"JUST JOAN". . . AND OTHERS OFCOURSE!

Great kids - Grateful Mom!

2009-05-12T22:19:00.003-06:00

I feel so blessed to have my 4 children! I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to raise them and love them! It's amazing how wonderful life has been when you learn to give and sacrifice and truly love others more than yourself! My greatest joys in life have been my children! I love them more than life itself!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-11T13:52:00.002-06:00

This is one of the most beautiful testimonies of the Savior and his redeeming love for us! My heart is touched as I hope yours will be. Please watch the scenes depicted as Elder Holland bears his testimony of that first Easter morn and the days leading up to it. We are so blessed to know and have the blessings of His Atonement in our lives! Happy Easter!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc please click on this to view

Our 2nd Grade African Program!

2009-03-15T22:13:00.002-06:00

One of the greatest joys in my life is children! Look at these wonderful kids singing and the joy and happiness they feel!
We had our African program that we presented to our school and then to the parents of our students. What a wonderful celebration! Seeing kids sing with all of their hearts has got to be one of the greatest joys in life! They are children without guile and whose hearts are pure! Here are some pictures of them:

YouTube - Come What May & Love It

2009-02-15T23:08:00.001-07:00

YouTube - Come What May & Love It

This is a sweet clip and I love the message!

Presidents' Day Weekend in Oceanside with David and Ricky!

2009-02-15T18:03:00.008-07:00

Ricky and I left home at 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning and arrived in Oceanside in the early afternoon. We waited all day for David, but he didn't get leave until about 6:30 p.m. So for Valentine's Day, David took us out for dinner! He was able to spend almost 24 hours with us, but needed to go back to his base at Onofrey. Tuesday he will be graduating and then we will take him right to the airport in San Diego where he will be leaving for Virginia! We will really miss him!

The Bountiful Temple is Quickly becoming one of my very favorite temples!

2009-02-09T19:54:00.002-07:00

My friend, Holly, took me to the Bountiful Temple a few weeks ago and I've tried to go there almost every week now! It's beautiful and I love going there! It's not only nestled in the hills of Bountiful, but it also overlooks the Great Salt Lake. I think it's one of the most beautiful places on earth, and the peacefulness and serenity felt there is incredible!

My "25 Things About Me" from Facebook

2009-02-01T22:05:00.002-07:00

I thought I'd post on here my 25 Things about Me since not all of you are on face book. I was invited by several friends to do it, and it was kind of fun, so here it is on my blog now:

1. I love life, no matter how difficult the challenges and adversity! I am so grateful to live on this earth at this time in history and to have all that I do have to help me reach my potential!

2. I love my family! I have 4 of the best kids any mother could ever have: Lisa who is a Russian Linguist in the US Army is 26 in a few weeks, Rob is 24 and lives at home, Ricky is 20 and is also at home, and David is 18 and is in the US Marine Corps!

3. Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is my greatest blessing in life! I am so grateful for the atonement of the Savior and to know that it is all encompassing and that because of it, I can be made whole, sanctified, and receive all the blessings promised! His promises are sure!

4. I love learning! I love reading! I love being able to understand and expand my mind and understanding! In fact, if my house ever caught on fire, it would be my books and scrapbooks I would save above all my other possessions!

5. Friends are another wonderful part of my life and I feel that I have been given some pretty amazing friends that love and support me in so many ways! I know I wouldn't be who I am if it weren't for them. They have blessed my life in ways that I can't even begin to describe!!

6. I am almost half Hawaiian (3/8 to be exact) and I love having that as a heritage! I was raised in SLC and didn't know much about being Hawaiian until after my mission. Infact, I didn't even know my grandparents or relatives until then. I was able to go to BYU Hawaii and to also work at the Polynesian Cultural Center and get to know and understand my background and I know that Polynesians have such wonderful hearts filled with love and the Aloha Spirit

7. I teach school and love it! I love kids! I love instilling within them a love for learning! I love watching their eagerness and the light go on when they get something! I love reading book after book to them and teaching them to love that in their lives! I've taught 4/5 splits 3 years, 6th grade 2 years, 4th grade 12 years, 5th grade 5 years, and now I've been in 2nd grade 2 years! I've loved it all and have decided if you love teaching, it doesn't matter how old the kids are!

8. I love nature! I love God's creations and enjoy being out to see a new day dawn and a night time come to an end with a sky full of stars! I love mountains and oceans and trees and flowers and animals!

9. I love sweets, expecially chocolate!

10. I love music and am so grateful I can enjoy it in my life! I love playing and singing with my guitar! I love to sing hymns more than anything. I also love teaching my kids at school a lot of songs that we sing with the guitar!

11. Sundays are my favorite day! I love them and everything about them!

12. I'm a glass half full person and love to look on the bright side of life so that I can see all the good that comes to me!

13. Even though I went to BYU Hawaii, I'm a University of Utah graduate - so I'm a Ute fan and proud of it!

14. I used to work for the Genealogical Library when I first got out of High School and now I've finally become involved in family history! Luckily I am able to use the New Family Search and have been able to find many family members there!

15. I went on a mission to Portugal and was actually one of the first 10 sisteres called there! So, yes, I speak Portuguese! In fact, my great grandfather was from Portugal and then went to work in Hawaii in the sugar plantations - so I am a "Portaguee" Hawaiian!

16. Although I'm part Hawaiian, I'm also a descendant of the Mormon Pioneers through my dad's side. We have ancestors that came into Salt Lake in the 1st or 2nd company of pioneers!

17. My favorite tv show is "24", but now I also like that new show by the same producers called "Lie to Me". Even though I don't like the violence from 24, I like the fact that it's about patriotism and protecting our country.

18. Which leads me to sharing that I am very Patriotic!!! I love US History and have such a strong appreciation and love for our Founding Fathers and those early Patriots!! I've even been able to visit many historical sites from our History, especially from the Revlolutinary War and the Civil War and Washington DC and Boston!

19. I love traveling and learning aout other cultures! I've lived in Hawaii, Portugal, and Brazil. When I got married , we went to live in Sao Paulo for 2 years. I've also been to France and Italy and love Paris and Venice!

20. I love being a mother!

21. I love riding my bike when the weather is beautiful! It's a cruiser and has a big wire basket in the front of it!

22. I was a Daddy's girl all my life until I lost my dad 4 years when he was killed in an automobile accident coming up for my son's farewell. I miss him like crazy!

23. I love technology and feel like I'm pretty computer savvy! I'm here on facebook and I have 2 blogs and I do all kinds of things with photos, powerpoints, movies, publisher, etc.!

24. I have 2 older brothers and 1 sister and we are all a year apart. I was never alone in school because I always had a brother 1 grade ahead of me and a sister one grade behind me!

25. I was the Sr. Class Secretary at Brighton High Class of 74 and get to plan our reunions. In fact #35 is supposed to be this year Uh, oh - Gotta get going!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-17T21:30:00.007-07:00

I loved this so much I just had to put it on my blog. It's from a friend of mine:

2009 Contract
After serious & cautious consideration......your contract of friendship has been renewed for the New Year 2009
It was a very hard decision to make. So try not to screw it up!!!
My Wish for You in 2009:
May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts.
May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet of $100 bills. May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips! May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires and may happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy. May the problems you had forget your home address!
In simple words ............ May 2009 be the best year of your life!!!

Love Makes a Family! We Are Family!

2008-12-28T17:02:00.028-07:00

One of our fun Christmas activities was to take pictures together! They're crazy - but we made memories for years to come!

David Graduates from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego!

2008-12-15T22:50:00.011-07:00

David graduated December 12th from MCRD! He entered boot camp on September 15th and we are so proud of him for his accomplishments! We all went down to San Diego to celebrate with him and to spend Family Day and his Graduation Day together! Now I can say that I offically have 2 of my 4 children in the Military! Lisa is in the Army and David is now a Marine! A mother couldn't be prouder of her kids, than I am of mine!

Not only did Ricky, Rob, Ren, and me go down, but so did Micah, my brother Bob, along with his son, Nathan and his wife Rachel and their little girl, Savannah! We had quite a little group there for David! We are so proud of him! He looks great and he's happy!

Happy Thanksgiving! Be Grateful for all that is yours!

2008-11-23T12:45:00.005-07:00

(Image courtesy Thanksgiving Corner, FREE Thanksgiving wallpapers are available here as well as Christmas wallpapers.)

There are so many things I'm Thankful for! One thing I like to do every year is to make a list of all of the things I can think of that I'm grateful for, and see how many I can get. It's not hard to get over a hundred! Maybe we should all do that so we really see how much we have!

Someone once said that the more gratitude a person has, the more unselfish, thoughtful and kind they are. They can be seen doing those quiet good deeds for others that are never known by others. They are those good people who have learned to love their neighbors as themselves! I hope that's the kind of person I'm becoming!

My New Passion!!

2008-11-22T23:43:00.005-07:00

This is what I love doing in my spare time!
I was able to learn the New Family Search
through a friend and I have been spending
3-4 nights during the week searching for and
double checking completed work for my
ancestors! I love it! I think I've caught the
Spirit of Elijah and the importance of
linking families together!

The Hawaiian Royal Canoe in 2008

2008-10-26T20:44:00.005-06:00

This was me 31 years ago on the Hawaiian Royal Canoe as the Queen!

Not much has changed from 28 years ago has it?! This picture to the right was just taken (Oct. 2008). I was a little surprised to see that the Polynesian Cultural Center had a lot of the same types of dances and costumes at the Canoe Pageant and the Night Show. I guess culture doesn't change, so of course there wouldn't need to be changes! I sure felt like I had gone back in time 30 years while I was there! Thanks to a thoughtful friend for the tickets and the company!

Just Joan just in Hawaii! Alooooooha!!!

2008-10-26T19:52:00.000-06:00

Blessings come in many different ways! One of the most recent in my life was being able to spend a week in Hawaii relaxing, getting in touch with my roots, and doing family history and temple work! I was able to stay with a dear friend, Lani Gilbreath, who is gracious, sweet, and selfless! What a week! I will never forget the overwhelming feelings of love and service as I was able to link some of my generations of family together and do work for them - work that they couldn't do for themselves!

I was also able to visit my old stomping grounds: BYU Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center! What feelings of nostalgia, as I looked back and reminisced about my time as a student there and working at PCC so I could learn about my Hawaiian heritage! I really believe that our connections with those who have gone before us is much stronger than we can ever understand! I have truly felt the Spirit of Elijah this past week and am so grateful that I listened and followed those promptings to go there!

Lisa graduates as a Russian Linguist in the Army at Presidio of Monterey!

2008-09-21T20:39:00.000-06:00

Just 3 days after David joined the army, Lisa graduated as a Russian Linguist in the Army! We were able to go down for her graduation and celebrate with her! She gave a speech with another girl in her class as they both spoke and translated for each other! It was a wonderful, witty, and clever, speech! Her teachers told us how she speaks like a native and how hard she's worked! We even heard that in 26 years of hearing graduate speeches in Russian, none could compare to Lisa's! What a wonderful accomplishment, Lisa! Soon she will soon go to Texas for more training, and eventually will be sent to Germany. There couldn't be a mother that's prouder of a daughter than I am of Lisa! I love you sissy!

David joins the Marines!

2008-09-21T20:19:00.001-06:00

David joined the Marines and took his oath and was sworn in on September 15th! We are so proud of him! He will do a wonderful job as he serves! It's a bitter-sweet time for us. We love him so much, and will miss him so much, but how can we feel sad when he is doing what he believes in as he stands up for liberty and freedom for all! He will be spending the next 3 months at Camp Pendelton in San Diego and will graduate and then be able to be home with us for Christmas! We love you David! We are proud of you!!

2008-08-31T11:12:00.000-06:00

My new 2nd Grade Class!

2008-08-31T11:09:00.000-06:00

School just started and what a great bunch of kids I have again this year! They are bright and fun and sweet! I'm excited to be able to teach new things to them and to see their minds expand and their hearts open wide!!

One Week left before I go back to School!

2008-08-12T13:14:00.001-06:00

After teaching 23 years of 4th, 5th, and 6th grades, I finally went down to teach a lower grade. I taught 2nd and absolutely loved it! I love the sweetness of the kids, their smiles and laughter, their unqualified and unlimited love and adoration, and just the simpleness of their world! I also loved singing with the guitar everyday with them, doing puppet plays and skits, reading them book after book and watching them become life long readers, and dancing with them!!! How lucky am I?!! It's almost time to go back!

Lisa is in the army and David just joined the Marines!

2008-08-02T23:53:00.001-06:00

My 4 best friends - my kids!

2008-08-02T23:50:00.000-06:00

It's a Wonderful World!

2008-08-02T23:17:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from the last couple of years that really are a big part of my life. They are mostly with my kids or with my students at school. Life is what we make it, and no matter how much adversity there is, there is always a silver lining through it all. I've found it!

Here are Ricky, David, and Rob in front of the Eiffel Tower.