AmeriCorps---Round #2

Last year I wrote about my year in AmeriCorps. It is a volunteer program in many areas. I volunteer in Literacy. There are many requirements for the year, I am part time......

• 900 hours

Out of those hours, there are certain areas that have to met.....

• 25 hours of community service that can be done in an area that I am comfortable
• 25 hours of community service that have to be done in an area where I am NOT comfortable, for a Non-profit organization, that I work directly with the people the organization benefits.....(cannot be the same thing I did last year)
• 1 Literacy night project
• 1 Homeland Security project
• 1 Martin Luther King project (January)
• 1 AmeriCorps week project (May)
• Training sessions....school, district & AmeriCorps
• Study groups, about once a month, of which I am study group leader this year.......the organization is reading and discussing 'Bridges Out of Poverty' this year
• only 180 of my hours can come from training and community service
• Reading groups....I work with the most at risk in Kindergarten and 2nd grade
• Any other things that the Principal and Literacy Facilitator have us do within the parameters of AmeriCorps
• CERT.....since I completed this last year, I don't have to do it again this year. They didn't give anything to replace these 20 hours, so I need to get them on my own

Now we just need to make sure we get our hours in and projects done. And help the kids learn to read. Not always the easiest of all the tasks for the year.

Give oh Give Away

Go to this blog......

You can enter for a chance win a beautiful picture of the

Salt Lake City Temple.

Except that I plan on winning it! It's beautiful.

Kill It? or Let It Die a Natural Death?

We have been having problems with our computer since June. First it messed up my whole log-in, losing all my pictures that were saved on the computer and my favorites that were saved for the internet. I found them all eventually and got them copied back where they belonged. It copied some of them several times and Lexie and I laboriously made sure we had pictures then deleted the rest....back and forth, back and forth...

Then it got a virus. We could work around it for the most part, while Wynn worked on it every day after work trying to remove it. Then it got ANOTHER virus, and we had to take it to the computer doctor. It took them no time at all and it came back feeling better. Not like new, but better than it had in a long time.

NOW it refuses to get on the internet...AT ALL!!! We are all having to use Drew's laptop for now. Are you kidding me? It says that there is a connection problem, but Drew's laptop connects just fine. GRRRRR. So now we will have to take it back to the doctor. This time I think we will add whatever it is that makes it go faster too. Might as well just get it all done now.

So that is why I am behind on my blogs again. Can't get on the computer for long and all my pictures I was going to use are on our computer and I don't feel like searching the cd's for the ones I wanted. So once we get it running, I hope I have time to catch up!

Birthday of a Father-in-Law

Today is my Father-in-laws birthday. He has lived most of his life in Wyoming, but now spends his days in Utah. He has had a long, eventful life. He has seen many things come and go and many things change in his lifetime. Some good and some not so good. But progress none the less.

And here he is with Zach and Sara. Another grandsons wedding.

Happy Birthday Dad, Grandpa, Dean

8 Years Ago

Eight years ago today, we were living in Evanston, Wyoming. I was pregnant with Tanner. We didn't have cable or satellite at the time, or even an antenna. Lexie was 4 years old. I had sent the 4 older children to school when I got a phone call from Wynn. He told me to turn on the radio and proceeded to tell me why. At 8:46 Eastern Time, the Twin Towers in New York City had been hit by hijacked by terrorists jets, one jet each. A hijacked jet had also hit the Pentagon. Yet another jet had been hijacked, but the passengers overtook the hijackers and it went down in a field in Pennsylvania. It was presumed that it was suppose to hit the White House. I could only listen, having no way to watch. Wynn's boss, as well as many bosses across the country, sent them home early, since no one could focus long enough to work. The country was in a state of mourning. We went down town to a furniture store so we could watch what was going on. I couldn't believe what I saw. Total devastation. The country rallied together. We were again the 'United States of America'.

Today they are revealing the memorial that has taken years to build. Many people that lived through the tragedy, many of them lost family in the attack, are going to be there for the reveal. The victims are being honored. Many people that are attending were just children at the time. They will be remembering the parents, friends & family members that were lost.

Maybe with the memorial being revealed it will help us remember what this country is supposed to be about? Maybe we can remember that we are supposed to be 'UNITED'. Maybe we can remember that our presence in Iraq (thank you Donovan and Trevor) and Afghanistan is necessary or the war would be on our soil.We need to remember those who lost their lives that day. Today should be a day of rememberance of so many things.

Happy Birthday Andy!

Today is Andy's 23rd birthday! Andy has always loved loud things.....trucks, tractors.......anything that makes noise. And the faster the better. He likes the tricked out everything. Even at 2 he knew what he liked, and it had better be John Deere green. And he even got some for his birthday again this year. I don't think his collection will ever be done.

Leza planned a BBQ for his birthday dinner. We all went over to their house for it, both families. Some of the kids had to leave early, but we had a nice dinner with family.

Leza baked him his favorite...German chocolate cake

(white cupcakes as well)

He's not old enough yet. He got them all with one breath.

Happy birthday Andy!!!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Today is my Grandma Hulsey's (Evelyn) birthday. She is like the energizer bunny....she just keeps going, and going, and going......She has so much energy and always has time for everyone.

I hope I'm just like her when I grow up! Although I don't know that she'll claim that she's grown up yet! (wink)

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!