Karaoke

We went to a surprise birthday party a few weeks ago for a friend in the ward. Turns out he loves karaoke and is HILARIOUS to watch. Everyone else at the party gave it a shot too.


Mackenzie on the far left helped me stay on key, because she actually knows how to sing. Tess in the striped shirt is the birthday boys husband and is absolutely hilarious herself. Catherine in the red shirt hosted the party at her house and has a signiture dance move you can't miss. Katie on the right sang a duet with me. Steph in the black and her husband (not pictured) just moved in to the ward too and he is our home teacher. Julie Lamb with the short blonde hair is so fun and is my visiting teacher. We went to her house for Halloween.

Ben had his chance at stardum with the mens group performance. All I have to say is Ben is HOT!

Spence School Carnival

Ben and I went to the Spence Elementery School Carnival a few weeks ago. I signed up well in advance so that we would be working a booth that both Ben and I would have fun at. I chose the basketball shoot because Ben loves baskeball and I knew he wouldn't get bored (which actually never would happen anyways, because he is so fun with kids). As you can see by the picture, the demographics of the school are a bit different than what we are both used to. This is the school I work at and I absolutely love the kids. Some of the kids came to our booth multiple times after not making baskets the first few times, or came back because they made so many baskets they knew they were good at it and would win a prize.

Ben had so much fun watching the kids get so excited to make a basket. I had fun showing Ben off to all my coworkers. We were told all day long that we look like brother and sister, which isn't something new to hear for us.

Texas High School Football

Friday night we went to the Aldine Sr. high (where Ben student teaches) vs. Kingwood high school football game. We couldn't have asked for a better date night! It was incredible!!!

Some of the things I was in shock about, and thus took pictures of were: 1. The stadium looked almost like a college stadium. 2. The scoreboard had a screen on it for instant replay. 3. The marching band of the opposing team was the biggest in the region with 280 members plus a color guard (dance team). 4. At half time the teams ran out of blown up helmets (one even had smoke coming from it). 5. We were 2 of the only 10 white people on our side, while the opposing team was ALL white.

Texas Trunk or Treat

Ben and I dressed up like Samoans for the ward Trunk or treat last week. We had so much fun!!!!! Ben was a hit with his ukelele skills. Our little friend Paul from Russia (who is a genious, by the way) really loves Ben and was by his side learning from Ben how to play some ukelele.

Also by our side were our friends the Parkers. Alex and Cathrine are our good friends who we go on double dates with. We ran out of candy and they were so great to give us some of theirs.

We loved seeing all of the kids costumes, and even some of the parents. Our favorite was Obi-won-kanobi and yoda. Others that we liked were the zoo keepers and their animals, noah and his wife and their animals and we even saw a whoopi cushion. Fun times!!!

Bobby's baptism

This is a little boy from our ward who is so cool and got baptized. His mom just started coming back to church and his cousin and grandpa just moved here and they are rock solid in the gospel. It was one of the neatest baptisms ever. The mom, grandpa and cousin spoke and it was really cool! Ben is busy as ward mission leader.

Last night we had our friend Nevoy over dinner. He is a friend we met through the missionaries right when we moved here. He is going through a hard time right now and getting ready to rejoin the marines. It was so fun having a guest over for dinner and having some neat discussions with him. We want to always have new friends in our home!

Houston Rain = wet feet

I just wanted to express my feelings concerning rain that comes down in sheets of solid water. It would not be so bad if I didn't have to drive in it, walk in it, wade through the puddles it makes, and it definately would not be so bad if I didn't have to stand in it for over an hour at work. This is what has happened to be twice this school year.

I do "car rider morning duty" everyday. This is actually one of the most eventful parts of my day because I deal with cranky parents and half asleep kids. twice this year it has rained- horribly- during my duty in the morning. Luckily they give us ponchos and umbrellas to help keep us dry. What I do is open the car doors of the cars and welcome the kids to school as they get dropped off. Today was a rainy day and the poncho and umbrella only kept my upper half dry. My feet were soaked to the core. I had every intention of using one of my 10 paid vacation days and going home, but I thought, well I have nothing to do at home, so I shall stay.

I stayed and put on my black sandals that I had in the car. I had the sandals because in order to leave my house this morning I had to wear them, roll up my pants and wade through the puddles outside my apartment. I looked so funny wearing sandals all day. They are illegal/against the dress code at my school. I did get approved from the principal to wear them (thanks dad for teaching me that your "pal" is the principal to help me remember how to spell that word).

enough about the rain... go on and read something more interesting

Super Saturday

Saturday was a special day, it's the day we got ready for sunday... and did a lot more. This past Saturday our friend Olga (who is from Russia) was baptized. It's been so fun seeing her faith in God grow and her desire to accept the restored gospel grow as well. She has two ADORABLE kids. Stacia (we like the name;) and Paul (who the beehives are quickly getting a crush on). Mike, Olga's husband, is working way out in Western Texas right now, so he wasn't able to be there for the special day, but he's excited too. It was a very sweet baptismal service and Olga had a lot of support from the Ward, which is by FAR the best ward in Texas! We love it, and we're so happy for Olga!

In this picture: Front - Rachel Sorber and her daughter, Lucy, Stacie, Paul, Olga, Sister Nelson and Bother Nelson. Back - Mackenzie and Billy Osulnd, Ben, Elder Phelps and Elder O'Driscoll.

2 month surprise!

Benjamin is the best husband in the whole world!!!! Look what he got me for our montheversary!!!! He suprised me with this blown up picture, which now hangs in our room. We have had such a great two months! It has gone by really fast, but has been amazingly fun! I am so greatful for Ben and for his constant kindness and patience with me. He is perfect for me!

By the way, we went to NASA

We posted a lot of NASA pictures on facebook and therefore I neglected to post them on the blog too. We had a great day at the Johnson Space center in Southern Houston. It was our first time driving through the actual city of Houston and we were a little nervous, but we made it. We became season pass holders, for only $3 more- so now we can go back whenever we want for FREE. Notice our ID pictures- Ben came up with the SUPER happy face idea, so I followed his lead.

I heart my Kitchen Aid

From the time I took my cooking class in 2008 at BYU I have wanted a white kitchen aid. I knew it would only be possible if I got married. So I set out to find myself a MAN! Haha. No not really... but I really did want a kitchen aid after I took the class. Ben knew I wanted one, but I told I wouldn't get it until we had everything else we had and then if we had Bed Bath and Beyond gift cards left I would love to have one. The time finally came... and instead of running to the store to get it, I cried. I cried like a baby! I didn't cry because of joy, I cried because I felt so stupid spending so much money on a thing- a kitchen thing. Who have I become? I was feeling so materialistic and silly. Ben helped calm me down and kept reasuring my decision to buy one by telling me all of the good I will do with it- all of the people I can bake for- all the bread I can give away. This may sound silly, but what Ben said actually made me stop crying and I felt much better about my decision, so we ran to the store and bought it! I've already made mashed potatoes for shephards pie and pizza dough for the potluck we went to for conference. I know it is silly that I cried for feeling guilty, but I really do feel so incredibly blessed that I have this amazing machine to make my life a lot less messy and a lot easier to cook. HOORAY FOR HUSBANDS AND KITCHEN AIDs- in that order!