Turning… no, “Turned” 70

Turning 70 was my most interesting birthday for many reasons. Turning 60 wasn’t traumatic because I was still working and being productive. It was just another year, another birthday. It indicated that I was nearing retirement age but it was still a long way off. Sixty five came and went surrounded by similar feelings, but I began to savor the experiences knowing it wouldn’t be long before my life would change. However, I had a mission to plan and prepare for and a new home to think about.

Then 70 hit. I realized that I was really OLD. I was no longer productive like I was a few short years ago. I was retired. I was on Social Security. I don’t get much done in a day. I was finally really OLD and OVER THE HILL.

I tried to enjoy this momentous birthday. In preparation I went shopping and bought myself some clothes and yes, some fabric, and a chair for my sewing room.

It was awesome to have a party to celebrate it. I can’t express how great it was to have all my children in attendance. I appreciate the sacrifice everyone made to make it happen. I have such a wonderful family. I have all that to savor as I sit in my rocking recliner.

70... Texas Style

Steve and I took Mom out to celebrate her 70th. Texas Roadhouse was her pick...



























Here she is sitting on the b-day saddle getting her big Texas Roadhouse YEEE HAWWWW!!

Mom's Birthday Bash

Customize a digital invitation

Pure Joy

Am I wrong for loving this picture so much?

FHE Suggestion

Brad Wilcox is a popular speaker to youth, but the message is appropriate for grown-ups too. He recently spoke in a BYU devotional on the subject of the atonement. Grace isn't the thing that fills in the gap after the end of a period of our work. Grace is the thing that enables us to work. He has some uplifting and encouraging insights that I thought you might like to share with your families for an FHE activity sometime.

Video and text are both available.

Introducing Page, AZ

I saw this link on Sharon Woodard's blog and thought it was worth sharing. Only, I don't know where the double bridge at the beginning of the video is. Anyone want to clue me in?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tedj40Mb2HQ&feature=player_embedded

Making Memories-The Ross Reunion 2011

Hello everyone! I hope you are as excited as the we are for the upcoming Ross Reunion. I wanted to give a brief overview so you can plan accordingly:

MAKING MEMORIES 2011

Wednesday, July 6th-
Arrive at the Gillelands. Free time to mingle and reconnect. Make some memory makers.

Thursday, July 7th
Making Memories at Mesa Verde. We'll get up early and head to Mesa Verde!

Friday, July 8th
Making Memories Photo shoot in AM
Making Soggy Memories on the River. Float the River or go to the Rec Center today.

Saturday, July 9th
Making Memories in the Mountains. Alpine Sliding in the morning and Jeeping in the afternoon

Sunday, July 10th
Church at 9am! I hope everyone stays so I can show you all off!!!!!! :)

This is just the bulk of each day. We will be doing other activites in the evenings. If anyone has a Musical Moment (musical number) they would like to add to our collective Memory, please come prepared to share. You wlll likely need: A towel, sunscreen, good walking shoes, a hoody or jacket, a tube (river rat style), a hat, and a MEMORY MAKING ATTITIDE!

As soon as I know who all is coming (please RSVP in the comments today or tomorrow!), I will let you know on room assignments so you can plan for sleeping bags or pillows or whatever. We have extras for whomever! :) Just let me know! Questions? Just post them in the comments! We can't wait to Make some Mega Memories with our Marvelous Mass!

Seattle Visitors

Seattle Visitors

Sam and Jack arrived 15 minutes early. We didn't make it all the way to B15.

Waiting for the luggage to arrive.

Jack and Sam still didn't realized who we were going to see in concert since it was to be a surprise. They knew we were going to dinner and they were trying to guess who it might be. Nate walked them along to wall so the wouldn't see the marquee above their heads.

The dinner was delicious! Great salmon and chicken. We were 10 minutes early, even though the place looks like we were alone, it was packed by concert time. Lots of people came late, but the concert started exactly at 7.

Jon Schmidt gave an awesome concert! He is amazing. Both Nate and Jack enjoy playing some of his songs. The boys were familiar with many of the numbers he played for us. It was a very nice theatre which seated 175 to 200 people for dinner.

Finally!

My peonies and bleeding hearts are blooming and I love it! They don't last long enough. I brought the peony from Page with me after keeping it in a pot for a year in anticipation of the move and being able to plant it where it would actually grow and bloom. I couldn't get bleeding hearts to grow in Page either. They do so well here.

Check It Out

So I caved. I started a blog. I thought it would be a good way to share our experiences as we make our move to Texas. Take a look and see what you think.

http://rubyslippers-noplacelikehome.blogspot.com

Gabe's Life Presentation

I know I have an annoying habit of pre-dating blog posts that I didn't get to when they happened. I have done it again, but I wanted to be sure and let Grandma and Grandpa know about it because it is the Life Presentation Gabe gave which I told them about. I am putting a link so you can go right to it:

Click Here for Gabe's Life Presentation

Don't Change Teachers. Change the Job Description.

I just read a brilliant article that explores the opposing viewpoints on teacher quality. On the one hand, we have people who say the job is superhuman and the best we can do is admire those who choose to do it and stay out of the way. On the other hand, we get people we are ready to dump the ineffective teachers and find better ones through system of merit pay and the like.

In the middle is an approach that is so obvious I'm embarrassed I haven't thought more about it. Stop expecting teachers to do everything. Allow them to specialize and combine in unique ways to provide all the services students need.

We would think it bewildering if we walked into a hospital and saw elite cardiovascular surgeons, novice residents, and bookkeepers taking turns conducting heart surgery and handling administrative duties. Yet that is standard practice in schools, where all teachers—regardless of skill or demonstrated performance—take equal turns monitoring the lunchroom, supervising bus loading, patrolling the hallways, filling out stacks of mandated paperwork, and the rest.

In fact, if one walks into a local elementary school and asks the principal to identify the school's best 4th grade math teacher and the school's worst, it's almost certain that each will be teaching the same amount of math to the same number of students each day. Each teacher is instructing his or her bundle of 20-odd students in math, reading, science, history, and everything else, regardless of skill or expertise. This is a profoundly careless use of talent, yet it is unexceptional today.

You can read the whole article at the American Enterprise Institute.

What Difference Does One Digit Make?

4 bundles of shingles.
5 sheets of plywood
1 roll of tar paper

Yes, we goofed by one digit in our very first calculation of the area of our roof. A 2 that should have been a 3. Sigh. It gave a result that was close enough to what we would have guessed that we didn't catch it. Sorry for all the extra running around and consternation our mistake caused, but I must say that you guys were terrific in working around it!

The roof looks really good. I'm going to drop by the roofing supply store and pick up the extra shingles either Tuesday or Wednesday and slap them up there. It should be a quick finish to a huge project.

Keryn and I both want to thank the Hannays and Gillelands and Mom and Dad for volunteering to help us with the mammoth project of replacing our roof. It turned out to be a larger task than I had envisioned; I didn't originally figure we would need to replace the plywood and all the fascia boards. I can't wait to post a finished picture for you all to admire when I get the last shingles put up.

Next project for the summer: replacing our snow-smushed shed. Hopefully I prove to have better math skills for this one. :-/

High school and nerds

I came across this thought at a political blog I follow, and Bradley and I wondered if any of you have thoughts about it.

REVENGE OF THE GEEKS: What made them outsiders in high school makes them stars in the world.

If high school is an environment that systematically punishes traits that lead to success in the real world, then why not abolish high school? As institutions, they don’t do a very good job of teaching math and history. If they also punish traits linked to innovation then what exactly are high schools good for?

Mixed Up

Is the family reunion July 6-10, or 13-17? I'm so mixed up I'm not sure anymore! :)

The newest LDS Homefront commercial

(Also known as this year's Ross Family contribution to the ward movie night.)

Happy Spring!

Glad we aren't putting a new roof on tomorrow.

Easter Weekend

We had a great weekend in St. George. Friday we attended a session in the St. George temple with the Pierce family which was followed by the sealing of Ken Ray and Trudy Pierce and the sealing of Ken Ray to Sherry Pierce. The children who were in attendance were sealed to their parents (2 were missing) including Dorey's twin they lost as a baby. It was awesome to have Nicole there with us. Saturday morning we witnessed the marriage of Lynny and her new husband in the same sealing room. Ken Ray seems so happy to have finally made it to the temple. I am sure Trudy is very happy to finally be sealed to her children.

Saturday night we attended the reception for Mitch (Elder Huntsman from Tobago). We walked into the reception with the Leishman's who took our place on Tobago. Chas (Elder Barton his companion for a few transfers) arrived just before we left. It was so fun to see the both of them.

Rex is 8!

Congratulations Rex! We are so proud of you! It was great to see the Martin clan in Page!! xo

Plan-a-holic

I am neurotic, I am a freak. My life is so up in the air with our Texas move that I would like to make a plan for something, anything! I have been watching the back and forth on the reunion stuff, and I am not sure if we have firmed up anything. Since I don't know if everyone will go back and read the thread on an older post, I thought I would just make a new post to reopen the dialogue (I must have a plan!). I suppose I should include an apology for throwing a wrench in everything when we informed everyone that we no longer had a conflict in the later part of July since Theo is not doing a running camp this year. We are hoping to be moved by July if Providence smiles on us. With that said, I would vote for the July 13th-17th dates (Durango is WAY closer to us than SLC). I know this is a problem for Skip's family because of a scouting conflict. Is there maybe a camp in SLC that Blake could attend while you are in town? I would even go so far as to say that I am sure we could pass off a ton of cub stuff with the activities we will be doing in Durango! (= Then there is the Harry Potter factor. I admit that I am having all kinds of giddy thoughts about donning a Gryffindor scarf and staying up until midnight with all the big kid cousins for a last hurrah at Hogwarts (did you just feel the chill right now too?!). Then there is the cherry on top of that whole weekend with the baptism of Jackson! The Gillelands have always been the most dedicated attendees at family milestones that I would love to return the favor! OK, as I have typed this, I realized I am kind of making a pushy case for the date change. It is the planner in me (curse you Ross compulsive planner DNA) that is hoping we can all come to an accord soon. If we stick with the original dates that will be OK with us too. We most of all just want to see everyone and to hang out. So let's hear it Rosses, what are your leanings?

Best Family Ever!

Mom, Dad, and Kim were such a wonderful help bringing us all kinds of beautiful decorating items and furniture to "stage" our house! Here is a small sampling, and I don't think the pictures show how great everything looks due to my amatuer photography skills. Thank you so much Hannays and Mom and Dad! You were a huge help in getting us ready!

Spring Break

In preparation for selling our house, we have had many projects both big and small. Since this week was our spring break Theo decided it was time to tackle two of the big ones. He put the boys to work shoveling dirt, hauling brick, fetching tools, and then some. We managed to finish a new patio area in the back yard and to build a pantry.

Now that the week is about out, we are trying to finish up the smaller stuff in hopes to get this house on the market. Pray for us that we can sell quickly! (=

Ross reunion dates

Hello Rosses! I am finally posting about our reunion dates. We had tentatively gone with July 6-10, but I would like to do July 13-17. Martins are able to come that week, and it would be much better for us. Jackson will be baptized on July 17th and we would love to combine those 2 events. We are actually thinking of doing an early morning baptism if the ward let's us. Thoughts? Concerns? Conflicts?

Rex's baptism

Hey, Page-ites, we need a good recommendation for a campground for the weekend of Rex's baptism. We've been wanting to do a lot of camping this summer (now that I am not pregnant, and Gideon is doing so well with walking), and this Page trip is a great opportunity! Do you have any good ideas for where we might camp?

Rex's Baptism

We want to officially invite the Ross clan to Rex's baptism. We are having it on his birthday, April 9th which is a Saturday! We hope you can all come celebrate what may be our last big milestone in Page (no pressure)! Let us know if you think you will make it!

Miriam von Yum-Yum

Deep in the Heart of Texas....

We are MOVING!!! After lots of though, consideration, and prayer, we have decided to go back to school. Theo is realizing a longtime dream to become a physical therapist. Several months ago we started applying to a few programs, and today we got an acceptance to our top choice, Texas Tech! The school actually has three campuses in Lubbock, Amarillo, and Odessa. We are still waiting to hear which of the three he will be assigned to. We did make a trip out to Texas a few weeks ago when Theo had his interview (thanks again mom and dad for watching our kids!), and we are excited about our prospects there. There will be lots of decisions and hurdles to clear in the coming months as we prepare to go, so pray for us! More details to come as we learn more!

Happy B-Day Nate

My baby is turning 16 tomorrow!















Hard to believe. Nate's 2 best buddies live in our neighborhood. All of them turn 16 within 3 weeks of each other. So, we thought it would be fun to have a surprise party for them together.















We rented out the theater room at Noah's. The theater room has 24 recliners and a projection TV. It was so fun. The kids ate pizza, had treats, played our Xbox Kinect dance game, played pictionary, and watched Mega Mind. What fun!!!

The Bracket Is OUT

Bingham has been named the #1 seed from Region 3!!! Eric is so excited to play at Weber State in the big college arena. The state tournament starts on Nate's birthday, Monday, February 28th. View the bracket HERE. It will be updated as games are played. GO MINERS!!!

Missionary Mail

It's February!!

Thanks Martin Family for volunteering to send Ty a care package. Remember, nothing fancy or expensive. Even have your kiddos draw pictures or write letters. Elder Hannay will LOVE it.

Elder Ty Hannay
2700 West 16th Ave. Apt. #143
Amarillo, TX 79102

(Transfers are around the 23rd. So he may have a new address by then.)

Upcoming Schedule -
March - Brad Ross Family
April - Grandma Hannay
May - ?
June - ?
July - Grandma Ross