Ponies, Temples, and Family
Gretch and I were out of town last weekend and, in an effort to focus our energies on what we were doing and those we were with, we tried to limit our computer time. Which is why I didn't update the blog last Sunday. And then we've been busy all week working on a new project (information about that to come tomorrow).
So, what were we doing last weekend? Well, because neither one of us had work, we left on Thursday morning and went up to Washington for a day and a half. The first order of business was to get to my parents' house, and then I called up my old grade school and arranged to visit with my fourth grade teacher. We chatted for about half an hour about teaching, education, technology, classroom management, and students. What a wonderful experience! For those who did not know or just forgot, my fourth grade teacher is the reason I chose to go into elementary education. Over the years, I have kept in touch and she continues to tell students, teachers, and anyone who happens to be passing by that I was her first fourth grader all those years ago! (The story is that I was the first student in her room when she started teaching fourth grade. I don't know if that is true, but it is what we tell people now.) Somewhere in either my house or my parents' house is a picture of me and my teacher when I was in fourth grade. I hope to find it so that I can put it side-by-side with this picture:
After I got back to my parents' house, Gretch and I spent some time with my baby sister, who is not really a baby anymore. In fact, she just turned 18 yesterday! But, be that as it may be, she is still my baby sister, and no number of years or miles will ever change that. While hanging out, somehow the topic of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic came up. I told her that I knew of the show but I had never watched it. She wanted to know why I wasn't a "brony," which is the term on the Interwebs for bros who like ponies. I admitted that I just hadn't gotten around to watching it yet. She and Gretch made me watch a few episodes, but I wasn't really into it. So then Ariana pulled up an awesome video on YouTube called The Ballad of the Brony which covers the entire history of the My Little Pony franchise. (Side-note: Hasbro is still one of the most brilliant companies ever; they successfully turned children's Saturday morning cartoons into 30 minute advertisements that worked!) Then we watched more of MLP and I was hooked.
Over the next week, Gretch and I continued to watch together and I will admit it quite gladly: I am a brony. The show is well-written, well-animated, and it has excellent character development. One of my favourite episodes came near the end of the second season, when Twilight Sparkle talks about her relationship with her big brother, Shining Armor. I've always felt like my baby sister and I have a special relationship, and I loved how this song captured that big brother best friend forever/baby sister best friend forever relationship:
So yeah, I'm a brony. No big surprise there to anyone who really knows me. Thanks, baby sis, for introducing me to this show! Gretch and I are both looking forward to season three!
Friday afternoon finally got us to the original reason for our little vacation: we were riding with my parents to Kansas City, Missouri, to visit my oldest brother and his family. His youngest child was to receive her name and a blessing in church, which is vaguely similar to a christening, I imagine. (I've never actually been invited to a christening, though, so I don't know this for sure.) My dad and I had been invited to participate and we all wanted a chance to go visit, anyway. We drove to St. Louis first, which was a little bit out of the way, but it gave my parents an opportunity to see another of my brothers (Number Five) who lives there, along with his wife and two kids. Then we headed up north to Kansas City and spent the next two days with Number One and his family. (Mum drove from Washington to St. Louis, then I took over driving after we stopped to get gas and finished the trip to Kansas City.)
In addition to spending time with family, we took advantage of the newly-dedicated Kansas City Missouri Temple that is about eight minutes from my brother's house and did an Endowment session there. My dad wasn't feeling well, but Gretch and I went with my mum, brother, and his wife. It was a very pleasant time, and the temple is simply beautiful!
The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying time with my brother, his wife, and his children. My nephews and nieces all love me and Gretchen, and we had a great time with them! We played Uno, introduced them to MLP:FIM, encouraged my brother and his wife to approve Doctor Who for viewing by their older kids, and learned that little children love using us as jungle gyms.
We left Kansas City in the late afternoon on Sunday and drove straight back to Washington. My mum drove the entire way home. Throughout the car ride, my parents and I talked about church, politics, and family history, which made me realise that I should have turned on the audio recorder on my phone to capture the stories! This also became the inspiration for the Family Home Evening lesson I presented to our Kid-less Couples FHE group that meets once a month. I dug out an old issue of the Ensign that focused on gathering the stories from your family's history. It included an excellent list of questions to ask spouses, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles... really, anyone who you want to interview to learn about their lives! (If you are interested, Gretch and I typed up the questions in a simple word document that can be found here.)
Anyway, that was our long weekend. It was a great trip! I'll get back in the habit of updating on Sundays tomorrow morning.
So, what were we doing last weekend? Well, because neither one of us had work, we left on Thursday morning and went up to Washington for a day and a half. The first order of business was to get to my parents' house, and then I called up my old grade school and arranged to visit with my fourth grade teacher. We chatted for about half an hour about teaching, education, technology, classroom management, and students. What a wonderful experience! For those who did not know or just forgot, my fourth grade teacher is the reason I chose to go into elementary education. Over the years, I have kept in touch and she continues to tell students, teachers, and anyone who happens to be passing by that I was her first fourth grader all those years ago! (The story is that I was the first student in her room when she started teaching fourth grade. I don't know if that is true, but it is what we tell people now.) Somewhere in either my house or my parents' house is a picture of me and my teacher when I was in fourth grade. I hope to find it so that I can put it side-by-side with this picture:
Over the next week, Gretch and I continued to watch together and I will admit it quite gladly: I am a brony. The show is well-written, well-animated, and it has excellent character development. One of my favourite episodes came near the end of the second season, when Twilight Sparkle talks about her relationship with her big brother, Shining Armor. I've always felt like my baby sister and I have a special relationship, and I loved how this song captured that big brother best friend forever/baby sister best friend forever relationship:
So yeah, I'm a brony. No big surprise there to anyone who really knows me. Thanks, baby sis, for introducing me to this show! Gretch and I are both looking forward to season three!
Friday afternoon finally got us to the original reason for our little vacation: we were riding with my parents to Kansas City, Missouri, to visit my oldest brother and his family. His youngest child was to receive her name and a blessing in church, which is vaguely similar to a christening, I imagine. (I've never actually been invited to a christening, though, so I don't know this for sure.) My dad and I had been invited to participate and we all wanted a chance to go visit, anyway. We drove to St. Louis first, which was a little bit out of the way, but it gave my parents an opportunity to see another of my brothers (Number Five) who lives there, along with his wife and two kids. Then we headed up north to Kansas City and spent the next two days with Number One and his family. (Mum drove from Washington to St. Louis, then I took over driving after we stopped to get gas and finished the trip to Kansas City.)
In addition to spending time with family, we took advantage of the newly-dedicated Kansas City Missouri Temple that is about eight minutes from my brother's house and did an Endowment session there. My dad wasn't feeling well, but Gretch and I went with my mum, brother, and his wife. It was a very pleasant time, and the temple is simply beautiful!
After lunch, we went with my brother and mother to visit the historic Liberty Jail in Liberty, Missouri. This is a site of great importance to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the jail where Joseph Smith and five others were imprisoned for several months while awaiting trial for false charges of treason against the state. Despite the horrific conditions of the jail, or actually because of them, some of the most wonderfully comforting words of counsel were given to the Saints during this time through the Prophet Joseph. Sections 121, 122, and 123 of the Doctrine and Covenants record these revelations. Among them, perhaps the most quoted are these three verses from Section 121:
7 My son, apeace be unto thy soul; thine badversity and thine afflictions shall be but a csmall moment;
8 And then, if thou aendure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy bfoes.
9 Thy afriends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.
The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying time with my brother, his wife, and his children. My nephews and nieces all love me and Gretchen, and we had a great time with them! We played Uno, introduced them to MLP:FIM, encouraged my brother and his wife to approve Doctor Who for viewing by their older kids, and learned that little children love using us as jungle gyms.
We left Kansas City in the late afternoon on Sunday and drove straight back to Washington. My mum drove the entire way home. Throughout the car ride, my parents and I talked about church, politics, and family history, which made me realise that I should have turned on the audio recorder on my phone to capture the stories! This also became the inspiration for the Family Home Evening lesson I presented to our Kid-less Couples FHE group that meets once a month. I dug out an old issue of the Ensign that focused on gathering the stories from your family's history. It included an excellent list of questions to ask spouses, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles... really, anyone who you want to interview to learn about their lives! (If you are interested, Gretch and I typed up the questions in a simple word document that can be found here.)
Anyway, that was our long weekend. It was a great trip! I'll get back in the habit of updating on Sundays tomorrow morning.
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