So on Sunday night our Primary Presidency did a training for all the teachers, scout leaders, achievement day, nursery, etc. I think it went well. For the benefit of my friends and family that are currently in Primary, I thought I'd post a few of the ideas I shared. I just copied and pasted my notes, so its pretty rough, but you get the general idea.

TRAINING NOTES

We’ve all heard the phrase “Magnify your calling” and the first thing we think of is “I’ve got to be doing more, more, more”. But, think of a magnifying glass and a plant. If you use the magnifying glass to magnify that plant, you are not making the plant larger, you are actually focusing on a very small part of the plant, the root, a portion of the stem, a petal, a leaf, etc., and honing in on the details of that smaller portion. So, when you hear ‘magnify your calling’, I want you not to think of “doing more”, but in a sense ‘doing less, but doing it better -- more focused’.

And, what should we focus on? That is what I want to talk about tonight. I’m focusing on training and from all the manuals, handbooks, talks and articles I read on Primary training, there were always TWO things in common.

1) Love those you teach “Every member of the Church is important to us. Indeed, every person—member or not—is important to us, but surely among the most significant of all our responsibilities is the responsibility to protect and nurture the children of the Church. . . . We care so much about you and about the children you are teaching. Prepare well to bless these little ones. Give it your best effort. Your influence will, quite literally, affect these children for eternity. Enjoy the assignment that you have, and discharge it faithfully. . . . However much we love and admire children, I am certain we underestimate who and what a child is and what in the hands of God he or she may become. May God bless you always in your sacred opportunity to help save the children of this Church” (Jeffrey R. Holland, Message to Primary Leaders, Mar. 2006).

2) Use the scriptures:

(For this part, I talked about how we can and should use the scriptures in all aspects of teaching in Primary. I promised to use them every sharing time somehow. As I was preparing for the training, I was trying to think of a good way to break it down for all levels of primary. Using the scriptures in a Sunbeams class and using them in a Val 11 class mean different things. So, I came up with this 'chart' for lack of a better word of how if each level of primary focuses on using the scriptures appropriately, that the end result will be self-reliance in the gospel for the children as they enter the YM/YW program.)

I used "Daniel and the Lions Den" as my example

Nursery / Sunbeams: Learn stories (use pictures) -- At this point, realistically all you can do is tell them the stories and get them excited about it. They can just learn about Daniel and how the Lions didn't eat him.

CTR 5/6: Learn that they are real (show them the scriptures) -- Here the teachers can tell the stories while explaining that this really happened, that Daniel really lived and open the scriptures to show where theses stories come from and that they aren't from a book of fairy tales, etc.

CTR 7/8: Learn how to find the story, read it for themselves (using the table of contents): By the time the kids reach this level, they are learning to read and excited about it. Use this excitement to teach them how to find the stories, for example that the story of Daniel is in the Old Testament, using the index or tabs to find and read it.

Val 9/10: Learn the principle behind the story (courage) As the kids are growing, they will be able to understand that there is more to a story than just a story. The Scriptures teach us life lessons. In this example, the lesson was courage to stand up for your beliefs.

Val 11/12: Learn to apply that principle in their own lives: As the kids prepare to leave Primary, they can learn how to apply the scripture stories to their own lives. At this point, they probably will be in a situation similar to Daniel, where they might be teased for their beliefs. They can choose courage and know that they are following the lesson the learned from Daniel.

Thus, by the time they 'graduate', they will have learned how to use scriptures to get own answers (self-reliance in learning the gospel). I think this is the best possible gift we could ever give the primary children of the church. Imagine a ward full of beehives and deacons who know the scriptures, know how to use them, and know how to learn and get answers to their own questions from the scriptures!

If we all just focus on magnifying our own little section in our class, we can accomplish wonderful things together.

Well, that sums up my training. Obviously this is just my own opinion, so take it as you may. Hopefully it will be helpful to you somehow, whether you have primary aged children, are working in primary, or know someone who is!

Josh's prayers

Josh is saying the most interesting prayers lately. The other night at dinner he said, "Help us all to never, ever die, expect when we get really old -- just too old to live."

He had a lesson on prayers in Primary and came home with a list of things he can be thankful for and list of things he can ask for. Here it is in its entirety:

I thank thee:

friends, family, church, animals, food, clothes, water, body, eyes, mouth, nose

I ask thee:

knowing the ways, a bigger brain, a better president, more clothes

quite insightful if you ask me. He must be listening to talk radio along with his dad! :)

He also asked me if I earned any money. When I explained that I didn't get paid for what I did exactly he said, "So, do you feel okay about stealing money from dad?"

I think Dave needs to sit down and have a talk with him.

Letter to Stanford

Recently I've been transferring over old files from my dilapidated PC to my fancy new Mac. I've been going through them to clean them out, delete ones I don't need, etc. I stumbled across this letter that I actually sent to Stanford back in 1998.

Gall anyone?

Stanford Graduate School of Business

518 Memorial Way

Stanford University

Stanford, CA 94305-5015

Dear Admissions Committee,

I recently received my notification that I will not be able to attend the Masters of Business Administration Program at Stanford University. I want to thank you for taking the time to review my application. It was a learning and growing experience to apply to such a reputable school. You most likely receive many letters from rejected applicants inquiring further explanations as to why they were not accepted into the program. This is not one of those letters.

In fact, the reason I am writing will hopefully bring a smile to your face that will provoke some follow-up action. I spent several months and about $200 dollars studying for the GMAT. I also spent two months writing, re-writing, editing, and re-writing my Stanford application essays. I mailed off a large-size application envelope with a check for $140 enclosed. In return, I received a thin envelope costing all of $.32 to mail. I am asking for a little bit more in return for the effort I expended in applying. I am asking for a T-shirt from Stanford University, please. Any kind will do. I just want to be able to have something other than a single sheet of paper to show for the time and effort allotted to the Ivy League King of the West. I wear a size medium.

Thank you so very much.

Sincerely,

Jennie M. Groberg

Teya's first day of pre-school

Isn't she adorable? She just started pre-school this week and she loves it. It is only twice a week for 2 1/2 hours, but it is perfect for now. She woke me up on Thursday and asked if it was time to go to pre-school yet. It was 6 a.m., so I told her "No, not until after lunch" (She goes in the afternoons). She quickly replied with, "Can we eat lunch now?" Me thinks she likes it! The first day she was gone I took a nap since I hadn't slept well the night before (That darn no-sleeping thing is returning.... aaaargh! I was on such a good run!). The second time she went to preschool I went to the gym and swam a mile and ran errands. I am amazed at how many errands I can run when I'm not buckling kids in and out of car seats and walking at their pace, etc. WOW!

Shots Fired!

Did the title catch your interest? Well, it really happened. About 1:33 a.m. this morning I heard 5 LOUD gun shots. It sounded like they were in our back yard. They were SO loud I immediately woke up and so did Dave. I can still hear them in my head -- BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM.

I attempted to fall back asleep after Dave and I discussed what it could be. (I was convinced they were gun shots, he wasn't as sure). That day (Labor Day) I had worked for hours cleaning our downstairs windows -- in and out, screens and all -- so they were very clean. I remember at one point thinking, "Maybe a bird flew into my clean windows" ! (you are supposed to laugh). But, then I dismissed it, because 1) It was 1:30 a.m. and dark and 2) Like 5 birds would do that one after another.

Then, JUST as I was about to fall asleep again, our doorbell rang. I woke back up and said to Dave, "Was that the doorbell?" It was 2:00 a.m. Dave told me to get up and come down with him. We went down and sure enough, there was a police officer at our door. He apologized for disturbing us in the middle of the night. He said, "There was a gentleman who discharged a weapon repeatedly a little while ago. I'm checking to make sure that everyone in your house is okay. Is anyone shot or wounded? Was your house hit?"

We told him we'd heard the shots, but we were all okay. We went out back to check out if the house had been hit, but couldn't see any bullet holes. I checked on the kids -- they were sleeping soundly except for our light sleeper Eden who was wondering what was going on. The officer told him to contact the police if we found any bullet holes or damage to our house.

I went out again today to look, but can't find any. I'm not even sure what I'm looking for! It took me at least two hours to fall back asleep after this encounter. We really live in a very safe neighborhood. Our house does back up to a 'brownbelt' (utility area) so they figured that someone was back there firing a weapon. We don't have any other information for now. Crazy night!

To end on a lighter note, this is what Josh said the other day out of the blue:

"Dad, if you are still alive when I go on my mission, can I drive to the airport so you can see how good of a driver I am?"

At Last

I had so much to blog about... so you are getting the SHORT version in pictures. We had a FABULOUS trip to Utah and Idaho in July/August. It was just so good to get out of the heat. Here are the highlights:

We stopped by Bryce Canyon on our way up. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed spending time together. The kids loved Bryce.

Up in Utah, we had fun 'washing' Grandpa's car (i.e., playing with the hose). Viki and her family and Uncle Tom and Aunt Sue and her kids all came up and we went to LAGOON. It was really fun. I don't think I've been there since I was a teenager. I had fun going on Colossus, Wild Mouse, The Roller Coaster, Tidal Wave, etc.. ahh! the memories. I also went on most of the new ones, but ONCE only. My stomach is no longer made for roller coasters. We also went to "Lagoon-a- beach" and had a good time. It was a LONG, but fun-filled day.

Up in Idaho, we had a great time! We had an impromptu garage sale that the kids loved. With the money they made, we went our for ice cream! I also went with my brother Tom and some of his friends on a white-water rafting trip down the Snake river -- up in Wyoming. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cold! We didn't get on the river until about 7 p.m. It was a couple of hours and we hit some pretty big rapids (the biggest was a ' class 4'). We got soaked! It was lots of fun -- but I was so cold!

We also went to the Zoo. It was lots of fun -- not too big and the animals were out to entertain. They did this 'enrichment' activity with the bears and the lions that we got to see. The bears were trying to get at their food that was inside this PVC pipe. The lion was given a paper mache zebra filled with zebra manure. It was funny to see the lion tear that thing apart. I got it all on video and made a little movie for you. The monkeys were so entertaining and so LOUD.
Later that day we went to Rigby Lake and went swimming and played in the sand. Most everyone took turns getting buried in the sand. Here is Eden and Sadie after they got out!

The next day I got to go eat dinner with one of my oldest and dearest friends - Angie Whetten Farnes. Angie and I were friends in high school and then roommates at BYU after our missions. We had so much fun catching up! Here is me, Angie, and Viki.

Back in Bountiful, we celebrated Joshua's 7th birthday. He requested a volcano cake. So, I complied. Since we had over 30 family members coming, we also decided to celebrate all the rest of the August birthdays, including Eden's. She wanted a butterfly cake. I recently learned this cool technique for decorating cakes -- so I tried it out on my kids! It turned out well. Here are some pics.

My sister Sue gave Eden and Josh some real 'veggie tales' for their birthday -- straight from her garden! They are huge! We enjoyed eating part of them for dinner a few nights later, and then enjoyed zucchini bread with the rest of it!

Then, just a few days later the kids started school -- Josh is in 2nd grade and Eden is in 4th grade. So far so good! They are doing really well!

Well, here is the video of the zoo as promised. Eden chose the music! Enjoy!

Becoming Christlike

Sorry, this blog isn't going to be any deep, spiritual message, but hopefully it will lighten your day!

On my new Mac, which I love, there is this cool feature on iPhoto that has facial recognition software. So, you let the computer know which face is Eden's, for example, and then it goes through all your photos and chooses out what it thinks looks like Eden. Then, you can search and bring up all picture of Eden. Sometimes it is right (more than not), and sometimes it is not.

Yesterday, Eden and I were going through a few photos and I turned on the facial recognition software. We were going through and correcting some of the computer's wrong assumptions (it gets Teya and Eden mixed up). For example, it has a little box by each face in the picture and asks "Is this Eden?" and you hit a check (yes) or an X (no). So, one picture was of me, my mom and my sisters on the day I went through the temple for the first time. We are standing in my dad's office. On the wall behind us is a framed picture of Christ -- the one where he is wearing a red robe.

The computer has recognized my face and labeled it as Jennie. Then, next to the picture of Christ it says, "Is this Dave?"