Our Cute Little Emma 2005-2010

Emma died from cancer yesterday, Sunday June 27th about 7:30 pm. It was two years ago saturday that we learned she had Neuroblastoma, which is a solid tumor of the sympathetic nervous system.

Emma was a very compationate little girl. She loved to help others, to have visitors, to play with friends and cousins, and she loved animals.

She was a great example of enduring lifes trials with a smile and did not complain much about the procedures that she had to endure. We are very grateful for St. Jude's and the care that she received there.

Right now our hearts are broken but we put our faith in our Savior and know that the family can be forever. We will miss her very much.

Today I Was A Proud Teacher

I was asked to play with two of my students at a wedding. I met these two girls my 2nd year here teaching. They were in two of my 4th grade orchestras. It was fun for me to perform with them today realizing all the hard work they have put in through the years.We got paid which they thought was a great benefit. I got to see they using their talent. It was a great teacher moment for me.

Father's Day Weekend in Idaho Falls

I went to Idaho Falls for Father's day weekend. It was packed with fun events. Saturday Jessica's friend Suzy had a baby shower for Jessica in my parents backyard. Erin and I were in charge of decorations. We decided to go for a safari theme, since the animal prints seem to be in this summer. We made a great diaper cake for Jessica.

The bottom layer is a bumbo chair, the middle layer is wipes and diapers, and the top layer was bottles filled with candy for the mother. We used the lanterns from Jessica's reception and hung them in the trees. It was great to finally use them outside.

Next we barbequed the Bahama Mama's that Ratha sent. Branden, Todd and my Dad all thought they were delicious. Branden even took a few for the road.

Then we got to celebrate Father's day early by taking my dad to the David Archeletta Concert. My quiet, laid back father actually really got into American Idol and voted many times from any phone he could get his hands on for David Archeletta. He would even remind us to vote for him. So when Jessica heard he was coming to BYU-I to do a concert she thought it would be a great daddy daughter date that we could take our dad on. He loved it, and we all had fun too. When David came out on stage my dad said "It is good to see the guy I voted for a thousand times."

Ratha also got his long awaited father's day gift....his push cart...ok he cheated and has been using it for a few weeks, but he still loves it.

Oh and Chloe learned a new trick this weekend. She figured out how to let herself out of my parents house by using her paw to slide open the screen door.

I truely think she is a highly gifted and talented canine.

So...my New Years Resolution Lasted ONE Blog Post!

Well I had great intentions, but my new years resolution lasted only one blog. I am now making a new summer resolution to try to update better during these summer months. So what have Ratha and I been doing the last 6 Months????
January

Ratha quickly went from skiing in the living room to speeding down the mountains at an alarming rate. We got to ski with Vatana, Danielle, Avery, and Brooke. We had a lot of fun night skiing together...and watching Twilight. Febuary

After 5 long hard months of job searching, Ratha got a job working as the Store director for a Maverik. We were both so happy to find this wonderful job that gave him weekends and holidays off(mostly). As Store director, he is in charge of the store. He has done a wonderful job cleaning up the store and training the employees. We were diappointed to discover that there are no instore discounts, not even on gas, but we have also learned that Maverik really does treat their employees quite well.

February is a huge month in the wonderful world of strings. My private lesson students start preparing in September for the February strings Festival. It is quite nerve racking for those of us waiting in the hall. It is just as hard for the parents as it is for the students that are inside playing for the judge. Orchestra students also prepare hard to play for the state Solo and Ensemble competition. We loaded like sardines onto the school bus and headed to the college down the road. We spent the day performing for judges, listening to performances, and playing around.

March
Yeah for Spring break. I got to travel with Stephanie and McKayla to TN to see the Ivie clan. We got to have a picinic in the park.

We visited St. Judes(and got to hear a visiting high school orchestra from TX), and see where Emma gets to visit with her doctors. McKayla,Emma, and Abby enjoyed playing and dancing together.

One of my favorite moments of the trip was when Stephanie met their new dog Bella. They did not like each other much from the start. This was pretty much the scene of the apartment every evening at about 7 pm. Bella would all of a sudden get possessed by an alter ego and decide she needed to attack Stephanie.

I also loved it when Emma and Mckayla decided I was in need of a makeover and proceeded to make me absolutely beautiful. They did my nails and my hair, it was lots of fun. It was a wonderful way to spend Spring break.

Ratha and I said goodbye to my beautiful Honda Accord with 250,000 miles on it, and bought a new (used) Altima.

We also got to go golfing. He was a little rusty but I did great :). Not really he is a wonderful golfer with a handicap of only 6. I think he should go pro so we can travel all over the world and golf.
The high school orchestra students organized the second anual all night party where we were able to rehearse at all hours of the evening. We had an all orchstra rehearsal at 3:00 am. This was a first for me, I quickly learned that I do not think clearly at 3:00 am and therefor rehearsal consisted of a whole lot of laughing and nonsense and a little bit of productivity. We also played games and watched movies.

April

Ratha had to work Easter Weekend. I travelled to Idaho Falls to spend time with my family. We got to watch conference together, while Chloe peeked in from upstairs. We also got to have an easter egg hunt in the snow. It was a great weekend and fun to see my family.

I got to help out with Jr. Miss this year as a host mom. One of my cute students was in the pagent and did a wonderful job. We both had fun and learned a lot about the pagent world. She won one of the academic awards.

May

The orchestra had and end of the year party. We ate good food, played some fun games, and had lots of fun. My wonderful students introduced me to the game Fugative. They seem to think it is fun to run around in the dark in sub zero weather and crawl around in the mud with the soul purpose of being the first back to the nice warm house without being caught by the people who are lucky enough to ride around on four wheelers looking for us. All I can say is they are CRAZY!!!! Why not just stay in the nice warm house. When I hang out with my students I quickly learn that I am getting way to old :)

For Memorial day we got to travel to Logan and had a "Gourmet" Leuk BBQ at Mitch and Davy's house. I helped make all the sishkibobs by following Davy's strick food patterns. It was absolutely delicious.

Then on monday we spent time at the Goodsell reunion. This is a reunion with my grandma and her siblings. She is the oldest at a young 99, and she only has two remaining siblings. All my dads brothers were also able to attend. It was nice to be able to visit with everyone. Next we visited the Weston Cemetary. We saw Grandpa McFaddens grave

and Grandma McFadden walked us around and told us some great family stories about the people that were buried there. She has done this for as long as I can remember, but I always enjoy it. Ratha and I are very grateful for the past 5 months. We have been very blessed to be able to find a job, spend time with family, and learn new life skills. But most of all I am sooooo happy to have survied the school year, Hello Summer!