LOVIN' MY LIFE

I love my life!  Is it difficult?  Yes.  Am I ALWAYS happy and up?  No.  Do I try to live my life with positivity?  Yes.  Is life worth it?  Yes.  Do I wish I had more time to blog?  Yes.  This is my attempt to "catch up!"

I love this statue of a balloon animal outside one 

of the Elementary schools I work at!

The last two weeks have been spent mostly working.  It has been a busy spring season taking pictures at schools...  I love my job.  The kids are adorable!  I love getting smiles and capturing memories!  But I'm also tired.  I'm super glad that it's spring break most places next week.  (I get a little bit of a break.)

The many CRAZY faces of my brother!

Zane came to visit me a week ago!  (Actually he came for work... but I got benefit from the trip!)  I love my little brother!  He makes me laugh!  And he's super fun to be around.  Scott explains it best when he says that Zane makes everyone feel loved.  It's his talent!  We had him a Brian over for dinner and games.  Of course... we had ice-cream, DeGooyer Style!

Baskin Robbins is tight!

I really do love my brother!

He is so cool!
Don't tell him though....  It'll go to his head.

And we got to go on a double date with a couple of our YSA kids!  We love Lisa and Jeremy!  And we love Claudia Sanders!  Yummm!  We played games and visited!  They are an adorable couple!

Lisa and Jeremy

Sister McEvoy was transferred.  I'm super sad.  She's amazing!  And I'm better for knowing her!  She'll do great things with her life!  (Thanks to her, I was introduced to "Dear Even Hansen".)  I will miss her!

Goodbye, Sister McEvoy!

Speaking of Sister missionaries: Wednesday we got to take our sister missionaries out to dinner.  I had never been to Raising Caine's.  I thought it was JUST a chicken place.  It's not.  It's TONS better!  I'm soooo glad I gave it a chance... and I'm so glad the sisters recommended it!  It's delicious!  And I love our sisters!  They rock!

Welcome, Sister Reynolds!

Sister Reynolds and Sister Morris

These sisters are wonderful!!!

Look:
MY FAVORITE GIRLS EVER!!!!!!

I LOVE my daughters!

They are truly my best friends!

And Karmel gets a makeover thanks to Raisin.  She dressed her up:

GENUINE JOY

Three things that bring me REAL joy: the temple, musicals and books!
Last night, Scott, Cody, Kiara, Katia and I all go to go see Stephen Schwartz's musical, Children of Eden.  It's one of my all time favorites!  Stephen Schwartz is an incredible composer, and his "take" on Genesis is poignant and beautiful!  This cast (especially Eve and the Father) knocked it out of the park!  I can't express how much I love music theater!  It really energizes me!  And the best part about this performance is that when I hinted that it would be fun to attend... my husband enthusiastically said "Let's do it!"  And all the kids were equally excited and even paid for their own tickets.  It was an inspirational evening!

Me and my family!

My Sexy Husband!

Our Cute Married Kids

Katia with the rest of us!

Today one of my dearest friends went to the temple for the first time today.  I wanted to go with them, but I was scheduled to work.  So Scott and Katia represented the DeGooyers.  Michaelea looked gorgeous in her new dress.  Scott says the spirit was truly wonderful!  I'm so proud of this young lady!

Michalea

Hugs!

Sister Morris and Michaelea and Sister McEvoy

These girls rock!

This week I finished reading The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.  (If you can't read the author's name, I think it's OK, because I can't either.)  It is a really difficult Russian classic novel.  But I plowed through and I'm glad I did.  It's a murder mystery involving the three sons of Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov: Dmitri; the impulsive and physical eldest brother and Ivan: the rational  atheist  and Alyosha; the spiritual, moral and kind youngest brother.  Throughout this looooong book, Dostoyevsky portrays the whole of Russian life, socially and spiritually.  There is a lot of moments that seemed preachy and long winded.  But the story is really good and I enjoyed learning a lot about Russian culture.  I also really felt there was a lot to learn about faith throughout the book, especially when Dostoyevsky focused on the youngest brother.  If you are in search of a book that is challenging and still interesting, this book is for you.  If you have a difficult time focusing, it may be a book you want to skip.

KIDNAPPING SUNDY STYLE

According to Jellybean, "Sundy kidnaps everyone with a happy ending!" 

I actually had two days off this week, so I decided to spend those days "kidnapping" some of my favorite kids!  I love spoiling my BFF's children!  They are awesome!

Jellybean wanted pizza and an icee.  Since Tuesday was a beautiful day, we picked up both to go and played at the park for two hours!  It was wonderful!  Jellybean and I had deep conversations about friendships with the Avengers:  He's not sure he could be best friends with the Hulk because the Hulk would crush him, but he could be friends with him if he were Bruce Banner.  He also isn't sure he could be friends with Thor because he talks in old fashioned language he can't understand.  He and I both agree that Spiderman and Captain America would be awesome friends.  We then finished our outing with DQ blizzards!  Yummmm!

"Look at me!"

Chanelling Spiderman while wearing a Captain America hat and a Batman jacket!

"If you were my age, you'd LOVE the view from up here!"

Yup, he said that!

Deep conversation happens here!

Just hanging around!

And showing Sundy how it's done...

"I'm king of climbing!"

I sent him back completely sugared up!

Today I got to kidnap Raisin.  She was so excited for "Friday" to be kidnapped.  We went to McDonald's for Happy Meals.  Then we went and looked at animals at the two local pet stores.  She loved the kitties, and bunnies.  She also enjoyed pushing the cart.  Then we headed to the Dollar Store for her very own "pet."  One pet turned into a small basket of pets.  (She's too cute for me to say "only one.")  She loved her icee too!

She got an orange soda and her own french fries.

But the best part was the gogurt!

The kitties gave her lots of kisses on her hands!

"Those are my favorite fish!"

Future shopper....

I'm teaching her young.  Your welcome, Amy!

A basket full of new friends!

Icees!

I love these amazing kids!

Guess what?!  It was my dad's birthday this week.  I have the best dad EVER!  (Even if he does like jalapeno pepper jelly...)  My dad is funny.  He's creative.  He's spiritual.  He's kind.  He cares about us and is truly one of my best friends!