Programming Students' build 'dancing robots'

    We are so behind in our posts but at her high school,Audreys   ' robot won second place.  Under the picture it says "Desert Hills Computer Programming students Kira Benitez and Aurey Merrell check the robots they programmed for a robotic dance competition on Sept. 9.  Kira's grandpa was the cropduster that sprayed all of Grandpa Merrell's crops in Animas.  They lived in Deming.  Small world, huh that now their granddaughters are best friends.?

Self-Esteem Boost!

Today I got on the Utah Teacher Site USOE and found out they mailed my Level II license yesterday.  I know it doesn't mean much to anyone but a Utah teacher but it was really fantastic news...trust me.  They also included a list of all the things I am qualifed to teach. Talk about a boost to my self esteem!  I look totally awesome on paper!!

Qualified To Teach USOE Qualified  NCLB Qualified  Barbara Merrell CACTUS ID: 554462 Assignment Code Assignment Title / Name 02010000010 Art (K-5) 02010000015 Art 6 02020000001 Dance (K-6) 02030000050 Drama (K-6) 02040000015 Music (K-6) 04010000020 Health Education (K-6) 04020000081 Physical Education (K-8) 06010000060 Elementary Reading 06020000010 Language Arts 6 07010000007 Mathematics - Grade 6 08050000005 Science (Grade 6) 09090000010 Social Studies (Grade 6) 15000000008 Character Education 15000000045 Learning Strategies 19010000001 Library Media (K-12) 21030000040 Principal, Elementary Teacher (2+hr/day 21040000020 Administrative Intern 22010000002 Grade 1 22010000003 Grade 2 22010000004 Grade 3 22010000005 Grade 4 22010000006 Grade 5 22010000007 Grade 6 22010000008 Grades 1-2-3 22010000010 Grades 3-4 22010000020 Grades 4-5-6 22010000030 Grade 7 22010000040 Grade 8 22020000001 Kindergarten 22040000001 Early Childhood (Pre-K) 24040000010 Youth in Custody Teacher 24040000080 Student Advisor 24040000090 Teacher of Homebounds & Hospitalized 24040000150 School-Level Education Specialist 24040000160 LEA-Level Education Specialist 24040000170 Adult Education Teacher 24060000001 Information Technology Specialist 24060000020 Early Childhood Mentor Teacher 24060000022 Elementary Mentor Teacher 24060000040 LEA Mentor Coordinator 24070000010 Paraprofessional 24080000001 Fellowship-Sabbatical 24080000098 USOE Curriculum Specialist 24080000099 USOE Professional Personnel 25020000010 Student Study Skills Assignment Code Assignment Title / Name 02010000010 Art (K-5) 02010000015 Art 6 02020000001 Dance (K-6) 02030000050 Drama (K-6) 02040000015 Music (K-6) 06010000060 Elementary Reading 06020000010 Language Arts 6 07010000007 Mathematics - Grade 6 08050000005 Science (Grade 6) 22010000002 Grade 1 22010000003 Grade 2 22010000004 Grade 3 22010000005 Grade 4 22010000006 Grade 5 22010000007 Grade 6 22010000008 Grades 1-2-3 22010000010 Grades 3-4 22010000020 Grades 4-5-6 22020000001 Kindergarten

AND 'YES' I WILL POST A PICTURE OF MY NEW LICENSE WHEN IT COMES!
It was Ben's birthday yesterday and I was the one that ended up getting the present :)

Phoenix or Bust!

Over labor day weekend, Allen and I helped Karen move to Mesa, Arizona. They both spent the night with me in St. George. We woke up to Calvin making us a gourmet breakfast. Next, Allen checked the hitch to make sure we didn't lose the Karen's car we were pulling and then we were off.  There is a picture of Karen in her favorite room--her new kitchen and all the boxes we unpacked before I left. Her apartment is not two blocks from the Mesa temple it's more like 2 rocks. 

Sleep-In

So what do you do when you want to do something daring and exciting but it has to be legal? You have a sleep-in at Wal-Mart.  I made Audrey come at 11:30pm but these girls sure had fun being silly for a few hours.  The manager walked by and told them it was OK as long as the pillows stayed in their plastic sleeves. You may want to buy pillows elsewhere.  Nice manager wouldn't you say?

Youth Conference

For Youth Conference this year the kids were divided up into tribes and Audrey will have to tell you the rest of the fun stuff they did.  They have the tribal banners standing outside our Stake Center for a week and they are so fun to drive past.  I had to take a picture in case anyone wants to copy this fun idea. Audrey was in the tribe of Naphtali.  I took a close-up of Joseph since most of us are really from that tribe.

Family Video at Ned's Funeral

Chillin'

So after a hard day of playing we came in to watch a movie and next think I knew, Kate had assumed the position in the zero-gravity chair and was nibbling on mints. She looked so adorable I had to take one last picture :)

Summer Fun at Grandma's

We started to hatch ducks in my 2nd grade classroom. They hatched two days after school got out. Four hatched and three survived. Kate thought that was great fun. She was laughing and quacking up a storm with the scared ducks. Her hands fit perfectly around their little necks too! I love pictures like this that show pure joy on a child's face! After all the duck excitement we played on Grandma's waterslide. Kate was fearless this year going down. I caught Jared playing outdoorsman. You've gotta love the look of "getting caught" on his face.

The Gila Family Temple

After Uncle Ned's funeral, Karen and I hung out with Harmon's and visited The Gila Valley temple before heading home. Guess who we saw as we were leaving the temple? Von Richardson formerly of Animas, (Charles and Ilene's son) and his wife. Small World!

Robin's Visit

My sister Robin was able to come up to Salt Lake for my niece Kaila Graves's wedding. We were trying to get the beautiful flowers on temple square. We also took our picture as immigrants in the JSB Family History Center. Obviously, the trip across the ocean wasn't too hard on Robin. Way too chipper! If you want to see pictures of Kaila's wedding and the totally awesome cake we made out of sheets of chocolate you have to go to Karen's blog.