A dear friend of ours died tragically this week. She left behind her dear husband and three very small children. Now they are in need of prayers and any help that anyone can offer. Here is a link to follow to help them in there time of need. Thank you.

Cassy's April Letter

April 12, 2012

Dear Children,


Your father had a very good idea and now I am going to do the same. Sometimes the things he comes up with amazes me. I would never have thought of writing a letter to you on a blog. So here goes my letter to you for this month.


I first off wanted to tell you how much I love you. I may not know you yet, but I know how much I love each and everyone of you. I have also been thinking a lot about how much I love your father. He is so smart and loving. I've been thinking about my favorite times of the day and all of them revolve around our little family. I love when your father kisses me and tells me how much he loves me when he gets up in the morning. I love that he calls me when he is on his way home. I love how he kisses me when he gets home in the evening and tells me good morning. Yes, good morning. Lastly, I love how he cuddles with me when we go to bed at night. He is a wonderful man and you are so lucky to have him as your father.


We have had a nice week of just hanging out, because of spring break. We have played a lot of Settlers of Catan and watched a lot of Avatar, the Last Airbender this week. Yes, we are geeks, but we have fun. Sadly, he was also gone on Thursday and Saturday for the State Drama Competition with his high school kids. He loves the drama stuff and his students. I have enjoyed the time I have had to myself as well. I wrote this letter and did the grocery shopping.


We also enjoyed this last Sunday. We dyed Easter eggs on Saturday and ate lots of candy. On Sunday we went to church and learned of the wonderful sacrifice our Savior has made for us. I want to close this letter by telling you, my children, that I believe that the Atonement is one of the most important things to me. Christ's Atonement shows me how much he loves me and how much he understands me. He understands the trials that we face, making it so we are never alone. The Atonement lets us atone for our sins, but I think for me it is more about having someone who has suffered all that I have suffered and having someone who understands perfectly. I love my savior and the sacrifice he has made for me.


We love you so much and we pray for you everyday. You are constantly in our prayers. I love you very much and I hope you have a wonderful month.


Love,


Mom

John's April Letter

April 3, 2012

Dear Children,

I've had the idea for quite some time to write you each a letter on a regular basis. Your Grandpa Whitehead has been working on writing a personal history and it has been very interesting to read. I'm not very good at keeping a regular journal, but I figured this would be a good way to preserve some sort of record I could give you someday.

I should start by saying that you are all getting the same letter this time, and probably for the next several letters at least. This is because we have not yet met each other. I don't yet know you or your names. Your Mother and I eagerly await the chance to welcome you into our family and get to know you.

At present I am just finishing up my student teaching at Pleasant Grove High School and will be graduating in just a few weeks. I actually only have three more days before I am finished. It is the end of four and half years of study. At times it seems like I have been in school forever, but at other times it seems that I just barely started and I can't believe that I am almost done. It is a little stressful at the moment because we don't yet have anything lined up for after graduation. I am hoping to find a teaching position at a high school. Unfortunately, there aren't many openings for theatre teachers. Many people are scared by the downturn the economy has taken recently and are staying longer at their teaching positions instead of retiring. There are also fewer schools looking at expanding their theatre programs. Hopefully something comes up. There should be some postings going up soon.

We had the chance this last weekend to listen to the general conference. As always, it was a highlight to get to listen to the words of the prophet and the apostles. Something your Grandma Whitehead pointed out to me several years ago is the fact that whenever one of the apostles talks at conference, regardless of the topic, he will always share his testimony of Jesus Christ during the talk. It is great to get the opportunity to hear these men share their testimonies.

Your Mother and I don't know you yet. Even so, we pray for you every night. Know that we love you.

Love,

Dad

Thoughts from Student Teaching

I'm sure this post will sound different than the previous ones.  In fact, it's the first one that I have written instead of Cassy.  I'm not exactly sure where to start or what to write about.  I guess thats one of the benefits of writing on a blog, you don't have any rules about what you have to say.  Well, here goes.

I think that teaching in any form is a mixture of positive and negative emotions, sometimes experienced simultaneously.  I have been able to experience this first-hand as a student teacher.  There is the stress of a parent demanding a grade change for their child and the elation of seeing a student achieve more than you thought they could.  There is disappointment  when students refuse to do their work, and the joy of seeing a student finally make the connection they have been missing.  There is the stress of working with teachers who are in a bad mood and the joy of making friendships with colleagues.  There is the pain of seeing students make mistakes and the joy of being able to share in their successes.

One of the hardest things I have had to deal with is hearing about students who have made some mistakes and gotten pregnant.  All too often, the choices that follow center around abortion or raising the baby themselves.  Adoption is rarely considered.  While I do not know the exact situations for individuals, I can't help but feel this would be an option that should at least be considered.  It's hard to see a child being born into a single parent home when the parent is barely old enough to have a driver's license.  I know there are couples that struggle with having their own children and would willingly open their family to a new child.  We are one of them.

At the same time, I have the great joy of being able to share in the accomplishments of my students.  We returned last night from a regional drama competition.  It was great to see the students succeed at what they have been working on for months.  Even though I am not a member of their family, I still get to share in their success.  I helped them get where they are and can be proud of their achievements.  I get to have a sneak peek at what it will be like to see our own children succeed.

John

Crafty

One in progress

Lots of puzzles

Scarf

We have been doing a lot of crafts these last two months and I thought it would be cool to show them off. John and I are obsessed with puzzles. We have done nine in the last two months. Most of the puzzles came from a ten pack that we bought from Walmart. We will be excited to have a home that we can hang up all our puzzles. I have also been very crafty myself. I have been working on learning how to knit different things on the round looms that we have. We usually just knit hats on the looms, but I learned to knit scarves. I finished a green scarf for John and am now working on a blue one for me. I also finished scrapbooking our Yellowstone pictures. It only took me two years, but I finally got there. Next will be the California pics from last summer. Lastly, I made a beautiful flower hair clip. I hope to use it when I have a little girl who will love it.

Yellowstone Album

Flower clip

Our year

I've been contemplating what to write on this blog for awhile. I have finally decided to kind of make a list of all the things that have happened in the past couple of months.

Grandma's cute Christmas gift

1. John finished his last classes and finals. Yeah!
2. We went home for Christmas.
3. Went to a baby blessing for Jaina Elizabeth Whitehead. She was super cute!
4. Hung out with family for over a week. It was so nice to be home.
5. Played with and potty trained Grandmas new puppy. We cried when we had to give him to her.
6. Consoled the other pets in the house because they were upset with having a puppy in their house. We didn't see the cats the whole week we were there because they hated the puppy.
7. Made donuts with Grandma Audrey. They were delicious!
8. Ate out way more than we should have. Luckily we didn't pay for most of it.
9. Got a new car for Christmas. It has been my sanity in the last month.
10. Came home to find out I had lost my job. In the end its been a good thing.
11. John started his student teaching. He loves it!
12. I applied for jobs left and right and finally settled on substitute teaching. I am hoping it won't be too bad and that I can do it.
13. Got a lot of housework done.
14. Went to the temple a lot!
15. Reflected on what could happen within the next few months.

John and Lily watching TV together

A lot happened to us these past few months. Most things good and some not so good. We are very grateful for the blessings Heavenly Father gives and for the trials. We are still very excited to grow our family through adoption and can't wait to hold a little one in our arms. We pray everyday for our family to blossom. We are so grateful for the many prayers that are offered in our behalf and for our many friends and family that support us. We ask that everyone continues to support us through the good and the bad times.

Christmas

This Christmas we wanted to make sure that we had a Christ centered Christmas. We decided to create an advent calendar that would remind us of Christ and what Christmas is all about. Below is a picturof the pieces for the calendar. We read a piece of the Christmas story every night and put up one or two pieces to go along with it.