Our Story: The Bell Family

On Sunday my primary secretary, Kira, was released. I hadn’t talked to her before she was called as my secretary, but now she has become one of my friends and I’m really going to miss working with her. Luckily she still lives close, and I’m excited to get to know my new secretary, Amanda! It’s funny- now the entire presidency has “A” names: Alyson, Amy, Andrea, and Amanda!

Mark and I were able to see Frozen 2 in theater on Monday. I was excited to see it, but it was even better than I anticipated! I loved it and have been listening to the music all week! It’s also been fun to talk to my students and parents in China who have also seen it.

On Tuesday I had my Brazilian baking lesson with our Relief Society President, Silvana. She’s an amazing woman who is so loving and sweet! I really enjoyed visiting with her and learning to make the yummy Brazilian bread she brings to ward events all the time! Mark was also excited I learned how to make it so he can enjoy eating them!

It was a snowy week! We got about a foot of snow. Mark was very happy he had new, warm boots from his hunting trip. I was happy whenever I could avoid going outside in the cold.

Luckily my sister, Tiffany, and her family were able to come down between snowstorms. We had so much fun visiting them, and her kids are so gentle playing with Flynn. He loved all the attention!

We had a relaxing, fun, Thanksgiving! It was nice to be with family. I’m grateful to be done with grad school, and grateful for Mark’s support as I went through school. Mark is grateful he is learning how to do hard things (aka grad school), but he hopes some day they will get easier.

After Thanksgiving lunch Mark and I stood in line at JC Penny’s to get $10 off coupons. It was so fun to be together and to get some great deals! I also did some online shopping, and later Friday morning I went to Kohl’s with my sister and niece where we found some cute clothes. We avoid the stressful crowds and just have fun being together and getting great deals on Black Friday. I love it, and I’m so excited to give the perfect gifts I’ve found for friends and family.

We also put up Christmas decorations this week! It’s my first year without a real tree, but that’s ok. This artificial one is beautiful too and we don’t have to worry about Flynn eating it.

We also began wrapping presents and handing out Christmas cards! I love this time of year–the daily reminder of our Savior, the excitement that comes from giving to others, the anticipation from looking at your presents under the tree, the music, the food, the decorations, and celebrations with family and friends.

Sunday night Mark headed to Blackfoot with his brother, Chris. On Monday they did some pheasant hunting with their dad, and helped with some projects for their parents. He brought home two pheasant, and it was fun to try eating them. I thought it was pretty good, but I definitely prefer chicken or turkey!

Thursday our Relief Society had it’s annual service auction. You earn points for doing things such as reading scriptures and ministering. Then you use those points to win services. I brought baby socks I made and I bought a ukulele lesson and a Brazilian baking lesson. I’m very excited!

Saturday we went to Sugar City, ID for an early Thanksgiving celebration with Mark’s mom’s Family. It was fun to see everyone!

The highlight of the week was celebrating our third anniversary! The time as flown by, and we’re trying to just enjoy every moment of this busy, fun, ever-changing stage of life we’re in.

Mark and I worked early in the morning so we could go to lunch together. We chose Cafe Sabor! Yum! It’s an old train station with Mexican style foods. We both got the BBQ chicken salad and ate way too many chips!

We exchanged gifts as part of our celebrations too. I gave Mark the DVD of the Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It’s one we watched on our honeymoon so we enjoyed watching it together again! Mark gave me a necklace with a bell on it–it’s so cute! We were also excited our anniversary was the day Disney+ was released so Mark hopped online and bought a month’s subscription as another anniversary gift. We’ve had a lot of fun watching Disney movies together this week!

We also made a peanut butter cup cheesecake to share on our anniversary. It was my first time making a cheesecake in the instant pot. It cooked perfectly, but I adjusted the recipe because the biggest springform pan wouldn’t fit in our instant pot and the cheesecake ended up being a little short. It was delicious though!

I’m sure grateful for Mark and all he does!

Here’s a picture of our happy puppy!

Daylight savings time means I get to teach English at 4:00 every morning, Monday through Saturday. Also, the Chinese government decided children can no longer take classes after 9:00pm. I do agree this is too late for children, but it means I cannot teach as many classes in the morning. I won’t be making as much money from VIPKID now, which is sad, but I will begin teaching Friday nights to try to help offset the difference.

Mark had another flight over the Great Salt Lake this week. He is also continuing to work hard in his statistics class and his maps class. He also got to have another visit to the dentist! He’s becoming all too familiar with visits there unfortunately.

On Saturday I was able to help with a baby shower for Mark’s sister, Julie. I think it came together well. Mark was such a big help-setting up tables and chairs, and making lots of small sandwiches with me.

We (or at least me) are very excited for the upcoming holidays. Christmas is my favorite time of year, and luckily Mark doesn’t mind that we’ve started watching Christmas movies and scoping out the Black Friday deals.

Flynn is just as cute as ever! Mark watched some of our nieces and nephews during the baby shower and we were very pleased with Flynn’s manners. We’ve worked with him on not jumping on new friends, but he gets so excited it’s still hard for him. Mark said he was really gentle with the kids though. We’re so grateful for this little furball!

October 27 was our ward’s primary program. My presidency spent a lot of time preparing for and planning it. We created a question to ask each class and recorded the answers of the children. Their answers became their speaking parts in the program. We chose three children who had given very good talks in primary to give those talks in the program. I was really impressed by their simple truths and how their parents are helping them to apply gospel principles to their experiences.

Mark got his score back on his statistics test and he did very well! He was excited and I’m very proud of him! He is also figuring out how to use weather radar to track bird migration. I often tell him it’s fun being married to a scientist. 🙂

It snowed a few times this week and most days the temperature was below freezing. I don’t enjoy the cold, but at least it makes it feel like Thanksgiving and Christmas. In fact, it felt so much like those holidays Mark and I almost forgot Thursday was Halloween. We had intended to carve a pumpkin but every evening we were together we were so tired we just said “We’ll do it tomorrow.” Well that “tomorrow” never came, but I think the pumpkin will look nice on our porch as a Thanksgiving decoration to for a while still.

I did dress up like Elsa the day before Halloween to teach VIPKID. I rarely teach new students, but on Halloween I had 4 new students so I decided to not dress up for my first time with them. My students on Oct 30 liked my costume though! Frozen is a big deal in China so I hoped they would like it.

We had cleaning inspections this week too. They aren’t a big deal, but it does motivate me to do some deep cleaning. I was planning to be home with Flynn during the checks but then a pipe broke at Aggie Village and our water was going to be off all morning, so Flynn and I got to go hang out with my parents.

On Saturday Mark went pheasant hunting with his professor for a couple hours. They didn’t shoot anything, but he was happy he got to go. He had been looking forward to going hunting with his dad, but he has had too many demands to take off enough time to travel and hunt.

We had stake conference on Sunday. We enjoyed the meeting, and it was a great excuse to visit with our friends in the other wards.

This week Mark studied hard for his midterm Statistics test. He will get his grade next week.

I stayed busy working. I’m considering applying for another job because I won’t be able to teach as many VIPKID classes beginning in November. Day light savings pushes my schedule earlier, and the Chinese Government will no longer allow children to take classes after 9:00pm Beijing Time. I definitely agree that children should go to bed, but I’m sad about the class time I will be losing.

Friday night was the annual Murray Family Halloween party. Mark and I went as the tooth fairy and a dentist. We had so much fun!

Saturday we held a rehearsal of the primary program. It went so well! I mean, the children were full of wiggles, but they all participated. The songs and talks were wonderful this year! I love how children can teach simple truths.

We also were able to go on a double date on Saturday with Mark’s friend, Logan, and Mark’s cousin Carrie. We did some target shooting at the gun range and had soup at our apartment after. Shooting isn’t my favorite activity, but I enjoyed it this time and even hit the target a few times!

I wish I had more to write about Mark, but being in the thick of grad school he doesn’t get to do too much. He is still very busy with homework and research! He did get some down time during the fall break which was much needed. It also allowed time for Mark to take me on a date to Olive Garden! Yum!

He and Flynn hung out at home this weekend while I went to Time Out for Women. When I came home Mark had made dinner, cookies, and cleaned up the apartment. It was so nice!

I’ve always wanted to go to Time Out for Women (a religious conference for women hosted by Deseret Book), and this year was my first time! My sweet sister even paid for part of my ticket as a graduation present which made it easier for me to go! I went with my mom, Janese, Tiffany, and her daughter Katelyn. It was even better than I hoped it would be and I can’t wait to go again.

The topic of Time Out for Women this year was “hear,” referring to hearing the voice of the Lord in our individual lives. We heard from speakers such as Elaine Dalton, Jane Clayson Johnson, Laurel Christensen Day, Erik and Emily Orton, Brooke Romney, and David Butler. My biggest take away was to make sure I create quiet time each day to hear Heavenly Father.

We were able to meet Elaine Dalton who used to be the general young women President. She was so kind and had a special promise for my niece.

I also enjoyed “The Wall of Encouragement.” Each sister wrote an encouraging note and stuck it to a wall. She then could take any note that stood out to her.

The music at Time Out For Women was inspiring too! Friday night we heard from Calle Reed and throughout the day Saturday we heard from The Bonner Family. They were so talented! The Bonner family’s music gave me chills!

Flynn got a new toy this week, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so excited about a new toy! It’s 3 squeaky monkeys that can hide inside a banana. He carries the monkeys everywhere, and will fetch the monkeys or the banana.

Mark refocused on using national weather radar to watch for Grebes flying from Salt Lake to Southern Utah. It is challenging, but can be a good way to provide a second source of the birds’ migration. He has also been working to repair three four-wheelers owned by his lab so they can be used to find birds next summer.

Wednesday WebAIM had a potluck lunch with a Halloween theme. I took a jack-o-lantern veggie tray.

I went to lunch with my sister Janese. We both served missions in the South and were excited to try the new Barbecue restaurant- Maymoe’s BBQ. It was fantastic! They even gave us some free Beignets.

I’ve also been preparing for the primary program. On Tuesday my presidency met at the church to figure out a seating arrangement. Sunday we did a run though of the program, and it went pretty well! We get one more practice the Saturday before the program, and I think it will come together!

The best part of this week was general conference! We started the weekend by driving to Bountiful to attend my mission reunion. We haven’t been the past couple years so it was really fun to go again! There were a lot of newly returned missionaries. The mission president who took over after mine was there. He just got home in July and was really surprised to hear Mark and I had been married for almost 3 years!

We got there at the beginning and were able to attend the devotional with President and Sister Craig in the chapel. President Craig asked me to lead the music as we sang Called to Serve Him. I realized I am very out of practice on the 3rd verse of Called to Serve written for my mission and the recitations we used to say as missionaries. But I didn’t forget how much love you feel when the Craigs stand at the pulpit and Sister Craig asks, “Do you know how much we love you?” I’m grateful I was able to work closely with the Craigs. They are amazing. They also announced that night that they will be the new Ghana MTC Presidents in January. I will miss having them close, but am excited for the missionaries they will touch there.

Mark and I enjoyed watching General Conference together at home. We played conference bingo and I worked on a new cross stitch. We felt there were many messages about having joy.

On Sunday we went to the spectrum to hear Elder Holland. It was more full than we had ever seen it be for a devotional and we barely found two seats. Elder Holland is always fun to listen to, and full of a spiritual power. He talked about how people today are so fearful. He said we should not have fear because, although there is bad around, us there is also so much good. He taught that in the scriptures people were continually commanded to run from wicked people, but today we are to stand among them in righteousness. “We no longer think of Zion as where we are going to live, but how we are going to live.”

Mark has been working hard on his statistics class. He has also been making maps for his online class. His lab owns several broken four wheelers so he is beginning to fix those as well!

It was a veeeery slow week for me at WebAIM. I’m not sure why, but there were hardly any emails for me to reply to. My boss asked me to find articles and websites we could link to our course material so I have been working on that. I’m also participating in a challenge to get 8,000 steps everyday. I get about 3,000 walking to and from work so it’s not too difficult Monday through Friday.