the sunday morning post, 34th ed.

good morning. today is the Sabbath. Sunday is my favorite day of the week.

we'll start off this Sunday Morning Post, 34th ed.

[can you believe it's been nearly a year? and i have missed a few too...]

with a quote from our beloved Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson

"I testify to you that our promised blessings are beyond measure. Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us. My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith."

-from this talk

And now for my week in pictures [and words. please, like i would just put it in pictures! i have too much to say.]

{one}

it's been really really hot here.

skirts every day.

but that's not really anything new for me in the summertime.

{two}

i've been stressed beyond belief this week.

{three}

the Provo Temple has been closed for almost a month.

no fear, it will reopen on July 26th.

i'm counting down: 8 days.

this means that i have to go to other temples in the valley.

so wednesday i went to Mt. Timpanogos Temple.

beautiful.

so thankful for temples.

[watch this: why mormons build temples]

[from my phone, a little crooked. whoops.]

{four}

thursday and friday i attended

BYU's Symposium on Books for Young Readers

aka: Children's literature conference.

LOVE.

David Shannon, Patricia MacLachlan (author of Sarah, Plain and Tall--a Newberry winner),

Elizabeth Partridge, and Kadir Nelson [i fell in love with his illustrations. oh, and him.] were all speakers there.

i left with tons of ideas to do with my second graders!

and also, i want about 235 books now.

donations accepted. i'll send you a list.

i used my credit card rewards to get an amazon.com gift card and once that arrives in the mail i will be ordering many many books for cheap!

but you can still send donations.

fun fact: david shannon wrote a book called "No, David!" when he was like 5 years old. his mom found it and showed it to him. so he wrote one, for reals. published. and now there's a whole "No, David!" series. super cute.

{five}

INCEPTION

go see it!

it will blow your mind.

it is so trippy and just so mind blowing!

leo, you were amazing.

[remember when you were in titanic?]

{six}

katie loves me.

she also loves doing projects.

she is so crafty!!

she made this for my classroom door!!!

is that not the cutest thing ever?

i want to keep it and put it on our door here.

{seven}

speaking of my classroom, it's coming together.

little by little.

and i mean little.

the room is a mess.

there's cut outs and letters and posters and things everywhere.

it caused me much stress this past week.

still is, but the weekend has allowed me to calm a bit.

also, a few of my friends have helped me.

especially katie.

she works til 6. then friday and saturday we went to my classroom at 7pm after she had been at work allll day.

i gave her a project.

well, i told her i needed her help with my reading corner.

those pictures are the inspiration. but i want mine better. fabric. tulle. bunched up. wave-like. little creatures. shells. it's going to be amazing.

katie wanted to take it upon herself. she kept saying, "can this please be my project? can i do it?"

"Um, yes please. it's me doing it as fast and neat as i can, or you taking your time and using your amazing skills and making it fabulous."

pictures to come--it will be done tuesday! before we go to the....

{eight}

River!

i am so so so so so so so excited.

a few of us will be road tripping down to katie's river house at the colorado river on the az - ca border wednesday night/thursday morning.

i am so excited!

my family is meeting us there!!

i am so excited!

wakeboarding. jet skis. boooooooat. movies. removal of the shoe and tank tans. family. fun. friends. fun. sisters!!!! fun. fun. fun.

i am so excited!

unfortunately i have work to bring--posters to make for my classroom. but mom is going to help me. and katie's sweet mother is bringing her cricut machine to help, too {um, those things are amazing. want.}. more help will be good! i want my mom here so badly to help. i shed a few tears over that this week. it's okay, life is good now.

i am just so excited.

3 days!

[hey, did i mention i am so excited?]

pictures from last year's river trip.

and now i am going to shower. because i didn't last night after our little 4-man, super fun, ghost story, fire dancing, marshamallow roasting bon fire up the canyon. [before you get too disgusted, just know that i did wash my filthy feet afterward and my face. just my hair smells so smokey!] it was my first bonfire not at the beach or a campsite. love.