Rainy Day

This morning it was thundering and rained a little which made everything smell all fresh and clean. Mmmm rain smells so good. It felt nice then, but now it's hot and humid.

The last few days have been good and full. Kit came up from Monticello to visit Grandmother and stopped by to see us when he and Celia were in town on Friday. It was kind of a bummer night, though because we decided to go out to eat and Paul and I wanted to share a plate to save money, but the dish we wanted came with a salad bar and they wouldn't allow it and called us "cheater eaters." That made Paul all mad, so it wasn't very fun. Then Kit wanted to see a movie...Dark Night, the new batman/joker movie...but it was sold out and the parking lot was so full Kit hit someone backing out and there was a big mess there. P.S. DO NOT watch that movie. Everyone that I've talked to that's seen it says it is very evil. I actually got scared watching the trailer for it. It's a good thing it was sold out. We ended up just going back to our house and falling asleep. Paul, Shay and I were pretty tired.

Sundays are always good. Our ward is awesome! We were surprised to have Stuart Shumway, a member of our Stake High Counsel speak in Sacrament meeting. He gave a good talk on knowing that God hears our prayers. On Sunday night we went to First Dam with Alisa and threw a frisby (sp?) around. She made this amazingly awesome wheat banana bread and let us have some. It's been awesome to have her live so close to us.

Yesterday our ward needed people to go help at the Ogden Cannery to can some green beans that were ready to go bad, so Cody and Lisa watched Shayden for a while so I could go and help. It seems that service never really comes too conveniently, and I felt blessed to have the opportunity to serve. I was also with some awesome women from the ward on the way down and then back up. It was interesting on the way home when we started talking about public and private schools and home schooling for kids. One of the girls had been home schooled her whole life and felt that it was the best thing for her. Another one of the sisters was pro private/charter school and pro Referendum 1 and I was VERY anti Ref. 1. Wow, political debate within a ward can get heated I guess. I didn't really state why I felt the way I did, I just said I was very against it and that a lot of my family taught public school. She just explained that she thinks kids have too much pressure in public schools and don't do as well; that parental involvement isn't what it needs to be and would be better if they put their kids in private schools. She said she was pro Ref. 1 because it let's parents know they have options instead of just having to do public school. Just to condense what I feel about the issue to get it off my chest:

*Public schools are what's best for the majority of kids. There are few exceptions of kids that need a little extra help or are way far ahead of the rest. I'm guessing the percentage of parental involvement in private and public schools is about the same.

*Positive propaganda for Ref. 1 says it will not hurt public schools, but it will because public schools receive funding according to how many students attend. Funding for public schools will go down if more students go to private schools.

*When this issue was being considered for Utah, there were 11 states using this scholarship for private schools. The majority of those were trying to get out of it and are unable to.

*Most of all, I feel it puts money into wrong hands. Private schools can do whatever they want without the checks and balance system built into public schools. If the hiring board of a private school cannot find someone to teach chemistry, they can hire any person they deem worthy. Good teachers are hard to come by.

In summary I feel like Ref. 1 would be good if and only if honest and good people ran things. This isn't the case all the time. It was very confusing during the time this was being considered because there was so much positive propaganda on both sides. Okay...I'm going to get off my soap box.

On a happier note, here are a few pictures.


This is another picture of Shayden at the ranch wearing Alisa's glasses
I love this picture! We had Chicken enchiladas that first night we were in Panguitch and Shayden was super hungry while we were waiting, so Paul being an awesome dad, got her a plate ready. It looks like he's being all lonely here though, eating with nobody else.


Here is Shayden at the hospital watching the fish. She always somehow loses her shoe. Sheeb, that's so good to hear your going home soon!!! I laughed at your care page update the other day where that doctor woke you up right after you fell asleep. It wasn't funny, because I would be so mad too, but your attitude is just amazing. Even when you get no sleep and all these things are going on, you still are happy. You're just so awesome! You know exactly what's right, and you stand up for it. Parker is lucky to have you for a mom.



This is Alis, Shay and I at First Dam on Sunday.
Shayden's pulling a funny face sitting on Dad's lap.