Fun Christmas Napkin

Kelsey and I went to a Craft Fair on Friday (that wasn't very exciting) but I found this fun Christmas Tree cloth napkin. They had them in all different patterns and colors -- really cute!!!  Might be fun to make a set for a Christmas Dinner (some year in my spare time)!!!  It even came with the pattern. (Sorry that some of the pictures seem upside down because of the "date stamp" on the camera.)

 

My Super Sophomore Seminary Class

In August (the beginning of the school year) I was asked to teach all the Sophomores (from our Church) that attend Castle View High School an early morning religion class that we call "Seminary."  I opted out of teaching the Junior class that Jacob attends (thought having your Mom teaching you might be a bit too weird!).

Our LDS high-school age youth, attend Seminary all 4 years of High School.  It is such a big commitment for them (and their teachers) to come to class each day from 6:20 to 7:20 am before school. It's not mandatory and so it is all the more AMAZING that they show up each morning on time and with great attitudes.

I have 14 truly remarkable students that I am teaching the Old Testament to each morning!

Here are my Super Sophomores!!!

Here are some pictures of lessons and object lessons (their favorite).

  Gotta keep it interesting or you lose them!!

   

  

Lesson on "Jacob's Ladder"

We are studying Moses right now so I decided to surprise the kids by dressing up

 like Moses on Halloween morning!  The kids couldn't believe it!  We went "trick-o-treating" to the other two classrooms saying "Freshmen ... let my people go!!!"  They loved it!!!

In addition to a lesson each day, we are memorizing 25 scriptures from the Old Testament ... so on Friday we play games that help us to memorize them.  GREAT FUN!!

Blow-up a balloon, tie it, pop it to find the scripture clue ....

Everyone on your team must find the scripture and stand-up before

 the next person  can run down and pick the next

balloon ... good times!!

Or how about Scripture Chariot Racing?

I give a key word, they look up the scripture and when everyone has it they can race their "chariot" around the trash can and back for a point!

Nothing like spending your mornings with teens to get your day off to a fun start!

  Even though its a lot of work ..... I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!

Trick-o-Treat, Mummies, Pilgrims & Apple Nachos

Jacob and his girlfriend, Rachel, getting ready for our Church Halloween Party.

Kelsey and some friends stopped by!

Some cute little hot dog mummies that I made to take with us.

An extremely clever costume at the party!

I made these cute Pilgrims at a church craft night!

  Thought they turned out REALLY cute.

Jessica sent me this recipe she saw on Pinterest.  Apple Nachos!  Sliced apples with melted organic peanut butter drizzled on top of them, then shredded coconut, almonds, pecans and some chocolate chips.  Very tasty!  I took them to recipe club this past Tuesday night.  We had a record 21 people there!  It was fantastic!

I LOVE these women!  We have so much fun each month!

A New/Used Car .... and He's Free!!!

We bought Jacob a used Toyota Rav4 so that he doesn't have to drive MY car and so he has some reliable transportation to go back and forth to school, practice, etc.  Can't believe that MY BABY is off and driving!

Now he WILL BE getting a job just as soon as B-ball is over so he can support his new habit!!!

 Off to B-Ball Practice

 (this sight really tugs at a Mom's heart)

Jacob Get His Driver's Licence

This is what Castle Rock looked like on Wednesday last week from a blizzard that hit!  We even had a snow day this early in November!!! Jacob was scheduled to take his Drivers Test on Friday (yesterday).  He is about 6 months late in getting his licence (he had to have his permit for a year) and hasn't had much winter driving, anyway, the "driving gods" were with him because most of it melted on the roads and he passed the test with flying colors!

  

Hawaiian Vacation - October

Tyring to get back into blogging the events of our life and what better way to start than with our recent vacation we just took to the island of Oahu, Hawaii -- October 15th thru 22nd!

We stayed at the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of Oahu -- so relaxing just to go to the beach and lay by the pool!  Kelsey wasn't able to come with us this year, as she had to work!  It was sad because it was our first vacation without her.  



     

Around the hotel ... laying and reading by the pool, walks along the rocky shores, lots of tide-pools, turtles, and even an old bunker!



  



Every night we had a special gift -- a beautiful sunset -- looking out from the pool!!!

 Lots of fun at the beach by the hotel and all the fabulous beaches within minutes of where were staying! Jacob loved to use the snorkel mask and look for shells. The waves were pretty big the first couple of days but then calmed down.

Bonzai Beach -- The Pipeline

  

Sunset Beach - Swimming and Searching for Seashells

 

     

Jacob found a friend on the beach -- Pua was the name on her tag ... with a Sunset Beach address so she was a local! She LOVED to go out in the waves and ride them in with him. We gave her a drink of water out of one of our flippers!

Stopped at a local fruit stand on the way home for some ice cold coconut milk and fresh coconut!

We snorkeled at a great place called "Shark Cove" -- it wasn't very crowded at all!  With a name like that, I can see why!  "They" say that you can see little white-tipped sharks there but we didn't see any ... but lots of bright colored fish ... snorkeling is one of our favorite things to do!!!

Swimming makes you sooo hungry and why is it that vacation food tastes so good!!!  Jacob's WHOPPIN' plate of Nachos AND the best "Shave Ice" not ShavED Ice (don't know why the call it that).  It is so sweet, cold and yummy!!!

We decided to go see the "Dole" Plantation one day ... a bit disappointing but fun, none the less.  More of a tourist trap to get you to buy "Dole" stuff!

  

  

   

We have a beautiful LDS Temple located right down the road from where we stayed along with BYU-Idaho, and The Polynesian Cultural Center.  We had fun checking out the temple grounds and then to a day the the Culture Center.  Jacob really thought that was great!

At the Beautiful Temple Grounds

At the Polynesian Cultural Center

  

  

A great "hole in the wall" restaurant that had the best seafood we had eaten the whole trip along with macadamia nut ice cream pie.  If that wasn't enough, we had a fabulous sunset to watch as we enjoyed the evening.

Our Last Night with Dinner By the Pool at Turtle Bay

We really only went into Honolulu the day we left (we have been there before and there is just so much traffic) but it was fun to walk along Waikiki, have lunch with our brother-in-law Tony Sandoval (who lives there), and walk around Diamond Head crater and we saw more beautiful beaches.

  

It was a fantastic, relaxing, fun trip!!! 

We are so blessed to have been able to experience it!

However, we came back to this!!

Ohhhh, golden sands and sunsets

 WHERE ARE YOU!!!