Good Things

Last night was a school dance and I finally got to live a life-long dream. I got to make dinner for my kid's group. I've always told my kids I would gladly make yummy food and save them money. Mel's group took me up on it. The theme of the dance was paradise, so everything was island themed. I made teriyaki chicken, kalua pig, rice, macaroni salad and bought fixins for their fruit kabobs. They all dressed as castaways. I can't wait to see pictures of them all. I bet they had so much fun. They are great kids. I know they went on a photo scavenger hunt in the afternoon, then had dinner before the dance. Then they had dessert at Kobi's house afterward. They call themselves the "street youths." It's a reference from a TV show called "New Girl." All great kids.

Kobi Watkins, Makei Tupou, Brooke Walker, Kaleb Greening, Isabelle Barron, Megan Winward, Scotty Hughes, and Mel

Today I got to go to mom and dad's for a BBQ. Bengt and Inger Hoglund are in town from Sweden. Bengt served his mission in Sweden when my dad was there. He was also president of the Stockholm temple when mom and dad served a mission there. They are fantastic people. Deb and Mark were there, too. We had a very nice visit. I told Bengt I felt bad for him now that he's not Bengt, but Elder Renlund's cousin. He said it's a tough job. I wore my Sweden t-shirt just for them. They liked it.

I sent Kamiko this picture of me in my last area. I finished my mission in Montero. It was a fabulous last few weeks. I was with Sister Becerra, from Bolivia. She was friendly and outgoing. We spent a lot of time with these two sisters in the photo. They were very active in the ward and loved to feed and help the missionaries. Good times. I counseled Kamiko to keep working hard til the very end. No regrets that way. He's going to finish his mission in the office. I can't believe it. I thought for sure he'd get out for a bit. Oh it's great, though. He seems to enjoy the work in the office, though.

My Birthday Month!

I celebrate all October long. I celebrate right up until Halloween. It's been a fantastic October so far.
On Friday, the 2nd, I wore the new birthday apron at work. My class sang to me and wished me a happy birthday. Saturday and Sunday were conference. I did make myself yummy food. I made caramel brownies from my "Extreme Brownies" cookbook and they were divine. I also made pesto pizza. I just made food that I wanted to eat all weekend. Mel made biscuits and gravy on Saturday morning. That was a treat. On Saturday night, Mel and I went up to Fashion Place Mall and met up with grandma, Debbie, Jen and my aunt Carolyn. We hung out and I took brownies. We enjoyed them. These brownies are so rich that there are plenty to share. Can you believe none of us bought anything? We just walked around. I would have bought jeans if I had found some I liked, but I didn't.

Here are the dishes from my brownies and Mel's breakfast

Conference weekend was great. We relaxed and listened to inspired words. Three new apostles were sustained. Elder Rasband, Elder Stevenson, and Elder Renlund. Elder Renlund is a cousin of dad's good friend, Bengt Hoglund, from Sweden.

Monday, on my birthday, I woke up to this video:

That made my day!

I got up and cleaned the house, then I went to work at Hapari for a while. I told Keenan I wouldn't be home til it was time to make dinner. After work, I continued my hunt for jeans. I didn't find any, but that's ok. I also mailed off some brownies to Derek and Rachel and Richard and Maureen. I got home and the house was full of girls planning their date for Sadies dance. I fixed enough spaghetti to feed all of them. Keenan had decorated the house and made a cake. We had a quick family home evening with facts about the first presidency and quorum of the twelve apostles. I was gonna go kick boxing, but felt too full from spaghetti and cake. I was sure I would barf there, so I stayed home. My friend brought me flowers and chocolate, even though I bailed on working out. My visiting teachers dropped by, too. Mel said she can't wait until she's older and has friends and visiting teachers to give her stuff on her birthday. I felt loved.

Flowers from Danelle Prince

Tuesday I went to lunch with my walking buddies. We went to a pan Asian place that was yummy and we had a great visit. I then continued my hunt for jeans. I finally found some at the GAP outlet. I should have known to go there first. I also bought a cute plaid shirt. Plaid is huge this fall. I also ordered a new bra. That should come in the mail soon. I'm excited. It's cute and light pink and is very comfortable. We then went to the Hale Center Theater to see "The Addams Family." My former student Rachel Hansen and her husband are in it. I've always wanted to see her perform. Her husband played her father. Hahaha. It was a good play. We had a fun evening.

Don't worry, my celebrating isn't over yet. Mom and dad came to BYU on Wednesday to take me to lunch during my 2-hour break. I really wanted a burger, so we went to JCW's. I even got onion rings. We had a great visit. The food was great. I love JCW's burgers.

On Thursday, Jen came to lab and brought cake. She insists on doing it every year and it's quite a fun tradition. I love that she'll come that far to share a bakery cake with me and my students. She has them sing to me and brings paper goods and serves up cake to everyone. Starlyn and Jenny came by and some TA's who don't usually work on Thursday came and had cake, too. Jen and I went to grab lunch after lab. I got a great salad and she got yummy pumpkin soup. It was fun. We even had some cake left over for Friday. I was able to share with my morning labs.

Friday Keenan left for Oklahoma to pick up Allie. She's decided to finish her studies in Utah. She loved Arkansas and it was a great opportunity, but she has decided to come back home. I'm good with that. They drove down to Atlanta, TX, to visit family and are en route to Denver right now. They'll stay at Crockett's house tonight then head home tomorrow. Long drives ahead of them.