March Madness 2016

March 1st I had a very interesting subbing job at Lake Norman.  The entire Junior class was taking the ACT test and I was assigned the Multi-Purpose Room.  Since the classes are mixed at the high school and several teachers were tied up with administering and proctoring the ACT that left odd groups of freshmen, sophomores and seniors that had no where to go during the testing time.  They all ended up in the MPR with me.  At one point I had about 60 students.  They all had assignments they were working on for their individual classes so it turned into a huge study hall.  I just had to make sure they stayed on task.  Not difficult at the high school.  They are fairly focused and self-controlled.  This would have been a completely different scenario at the middle school which is why this scenario would NEVER happen there.  It was a fun day.  I only worked half day since it was also a half day for CMS and I needed to be home to get Naomi off the bus.  All in all, very enjoyable.  

We also got Jeremy signed up to take the SAT in May.  He will be tested out by the end of the year, but his toughest year in high school will be over as well.  I was also able to help finish up finding the last part of our take away for New Beginnings.  We all got a tree charm at the women's conference with Neill Marriott and I thought those would fit perfectly with what the Beehives wanted for New Beginnings.  After all they are in charge and I am there to help them put all the pieces together.  Nick and I drove to the South Charlotte stake and picked up some of the left over charms that weren't used at the women's conference.  YAY!!!!

March 2 was the Duty to God dinner for the Young Men.  Our YM presidency is really trying to make the experience the boys have with the YM program a good and memorable one.  All the boys who will turn 12 this coming year were invited as well so they could learn about the YM program and what it can offer them.  Fathers were invited to attend as well.  I heard excellent remarks from everyone who attended. It was a success.

March 2, 3 and 4 I got to sub in the library at the middle school.  It was incredibly busy teaching Digital Citizenship classes and keeping everything running, but it was SO MUCH FUN!!! 

March 5th was a great soccer game.  Naomi had one of those moments that would have been a great picture.  She was standing in front of the goal and her team mate kicked the ball to her.  It bounced off another player and was mid-air when Naomi took a flying kick and made a goal.  It was amazing.  She was on a high for the rest of the game.  

March 6th I got to teach the lesson to the YW.  The lesson was on how the atonement can help us through our trials.  I learned a ton while preparing this lesson and I hope the YW liked it as well.  (When asked by the stake, during ward conference, what our last lesson was about, the girls remembered, which I took as a good sign).  

March 7th I finally had time for some much needed housework.  I scrubbed the kitchen down from top to bottom.  Nothing got missed and result was stunning.  I also managed to get some grocery shopping done as well.  That night Nick and I went to the high school to learn how to pick his classes for the coming year.  He is excited to be in high school.  

March 8th I got to sub in the library again.   I worked on more signs for registration night and got them all laminated and ready to go.  Nick appeared after school with an ASD (after school detention) form.  He was not happy, but it was his first for the year and he promised he would be on his best behavior from now on.  That night Steve, Jeremy and I were back at the high school for a college information night.  Little by little Jeremy is making decisions about what he wants to do after high school graduation.  Meetings like this one help a lot. 

March 9th was New Beginnings.   We met as a presidency during the day to set up and decorate.  Celeste and I also got the take home gifts put together.  I was very nervous about the night as we had started planning New Beginnings only three weeks before.  There was no need to be nervous . The girls came through brilliantly.  The skit was fun.  The Beehives introduced the new girls (which everyone loved).  The song was perfect.  At the end of the night, everyone was happy and that was the goal.  

March 11th Steve left for a weekend with the OLS (Outdoor Leadership Skills) program.  He was in charge this year and excited to see how things turned out.  Enrollment was up and the weather even appeared to be cooperating.  I spent the day subbing at the middle school for 7th grade social studies.  The two classes were combined as the classes were watching Gandhi.  Even with two teachers in the room the kids were kind of crazy.  I felt bad writing down names for the teacher (which I rarely do), but these kids were out of control and blatantly not following the rules.  It was crazy.  There was even a fist fight outside my door.   In the middle of all of this, I got an email from the vice principal at the high school telling me that Jeremy had an ASD for some inappropriate comments about weed in Spanish class.  FULL MOON!!!???!!!!

That night was the church prom dinner.  The bishop has a tradition of taking the kids out to dinner before prom.  This year he took them to Ciros.  I had called the chef the night before and worked out with him how Jeremy should order.  Everything went very well and Jeremy really enjoyed himself.  

After dropping Jeremy off at the restaurant, I took Nick to a teachers quorum activity and them Naomi and I went out to dinner at Chick-fil-A and then to Kohls to get some needed items.  Naomi bought her first bras.  OH MY!!!  Where is the time going?  We were just checking out at Kohls when Jeremy sent me a text telling me they were done with dinner.  We ended up taking Justice Stewart home and so I got all the information on the night during the drive.  They all had a great time.  Not too long after getting home from the prom dinner, I went to pick up Nick from his party.  He had a great time as well. 

Saturday, March 12th - Ready! Set! Go!  We all slept in.  I took Nick to the mall to check out the ProActiv product.  Nick needed some extra help with his acne (he is very aware of his appearance and is trying to be his best).  Julie, "the hot girl", at the ProActiv kiosk answered all our questions and Nick is hopeful that his face will clear up if he follows the directions.  Back at home we ate a quick lunch and I dropped Naomi off at soccer and took Nick to Matt's house.  On the way back, traffic was backed up because a little old man had wandered out of his house and had collapsed in the middle of the road. We called 911 and help got there amazingly fast.  I helped that we were less than a mile or two from both the police station and the hospital.  The police and ambulance got everything under control and I was back at Naomi's soccer game by half time.  I am glad I was there for the second half because Naomi took a hard hit to the ankle and went down.  She could not even walk on it.  I had to carry her to the car.  Back at home, I got Naomi situated with some pillows and ice on her ankle.  Jeremy got ready for prom.  He looked so handsome.  The whole stake was meeting at the church and taking a bus to Hickory for the prom.   We were supposed to be there by 4:30.  Naomi opted to stay home with her ankle up (still not able to walk).  On the way to the church Jeremy and I talked about having fun and dancing and talking to everyone and being social.  Last year he struggled at prom and didn't have a great time.  This year he was determined to make it a better experience.  He was a little sad because he and Khristen had broken up about for weeks before (and I was just finding this out!!!! He still talked about her so I thought everything was the same)  He said it was a good thing and they were still friends, but...  To make matters worse, the YM president had told the priests that he expected them to make sure the laurels all had dates for the prom.  This is a problem in that there are three priests and only two laurels.  Jeremy was the odd man out and he was feeling bad about that (which is how the subject of Khristen came up).  

Handsome Jeremy

Ready to go!

Hamming it up for the camera.  

Jeremy, Audrey, Justin, Justice and Sam.  

I love this picture because it really shows their personalities.  They are a great group of kids.  

Outside the church.  

Justice, Jeremy and Audrey.  

One more silly picture before getting on the bus.  

Jeremy was at least smiling when they boarded the bus.  I said prayers all the way home that he would have a good time.  Back at home, I got Naomi up and at least walking a little bit.  With Steve being gone for the weekend it wouldn't have surprised me one bit to end up at Urgent Care.  Luckily it appeared to be a minor injury.  She was able to walk with only a slight limp by the end of the night.  She did lose a tooth during all of this as well.  Julie and Kathryn both texted me pictures of how Jeremy was doing.  Julie knew something was up when Jeremy arrived at the church with such a long face and told me she would look out for him.  He had met a girl, Elizabeth Ehlers, from the Harrisburg ward.  They were having a great time talking and dancing.  YAY!!! Nick got home from Matt's house about 9:30 and I was at the church at 11:00 to pick up Jeremy.  

Jeremy and Elizabeth at the dance. 

Elizabeth and Jeremy on the bus on the way home.  

The whole ride home was filled with how much fun he had and how nice Elizabeth was.  He even sang some karaoke on the bus on the way home.  I am so glad my prayers were answered.  He really needed this boost.  

Steve came home from OLS energized and with many fun stories to tell.  Scouting such an outlet for him.   Oh, and Naomi was outside running around with her friends the day after her injury.  All is well.  

Deep Thoughts, By Nicholas Cannon - If the elemental name for iron is FE then technically wouldn't a female be Iron Woman?  Hmmmmmmm!

March 14th I subbed for one of the EC teachers and had a long break over the lunch period.  I had just sat down to eat when Mrs. Shipman in the main office called and asked if I would assist in the lunchroom handing out hot lunches.  One of the ladies had just walked out leaving one person there all by herself.  No problem.  It was fun to help out.  I love that they trust me enough to ask me to help out in an emergency.  

March 16th Steve went to another Eagle Scout of the Year dinner.  He is loving that his troop is finally catching the vision of scouting.  

March 21st I joined Naomi and her class at Biztown as a volunteer for their field trip.  When I first arrived I was amazed at this little city they had created.  There was a medical clinic, utilities, a radio station, a newspaper, manufacturing companies, real estate, travel, a bank, etc.   My station was the bank.  I was to help everyone stay on task and make sure the crowds were under control.  At lunch time all the kids came to the bank to cash their paychecks and to withdraw some cash.  It was hectic for a bit with 200 kids to get through, but our crew handled it very well.  

Naomi was the CEO of the manufacturing company.  She had to make sure that the company applied for and received their loan, made their payments on time and had product to sell during lunch break.  She also had to give a speech at the start of the day.  

Naomi giving her speech.  She introduced her company and what they would be selling at lunch  She did an amazing job  

The bank, where I was stationed all day.

Naomi at "work".

In the office with her employees.  

At the end of the day all the kids had a better appreciation for what their parents do when they go to work.  They learned a lot and had a ton of fun as well.

March 22nd Naomi was home from school with a sore throat.  Standing out in the cold waiting for the bus the previous day had gotten to her.  That afternoon I took her to LNC to get her officially registered for 2016-2017.  She was so excited to pick out her classes.  She wants to take band and play the clarinet.

March 25th was the first day of Spring Break and we celebrated by sleeping in until 7:30.  It was glorious!!! Naomi's friend, Anusha, came and spent the day with us as well.  They had a great time with all the kids in the neighborhood and it was warm enough for a water balloon fight against Nick.

Nick is a good sport.  They all had such a good time.

March 26th the weather and schedules finally cooperated.  Kev and Steve were able to finish his fence at his new place.  The kids and I represented our family at Jeff Maughan's birthday party since Steve was tied up with the fence project.  He did get there about an hour and a half into the party.  Naomi wanted to stay for the Easter egg hunt so she stayed with Steve while I drove Jeremy to his friend's house for an afternoon of video gaming.  Naomi and I attended the General Women's Conference that night.  The Stake Relief Society presidency had asked me to help out with a game during the pre-conference social.  It was kind of a mix between Simon Says and Mother May I.  I was the captain of the ship and gave orders they had to follow or they were out of the game.  My favorite was shark attack.  They had to make a fin with their hands on top of their heads and swim around.  The talks were very good and mostly about serving those in need.  We were all challenged to find out about the refugee situation in our cities and help where we could.

March 27th was Easter and the program in sacrament meeting was really good.  All the groups had been practicing for months and it sounded great.  I was part of the ward choir and the Relief Society choir as well.  One of our young women played the clarinet while her mother played the flute.  It was beautiful.  Naomi was so excited to hear that Kaylee would love to teach her the basics of the clarinet.  The Smith family is one of the most musically talented families I have met . They all sing and play an instrument.  Brother Smith is the Director of Bands at UNC Charlotte.  Naomi will be in very good hands.

March 28th Nick wanted to go bowling for Family Home Evening.  We definitely need some practice.  Steve had the high score at 130 with me trailing in second with 80.  We can only get better, right?  It is okay because we had a lot of fun.  Afterwards we went to Ritas Ice for a treat.

March 29th Steve and Jeremy drove to Knoxville to pick up a bike from Bradden.  Jeremy needed the driving hours towards his license and Steve had a day off.  It all worked out very well.   Naomi went to see "Zootopia" with her friend, Emily.  Nick was at Brady's house playing.  I had the house to myself.  I spent most of the time catching up on my Book of Mormon reading.  Back in January our stake president had challenged all of us to finish the Book of Mormon before April conference.  I was doing so well at first and then got really busy with substitute teaching and my church calling and fell behind.  After the movie, Naomi and Emily came back here and played for a bit.  We took Emily home after dinner.

March 30th we had a youth activity at our house for any of the youth that were still in town during the break from school.  I was surprised to have 8 youth show up and make s'mores with us.  The boys even got into an energetic game of football.

March 31st I woke up and immediately got to work on finishing the Book of Mormon.  I am happy to say that I reached the goal!!!!  This is only the second time that I have completed the entire book in such a short period of time.  It is such an amazing story.  I am so glad I took the challenge.

That night I was in charge of soccer practice as Coach Riggins was out of town.  We only had three players show up, but we ran some passing drills and then Nick and I took on the three of them in a scrimmage.  We played for about 20 minutes until the sky opened up and it poured rain.  We were soaked, but we had so much fun.    Steve got to go see the new Batman vs Superman with the Elders Quorum. It was fun for him to spend time with Jeff Maughan and a few other guys from church.

Now you can see why I called it March Madness.  Another thing to consider is that I only told you about a few of the days I subbed.  Most days are uneventful and don't make the cut.  I only had six days that I was not subbing.  It is busy, but oh so much fun.

February 2016

February was a exciting month.  It started off with a Stake Young Women training meeting.  Kellie and I got there right on time and were just sitting down when I noticed the Stake YW presidency all motioning to me.  I guess the chorister was not there yet and they wanted me to lead the music.  Kellie took my purse and I rushed up onto the stand to lead the music.  After the opening song I needed to stay on the stand until everyone was released.  During this time  my phone rang in all its "A Utah Man Am I" glory.  The acoustics in the chapel are amazing, by the way.    Well, I didn't have time to turn it down when we arrived and completely forgot about it.  Kellie scrambled to turn it off and I was laughing because most of the presidencies knew it was my phone and turned to look at me while laughing.  Thank goodness they were only doing announcements.  I just have one thing to say about it - GO UTES!!!

February 6th was a very noteworthy day.  The young women won their basketball game.  The only win of the season.  Later in the morning the scouts descended upon our house to help with Big Ezra's Eagle project.    They really got a lot done.  That night was Saturday Knight Live at Lake Norman Charter High.  It is the talent show for the school and the talent is amazing.  This year did not disappoint.  There were some amazing acts.  At the very end, to give the judges time to deliberate, Mr. I usually comes out and plays his guitar and sings.  This year he put together a great band and decided to use a fog machine.  The effect was really cool and would have totally worked if the AC system had been on to blow the smoke away, but....  The alarm went off just as the song really got going and I thought it might be part of the act for a minute.  The blinking lights and alarm were both things that Mr. I would think of as cool.  They also kept playing so the audience went along with it until Mr. Willets jumped onto the stage and asked everyone to evacuate the building.  The fire trucks pulled up and made sure it was safe to re-enter the building.  We finished watching the last act and they read off the winners.  It was truly an exciting night!!!

February 7th, Jeremy received his patriarchal blessing.  We went to Patriarch Sigg's home and he talked with us for a bit and then met with Jeremy  privately for a bit before giving him the blessing.  I cannot believe that Jeremy is growing up so fast.  He has an amazing life ahead of him and now he also has a little bit of a road map to help him make some of the really important decisions ahead of him.  I am so proud of him.  

It was also Superbowl Sunday.  The Panthers lost, but it was still a great game. Maybe next year!

February 11th Nick turned 14 and it was also a half-day, e-learning day.  He got up, stayed in his pajamas, logged on to his iPad and did his classes for half a day and then was done for the rest of the day.  It was perfect for him.  The only thing better would have been no school at all.  The idea behind the e-learning day was to test if they could conduct school remotely if necessary due to inclement weather or other reasons.  It seemed to go relatively smoothly and is an option instead of missing a day.  

The rest of the day included going to Coretech and picking up Nick's new computer.  He really wanted one of his own.  We told him we would give him half of the money for his birthday and he spent months saving up the other half.  That took up most of the day along with getting it all set up and ready to roll.  

He FINALLY has his computer.  

We also got Papa Murphy's pizza and had chocolate cake for dessert.  These are two of his favorite things.

February 12th we left for Knoxville.  Hyrum turned 8 and was being baptized.  He also decided not to have a friend birthday party this year and turned it into a cousin party.  A few of Sunny's nieces and a nephew had come out with Grandma and Grandpa Bills.  Not long after we arrived we went to play laser tag.  I stayed out with Madi so Sunny could play tag with Hyrum.  He really wanted her in there and I love spending time with Madi.  She is so funny.  I kept her entertained with the video games and Skittles.  Grandpa Bills was also there to help out.

Madi and Naomi racing their cars 

Everyone getting ready to go in for the first battle.  

When all else fails, buy Skittles and sit by Grandpa.  

After all the fun playing laser tag we went back to Hyrum's house and had pizza and cake and ice cream before heading to the hotel for the night.

Bradden!  Steve!  Have you been eating powdered donuts?!!!?
They boys came out of the closet laughing with powder all over their faces and then posed for this classic picture,  Sunny and I are positive this is a familiar scene from when they were younger.  I love it when Steve and Bradden get together.  They are just plain silly.  

Eating pizza!!!

Sunny had a friend make this cake for all the birthday boys!

All the birthday boys (going clockwise) Jeremy, Doug, Hyrum and Nick. 

That night at the hotel Steve got a text from the Tufts asking if our gas was out too and if we were staying nice and warm.  What??  I texted Donita and found out that Google Fiber had hit the main gas line and over 200 homes in Highland Creek were without gas.  I called her the next morning and got all the details.  It was pretty bad.  The only way in or out of our neighborhood was to drive along the walking path from the parkway.  The leak was right behind her house.  Apparently, Piedmont Gas had a crew the worked on it for several hours before it was contained.  They then went home to home turning the gas back on.  She was up most of the night because for some reason their gas would not come back on and Piedmont Gas was in and out trying to figure it out. She gave me the number to call in order to get our gas turned back on.  I should also add that this weekend was the coldest weekend on record in recent years.  The temperature during the day only got into the teens.  I was really glad for a nice, warm, hotel room.

February 13th.  The baptism was really nice.  Sunny had a table all ready with pictures of the two children being baptized along with programs, flowers and a beautifully framed picture with the words of "I Like To Look For Rainbows."

The Pre-baptism picture session

Hyrum and Bradden

Hyrum wanted something silly.  

The whole family

and something silly.

The siblings

Just with Mom and Dad

Moms are the best.  

All the cousins - left to right - Cort, Hallie, Naomi, Olivia, Avery, Jeremy, Madi, Nick
AND Hyrum.

With Grandpa and Grandma Bills

The  baptism and confirmation were amazing, as they always are.  The kids all love watching the baptism and the Spirit was very strong in the room.

The entire family - There are lots of people that love Hyrum.  

Hyrum and his baptism partner!

Back at the house we had a nice luncheon and goofed off for a bit before heading home.  We left a little earlier than we had originally planned, but needed to get home to get the gas turned back on.  

Cowboy princess Madi

Watching a silly video with Grandma Bills.  They laughed and had a great time.  

Sunny made these yummy cookies for dessert  

I called Piedmont Gas on the way home and arranged for them to be to our house about an hour after we got home.  Considering that the over night low was 9 and the high was 18 our house was rather warm at 59 degrees.  We just stayed in our coats until the gas was turned on.  We were warm again by the time bedtime rolled around.   

February 18th I subbed a half day and then helped out in the office the rest of the day.  They were scrambling to get ready for the lottery that night.  I did some signs for them with some of my fancy lettering I haven't used in years.  They liked it so much I have been commissioned to redo all the registration signs as well.  I had forgotten how much I like to do fancy lettering.  

Since Naomi had play practice until 4:30 and the lottery started at 4 we were unable to make it.  I checked on the computer as soon as the results were available to make sure she had gotten in.  YUP!!!  She is so excited.  

February 19th - Jeremy is 17!!!  We celebrated that night after everyone was home for the night.  During the day I got to go see the Wax Museum Naomi's class had put together.  They each spend the month studying a famous person from North Carolina and then had to come up with a presentation for the museum which included an informational poster and dressing up as the person.  As museum patrons, we could activate the wax statues and they would tell us all about themselves,  It was really cool.  Naomi was Daniel Boone.  She had a sign with a wind-up key instructing the person to wind her up.  I wound her up with the key in her nose.  She didn't break character at all.  She came to life, told me all about herself and then sat down again.  It was awesome.  

Naomi "Daniel Boone" Cannon.

Naomi, Emily and Anna

Later that night, when everyone was finally home for the day, we had Jeremy's birthday party.  He wanted Mandarin chicken and pot stickers.  We opened presents and then headed over to the Giler family farewell party for a bit.  The Giler's have been in the ward for 17 years and were moving to another home now that all their children are off on their own.  After the party, Jeremy wanted to go to Books A Million and wander around.  He found a great book on writing fiction.  We came home and had cashew, caramel cheesecake.  It was a fun day.  

"Keep Clam and Proofread" 

This shirt made me totally laugh.  Jeremy's three top loves - writing, psychology and humor.

"Cool beans"  Now he can find new ways to express all those emotions his characters are having.  

YUMMY!!!!

Saturday, February 20th, Steve helped Kev build his fence and Naomi played a soccer game during the day and then got ready to go to the Daddy Daughter Dance that night.  It was a western theme this year.  They went out to dinner and spent the night dancing.  It was fun.

In our backyard

At the dance

The boys went to a stake activity that night where they learned to swing dance.  Nick was excited because he was FINALLY old enough to go to these activities.  He had a great time dancing with the girls and getting to know new people.  

While driving a car load of girls home from church on Wednesday night this is the conversation I overheard and had to record for posterity.

Naomi:  We are doing the play "They Jungle Book" at our school.  What play are you doing?

Haylie:  We are doing "The Wiz".

Naomi:  What is "The Wiz"?

Haylie:  I don't know.

Me:  "The Wiz" is a musical version of "The Wizard of Oz" that had great music and featured black artists of the time.  Michael Jackson was in it.

Naomi:  Wait!  Michael Jackson was black???!!!!????

I got a good laugh over that one.  When we got home we looked up pictures of Michael Jackson before he had all his surgeries.  Naomi said, "Mom, he was a handsome black man.  Why did he change himself?"  I didn't have a good answer for that one.  Some people are just not happy with what they have.  

Sunday, February 21st, as we walked into church I was reading the program.  It said Jeremy was one of the youth speakers.  He had totally forgotten about it.  He and Steve spent the first part of the meeting in the foyer putting together a talk about honesty and how important it was.  In his talk he said, "In the spirit of honesty I have to admit that I totally forgot about this talk today."  He went on to give an amazing talk about how honesty is an important part of our lives and can lead to amazing things if we are honest with ourselves and each other.  Proud Mama moment.  Nick was also set apart as a teacher.  It was a great day.

February 22nd, my phone completely died - as in could not even be resuscitated  by the guys at Verizon.  I got a new phone and am learning how to use it.  I miss my old phone.  Oh well.  

February 24th Steve attended a scout dinner where one of his scouts, Garrison Stewart, was awarded "Eagle Scout of the Year" for Mecklenburg County.  He was so proud of Garrison for all the hard work he put in on his project.  It was a "proud papa" moment for him,

February 25th was Math and Science Night at Highland Creek Elementary.  Naomi and I went over for a bit before soccer practice.  They always have the  most amazing presentations.  Naomi got to participate in one of the chemistry demonstrations.  It was a great night for her.  She really loves math and science.  

Naomi helping demonstrate a chemical reaction for how certain chemicals product color when exposed to an open flame.  

February 26th Nick was over the moon to be invited to Kaylee Smith's birthday party.  He felt so grown up going to his first teen party.  They had a great time and he was all smiles when I picked him up later that night.  

February 27th started with a tri-stake women's conference.  Sister Neill Marriott was the speaker.  The stake center was packed and we all loved every minute of her talk.  It was like she was speaking to each of us individually.  The theme was Rooted and Established.  The Stake Relief Society presidency talked about how the gospel is like an oak tree.  It is very strong and has deep roots that are connected to each other.  Sister Marriott carried this one step further in her talk.  She told us we needed to stand firm as a member of the church.  As we see ourselves as a part of the Plan of Salvation it will anchor us to Christ.  She asked us what we need to do in order to sink our roots deep into gospel soil.  We need to have the power of God in our lives.  We need to seek him.  We need to keep the covenants we have made.  We need to read the scriptures and apply them in our life.  She referenced Moroni 7:48 "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.  Amen."  The Lord can help us overcome any weakness we have if we just ask and then do what needs to be done.  He will help us.  Wow!!

After the conference I took Naomi to her soccer game.  They played really well and won 4-1.

February 28th was a youth fireside with Sister Marriott.  I selfishly offered to drive so I could hear her speak one more time.  She talked very candidly with the youth.  She said everyone needed to have a high-five daily.  Getting a high-five was confirmation that everything is great.  She added a new level to the high-five we should receive daily.  The thumb represents prayer.  The pointer finger represents scripture study.  The middle finger represents the Sabbath with the sacrament as the core of the day.  The ring finger is service with sacrifice being the key.  The pinkie is the attributes of Christ - we need to take them on for ourselves.  Everyone needs a high-five daily.  The kids really enjoyed it and actually listened.  

It was a great month, full of great things.  Most of it just reaffirmed to me what a great church I belong to and how it makes me a better person every day.