Monday I worked on the cell phone cases for Sister England. I wanted to have them ready for seminary on Wednesday. It seemed that everything I did had to be taken out and done at least twice. It was a fairly frustrating experience. When I was all done I looked at them and was sure they’d be too small. I used the template I made from tracing around her phone, but it still looks like it will be too small.
We were early for home evening, so we went to see the rug Sister Haney had made. It’s really nice. I’d like to learn how to weave and be able to make a rug. We had a fun time at home evening.
Tuesday I went to lunch at the senior center. I talked with the manager and got a date for the Christmas program. I also visited with a couple of ladies. The Christmas boxes and stockings have arrived, but they are not passing them out until the Christmas program.
At home, I worked on some seminary stuff, getting a lesson together for Thursday and grading some assignments. I need to go through the lessons so I know what they’ve covered. Late in the afternoon we had a knock at the door and could see a strange car in front of the house. We opened the door to see Pres. Batt standing there. He wanted to visit with us about the end of our mission and make sure we were really OK with extending our call to the end of school and not just feeling pressured. We told him we were OK with it, not requesting it, but we would be happy to stay if they need us. He asked if we would stay. So, I guess it is now definite that we won’t be leaving until May. We’ll go home for a few days in March, but then we’ll return. That will actually make it easier for us to get our stuff home because we can do it in two trips. Silver lining.
After a good visit with Pres. Batt, we went to the girls’ basketball game at the school. One of my students was playing on the JV team. They played a good game and she made some really good plays. She is a starter and they got so far ahead that she was benched a good part of the game.
Wednesday I started the day by wrapping gifts. I pulled out some boxes that I thought might work and got everything ready. Then Ted and I made some white chocolate popcorn and bagged it up to send. I thought I would be able to get some seminary work done, but we had to leave to get to The Nugget in time to get everything done. It was really windy all day (and all last night) and it started snowing about the time we were loading up the car.
We got to The Nugget in good time. Steve Coleman, the owner, hauled boxes in and we hauled our supplies in. Steve boxed everything up for us and we were ready to go. It was late when we got out of there, but we went straight to the post office and got everything sent off.
Elder England in Tohlakai called to say they couldn’t reach any of the kids for seminary and their car was still in the shop so they couldn’t go get them, so they were cancelling seminary. It was cold and snowy and we were really glad we weren’t driving far. I spent the rest of the evening working on my seminary lessons. I felt better about my class tomorrow.
Thursday the Relief Society president was home sick so she didn’t come to class. I set everything up and began working on my quilt. The burrito lady arrived a short time later. She had finished sewing her blocks together and wanted help figuring how to cut the window panes to go around them. I had a difficult time calculating and had to do it 3-4 times. Her blocks are not square—they are 8 ½ X 9 ¾. It was tricky trying to figure how to make it look balanced. We finally decided to put the blocks lengthwise across the quilt instead of up and down. We have to make the framing slightly smaller one direction than the other, but I think it will work. I then showed her how to use my rotary cutter and mat. We soon had all the fabric she had bought for the frames cut.
She still needed to buy more. I calculated she needed 36 ½ inches more so I told her to get 1 1/8 yds. She said to be safe she’d get 2 more yards. We had some discussion about that with me explaining that there was already 4 inches extra, but if she wanted more to get 1 ¼ yds. I think she believes me. (She got 1 ½ yds.) She had to leave early so I quickly heated up the lunch and we ate. I stayed and ironed and pinned the pieces for my quilt. I would like to have sewn them, but I needed to get home.
I had three students in my online class today. My new student’s mom called about 10 minutes before class saying they were out picking up kids and she would be late. That was refreshing. Another student signed in on time. The third was about 10 minutes late and I couldn’t reach the 4th. It went well and I felt like they are getting something out of the lessons.
I grabbed a quick bite to eat and we headed to institute. It was showing signs of light snow. When it was time for institute no one was there. The students sort of trickled in a few minutes apart, but we had a really good class. The students gave most of the lesson and did a great job. I was especially impressed with one girl. She had selected a few key points in her section and asked some good questions that created some discussion. She also led the music, which is very impressive since she has just been a member for three weeks.
After institute one young man wanted to leave and needed a ride home so Ted took him. I stayed and played games with three kids until they left. The new girl rides with a young man who is leaving shortly for his mission. After institute we asked who would be able to help her get rides to church, home evening, and institute. The kids all stepped up and offered to help her. I was very pleased. That’s what she needs.
Friday we were up early to go see the Hot Air Balloons. We waited and waited. Finally the trucks and trailers moved to a different place. We drove down the road and found a really good vantage point. No one was flying, but we could see. A group of kids came toward us, climbing over the barbed wire fence. A man drove up and asked what we were dong. I told him we were there to see the balloons. He said they were installing a high powered line right where we were and we’d need to take the kids and leave. I told him I was not with the kids, but we would be happy to move. The wind was too high—we could not even tell it was blowing—so the balloons were not launching.
I had my online teachers’ meeting in the morning. It was good and there is always good information. I had to chuckle when they said, “We’re really concerned that teachers try to move too fast through the material and keep going during the Christmas Break.” I’m not sure how we can move too fast since there is only one more lesson in the system and we’ll be lucky to be on schedule unless they get more posted soon. (They posted 4 new lessons.)
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| Glow on the Rocks |
In the evening we headed to Red Rocks Park again for the Glow on the Rocks, the balloons inflated at night. It was really beautiful. There was some Indian dancing which I missed most of because of trying to switch back and forth between using flash and not using flash. I got a few good shots of one of the dancers but not while he was dancing.
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| Indian Dancers and Drummer |
The balloonists were interesting and we talked with a couple of them. The balloons cost about $24,000. One man has had three during his career. They actually fired up their burners so I could get some good shots. The wind was blowing quite a bit so one man had to have a crew “walk” his basket to the opposite end of the tarp so they could drop the balloon with the wind instead of against it. The balloons are really pretty and it was fun to be there. It was really cold so I wasn’t sad to get home.
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| Parade car - mock ballooning basket |
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| Motorcyclists honoring friend |
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