Froberg Christmas (better late than never)

I know Christmas was over a month ago, and I'm only JUST getting to talking about it, but hey, I'm going to blame school.

We spent Christmas with Brent's family. I have spent the last three Christmas breaks with his family, which actually really surprised me. Three whole years! I know it's silly but I really miss my family's traditions and being with them. However, this year was really wonderful at the Frobergs. I've known them for a few years now, but this was the first year I felt like I belonged in the family. Not sure what changed, probably just in my head.

The airplane ride was short and sweet (for a person like me, who can't stand being in a car longer than 20 minutes, it was heaven). However, we ran into trouble when someone took our bag. We had to wait for a while until the airport called him and had him come back to switch bags. Brent's sister and brother-in-law had to wait the whole time...poor people.

We were greeted by a bunch of snow! We had so much fun with Brent's nephews and niece playing in the snow.

 Isn't Brent going to be a great dad?? yay!

Emmett spent most of the time throwing snowballs at me. 

With a cute face like that...I could get a whitewash and not get mad!

'Bama' watched from the sidelines.

The kids were loving sledding.

Later that week we went on a hike to point Whitehorn. The kids were so fun! Carson was always racing ahead with the 'big' boys to hide and scare us. 

Brent and I had a wonderful time with family and couldn't have asked for a better Christmas break.

Looking Back: Labor Day

Well, teaching is over: I cried. I loved my kids like they were my own children. They all wrote a note to me that my mentor teacher bound in a book for me. They were so wonderful, my favorites saying things like: I like Mrs. Froberg because she's beautiful, or I like Mrs. Froberg because she helps me, I like Mrs Froberg because she always smiles at me. It's nice to know that I didn't scar or ruin any children, so I take that as a sign I can keep going.

Now, I told you guys that I had a million pictures, just no time to blog about them. So here's a quick look back at one.

Labor Day Weekend

We went with my family and some long time family friends to Idaho. We always camp at this river each year. Our friends always bring tubes and a canoe and float the river for a few hours. It is beautiful, isn't it?

Brent had too much fun with my brothers. He taught them how to catch some sucker fish with their hands and the boys thought he was a superhero. I was just glad to see he had some survival tactics up his sleeve if we ever needed it. I would need to have gone three days without food to eat it first though.

We had our cute little 2-man tent next to my parents. That thing if smaller than our bed at home. Seriously. At least we were snug and warm. 

We spent Labor Day at Yellowstone National Park. It was way too busy, but we got to see some cool hot springs which is all I wanted anyway. 

Old Faithful. Still faithful. 

It was a wonderful trip, I love camping with my family. There is always some fun games going on, or music, or teasing, or really good food. All activities I love. 

Trying on my 'teacher' shoes

Practicum has been going wonderfully! Honestly, I am a little in shock that everything is going so well. Usually I have random problems that are thrown at me. And since this is the ONLY thing that I'm doing in my life, it's the only thing I have to talk about.

So sometimes you have to brag. I got observed by my CFA (my major uses a lot of acronyms, but basically the CFA makes sure you can actually teach, and if not, kicks you out of the program) for the first time last week. It was a very frightening experience. My lesson didn't go exactly as planned, but for the most part I felt it worked. However, I received my official observation form from my CFA today and it made me so happy. I have a TON to work on, as she pointed out, but this was my favorite part:

"Right away I notice what a good teacher voice you have.  You seem very confident and students sense this.  Your interaction is genuine and warm.  It is a joy to see how natural you are at this job. You are so believable in the role as teacher.  As I watched you today it was thrilling to see how well suited to being in front of a first grade class you are.  It honestly was hard to believe this is your first practicum.  I saw so many good techniques that were more suited to a more experienced teacher.  You are a natural!" 

So there's my bragging... sorry. A week ago I was ready to quit. I was sure I would be a horrible teacher. But now I'm starting to understand my role as a teacher, and it's a lot less complicated than I previously thought. 

I love these kids. They say the funniest things to me! The other day I wore a dress to school. One of my sweet little girls came up to me and said, "I love your costume." I was slightly confused. "My costume?" I asked and she smiled sweetly up at me. "Yes, you make a pretty princess." Bless her heart. I like knowing that I can live in a world where when I wear a dress I become a princess. I also had another girl who explained to me that her mother was fat because she ate a lot of cookies. I'm sure her mother would really appreciate her saying that to me. I also love it when the kids invite me to play soccer or tag with them at recess. I know I'm not there to be their friend, and I always make that clear, but I like that they want ME involved in what they're doing. All in all, life is wonderful. I've never had days go by so quickly and sleep so soundly at nights. 

I'm not sure when I'll have children; hopefully I'm blessed one day with a few. But I hope that I can be a better mom because of what I'm learning right now. When you're being 'mom' for 23 children, you start to realize what's most important for them to succeed. Want to know the secret? Expectations. Yes, it is that simple. Expectations are everything. If you expect there to be no drama and you don't tolerate it when it pops up, guess what? There is no drama. It's wonderful. If you expect kids to be respectful, they will be. 

Sorry for such a 'deep' post, but I've just felt like I needed to get it all out so I can look back and remember. 

Teaching in the Real World

I have a very good reason why I haven't blogged lately. It's called Practicum. This is similar to Student Teaching where I'm partnered with a teacher and become her aid! I was assigned to first grade. Today was my very first day, and it was pretty biopolar. 23 little children looking up at me about gave me a heart attack.

I know I love children. I prefer their company over adults sometimes, I can't lie. They're just so loving and excited about life. I have a bad habit of feeling inadequate as soon as a meet a person, but what I love is that never happens with kids. Even though I love children, I just realized (and you might think I'm crazy that this is JUST hitting me after three years of schooling) that I'm actually teaching these children and I'm terrified. I have been preparing and preparing for this moment, and find none of it is truly comforting me. However, I feel confident that the more experience I get, the more comfortable I will be.

In other news, no photos this time. There are plenty on my camera, and one day I'll download them. Brent is doing another Lazyman Ironman (doing an Ironman in one month)

Ironman=
2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bicycle ride and a marathon 26.2-mile (42.2 km) run, raced in that order and without a break

Pretty impressive that people do that in one day right? I think a month is a much better time frame.

Also, Brent and I have made a lot of really good food this month. Sometimes, I don't want to be anywhere near the kitchen. Other times, you can't get me out of it. This month has been the later.

Recipes of this month:

Creamy pasta! (I did NOT add the cream. I did a tablespoon of sour cream and it was fantastic. Also, add some red pepper flakes, the spice is sooooo fun)
http://www.cookglee.com/2013/08/pasta-with-tomato-cream-sauce.html?m=1


Easy easy curry. It's a sweeter curry, but very good!
http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2011/03/slow-cooker-coconut-chicken-curry/

Amazing asian wraps.
http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2012/10/asian-beef-lettuce-wraps.html

This looks better than it tastes sadly. But it was still yummy
http://www.flourishingfoodie.com/2012/03/creamy-avocado-pasta.html

End of Summer

I bet you've all been wondering about our garden. It's gotten rather big:

Our favorite thing lately is our carrots. I'm making soups and stews like crazy with these babies.

Our tomatoes are WONDERFUL, but it's starting to get cold so they're not ripening as fast. We love making salsa out of them with our vitamix. Salsa is the favorite snack in our household. Brent goes through jars in a week.

One awesome activity that Brent and I like doing is riding our bikes. There is a trail right by our house that runs all through Provo. I like it because there are no cars (still traumatized over being hit by a car last year). It's only 9 miles, so it's more of a joy ride, but we love doing it! Here's Brent in action

 Isn't it a pretty trail?? There is a river right off to the left that we stop at and cool our feet or spot fish.

This is the story of my life. Brent is much too fast for me.

Brent has told me lately that there are too many pictures of him. I told him that's because I always have the camera. So now he's making an effort to take more pictures of me. I can't say i'm too pleased about this turn of events.

I love Utah!! So so so pretty!

Called to Serve

Last night Brent and I went to my parent's home and got to watch Taylor open his mission call.

For our church, young men and women have the opportunity to serve the church for two years. They are assigned a place in the world and a language. They go there and teach the gospel to people living there.

It was really fun because my Mom had pinned up a huge world map and we all made our guesses. It was a wonderfully spiritual moment as my youngest brother Mitchell prayed, and when he mentioned how proud we were of Taylor he started chocking up...and I bawled. It was the first time that I actually realized one of my brothers and a best friend is leaving me for two years! We all wept and cheered when he read these words:

Dear Elder Shumway 

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Canada Calgary Mission. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Mandarin Chinese Language.

He barely made it through that last part he was in so much shock. We all were. Chinese is NOT an easy language, especially when you're expected to teach people in it after only knowing it for 3-4 months. But we know he can do it, just like the thousands of missionaries before him, with the help of the Lord.

I have to say I'm so thankful he's going to another country...but one with hospitals and no crazy diseases and parasites. I've been to Canada several times now, and it is a beautiful place.

I'm so proud of my brother. He has never strayed from the path to be the best person he can be. Even though he is two years younger than me, I have looked up to him as an example and cherish his input and comfort. Taylor is a very smart kid, earning himself a huge scholarship for BYU and a promising future. Taylor has always been a funny kid. He's got a clever sense of humor that can always make me grin. He's a hard worker and has done a lot of service with my dad.

He's a 6 foot 5 or 6 (he's just REALLY tall) teddy bear. I love how he never got too cool to give me hugs and say in his silly voice "Oh my big sister". When I used to live at home (and, actually, I still do this) I would go to his room and lay on his bed with him and just talk. I don't remember all that we would talk about, but I always remember feeling comfort and a sense of peace because I knew he accepted and loved me. I'm really going to miss those talks. I never had any sisters, but I think that's okay. The Lord knew what he was doing when he sent me sensitive, kind, and sweet brothers who would let me have 'girl' talks with them even if they didn't understand me.

Taylor is going to make the most incredible missionary. That doesn't mean he's going to be perfect, and I hope he knows that. I've heard it's two of the hardest years because of the trials and challenges that come along with a mission. But he will be incredible because he is so hard working, thoughtful, and most of all, Christ-like. If anything can soften the hearts of the people in Calgary and bring them into the gospel, it's my little brother. Blast. Now I need a new tissue box. Love you T!

Birthdays

It's pretty great that Brent and I both have our birthdays in the summer. Mine was in June and Brent's in August. Here are a couple pictures for the events.

I love pie. Most of all I love my mom's pie. We had my family over for dinner than got to eat pie for dessert. It was so fun having them over. They always are feeding and helping us that it's nice to give back. 

See? Good looking pie right?

Brent also made me a special breakfast in the morning. Waffles with strawberries. He really takes care of me and is so thoughtful. 

Brent had to work on his birthday...but we made the most of the night when he got home. I marinated steaks all day and we cooked them up! Well..Brent cooked them up. I felt a little bad, but I don't know how to grill. 

BIG 25! He hates when I take so many pictures of him...

Here's the finished meal. We had corn, the amazing steaks (the marinade was heavingly...i was so glad it turned out) and roasted cauliflower. 

See? Happy boy :) He's all about the food.