The latest adventures of Dallin

My week has been been pretty crazy. I worked in Provo on Tuesday, then flew to Kansas City on Wednesday and stayed the night there. Early Thursday morning, we drove 4 hours south to Branson, Missouri and worked until about midnight to get a job done. Then we had to drive back to Kansas City (another 4 hours in the middle of the night), we got a few hours of sleep at a hotel, and then I flew to San Jose, California during the afternoon on Friday. We drove down to Santa Cruz, but couldn't get into the hotel we were supposed to be working at, so we got to go out on the pier and walk along the beach. Then on Saturday, we worked from 7:30 am till 12:30 am. We got a couple hours of sleep, and then drove back to San Jose so that the guys I was working with could catch a 6:00 am flight back to Utah. I have to go back to Seattle tomorrow morning, so I had to stay here in San Jose. Because I couldn't check into my hotel room until 1 pm, I had to stay in the airport all morning. It was no fun, especially because I didn't get to go to church because I don't have a car. So I read my scriptures a lot, and then called and talked to Mom. It has been a really hard day, being away from home with nothing to do and no one to talk to. I am going to work really hard in Seattle so that I can come home as early as possible this week.

Dutch Oven competition

Brooke and Kasey

Brooke and Kasey entered their 2nd competition in Dutch oven. We enjoyed Brooke's practice food at Cedar City. It was a lot of fun to see the results of everyone's hard work and then to get to eat it. You can tell Brooke enjoyed it too. They got some fun prizes, made new Dutch oven friends and impressed Brooke's parents alot! Let's see if I can be as successful at Girl's camp when we do Dutch oven desserts.

Lavender and Dutch oven Days

Kim is very happy here because he finally placed in his age division. We had a great time running in the Lavender Days 5k and spending time at Young Living Farms learning about the oils and a bonus...bees. We won a gift certificate to TGIFridays and Wynette placed 3rd in her age division. We think everyone should consider running next year with us. They had a T shirt, gift bag and the best breakfast we have ever gotten at a race. They had super prizes and you got to enjoy Lavender Days for free!. There are more pictures on my picasa.

Fife Girl Get Together

Here we are standing in front of Cedar Breaks but you can't really tell because we put the camera on timer and so we are looking down at the camera. Don't we look great...see any family resemblances? We missed having Jo! We appreciated her great deal on the hotel! We all drove down in the Christensen Big Van and had fun visiting. We took advantage of the pool when we got there and ate salads from my garden. We then headed down to see Cyrano in the outdoor theatre. It was opening night and many speeches were made by the Cedar City Chamber of Commerce, etc. It made the play rather long and we didn't get done until after 11:00 p.m. Cyrano was an excellent actor. The next day we got up late, ate breakfast together and then headed downtown to shop before the showing of Taming of the Shrew. We appreciated the cushioned seats this time around and thought the acting was great. We had a game night where we played Quiddley and Canasta. The next morning we headed for Cedar Breaks to see the view and take a wildflower hike. It was beautiful weather and we had a great trip home. It was much cooler in Cedar City than home! It was great to be together.

EFY 2008 IU-Bloomington

I did EFY again this year, this time as a speaker (teacher). It was a great experience and we hope to get this opportunity again some time. This is what a teacher does...

Monday: fly in (I didn't have to since I went to the Bloomington session, but the 3 other teachers did), meet other teachers and session director, check into hotel (again, I didn't have to do this). EFY orientation (optional for teachers)... for orientation I had Natalie and the kids come meet me on campus and we all went together. It's mostly just yelling/cheering while participants learn rules and expecations. Eli thought it was pretty cool. We then met Brother Carver (the session director) and went to the cafeteria and ate with the kids. They were tired so we went home from there instead of sticking around for FHE.

Tuesday: attend session director message and then set up your class. Mine was in the business building across campus so Brother Tanuvasa and I left early to get there with plenty of time. Brother T. is an institute teacher in southern California and I had a great time peppering him with questions about his job and involvement with CES. I taught "Becoming a Life-Long Gospel Scholar" in the morning. You teach the same class twice so different participants can come the second time. This 1st class was pretty rough for me. It was attended by 14-15 year olds and it wasn't incredibly entertaining. While the 2nd class did go a little better I'm not sure I will be teaching this topic ever again. After class we walked back to the dorms (right next to my office here on campus) and ate at the cafeteria. Then we walked back to the business building where I taught "Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude" to the 16-18 year-olds. This class went much better, maybe I'll get rehired after all. After the two classes I went to "work-work" (research in the education building) for an hour or so and then took the bus home. In the evening we came back (with the family) for the dance. They spent a lot of time going over etiquette and dance instruction so by time the dance actually started the kids were tired and we didn't last long. Eli was swarmed with admirers and was quite the celebrity throughout. He did best when giving high-fives and waving to his "friends."

Wednesday: The morning and into the afternoon was like Tuesday only Natalie came to see one of my classes. I taught "Keeping Life's demands in balance" in the morning to the 16-18 year-olds and in the afternoon taught "How Tall is Your Tower? Using battle strategies from the Book of Mormon in setting personal standards." The morning class started shaky but the 2nd one went really well. The opposite occurred in the afternoon. It's crazy how having different audiences will make such a difference in the class. Each class I had varied from around 40-50 to 100-125. After the afternoon classes I went back to "work" and then home and my part in EFY is over for this year.

So being a teacher is very different from being a counselor or BC. You don't feel like a superstar like the counselors do, but it is really neat having so many youth at the same time and being able to feel the spirit with them as well as feeling Heavenly Father's love for them. I got to know several counselors and participants and learned a ton from the other teachers and session director. It was also really neat having the family here, a luxury most teachers don't have. If I'm rehired next year I'll likely have to fly out somewhere by myself. Well, this post is long enough... if you want to know more give me a call, and if you'd like my lesson outlines I can email them out to you.

snowshoeing in june

everyone is doing such fun things! i'm glad you got to go to seattle dallin. that's still one of my most favorite places in the world. mckay, that's a pretty sweet pez collection. i've started going on monday night hikes with some of my friends from my ward. we hike for awhile and then have a spiritual thought and then hike back down. this last week we went up to alta and there was still snow so we went snowshoeing. it was a grand adventure and so fun to enjoy the snow in june, the middle of june no less. yesterday i went to heather beck's bridal shower. it was fun to see her and see her excitement to be getting married. then i went to the pool with alicia and that was great fun. then i finished the day by going to the salt lake temple. i really love that temple! so it was a pretty fun week for me. hope everyone enjoys their week!

Another week in the Oregon. Still no beach or hikes...

Work was an adventure this week. I have decided that probably my favorite thing to do for work is to mow lawns. You get to mow beautiful lawns. It is like a perfect excuse to check out someone's yard. I also got to do plant installations for some dude that used to play in the NBA. His house is bigger than ours.

Earlier this week I had a nerdy blessing in disguise. I had bought a router and was trying to set it up with this new service I had read about. It did not work with the service so I wrote to support and they did not really help me; then the next day it just completely broke. The lady at Fred Meyer was nice enough to let me return it even though I did not have my receipt and I was able to get a great router. Anyhow; the service I have been using is called opendns.com which is the bomb diggity. It speeds up your Internet and lets you select categories that you want to have blocked from the Internet. Genius.

Yesterday I went to an Asian supermarket. I have decided that when I get back to Utah I can bring home Oregon presents. It will only be food. You should think of something amazing from the bulk section at WinCo (which has everything from curry, to rice snacks to biscuit mix, to candy of every sort). Or you can request something from the Asian supermarket which has just about anything Asian.

I bought a Hello Kitty Pez dispenser set.

Washington

Hi family! I am back from Washington a little early because we worked like crazy. I worked on the Naval Base Kitsap, which was weird. I don't like people on Naval Bases, they are all ornery. Anyways, we got to go see downtown Seattle on Wednesday night. It was tons of fun. I got to go up the Space Needle, which was really cool. I thought I'd post some pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

Thoughts from Home

 
I'm trying to show how pretty the flowers are right now but it is not quite there with this picture. It is Happy Birthday week for the old folks. 55 sounds younger and younger each year. It has been an unusual time for me. Since getting sick which seemed so long ago to me, and now not being able to hear very well, I have had cause to reflect. I hear my heartbeat pretty good and am always asking Kim if there are sirens...I hear sirens all the time in my head. I have become a little discouraged. I would like to move on. So I asked for something to help me to move beyond this point and I opened my scriptures. I read in 3 Nephi 27:23-
Write the things which ye have seen and heard, ....for behold, out of the books which have been written and which shall be written, shall this people be judged...for by them shall their works be known unto men. So I just want to write a small part of what I have learned. I have been reminded that I take my good health for granted. I am reminded that many people deal with physical handicaps every day and their problems are not going to get better. I have learned how much I appreciate my hearing and how it affects every thing I do. I have learned how easy it is to be discouraged when you don't feel good and how much I appreciate Brooke's example of pressing forward in spite of how you feel. I have also learned how much my family means to me and how happy I am to be a wife and a mother. I was listening to the Conference talks as I worked today and Elder Nelson was talking about families. I felt a wave of emotion as words came to my mind of my husband and children...steadfast and immoveable. Right after I thought it, he spoke about it. I am so happy to be alive and to have a body and to have the gospel of Jesus Christ giving me strength to do what I need to.

An atypical Father's Day

Yesterday I spent Father's Day in Terre Haute, IN helping in the flood relief efforts. Our stake actually canceled meetings so that those who wanted to go could. I spent my day clearing furniture and carpet out of trailer and other homes, mostly in Toad Hop (West Terre Haute). Here's a link to a newspaper article about the efforts. I'll spare you the gory details but let's just say it wasn't glamorous work and I was very excited about taking a shower when I got home. I'm just so grateful that the floods didn't do much damage here in Bloomington.
In other news... we finally closed on our home this week (Tuesday). Again, I'll spare you the gory details, but lets just say I don't like 53rd bank anymore. When I've calmed down a bit I'll type up our experience in buying a house in a shaky market.
In other news... because of the flooding we decided against going on the ward campout but instead spent Friday night "camping" at the Sweenys. We set up a tent in their basement and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows in their fireplace. We had a great time and Eli loved staying up late.

One more week to go!

This last week was pretty rough. We were in class from 8-5 every day. That is a lot of lectures! We have three classes in this 2 week period and so our midterm is tomorrow and we have three group projects and two presentations and one other assignment. When do they think we have time to do these? One of the guest lecturers tried to give us a group paper to write. That didn't go over very well. The students kept saying, "It's not in the syllabus..." I kind of felt bad for the lecturer. Everyone was against her!!! I tried real hard to study yesterday but it was so hot!! I am amazed out how the heat can drain the energy right out of you. All I wanted to do was sleep. I am going to wake up nice and early tomorrow when it is still relatively cool and hopefully get some studying done. After this next week I will be done with classes and just need to finish clinicals. I am going to the hospital by Aunt Lauryl this semester. I will be doing 4 weeks of 12 hour shifts so I am thinking that I might stay at her place some of those days so I can get more sleep and save some gas!
The high today was 106. I thought I was going to die! I can't stop sweating. I feel pretty gross all the time. At least when I have class, the building is nice and air conditioned. My garden is getting big. I picked my first ripe tomato today. I have decided that it is pretty fun to grow your own food.
We had a really nice sacrament meeting today. All the talks were really good. My favorite was Andrew. He has been in our ward for one semester. He leaves tomorrow to go to the MTC. He is going to New York City, Cantonese speaking. He is Chinese and already knows the language. I am assuming that he has been a member now for a year. He gave a really good talk. I can't remember specific things he said but I remember how I felt as he was talking. I understand now what people mean when they say someone is glowing with the spirit. He just radiates happiness. He will be an awesome missionary. He is the only member in his family. In Relief Society, we had two new girls. They are both here studying at the university for the summer as part of an exchange program. One of the girls is from Sonora, Mexico and the other is from La Paz, Bolivia. It is her first time in the US. My friend Elizabeth talked to them in spanish while I listened. I did speak to them a little bit in spanish. They don't have a vehicle and they didn't get very good directions to the church but they still made it. Elizabeth and I are going to start to pick them up for church. I wouldn't want to make anyone walk as far as they would have to in the miserable heat.
Well it is time for me to go to bed. I now check my bed thoroughly before getting in because I had a scorpion on my bed the other night. Yikes! I caught it and then took it outside and killed it.

Father's Day 2008

Does it get any scarier than this? We had a fun time being together this weekend. Brooke came to SF on Friday night and hung out with Dallin when he got home from his blind job in Provo. Dad and I went to the East Stake Center with the other Stake Presidents and their wives to meet with President and Sister Dahlquist, and President Lant and her husband from the General YM Presidency and General Primary Presidency. It is a blessing to be able to hear them speak so close up. It was the East Stake putting on a Little Philmont or Aaronic Priesthood training. The Dahlquists sat accross from us for dinner and they know Bryce's mission president and wife very well. It was wonderful to hear about trips to Africa and places all over the world. Pres. Dahlquist is such a great speaker. I love how he uses his audience to illustrate points. Saturday Kim and Brooke ran a 5k ...I stayed home and cooked for Sunday since I am still battling a sinus infection and inner ear infection. They won certificates for Fat Cats and Macalbys! That night, Brooke went on a date with a boy Kimiko has set her up with and Grandma C. and Kirsten arrived on the way to Ephraim. I kidnapped Dad, Grandma and Dallin ( using Jelly Bellys as bribery for Dallin) and took them to a clogging exhibition at BYU. It was not what we expected but the anticipation was great. Sunday we all went to church together with Kim having no meetings the ENTIRE day. That is a first. Grandma Fife came for dinner and later Monty and Annelisa came. We play The Family Game, read the talk on Testimony by Elder Oaks, paid tribute to Kim and fathers, and had a discussion on Covenants and Ordiances..specifically the temple. We went down to the Wollenziens and I have felt badly that Donna was sick the same time as me and I didn't know it and all I did was lay in bed. I am slowly getting better and have learned some great lessons from this "opportunity".

Beautiful Bloomington

So it was an ordeal getting to and from Bloomington but it was worth it. I got to spend the night in the airport in Phoenix. My flight was delayed in Dallas (very nice airport, by the way) so I missed the last shuttle to Tucson. I finally left Phoenix at 7:45 Arizona time which was really 10:45 for me since I was still used to being on Eastern time. Uggg! Trying to sleep in the airport is not an easy task.
I had a great time visiting Ty and Nat and the kids in Bloomington. It is so green there! It was so nice to see real trees and grass. The only bad part was it was quite humid some days. Well the move went well but trying to close on the house was a nightmare. Everything that could go wrong did. I felt so bad for Ty and Nat because they had done everything that should have and none of it was their fault. Hopefully everything is resolved and they closed on Friday!!!!
The second day I was there, I took Eli to the park. Everyone knew who he was and asked "Who did you come with Eli?" I just told them "Oh he doesn't know who I am. I am his aunt." It was fun hanging out with all the park moms while we watched the kids play. Eli eventually learned who I was and could say my name when prompted. Saturday was the big move. Some guys from the ward came to help fill up the truck. My job was to keep Eli out of the way. He wasn't to happy to leave at first so we watched them fill the truck up for about a half hour and then headed to another park close to their apartment. They had a really nice softball park and a interval training/running trail that was close to them as well as a YMCA. Eli had fun sliding down the slides. He discovered going down stomach first! To end the day, Tyler and I and another guy from their ward went to the drive in and saw Indiana Jones and Iron Man. I really enjoyed them both. It was fun to go to a drive in.
It was fun to go to family ward. They have a lot of little kids
that are entertaining to watch. The first week there I substituted in primary as the pianist. That was fun. Then next week I went to Tyler's sunday school class which was very good. I sat next to Nate Diehl's grandma. I went to enrichment with Natalie and scored some great free stuff. Every couple of months they set up tables for people to bring the stuff they are trying to get rid of. I got a really cute pair of shoes and a nice green platter. I thought that was a good idea. It is good to recycle the clothes and stuff you don't want anymore.
I had a good time getting to know Natalie better since I haven't really spent a lot of time with her. It was fun being a part of their family for a couple of weeks. Ty and Nat do a great job as parents. You can check out all my photos from my trip on my picasa page. I start school tomorrow so I need to go to bed! One more semester and I graduate!!!

Christensen Reunion

We got up early on Saturday morning, picked up Grandma and then Brooke and got to the Ogden temple in plenty of time to meet Grandma C., Kay and Chris, Kerry, Keith and Diane, Ben Middleton, Karen and Kirsten. We had many surprises as we were greeted by Ione Allen in the foyer ( as a temple worker) from the 20th ward in Brigham. We had a quiet visit and joyous and after getting dressed in temple clothes, we were greeted by Virginia Britenbeker, from my Hills of Home group, President Sherratt( our first Stake President when we moved to Brigham) and his wife, and Teresa Dustin, a friend from our first ward in Brigham. We were happy to see so many great memories of Brigham and then to do family names that Chris had researched. Chris was pretty emotional as she saw the fruiation of all her work. We had to stop at Farr Ice Cream for ice cream at 10 a.m. in the morning for Brooke...always did that when she did baptisms! Then on to Brigham to get ready for the reunion. We had everyone there but Chad ( in Iraq), Timothy and Kristi ( moving day), Ty, Nat, Kira ( in Indiana), McKay in Oregon, and the two missionaries ( Bryce and Matt). Hopefully we will have pictures posted soon but I left my camera in my temple bag...whaa. We had lunch and then Christensen ancestor program where each family spotlighted an ancestor that we had in common. The highlight was Kerry who spotlight the 5 K's. He had the younger generation come up and place paper plates with names, dates, and places with the right person. We never realized that Kim was the only Eagle Scout in the bunch. It was a lot of fun and there were tons of pictures taken, lots of food consumed, and lots of visiting. Then we had a family council and all agreed that the Saturday after Christmas would be the Christensen party at Kay's and that every Memorial Day would be celebrated with family and Grandma until she can't do it anymore. Sometimes it will be the week after like it was this year. We then headed over to the cemetary and saw those we love and miss. Grandma Fife was especially happy to visit my dad's grave since she doesn't get up very often. We cleaned up everything and made it home by 7 p.m. (left at 6:30 a.m.) It was a fun and happy day to be with family. The hard thing to me was realizing that all those years I sat as a youth and young married wife at reunions and yawn as older members talked about the old days, that I was now that older member while the young kids were yawning. Your dad and Kay sang Bring Back My Rib to the delight of everyone ( Grandpa C. used to sing it alot). Brooke videoed some of it.
Your dad had a busy day today as he released Bishop Chandler and put in Mike Downey from Wolf Hollow as the new Single's bishop. Dallin started his job going to Sandy and installing blinds. He especially likes all the free drinks he gets from the hotel. Dallin also got the good news that he has his scholarship when he gets back. Kim discovered the Queen bee was rejected and he is losing bees just like last year. He was very depressed at the discovery. Tyler and Natalie have moved but are still working on buying the place...what a hard time they have had and they have appreciated having Kira to help with the kids. Zach Lewis comes home on Tuesday. Those missionaries are rolling home! Love you all!