Week in Review

Josh and I taught a lesson in the Willits ward today on the priesthood.  We thought we were invited to teach just the young women.  Turned out, the young men were invited to join us.  Which was fine.  But we had a lesson tailored specifically to the young women and had to improvise on the fly.  And you could see that we were losing the young women because the young men were so excited and exuberant to learn about the priesthood that it was hard not to ignore them and make them the focus - they had a lot of great questions and comments.  The young women would pull in when we started talking about relationships, though, and how priesthood holders and the women can/should interact.  I really think that a lesson on the priesthood for the young women would go over better without the young men there.  But I think we hit on some good points.  We taught them some things that we've learned over the years and shared some experiences.   They have mostly older young women who are heading off to college soon, so it seemed important to touch on a couple things - how a righteous priesthood holder should behave (counseling together, can't receive revelation for you, etc), the reasons you would WANT a righteous priesthood holder for a spouse, and that women are partners in the priesthood when you enter into that sealing covenant together.  It was fun teaching with Josh.  It was the first time we've ever taught together.  Afterwards Josh commented that it is hard!  It is particularly hard because we weren't really following a lesson plan - just going with what we'd studied and trying to get a feel for the needs of the group.

While we were in Willits, I had the opportunity to go to nursery with Natalie (their nursery leader was gone).  She got busy trying out their puzzles.  She had one with numbers, and one with alphabet letters.  She was incredibly focused on those puzzles.  She figured out all of the numbers, and then turned to the alphabet.  Some of those letters she placed immediately, with no necessary thought.  Others she stroked in her hand while her eyes went from the puzzle piece to the puzzle, determining where it might go.  More often than not, she figured it out (the challenge then was figuring out which way the letter fit in - they were hard even when it was right).  Sometimes she totally gave up and guessed and waited for my positive reaction when she found the right spot.  I find it utterly fascinating to check in as they grow and see how much more developed a child's brain has gotten.  I'll have to pull my alphabet puzzles out more often.

Kenna has been "writing" her letters.  She can write a lot of them, although she can't necessarily identify all of the ones that she can write.  So she writes a bunch of stuff and then "reads".  Today she held up a line of script and said, "mom, I need a pen to finish this.  See?  It goes 'I came to earth, with power to....see I need to finish writing choose", as she gets to the end of the line of script.  Oh yes.  I see.  You didn't write choose.  (is that what XOTBBKNOP says?).  Right now she's teaching Josh the song.  She sings a phrase and has him repeat it after her.  It's adorable.

Logan gained a Willits fan club today.  He was apparently SO good.  Plus, he gave back rubs, hand massages, and hugs to all the primary leaders.  Oh yeah.  For a kid who thinks he hates all things lovey-dovey, he certainly knows how to charm the ladies.  ;-)

Brynne and Hannah went to church all alone today.  I haven't gotten any concerned phone calls, so I imagine they behaved themselves.  :-)

Do I have any news about Brynne?  She is getting taller!  You'll be surprised next time you see her.  She is loving her new violin and I love to hear her play it.  She's learning to play a primary song as part of her Faith in God program.

Hannah got straight A's again.  No surprise there except to hear her complain about math you would think she was failing.  She loves, loves, LOVES her science class.  And I have to admit, her teacher is one of those awesome teachers that every kid should have (in every class, every year).  A truly exceptional teacher.  So glad I'M not the one teaching her science. ;-)

Sorry there are no photos.  I posted so many earlier that I don't really have anything fresh.  But things are happy here on the coast!!