My PaysoN Boys

Teaching in Payson, UT is more of a cultural experience for me than I expected. I realized this while trying to memorize the names of my students. Here are the names of 15 of the 25 boys in 5th period:

Caiden
Cayden
Jaden
Hagen
Braiden
Jordan
Jorgan
Jansen
Devin
Ashton
Gatlan
Gaven
Ruben
Ryan
Aaron

Whew! Try to say that 10 times fast!

It's so bizarre. They all end in N.

Tangerine

I'm writing to recommend one of the best Young Adult novels I've read: Tangerine by Edward Bloor. It's about Paul Fisher, a soccer player whose eyesight was damaged when he was five years old. His older brother, Erik, says it's because he looked at a solar eclipse, but Paul can't remember that. Throughout the novel he remembers little pieces of what really happened and how his bully older brother played a part.

The book focuses on Paul making a place for himself as a soccer player and as a memeber of his family. The plot is really complex and includes a second degree murder and some other plot twists. I'm teaching it next semester and can't wait!

The Unbelievable Game

It's ironic that I want to blog about the game yesterday, because honestly I am speechless. The picture says it all. According to the LA Times, "The only worse drubbing in UCLA's football history took place in 1929, a 76-0 loss to USC" (http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-uclafyi14-2008sep14,0,7723931.story?page=2).

As a BYU fan who grew up in Bruin country (just south of Westwood Village) and cheers for UCLA when they play anyone else, I felt torn. I was a little embarrassed for UCLA and hoped they would at least score a field goal. But at the same time, I was right along with the rest of the BYU fans waiting and hoping to keep that zero on the scoreboard for a blowout victory.

I can definitely say though, I've never seen such disbelief from fans before. With each turnover and touchdown there was more of a sense of shock in the crowd than gloating. We couldn't believe it! (Especially when we scored three times in 5 minutes during the second quarter.) Of course later, some pulled out their keys to show how they felt; and yet the stadium stayed mostly full until the game officially ended. We all wanted to see if UCLA would score. To their surprise and ours, they didn't.

First Day of Fall

Today was the first day of school and autumn. The weather suddenly turned cold here to everyone's irritation, but it turned out to be a beautiful, sunny, cool day. The perfect kind. Today I also found out that I will be doing my praticum and student teaching at Mt. Nebo Jr. High in Payson, UT. I'm sure there will be lots of good stories to tell as soon as I start teaching.

More Art

Here are the paintings I worked on this summer. I had so much fun. The first two are of the Los Angeles Temple and the last is of the Jordan River Temple. The first was a gift to my Sheranian grandparents for their 50th Anniversary, the second to Kari Hunter Tam for her weddding, and the last to my parents for their 25th wedding anniversary.

Highlights Continued

Me surfing on Wikiki.

Look how huge that wave is!!! Ha ha.
The family at lunch.
Boating trip off Ko'olina Harbor
I saw that!!

Snorkeling with Bry and Dad---we jumped off the boat.

I LOVE Plumerias.
The Pali Overlook. . . talk about paradise!
The Byodo-in Buddhist Temple
Another one of me surfing-- a slightly bigger wave. :-)

Hawaii Highlights

My extended Sheranian family went to Hawaii to celebrate my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary (which was on 8.8.08). We had been saving money (in the place of birthday and Christmas presents) for three years, and it paid off! It was the most awesome vacation of my entire life!! Here are some photo highlights.

Welcomed to the island by a rainbow!!
The view from the beach house in Laie.
U.S.S. Bowfin Submarine in Pearl Harbor
Grandma, Grandpa, Dad and Marie waiting to see the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial
Looking at the wall of names of those who died in the U.S.S. Arizona

during the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

342 (Year 2) Reunion

Kelli and Josh came into town and so we had a reunion with all my old roommates from before my mission. It was so good to see all of them! They all have good lives and happy marriages. I want to grow up to be just like them. :-)

L to R: Ashley, Saul, Peter, Lia, Me, KaRynn, Kelli, Josh

Pioneer Day Classic 5k

Georgia, Anne, and I ran another 5k. And we all improved our times. I ran this one in 30:57, almost two minutes faster than my last race (32:42). I was 8th out of 24 girls in my category (Girls Age 20-24). That's kind of cool. It was a hard run though-- hot and sunny--so my body overheated. But love the t-shirt!

All ready to go!
We did it!!
Okay, so this was before the race started. . .
Julianne (my roomate): She didn't register, but she beat us all!

Stuart Falls

Me and Stephanie
Lucas and Paige
Will and Elizabeth
Awesome sky
Timp
trail--nice and easy and so pretty
looking eastish
Bruce and Shea--in their natural environment
Steph--isn't she gorgeous?!