Visitors from far, far away

Two weeks ago, my friend Rachel called to let me know that she was in town from Colorado. She also let me know that our good friend Jake was in town from GERMANY!

We tried to meet up at Macayo's, but they had sent most of their help home for the night, so we walked next door to Metro Pizza. Here we are, the Bishops' kids from the Mtn. View/Mtn. Vista Ward (from left): Ryan (his dad is the current Bishop), his wife Katie, Rachel (her dad was Bishop after my dad), Jake (his dad was Bishop after Rachel's dad), Julie (her dad was Bishop after Jake's dad), me, Kevin, and Braden (not pictured).

Jake is living in Germany with his wife and son studying for his PhD. I've really enjoyed spying on his family through his wife Jasmine's blog for the past couple of years, but I have to say that it was nice to see him in person and find out firsthand how things are living in another country.

A week later we got a visit from Jessica all the way from her med school studies in Atlanta. It's too bad the timing wasn't a little better - I know Jake and Jessica would have loved to have seen each other.

Here is where the three of us got started - freshman cheer.

Here we are four years later at graduation with Jeff and Chris.

And here we are ten years after graduation with Julie's sister Jessie and my Rebecca.

I've had so much fun getting caught up with Jessica this week. She's been great to do kid-friendly stuff with me so that my kids are entertained while we talk. She is in her fourth year of medical school at Emory University in Atlanta. She hopes to become an anesthesiologist. She loves Atlanta, so I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up settling there, although I would love her to live closer to us so that my kids can stay close to their Auntie Jessica.

Good luck with residency, Jess. I hope you find a fun place to do it in. I can't wait for our fun trip together!

Five Months Old

Braden is five months old and full of personality. He loves his brother and sister and is always trying to talk to them. He likes to try to sit up, and he rolls all over the floor. I'll put him on one side of the room and leave for a minute, and when I get back he is on the opposite side of the room facing a different way.

He is taking a bottle once a day since his mama started working this week. I started a teaching job yesterday at American Heritage Academy which is a small LDS based private school on the other side of town. I'm teaching Algebra to eighth graders, high school kids, and one advanced seventh grader. The job has been pretty ideal for me so far since I have three kids under the age of five - I teach two classes on Tuesday through Friday, and I'm finished and ready to leave by 9:35 am every day. My kids stay with my sister Jodi in the morning, and they seem to barely notice that I've been gone when I pick them up. Rebecca will start preschool at American Heritage in two weeks, and her tuition will be covered by my salary. On top of that, I will make a little bit of extra money. This is not a life change I was looking for, but I think it will be good for me. Sometimes I feel like my life needs a little bit of a shake up.

So that's where we are right now. We'll see where this new adventure takes us.

Bring It On

What's better than a princess dress?

A cheerleading skirt. At least he's wearing it with a manly baseball shirt. My poor son.