like a little kid not wanting to leave her mommy on the first day of Kindergarten, only I'm the mommy and the little kid doesn't mind Mommy leaving. You can see here that she loves going to Lisa's to see her a Kyler.

It is hard to go back, but every day I find myself saying, yes, it's hard, but I would miss this. I have a wonderful new addition to my classroom:

I don't know if you can tell, but that, my friends, is a magnet board, four feet by four feet, and attached to my wall. Joe made this for me, and I am the envy of the school. I keep telling Joe that he should sell these in different sizes because teachers are crazy and will pay for stuff like this, but he is reluctant. I can't exactly explain why, but he is. Joe took one of my Lehi jackets to work, had the painter match the exact color of purple, and had another friend create the vinyl. It's actually two huge sheets of metal. I love it, and it makes my classroom not look so dirty and gross. (It's dirty because of the previous owner, not me. I should decorate the room, but I have better things to do, like teach).

So, there goes August, and here comes September, the last of the hot summer months, and the last breather before the onslaught of holidays. Yay, September! Here I come, to start a new year of school, my 28th year of life (born September 9, 1981), and a new phase in my life called Working Mommy. Ready or not, I must go.