Week in Review...

I bought this adorable apple bowl at an antique store down the street. I love going to the antique store, they have the coolest things!

Abby left me this note on my board one morning, it says I love you as my mom Miss Johnson and a rollerblades friend. I hope you mom have good day. To Mom.

So cute!

Abby had a superbowl party on Wednesday in her class, she had so much fun! We also had her IEP meeting this week, she has made so much progress this year! She's reading on grade level now, which is huge! Last year she was reading at a 1st grade level. She's finally interested in reading books with me at home and she's starting to advocate for herself in the classroom. Amazing progress!

Abby made this board game from some recycled materials we had at home, so creative!

Emily Schwantes designed these for me! They're so cute! I gave one to each of the kids for their walls!

Rick got an award at work, it's so pretty! He's loved having the challenge of creating an inside sales team for Eco Shield and look how much money they made in their first year!

Ashlyn created this mushroom cookie jar, she's excited to paint it when it's done baking. She's making some fun things in ceramics!

She also made this cute dinosaur! I love it!

Here she is with her dinosaur!

It was a good week, no one was seriously sick this week! Phew! Rick gave a talk in church today and he did a great job! He wasn't left with much time, but he took what time he had and made it impactful. Ironically he talked about how we can do all things through Him. That theme just keeps coming up huh. He talked about how when he went on his mission and he was in the MTC, crazy bad things kept happening. About 8 weeks into his MTC experience he got a call from his family (back then a phone call meant bad news) his dad's dental office had burned down. Then he got a call about 2 weeks later that his brother had been hit head on by a semi-truck and they weren't sure he would make it. He said that it wasn't until several weeks later that he finally heard through a letter that his brother had made it, but he was now filled with titanium plates and screws. He said that he questioned why all of these bad things were happening when he was out serving the lord, where were all of the blessings? He said that bad things happen to good people all of the time, because no one can control everything (people have their free agency) their office neighbor chose to light a candle that burned down the office, the semi-truck driver chose to drive through a stop sign, etc. but it's these challenges and trials that help us to grow stronger and relying on Christ is the only way that we can make it through. He said that he relied on Christ throughout his mission and he could feel his strength and support the whole time. He did a great job!