A year of changes

It was this day exactly last year that our whole world changed. We took Jesus' Mom through the temple for the first time. It was a great day. We took her shopping after and the guys took my Dad to get some delicious Mexican food.
We all met up at home and were going from downstairs to upstairs and back. We were headed upstairs when all of a sudden we heard a thud thud thud and knew my dad had done something.
As you all know- It wasn't great. He fractured his neck which left him paralyzed. He was hoping for a recovery, but we knew the outlook was not so great.

He passed away 6 months ago and we do miss him, but we are grateful for the gospel and for the atonement. We know he's in a better place free from suffering, pain, and any other infirmity or affliction. I feel like his life was a mighty miracle. Many people would be down and depressed if they had all the problems he had, but it didn't bother him much. He just continued forward in faith every day.

I loved this last conference. I loved the talk by Elder Rasband. He said

 "My first year as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has been most humbling. It has been a year of stretching, growth, and earnest, ever-present petitions to my Father in Heaven. I have felt the sustaining prayers of family, friends, and Church members all around the globe. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers."
(to check out more of his talk click here)


And I think that is exactly how we felt this last year as we have been humbled stretched and grown. We have asked and petitioned Heavenly Father for many things, but we have also felt the prayers of many people all around in our behalf and we are truly grateful.

As Jesus and I have been married for a year. CRAZY how time flies. We have grown and learned a lot. I am grateful for him every single day. I couldn't imagine life without him.

Since we've been married almost a year, our roles have now reversed. I'm the worker and he's the schooler.
I now teach 1st grade. 27 of them. To be honest I can't say that I love it every day. I might have a few that make my life difficult, but I do love how excited they get to learn. I taught them how to read a label on a picture like a month ago and whenever a label pops up they get really excited! "Teacher! A Label!" It warms my heart. Some days I feel like nothing gets through or they all argue/ fight with each other about something, but in the end they are kind of cute. And there is nothing like a warm first grade hug.

Jesus is the schooler. I've never met a more studious person in my life. He took a CNA course and will soon start working at the U hospital, but while waiting for that he is taking 14 units. He reads every word in his book and annotates everything. He sometimes hardly gets any sleep. I could never do that, I am in awe everyday of his dedication.

That is our year in a few words. I'm sorry I haven't been the best blogger. Life is crazy.

July July July

July 2, 2016

Sheesh! I need to write a lot more than I do. Sorry! I started that last post a long time ago. I figure I need to be better. So Here we go.
So 6 months ago when I started that post we were deciding what to do with my Dad. In December he seemed to be doing so well, then January 1st hit he just went downhill. We spent a lot of time praying as a family, going to the temple, and fasting to figure out if we should put him on hospice or not. The answer finally came to my mom that it wasn't up to her. It was in God's hands and he would let us know when it was his time to go.

A few weeks before he died we decided that since his quality of life was poor. We decided to let him enjoy life a little and eat (and drink some Diet Coke). He did enjoy that.

We also decided that if he got another infection that we weren't going to treat it. We were just going to help him be comfortable.

So... The Friday before conference he got a bad infection and we decided to just let him be comfortable. And Hospice came in and kept him comfortable for the weekend until Monday. 

We are so grateful for the messages of conference. It was all about overcoming our trials and challenges. We felt like every message was for us. 

Especially Elder Hollands Talk and here are a few of his words--

"...but the fact of the matter is none of us want tomorrow, or the day after that, to destroy the wonderful feelings we have had this weekend. We want to hold fast to the spiritual impressions we have had and the inspired teachings we have heard. But it is inevitable that after heavenly moments in our lives, we, of necessity, return to earth, so to speak, where sometimes less-than-ideal circumstances again face us."  

Click here to listen to more of his talk or any other General Conference talks. 

We weren't excited for Monday to come, but we are so grateful for the gospel and the knowledge we have of the Plan of Salvation Whatever he was dealing with here- no mobility, no taste, no smell, horrible hearing, brain injury, and all the other problems he faced would be made right, and he wouldn't be in any more pain or suffering. 

Monday morning came and he was taken off the vent. A few hours later he took his last breaths and was gone. It was a beautiful thing to be together with an amazing home teacher as well as his brother to watch his spirit leave his body. 

We obviously were sad to see him go, but We know that he is in a much better place.

We're grateful for all of the love and support our family and friends gave to us during that time and after. 

And the funeral was a happy celebration of life. We, again are SO grateful for the gospel and the knowledge we have of the great plan of salvation. 

Anyways....... New subject... I graduated! YAYYYY!!!!!

Last time I wrote I had 44 days of student teaching. My kids at Lincoln were so great! We had some great times and I definitely learned a lot. I'm grateful to Becky Page who was my Amazing mentor teacher. 

I also student taught at Millcreek Elementary in Dual Immersion. That was an interesting experience and I learned a lot at that school as well. 

I am excited (and nervous) to be teaching first grade in the fall at Mountain View Elementary in the Salt Lake City School District. 

In June we took my mom on a relaxing beach vacation. All she wanted to do was sit on the beach and relax. Which is what we did.

We spent 4 days on Coronado Island and then 3 more at a beach house in Oceanside.  It was in incredible time! NICE AND RELAXING!!

We think that it's about time to go back again. 

Life is great! My birthday is in 10 days! I'm going to girls camp next week with Jesus. It will be his first girls camp experience. 

I'm sure there's a lot more to life, but i'll stop here. I'll be better about writing more often. 

Decisions Decisions...

Another 3 months has gone by again. Time. Flies.

Another football season, Christmas, and a new year have all come and gone.. As of today (January 24th). I have 44 student teaching days left (who's counting, though). I have to decide what i'm going to teach, and how i'm going to teach it. I'm going to start having to make decisions about where I want to work in the coming months. AHHHH!!! I'm graduating in about 3 months! ahhh!! finally! 

14 weeks have passed since we got married and 14 weeks have passed since my dad fell down the stairs.