She's Getting Married

I can't believe it! It seems only yesterday that I was awaiting her birth. I wanted a daughter that I could pass my mother's name to and now she is getting married in just a few short days. All nine (JR in spirit) of our children and 13 of our 14 grandchildren will be here. We will laugh together, talk of "old times", play together, share a few tears of joy, tease Michael a lot, and truly enjoy just being together. Martha Helen Bachler - you are perfect, not only in my eyes, but in your entire families eyes! You have found the perfect guy for you. You probably will never read this blog, but that's okay - I just needed to write this down for my sake. Besides, Bryce is not supposed to see this picture before your wedding day and I would be in so much trouble if you were to see it posted now. Isn't she beautiful!

My Career Almost Over

I am entering the final weeks as Secretary at Sage Creek Elementary. I have seen hundreds of students (including my own) and many staff members come and go. It has been the perfect career for me and, as many know, my dream job. Two of my own children have entered the education field - Michael and Marti. Michael is a 4th grade teacher and Marti is working in a preschool at an elementary school (hoping to get a teaching position soon). I've seen two of the principals move on to college level teaching (both becoming deans) with the desire to increase the quality of teachers entering the teaching profession. Another Sage Creek Principal has moved on to a career in the district office that assures those in our district have the best facilities and support personnel available. The current Sage Creek Principal is dedicated to making sure our students receive the best teachers - to the point of one of them becoming a principal and another one entering a program to become a principal. I might be a little prejudice, but I believe we have some of the very best teachers at Sage Creek. I've watched four principals select, what they consider, the best teachers for the job. They haven't all agreed on all of the qualities that go into making an excellent teacher, but the qualities they all seemed to look for were: integrity, desire to continually improve, love of teaching, and a hard worker.

We have had a few teachers that have been hired on the basis of their IQ, bubbly personality, being able to quote the curriculum verbatim, salesmanship, and uniqueness. These teachers lasted for, at the most, two years and seemed more interested in themselves than teaching students how to learn. Some of our very best teachers have been those that have been your "average" student - they have been our most dedicated teachers.

There is only one thing that I feel I have failed at as I leave my "dream job" and that is I have not gained enough credibility to be able to help my daughter find her "dream job".

When I am asked, "who was your favorite principal?". It's like asking me, "which of your nine children is your favorite?" - silly questions!

Thank you Sage Creek Elementary for a fantastic 25 1/2 years!

Zander James Bachler Arrived!

He was very anxious to get here and couldn't wait any longer - so he arrived about five weeks early - a real early "birth day" present. He arrived last night around 9:00 PM, weighed 5 pounds, 6 ounches and 18.5 inches long. We are taking care of Maty - or she is taking care of us - for a few days. We get to go to the American Fork Hospital tonight and be introduced to Zander. Lyssa is doing very good - a little concerned - but that's all part of being "Mom". Michael is being a super Dad. Zander might get moved to the Utah Valley Hospital if his CO2 level doesn't improve. Tom - you and Zander have something in common!

Marti and Maty

We babysat Maty overnight and had a great time. She loves to walk around talking on her imaginary telephone. When I say to her, "Maty, it's time to hang up your phone" she just holds out both of her arms, shrugs her shoulders and pretends she has no idea what I'm talking about - she doesn't have a telephone. Then she turns around and continues to talk on her phone and you just know she is saying, "That Grandma, she is so silly." Maty helped Marti clean the guinny pigs' cage, give them a bath, and watch over them while they played in the grass. Marti continues to look for a teaching job - she has applied for over 20 jobs, interviewed about five times, and has yet to be offered a position. She will definately make a fantastic teacher, if only given the chance. She will get a teaching position and then those that wouldn't give her a chance will by on the losing side.

Family Fun, Fun, Fun!

We had a great time on the 20th. We celebrated birthdays and Father's Day! The kids played on the water slide - compliments of Tom and Julie! We played Pictionary Man - that was fun! We had a BBQ and great food. I guess you can tell you got the first piece of cake - Maty sure enjoyed it!


Bill, Marti, Richard, J, Brookie, Michael, Maty and I traveled to Logan on Friday - just for the day. We took "Grandma's Big Car". The boys (except for Mason) went to see "Up" and the girls (plus Mason) went to Chili's for lunch and did a little shopping. Brookie had a grand time pushing Maty in the stroller!

Frisco, Colorado

We had a great time in Frisco. The scenery was unbeatable and so was the company. It was great to get out to a "retreat" and do some reflecting on our life. Bill and I have decided that we have a fantastic life, perfect children and more perfect (if that's possible) grand children. We are blessed with the best friends and relatives a person could have. We visited a museum that had relocated some of the original homes built circa early 1900s. We are really blessed even in our "slow" economy. We really learned to appreciate, not only our modern conveniences, but our heritage. Here are a few pictures we took - enjoy.






Here we are in the original church in Frisco - that's Bill as guest preacher and me playing the piano for the congregation - the "house" was packed.

This is Bill in the first school house.

You can't beat the scenery.

What a great "house" to visit!

This one is for you, Levi!

Evergreen and Price

We made the annual visit on the Memorial Day weekend to visit J.R. and my parents. We first stopped and visited J.R. and took a few pictures and reminisced about him - how my heart aches to see him again. Be happy for me when you visit me laying beside him and put flowers on our headstones. We then traveled to Price where I had planned on decorating more than just my parent's graves (my friend, Vera Jean, and another friend's parents) but due to the down pouring of rain we put that off until our next visit in June. Marti and Richard joined Bill and I - it was very nice to have them with us. The significance of the snowballs - my father planted that bush in my back yard in memory of my mother.