We salute you, Utah!

Our awesome background with a handsome cowboy!

Each student had their picture in military attire for our slideshow

Cute girls!

My twin Courtney!!

Mini Brigham and me! Thanks to his shaved stuffed animal...he now has a beard!

This past year I taught 4th grade at Taylor Elementary. My teammate, Courtney (aka my other half), and I both had an ARMY theme for our classrooms. We loved everything CAMO. We celebrated each Monday as "Military Monday!" We wore Camo. Many students joined in and we had some serious 4th grade pride. Many students purchased camo attire. By the end of the year, one student wore full-on camo everyday (not kidding! camo hat, boots, full fatigues, dog tags, and a canteen!). Word has it, he's still dressing that way.

We set out to have the first 4th grade program in a long time! We covered Utah history and ended with military! The kids sang portions of songs from each branch of the military. We loved learning these songs. We had an awesome slideshow honoring Veterans and Military personnel. It was amazing! Many tears were shed. Students dressed up as pioneers, cowboys, and military. One student who spoke about Brigham Young dressed for the part....beard and all! Manly 4th grader.

I had such a blast with our program. I am so proud of my 4th graders! (I taught 3rd the previous year and moved on with half my students!) I am missing them terribly!

A lot of HIP and a little HOP

My Number 1 Fans

My Hip Hop Teacher!

My CREW

I found myself bored with my general routine. Work, home, church activities, gym....wake up and do it over again. What was a girl to do? A community ed. pamphlet showed up in my mailbox (perhaps on purpose). I always wanted to take a class of some sorts. What was a class that could stretch my imagination? Allow me to try something new? Perhaps pottery? Done that! Yoga? No gracias! HIP HOP! Perfect, I even have purple NIKE hip hop shoes. Good purchase (who doesn't need purple shoes?) I signed of for the class with my roommate and we somehow convinced 10 other people from our ward to sign up. Watch out world, a lot of rhythm (lack there of really) was about to enter the world of dance. My expectations were that I would become good enough to star on the show "So you think you can dance". Not an unreachable goal since I've been taking dance for two decades. Wait? My mom never signed me up for a dance, it must have been a dream. Redirect my expectations: NONE! Bingo, ready to go.

Hip Hop class was held in a basement dance studio with ceilings so low that my friend Brian hit his head when we did more HOPping than HIPping. Taking a dance class as adults is quite the spectacle...make it Hip Hop and you've got comedic relief. Not to mention our Hips really did hurt after class.

We somehow overcame our performance gitters and didn't care what others thought. Go time. We were all reminded of how White we really are. Even my Polynesian friend felt super white. "So that's what it feels like!"

We danced for weeks. Our 2 minute routine took 10 grueling weeks of preparation. We even met up at the church on weekends for practice, talk about the blind leading the blind. I had a blast with my new style and have quite the pep in my step. Although my brain wasn't meant to memorize a dance routine, my Alzheimer's subsided for a moment and I made quite the debut! Enjoy what may look like the geriatrics edition of "So You Think You Can Dance!" Yes, yes I can!

The video quality does not capture the true poeticness (yes, I made that up) of our ability. I'm in the back, then front. I am wearing and orange shirt, capris, and a hat!

Commitment

*A little ditty I wrote for our ward newsletter.

Commitment, a simple three syllable word that illicits thoughts of similar words such as: pledge, binding, promise, involvement, and obligation. According to the urban dictionary commitment is: what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions, and the actions which speak louder than the words. It is making the time when there is none. It means coming through time after time after time, year after year after year.
Being committed is something we encounter daily. Whether it be our commitments to work, school, family, physical health, or a must see television show. While all these things are important and greatly add to our lives, we must follow the counsel of M. Russell Ballard (April 2000 Conference). He stated, “It appears to me that the most important thing every one of us can do is to examine our own commitment and devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must guard against spiritual apathy and work to maintain the full measure of our loving loyalty to the Lord.”
A desire to be committed to our savior Jesus Christ comes from our understanding of his gospel and Atonement. Being a committed disciple of Jesus Christ is more than merely skimming the surface of the gospel. It requires us to dive into the infinite depths of its fullness. Jacob 4:8 reads, “Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him.”
Being a covenant member of the Church of Jesus Christ takes commitment and work. In examining our commitment to Jesus Christ, we must ask ourselves how committed are we to scripture study, prayer, attending all three church meetings, callings, temple attendance, visiting teaching, and to our covenants. Consider the words of Lehi to his sons (2 Nephi 1:21-23), “…arise from the dust my sons (daughters), and be men (women)….Awake, my sons (daughters); put on the armor of righteousness.”
Being committed to our Savior mirrors our understanding and demonstrates our maturity. The greatest treasures and blessings of the gospel are beyond the superficial mediocrity of life. Do as David taught (Psalms 37:5) “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”

The Mother Land

I hopped the pond and gained a European stamp in my passport. At last! I jumped at the opportunity to see the land of my inheritance…ie… the land of my ancestors. It was a whirlwind voyage with endless trips to the pub….don’t read into that! Pubs are the best spot for succulent food. Especially Sticky Toffee Pudding (which we appraised everywhere we went and used our self derived rating system as the judge. FYI the best one came from the Red Lion in a small village in Scotland). I was away for 20 days, I could have stayed away forever. It was more than lovely. What’s lovelier than proper English Tea, greenness everywhere, and that refined accent? I was bewitched, totally and completely. My adventures include but are not limited to: ALL things Jane Austen, touring random mansions, the Lake District, train stations, driving around a single roundabout multiple times, fish and chips, crumpets, English chocolate, Jane Eyre sites, Broadway plays with accents, thousands of pictures, a service at Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Irish Men, traditional Irish music at the pub, Scottish plaid, staying in the village of my people (literally), and stalking my long lost dead in various Scottish cemeteries. Wait, I forgot the shopping. There was plenty of that to be done! My new spray paint tagged luggage was bursting! Here goes, the rundown via photos.
Jane Austen's inspiration for Pemberley
Elizabeth Bennet's comments on Permberley: It came
on so slowly I hardly know... but I believe I must
date it from the time I first saw his wonderful
grounds at Pemberley.

The Apollo something or other. In the new P&P
where Darcy and Elizabeth hook it up!

My new home:)

Jane Austen's Home
The very place were genious was brought about!
Rosings Park from the BBC version.

The most agreeable man in all of England...at
this moment he stated..."Oh behave!"

Proper English Tea. Gorgeous!
Cathedral in York
Shakespear's home
The Lake District....stole my heart!
London
London Eye
Trafalgar Square - Big Ben
Westminster Abbey
**IRELAND**
Skipping rocks with the wee little duckies
My favorite PUB - Amazing traditional music I feel in
love with many a musicians here!
Amazing ruins of a church.
**SCOTLAND** my heart still skips a beat
Clackmannan - The village of my Patterson ancestors
Looking out over Clackmannan
My boyfriend working hard for the money
Total nerd with my genealogy sheet!

Local Perish Church

Family headstone...I've got a lot of headstone pics to sort through in order to figer out the link of my kindred dead

I am certain that I will someday return! I merely got a taste. Walking where my ancestors walked was a blessing. They gave up a beautiful country for what they firmly believed in. The faith of those gone before me has impacted my own faith. I will sign off with...to be continued...in hopes that I will return.

A few random moments

Quick blog update before I head out of the good ole USA. It wouldn't be the 4th of July if I wasn't out of the country. So in the mood of being patriotic, I'm headed to England. I'll make stops in Texas, England, Ireland, Scotland, Paris, and CA in the next month. However, the past few weeks since school has been out have been eventful. Here goes:

Rodeo with friends

Hot Air Balloon Ride (thanks Drew)

Kirstin's Triathlon

Cheering Kirstin along was so much fun. She's amazing and these people made me jealous of my inability. Some day perhaps!