This week I taught 31 VIPKID lessons. I’ve been trying to increase how much I teach by adding a class here and there. I usually teach 28 lessons so I didn’t add much, but a few more lessons each week makes a big difference! Gratefully I have a lot of loveable, regular students. It’s so much easier to teach at 5:00am when I can look forward to seeing my little friends! This week I was especially excited to begin teaching a friend of a little girl I’ve taught for a year and a half.
Mark is finishing up the Spring semester. He is working on a group project and presentation for his statistics class. He is also doing some more editing on a chapter he wrote for a textbook. Technically his professor will finish the writing and Mark will be listed as the Junior Author, but we are excited about his first work towards being published! The chapter is about birds on the Great Salt Lake. Mark also used his mechanic skills to fix up our car a little! And we went on a walk to see the willow sculpture on campus!
This week was full of socializing and celebrations! On Wednesday I helped host a baby shower lunch for two sisters in our ward. We met up at Firehouse pizza for food, visiting, and to give gifts.
On Thursday we had a picnic dinner with my parents in their backyard. I grew up always looking forward to the Murray family Easter picnic and egg hunt. It wasn’t going to happen this year so I was happy to have a small version. We roasted hotdogs and my dad cooked potatoes in the fire. He puts the whole potato directly in the fire and it is the best way you’ll ever eat a potato.
Friday night we had a bridal shower for my cousin Tristin. It was so fun to visit with the ladies in the Murray family! My Dad’s five siblings all live in the area, but we haven’t gotten together for a while now! I was able to plan a “guess who” game about Tristin and her fiancé which turned out fun!
Saturday morning, after teaching English, we took a few minutes to pick up trails from the Easter Bunny! Flynn even got a little trail with dog treats and cheese at the end! Then we loaded up the car, took Flynn to my parents, and headed to Sun Valley, Idaho.
We met Mark’s family there and spent the night in a condo together. We didn’t pack our swimsuits, but we had fun watching the others swim in the YMCA pool. We also enjoyed visiting and watched Incredibles 2 at night.
Sunday morning we hopped in the car again and headed to Blackfoot where our niece, Shay was blessed. In sacrament meeting three sister missionaries spoke. One sister told how her brother had to come home early from his mission due to some choices he made. She explained how in the Samoan culture it is especially dishonorable for someone to return early from a full time mission. She worried her brother’s choices would really hurt her family. When her brother arrived, their mother just hugged him. She compared this to the Savior’s ability to love and accept us with all our shortcomings. He wants us to continue to try, and because of His atonement we can try again and again. I’m so grateful for that!
All of Mark’s siblings and their families were together after the blessing so it was a full house! It was fun to see everyone and to catch up!
I thought we would get a cute picture of myself and Mark dressed nice for Easter, but Mark forgot to pack a dress shirt. He was able to borrow one from his little brother for church, but it was so small he took it off as soon as church was done so we never did get that cute picture! Oh well!
We certainly missed our puppy, but he had fun with my dad. My dad put him to work washing the car and planting the garden! My dad sent these cute pictures of Flynn at work! It was a busy, but fun week!
Our Story: The Bell Family 