My First Christmas

This will be my first Christmas with out my dad. I will admit the Holidays this year have been hard and a little on the disappointing depressing side. I have thought a lot about what the holidays were like with my dad. His twinkling blue eyes and smile. He smiled and grinned on Christmas each year , and I think it was because he was so happy and proud of my mom. She always does and has amazing Christmas gifts. Christmas eves consisted on laying on the couch and watching Christmas Vacation and eating soup. He used to tease us when we didn't get along during the season that he was going to shoot one of the reindeers. One year he even went as far as sitting a gun out in the kitchen. We stopped fighting right then. BUt I do miss him. I recieved a gift from a friend about him spending Christmas with Jesus. But to be honest I am a little jeolous of him. Getting to see my dad in his healthy ways. Laughing and teasing and smiling. But I guess that is how life goes. But I do miss him and am thankful for the family and legacy that he left and instilled in me.

But enough of the sob story the happy stuff. This christmas season like the rest of you has been busy filled with family parties and eating. Porter has seen Santa 3 times this year and each time asked for a skateboard. I think Santa will be able to handle it. Keller could care less about Santa but that is fine also. With Christmas comes the annual McBride family party. This year my cousin Brooke decided to have a dodgeball party. It was a blast. Yes we dominated. We are the biggest family. We had Jeremy's boys who are as competitive as they come so that helped. Jeremy showed up in a pair of daisey dukes and headbands, Jarret displayed the classic MULLET. He walked on the floor and Jeremy yelled where is Jarret, and he was like I am here. Jeremy said. Oh I thought you were Billy Ray Cyrus for a minute. But we had a blast. My cousin brooke and her family dressed up. Her husband charlie who is here in the front. Modeled a great pair of Spandex and tube socks. It was a classic. We had a blast we were all a little sore the next couple of days. My cousin dustin hit a few of us and left marks to show it.
Last but not least. With the passing of dad jami has stepped up and take his place as the buyer of gifts that you would never buy for your kids. She bought keller a PINK STROLLER and baby. He has not stopped bushing it around since she gave it to him. He loves it. I do not. But I told her PAY BACKS..
But in the end I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

P.S. Make sure you take time to tell the ones you love how you fell. Because some day they won't be here to tell, and it is something you do not want to regret.

Fall fun

Like I have stated many times all ready. This year started out pretty rough. Going through the hardest thing I have ever had to face. The year has not and just seems to not be getting better. So I have wished 2010 would start PDQ. But as I really think about it. I have wished this year away and not really taken anytime to cherish or enjoy it. Over conference weekend we made a quick long trip to bear world. We spent a ton of time in the car, but just enjoyed spending time together. This was a little stick your head through it fun thing. So today we took the Halloween pictures. It was one of the only days Jami doesn't have a million things planned. So we headed out.

I loved this one of keller he sure loves to force every one arms go out and leg up.
But this is my favorite he was forcing and as he was falling over I snapped a picture. The good news is jami was there. So there will be good pictures. I take my camera, same one she has. Mine look blurry and terrible, and hers look good. But here is our fall fun..

Thinking lately

Just been thinking a lot about my dad and how much he loved the fall. It brought hunting , and one ugly pheasant hunting hat. He loved to watch the boys play football, and Jami and I play volleyball. He loved his pine nuts, and of course this is where my love of NFL football came. I loved to watch with him. We would sit in the basement with the fire going and flip from game to game. It was always so much fun when our teams played each other. Jarret always claimed he had so many favorites so that at least one of his teams won each week.
The past few weekends I have been able to spend time with each of my siblings and their kids. I couldn't help but think how much my dad would have loved each one of them. How he would have treated each one with their unique personalities. One thing i have been OK about is having kids and getting birthday presents we never faced the wrath of John and gifts. His siblings and their kids got the best of that. I am sure we would all have many animals and drums and the most annoying toys you could imagine.
The family has really had some ups and downs. We have rallied together for each other. But we know that one key ingredient is missing. But like the seasons there is always change. Whether it is for better or for worse change happens and we deal with it.

Two Words

SWINE FLU

Smear the Mascots

Here is my favorite mascot Miles. He was a beast. Jana and I picked him to be our favorite, drey liked the Salt Lake Soccer Mascot because he could break dance. Porter loved them all, and Keller set in awe and cheered the entire night. But what a night it was..

Mom Just happened to be watching the news on Monday and saw that Lehi was having a charity football game. So I sent out an email to the family and we decided to go. What a great choice we made. We went at 5:30 and the parking lot and stands were all ready full. It started at 5:30 according to the news, but next year we know to go early. Oh what a night. I think I got the best ab workout I have had in years. The Whickers came and loved it. Ally loved the mascots. But when the gorilla got close she had some issues. But we had fun. Jarret and I got a good chuckle. Jarret thought that his first grade team could have given the Lehi teams a run. The quarter back for the mascots was a good old Millard boy. He was a Boone he knew my cousins the Cummings. So we had a little talk with him and he told porter he would score a lot of touch downs and they would win.The starting line up on the field. Those are all mascots they came from everywhere. There was swoop from the U, Miles from the Denver Bronco who was my favorite. He was pretty competitive. He came to win. He laid out a few of the little Lehi guys with some pretty mean stiff arms. Hoot and Holly who made out during the fire works. The Jazz bear, the Jazz dancers, The Ute cheerleaders. For you cougar fans they introduced Cosmo and he was a NO SHOW..
But mascots came from far and near to help. The New Jersey net Sly fox, The Gorilla of the Phoenix Suns, The Indiana pacer mascot and the Chicago Bull.
They signed autographs and T-shirts porter has on his mascot bowl t-shirt and had to wear it to school. This guy was the Salt Lake Thunder mascot and he was a jammer to the music.
Holly she couldn't play her head was to big to even walk..
We had a blast. So everyone put it on your calendar for next year. It is for charity and is a blast.

The Hamtastic four yes I said HAM

I forget when you upload they upload back wards so just enjoy the pictures. Porters friend Grant from schools mom asked if Porter and Dreyton would like to pig wrestle. So we said sure and it was an adventure. The team was named the HAMtastic 4. So cute.They dressed up like super heros. It was hilarious. They started with a plan that they all came up with. Tucker started out pretty aggressive, but one he picked the muddy pig up and it squealed he was not to excited. But Batman Grant as you can see was an animal he was tackling and taking control. They didn't follow their plan, but they had fun.
Porter and drey touched it a little bit, but once they saw how dirty it was they didn't really like it. They were funny. They had a ton of fans there cheering for them. Next year they want to do it again, and Jake is going to go with Jarret brett and Jeremy.
So here is the before pictures of the HAMtastic 4. We didn't get the pig in the barrel but we had a lot of fun anyways... We didn't win the 200 dollars, but we one the best costumes in the PEE WEE division as you saw with the trophy's above.

We survived.. Post about throw up beware..

Don't they look so sad with the IV's. Here is the story behind them. They both milked them for all it is worth.

So we have had a huge bump in the road this past week. It involves a lot of throw up and other things I don't want to mention. But it all started on Wed. Yes the first day of school. At around 3:30 in the morning Keller woke up sick to his stomach. Jake stayed home until 11:00 so I could go to the first day. Everything that went into the little guy came out of the little guy one way or another. He was miserable. So I spent the day cleaning towels and clothes. Then on Thursday morning it was my turn. It was awful, my gut still hurts from the day. But all day long Keller and I laid in bed. Saying little prayers that Porter wouldn't get this because he just started school. It would be horrible if he threw up at school. But the good news was he made it home and threw up in Jamis car... So the three of us laid in bed and were miserable together. Jake attended back to school night. :-) But when he came home after many more towels and blanket washing keller was very lethargic. We could get him to open his eyes but he wouldn't look at us, and they would just roll back in his head. So we decided he might be in a little trouble since he hadn't eaten since Tuesday morning. We loaded up and headed to the ER. Checked both the boys in, figure we might as well get porter help before he got to the point keller was at. They took their blood and they had elevated liver numbers, both of them so they took more blood and sent that off to be tested for a little of everything. Both boys were given IV fluids. keller was also given sugar to help his sugar levels since they were really off. But IV drips in little boys drip really slow... So at about 2:00 in the morning we headed home with our sick boys and their IV's in arms, and were told to bring them back in 10 hours. So ten hours later back to the ER we go. After telling 4 people the same thing over and over again. I even got the comment if they are doing better why are you bring them back. Well I don't really know how to take IV's out of peoples arms. So we finally got to see the doctor, who wanted to leave porters in and take kellers out since porter was still throwing up. But porter wanted it out and had had it with the pokey thing in his arm. So we are feeling better. Still no results on our tests, but wanted to update everyone on the boys and let ya see how hard it was to have the IV. But no worries I am feeling better. I didn't get a shot to stop my throwing up. But I survived..

Little update

We are getting ready for the first day of school. Having a kid in school and being a school teacher is a little difficult on this day. Jake is going to take Porter to school . I Decided he needs to wear what he wants and feels comfortable in even if he doesn't match. We had a little stress about it. But I am stressed and worried to send him to school all day he is so little. But that is the way life guys.

Dreyton, Porter and I were outside sitting on the bench, and we started talking about John. I asked them what they thought he was doing. I could see the wheels turning in Dreytons head. Porter said he typical well thought out answer " I don't know." Then all of a sudden Drey blurts out. " I bet he is playing poker." Where in the world did that come from. But it gave me a good laugh because John would love that. :)

What a NIghT!

A couple of weeks ago my friend Candi sent me a text and asked if we wanted to go to the Crash Derby. I said sure sounds fun. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. So Saturday we loaded up the truck and headed to the BIG city of Nephi. After some great performances of Juab Idol it began. Oh My Gosh!! I have never seen anything like it. It was so much fun. I would have to say it was one of the wildest and craziest things I have ever seen. Candi's Husband drove a car, and after a few good hits he lost a lot of fuel and was down for the count. We stuck around for the ending to see who would win. But I must confess that the girls were awesome. They were fiesty things. But fun was had by all and a great night at the crash derby..

Spanish Fork Res.

No pictures just ramblings from me about today.  Jami and I decided to take the kids to the res today. We took our chips and sandwiches and headed up early. We got there and not many people were there. Which surprised me. We dropped our stuff off and laid out our blanket and put up the umbrella. We were good to go. Jami and Drey headed to the water and set with Keller and Porter on the blanket. Which was when I got and earful and an eyeful. The little couple in front of us with their feet in the water. They were killing me. LITERALLY :( Who thought they had the most smokin hot bodies. the only thing smokin were the cigarettes you smoked every ten minutes and about killed everybody on the beach. When everyone is coughing and all the little kids even mine were complaining about the smell take a HINT:). To make matters worse both of them could use a few tips on their swimming suits. Boy pull yours up, I could see your pubic hairs. Girl  next time I would go up about 4 sizes you didn't leave much to the imagination. Last but not least the boy was in the military. So he was awesome and could drop the F bomb about every 4-5 words.  Not cool. But listening to him tell the girl what he had been doing and did in the military made me physically sick. Talking about all the different women and how hot they were, the girl with him should have taken off and ran for his life. To be honest if he was responsible to defend me, I would be worried that he had every shot a gun sober. I hope he was trying to impress her and telling a few fibs. But he was disgusting, and I wish if I were not such a chicken I should of stood up and asked him not to smoke, clean up his mouth and last but not least pull up his swim suit. But that is easier said then done right.

Oh what do you do in the summertime????

Well we play and play hard. Time sure does fly by in the summer doesn't it. Porter and Dreyton took a round of swimming lessons from Payson city that I don't want to talk about because I have nothing nice to say. So for our second round I took them up to Natalie that I play softball with. Oh MY GOSH. I would recommend her to anyone. She was amazing. Porter was his normal timid self. But we had a major break through. She was so positive with him that he thought he was Michael Phelps. he has a long way to go but he doesn't know that. She was wonderful. Today they were having a pass off day, and she didn't get in with them and he jumped off the diving board with a little spring in his jump. Then he swam across the pool. I was shocked he did so good. I could see him getting so nervous when it was his turn. But she said go and off he went. When we got home. He asked me if I thought Grandpa John would be so excited for him that he swam across the pool. I told him I was sure that Grandpa John was watching him and so proud. I cried. But Thanks Nat you. are amazing

We finished off a great year of t-ball. Porter really caught the baseball fever. He loves to go outside and play catch. He even sits down and watches it on TV. He is always asking questions about the rules. I am excited because I love baseball and softball. But this is a picture of our cute little team. They were so much fun, and I had some great parents that were also fun to go to the games and chat and laugh with.

last but not least we headed to shalom for the 4th. The 4th has always been my favorite holiday, but this year I went kicking and screaming. I think it is because it is grandpa deans birthday and he is no longer with us, and it was always a time when my dads personality really shined. Fireworks out of pop bottles, bbqs and him teasing all the nieces and nephews. So I think due to all the memories I was more emotional about going then anything. We had a blast it was a quick trip, but everyone of my neices and nephews were there, and the quarnberg girls. We had a blast riding 4 wheelers, canoes, and most of all we had fun catching rodents. We were up in the main cabin at shalom visiting and cooking breakfast when porter, drey and tai came running up the stairs. Grandma linda had given them some nets to catch butterflies. But they thought bigger and better. Porter had a squirrel in his net. He was so excited. I will have to get a copy of the picture to show from Linda. Jake, Jarret and Kendall spent hours fishing for squirrels. You have to have jarret show you his contraption, but we caught more rodents then fish. We had a blast and fun was had by all. I was so proud of my siblings and they great job that they are doing raising their kids. They are amazing. Oh and I finally ordered my MAC with a free IPOD touch. I am so High tech now that I have no idea what to do. Looks like Mac class for me this summer.

Has it really been nine years

I can't believe that Jake and I have been married for 9 years now. It has had it's ups and downs. We have been through 2 kids, 6 dogs, 4 computers, and an inside and outside total house remodel. I would have to say that this has been by far the most trying of years. With the loss of dad, me going back to school, and the bear. But we survived. Jake is the great gift giver and puller offer. So when I call jake yesterday to tell him I will be home in a minute that I needed to run to smiths. He started thanking me for the great gift that I had gotten him. He was telling me that it was by far the greatest gift that I have ever given, and he can't believe that I did this. I was amazing. In the back of my mind I was thinking, what did I get Jake. I haven't gotten him anything yet. Have I? I had thought about a few things, but hadn't acted on them. So I am thinking what in the heck is he talking about. I made my fastest trip to smiths ever, t0 get home and find what I had gotten jake. Well wouldn't you know. Just look at the picture.

I guess now we have been through 7 dogs. It was a good one on jakes part I must confess. But happy anniversary anyways. i love you and think you are a great dad and husband.

Seriously :(

This is my computer screen. Yep I dropped it. Everything that I have been working on all semester and need to turn in net Tuesday is on it. Not a happy camper am I right now.
So know I am working on the old lap top. Most of the numbers don't work. Half the letters don't work. It is amazing what spell check can decipher as a word. Things that should take two seconds, take 5 minutes. I timed turning on and be ready to go. It took 12 minutes and 38 seconds. WOW what a day. The good news is it will only be 350.oo from Dell. Let me tell you. DON'T EVERY BUY A DELL. They have crappy coverage. The mouse and CD player haven't worked since I got it, and they keep doing little things to try and fi it, but it ain't happening. So I am a little stressed. Physically sick to my stomach right now, and have hours of redoing my project a head. It's a good thing I threw all my paper copies of the project away on Sunday and the trash went out Monday. I am not above going through the trash for them at this point if it wasn't at the DUMP all ready. Wish me luck and a better week.

Kiss my grass....:)

We have had a pretty busy last part of may and first of June. Here is a picture of Keller crying and fussing when I hold him. But if I am not holding him then he is crying and fussing. He is a treat. I love him to death, but he is a tough little bugger. Not the most mild child you could say. But he is darling and so cute with his blue eyes and unabrow. Porter also graduated from Kindergarten. He will graduate in 2021. That didn't sit well with me. I can't believe how fast he is growing up. I want him to stay little and be my buddy for ever. But it ain't going to happen.

Here is his teacher. She was the best we could ask for. She loved and took care of porter. I didn't even worry about him after the first week. Grandma Shelby and her took care of all the little ones like they were here own. I wish everyone could have them for kindergarten. Last but not least the moment you have all been waiting for. I got grass. Jake has worked his butt of to get it ready and we have grass. We started as a weed patch and now..

It is done and we love it. we just need to give it time to settle. Porter is excited to ride the riding lawn mower. Little does he know that in a few years it will be a job not a fun time to play with dad on the tractor. PS.

I attended the Kelly Clarkson concert with my friend Candi. She has been a good friend and rock for me since we were in Kindergarten I think. She is someone I always know will tell me the truth and set me in my place if I need it. But we headed out, really not to excited because the rain was coming down like tomorrow and it didn't show signs of stopping. But we headed to the UVU ball park and the rain stopped and I had a blast. I would have to say it was one of my favorite concerts of all time. Kelly Clarkson can sing. She was not a little skinny Hollywood star which made me like her more. But she was good. I will have to post pictures soon. But I also got to go with Shelby to her first concert. It was a blast. Thanks to all who came and sang. V you are amazing on your blog. I think you have a chance at Utah's got talent next year. But you will have to beat Candi out first.

Cast in Stone

It was a bitter sweet weekend for me. My dads headstone is in and finished. It is beautiful. But it was weird to see my name and my families name on the stone. It turned out so pretty. Mom picked well. The thing about this weekend is lately I have been at moms and things will pop into my head and I will think I should take the paper down to dad. The other day at McDonalds I asked the boys what we should get grandpa john. I have walked down to check on him, but this stone was a real wake up. The bad dream is not really a bad dream, but the direction the Whicker family life has gone.

We did stay at the hotel in Fillmore and swam in the coldest swimming pool I have ever been in. My cousin bought one of the blow up slides from Costco and the boys played all day on Monday. We had a nice visit with some of my cousins on the Whicker side that we haven't seen for years. It was a great weekend and I couldn't have asked for more then to be surrounded by family who stepped up and gave our family and my mom so much support during this time. Thanks Whickers, Cummings and McBrides. We felt your love this weekend.

0-4

So I am having a bad week in the win loss record. I took keller into the doctors on Monday morning after non stop crying since Friday afternoon, and not sleeping for more then two hours at a time. He was 2 for 2 on the ear infection so I put that in the loss record. The antibiotics are not helping matters and I am a grouchy bear that can't wait to go to work to get a break from the crying. Then on Tuesday we trecked to Salt Lake for a great day of softball. I knew in my gut that this was our game. We were due, and the buffalos were going to eat their chips. In the 6th inning we were down 7-0 and I started to tear up, because I wanted and new that the girls had it in them to win. Coach Brent looked and me and said Oh no we are in trouble if we have beck crying... But I just wanted them to win so bad. We did lose and I felt terrible, because this group of girls were so much fun. No drama go to the park work hard, and get the job down and laugh and have fun while you do it. But life will go on. Softball will be a great memory they all have. I also thanked them because at a time in life when we have had little Joy in our life with losing dad. They brought some to the Whickers. Mom loved to sit up in the booth and cheer for the girls and forget about things for a while. So I know the girls don't read the blog but I want to thank them for the joy the last few months have been. So we headed home on the bus and stopped one last time for a lunch with a bunch of giggling girls. Who could have thought the night could have gotten worse. Seriously people what in the heck are you thinking. Why when you could vote for this to win the mirror ball....
Did you vote for the flaming male and robot dancer.

The good thing about her winning, is She WONT be back next year. Even Melissa would be better. I know the Jana and Vanessa are feeling my pain right now, but

i guess we will have to wait until season 9. Max one more time and I know they will give you a great partner..

Help with Swine Flu

In case you need a mask

What a Day!!

I have coached high school sports for 12 years now. No matter what happens in the year, no matter where we place or what we do. This day is by far my favorite and most memorable. We take part in the swing for life. It is a fundraiser for breast cancer. It was a task to get there today due to a no show on the bus, but we pulled it off and it was worth it. We had a blast. When the girls came out from behind the curtain the cheered and the crowd cheered, and teams we have beat and are our enemies on the field, cheered for us and were glad to be there with us today. But when the girls came from behind the curtain I teared up and had cold chills. It made me so proud. I talked with the coaches that were there with me and told them " I have coached a lot of girls in my 12 years, and I know that some of them will have breast cancer. I hope that none of them do but odds are they will. I hope that they will look back at this and they will say I did try and do something to help this cause. I hope that we can help find a cure for breast cancer so none of them have to go through it. So I hope they will all look back and say I did something to help. I don't think the girls realize the impact of what they did, but I did and I am a proud coach today. There was also an article in the news paper about the Payson girls. I am attaching the link if you have a minute and want to read it. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705295457,00.html or you can check out the softball blog on the side for a more detailed account of the day.

Porter and Drey had their pictures taken with everyone. Including big Budda. He is HUGE. Did I say he was a BIG dude. But we came home to a horrible rain storm and so porter went out and played in the puddle. It was a great day, nothing in the house was hurt or wet. So we are glad..

In the end !!! (long pitty post ahead)

The last few days of spring break have been pretty emotional for me. I think it is because I have had time to finally slow down and reflect on the last few months. WOW they are a blurr. I also have a blogging friend that is in the same situation I was a few months ago. My heart aches for her. I also had a really good friends mother get in a car accident and break both of her hips and broke her pelvis in 5 places. The last couple of weeks have been very emotional for my mother as well as the rest of us. It was Easter, and this was the first time that I have really sat and thought about Easter and how important the death and sacrifice of the savior really is. I am so thankful for it now.... It really helped my testimony I had to teach the 11 year old girls and I sobbed like a baby giving the lesson. The week before I took mom to Fillmore to look at headstones and try to pick one for dad. It made me physically sick when my mom was telling the guy that she wanted the kids names on it. I always thought that I would be an old blue haired lady with a walker when I buried a parent and had my name on a headstone. That is one of the biggest curve balls that I have been thrown in my life. But in the end we picked out a mountain with a fisherman and a stream and a DOGWOOD for mom....

I have listened to my dads funeral twice in the past few days and I have come to a few conclusions that I all ready new, but needed a little refresher on. Family comes first ALWAYS!! We get wrapped up in so many things and forget that, but no matter what they are the most important thing. I coach softball and love it, it is very time consuming,, and people take it so serious. A strike out for some girl is devastating, but how do you tell a high school girl that it really isn't that important in the scheme of life. It is just a fraction of a second and nobody will remember it. I also watched the movie Marley and ME. I knew what was going to happen the minute Jake put it in. I have never cried so hard at a movie before. I think it just hit so close to home. I have been thinking about getting porter a little dog to have in the house, but after this movie realized what happens and I don't think I could handle losing a dog. I looked back on my dads life and I knew but it hit me really hard how unselfish he was. Everything he did, he did for my mom and us kids. I wish that my kids could have known him. They would have loved him. I also think that he would have loved being a grandparent more than anything. Cade was the only grandchild we had that dad really had the chance to enjoy before his first stroke. The other lesson that I really learned from dads funeral was from his friends Bill's talk. Now that I have a kid of my own I understand. If your kids are involved in then you need to be too. You need to be involved 100% and be to all of the games and take the time to throw and extra pitch or work on their foul shot, or watch them do their dance one more time, and in the worse case listen to them screech the violin. Encourage your kids to be involved in good things, and make sure they see you in the stands cheering for them. I do know that my dad learned this from his parents. I also had a message today on face book from someone who was at my dads funeral who thanked me for encouraging them to tell their parents how they fell and what they mean. So things have snow balled lately, and I think that reality has hit me right square in the face. I miss my dad, and would give anything to have him back I am sure that my mom is reading this right now and crying. Sorry mom, but I needed to vent a little and what better way then blogging for the world to hear.

More information needed

The bond is going to be voted on in June. The June elections have very little turn out. So we need more people to look at it find out more information and get involved. It will raise our taxes. I was told from someone that it will only raise our taxes 15 dollars a year. But I was also told from someone who knows. It will raise them $300 quarterly for every 150,000 your house and property value is. So I like I said have very mixed feelings about it, but I think that people need to know what is happening. On the Nebo school district website they have a power point presentation and also a date when they have meetings in the Towns. That gives the public a chance to ask questions. I am not good with this type of thing, but I just wanted to let every one know what is going on. I also feel like it is not be publicized outside of the school buildings so the public doesn't know, and that is concerning me a little.

Need to know information

I thought that you bloggers out there that read my blog so faithfully might want to know this. If you live in Nebo School district boundaries you may want to check this out. I as a teacher have mixxed emotions, but I think that you should all look at the presentation. They are trying to bond again, and you may want to look at what it will do to you. Click on the link and then click on bound presentation.
http://www.nebo.edu/

Easter

Does anyone have any good ideas for an Easter lesson for 11 year old girls that does not involve eggs opening them up and having an object and a scripture. after looking around all the websites I am assuming that is the standard Easter lesson of the church.

Why I love PJB!!

I think this face sums it up. Jami took his pictures the other day and this face and the thinker pose seem to be his favorite for the session.

No JoKe

It is his 6th Birthday. I can't believe that he is all ready 6 years old. He is the funniest kid. He is so well behaved and such a joy. Although lately he is breaking out of his shell. So who knows what is to come. I love him, and am so thankful that he is with us. He is an Aprils fools day baby, but his entrance was one to remember. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!!

Embarrassing Teacher moments

Embarrassing teaching moments are sure to happen. But we have been talking about them lately. I have been taking classes at BYU, and it has been a treat let me tell you. I am the one that brings PEPSI and not caffine free diet either. The real stuff to class. But that is not the point. A freind of mine in the class was doing a presentation a couple of weeks ago and while she was up at the board looked down and went bright red and busted up laughing. She had on a long sweater that covered mid thigh. But she felt a little draft and realized she was in her black slip. We all laughed with her and that was her moment of the year. But I had one today. I am reading a book called tuesday with Morrie. the guy in the book ends up with Lou Gerigs desease. Over time he begins to loose control of all of his muscles and eventual all he can do is lay there and listen. He eventually dies, but the story is great. A good quick read, but today in the middle of the chapter he is talking about things and how they are going and what it is like to be a person who is knowing he is going to die and how he needs to still be positive. It hit pretty close to home with my dad, and I started to cry. Not just tearing up but a cry. I excused myself from class, and I expected the kids to be sitting there laughing and thinking I was a nut. THey were really good though. The best comment was " Mrs. Beck I think we shouldn't read this book anymore if it is going to make you cry." They all really like the book but it was a little on the embarrasing side because teachers are supposed to have it together. We then moved onto another activity, and never fear I tripped over the overhead. Yeah I went down on all fours, and I looked up and the kids waited to see my reaction, when I finally stood up I said " I am only going to give it a 8.5, because I didn't hit the landing." The all died laughing..

The weather outside is frightful, but the Beck's are so delightful (not).

Keller is now 1. I made him a cake that looked like a snake and he wanted nothing to do with it. But never fear his big bro porter came to help (no milk frosting) and nothing changed he just wanted his hands clean. This time of the year we have one birthday after another. Between the 18-April 4th we have a birthday on almost everyday but 2. So Jakes was on the 21st and he was at scout camp and I had sick kids so I didn't get out. We ordered pizza for dinner. Jake sat the pizza down and went to get plates and napkins out of the kitchen and I went to get Keller and came back and found porter enjoying the BBQ chicken wings. I don't know what gave it away that he had dug into them.
But the birthday hit was yet to come. Don't scroll down and ruin the surprise. but Drey and Nana came up to give Jake his gifts. Nana said that Drey asked if they could go to walmart and get Jake's present. he picked it out himself. Drey handed his to Jake and went behind the couch. He was giggling and when Jake opened it. IT WAS A......

Barbie. Since Drey was old enough to understand Jake has told him for Christmas ,Birthdays everything that he was going to get him a Barbie. One year Jake wrapped dreys gift from us in a pink box, and Drey threw it down and pitched a huge fit, and wouldn't open it. Porter finally had to open it. But this year Drey go the best of Jake. The good thing according to Jake is that he now all ready has Dreys B-day present. But drey got the best of Jake.

Weekend outing

So this weekend was the annual March Warm up tournament for the softball team. I packed my 6 bags litterally and headed to st george. 2 were for me 1 for porter and 3 for Keller. I tell you what vacations and babies don't mix. But we had fun in the long run. Jana read her Fabio romance novel and we all laughed at her. Jake played cards with Susan any chance she could get she would track him down to play cards. But he loves cards so it was all right with him. I won't play with him because I am so competitive and when I loose I throw them or yell at him. But the trip was warm and I love this time of year. Softball is such a fun competitive sport in the outdoors. But on the way home we stopped by Fillmore. Porter really wanted to go see grandpa John. So we did. I think this was the most emotional and upset I have been since the funeral. When we left Fillmore after we buried dad it was so peaceful. I felt the spirit I knew all was well and that things would be all right. But today it wasn't. My dad is gone and it hit me like a ton of bricks. There in the background were the Beautiful mountains up Fillmore canyon. Where we used to spend so much time camping with family. The grass over dads grave has started to settle and it is looking like it is part of the ground now. It made me a little upset and feeling bad for myself. But I guess it will be easier as time goes on. But I do daily wonder what my dad is up to. I think he is probably keeping busy I am sure there is a lot of work for him to do. But I wonder what he is up to. I keep thinking he is going to swing by and tell me things are all right. Tell me a little joke and let me know who he is teasing. But i do miss him. It is times like this I am so thankful for the Gospel, and my mother who is a rock. I know she has her ups and downs, but she knows that families are forever and she will be with Little Johnny Whicker again.
So know that you all know I am sad and a crybaby. The tears are killing me because I am majorly sunburned.