Parent's 50th Anniversary

This weekend was filled with fun and food and love as my family all gathered to celebrate my parent's golden anniversary. The festivities began with a dinner at the Shilling house and a lovely roast beef dinner.
Here is the happy couple:




Later we all came over to my house for an ice cream party. It was fun to have all the cousins here and a good time was had by all. Sorry, no pics.

Yesterday was swimming and dinner with all the family. The kids loved the pool and the sloppy joes, hot dogs and salads were a huge hit!



Here we are at the dinner.


We had it at the Senior Citizens Center because we have a hook up. Yep, my grandparents arranged for us to eat there. (By the way, how lucky am I to have grandparents at my age?)


Today we went to stake conference with my parents--all except Pam and Tim's family who unfortunately got the flu on this visit. Then it was lunch at my house and family pictures.
Here I am with all of my first family:


The weekend was filled with lots of laughter as we remembered what we could of the first 50 years of our parents marriage. We feel so blessed to have been born into this family that is not perfect by any stretch of the the imagination, but is as close as it can get for us. We were raised well, loved always and given the best blessing of all, an eternal family.

The Prophet

I am not going to lie. I loved President Hinckley and I wasn't sure if I could get used to President Monson. I have loved Pres. Monson as long as I can remember, but I LOVED President Hinckley. I was looking forward to conference, but I knew it wouldn't be the same, and I was kind of sad about it. I sustain, support, snd pray for him, but it was sad for me because I miss President Hinckley.
However--and this is personal for me--at the end of Sunday afternoon's session, when President Monson spoke, the Spirit bore witness to me that he is the prophet. Then I was touched by how tenderly he spoke of his wife, how he admonished us all to be better, how he was funny and spoke with the Spirit--and I was OK with it. I look forward to following this prophet.

More on mating

ON Tuesday three of the students came in and excitedly told me that they had caught a frog, the genuine deal, an actual amphibian. They put it in a jar that had previously been used as a spider urn--I couldn't bear to throw it away, the spider was found while we read Charlotte's Web and the kids were kind of attached to it. Anyway, they cleaned out the jar and put a rock and some grass into it and placed the frog gently in.
They were so happy to have a classroom pet, I was a little sickened.
Yesterday, one of the kids came in after school and took the little guy home to his "frog habitat." First thing this morning, I learned he was in fact--a she. BIG NEWS!!!!!--to be shared at show and tell. They told me the happy details before music. It seems that when the frog was placed in the habitat, it became personal friends with two other frogs this student's brother had captured. Later that day, this student drew a visual aid for show and tell. Very interesting, indeed.
The big moment finally arrived and all three of the frog finders came up and shared their news. The student doing the "tell" was very scientific to say the least, with just a hint of joy in his voice.

Student 1: We found out that the frog---was---a---girl! I know because last night when I went into my room---it was MATING!

Class: OOOOHHHH!!!!! or maybe EEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!

Student 1: I drew a picture of how it looked. (I could not make this stuff up. It was a pretty good depiction of things I have seen on the Discovery channel or National Georaphic Explorer.)

Student 2: Mrs. Behrend said we can take pictures when it makes eggs and tadpoles.

Student 3: I also drew a picture. (Shows a picture of two frogs on a branch.)

Me: Wow, it looks like they are getting ready to go on a date.
Then, just in case they get the idea that it is customary to "mate" when one dates, I try to fix by saying: But you shouldn't mate until much after you date, like after you are married.

Student 3: Why? What is that?

Now I realize that I shouldn't have said that, and I try to explain that it is just "like a lot of kissing."

Student 3: Oh...I get it, you don't have to worry...I will NEVER, EVER do anything like that.

Ok, maybe I snickered.

We have a lot of fun in class, I have just been so worried that this will be used by some of them for future moral choices. Hopefully, they will remember the part about mating AFTER marriage and not that it is just a lot of kissing. Sometimes there is pressure being a public educator.

(Additionally, Carter told my aunt Sharon that sometimes I dance on the table--for the record, I don't, I never have. We do dance, but I never have on the table. I am serious about education. That statement alone sends the students falling all over themselves on the floor.)