Am I A Nice Guy?

Shortly after we moved to Cali, Ryan and I were called to be the Sunday School teachers of the 14-15 year olds. We were warned that they were somewhat of a rowdy bunch and had not had a steady teacher for about a year. I was a little worried about how we were going to keep control of the class. We had four consistent kids show up every week, Patrick, Jenny, Zach, and Kelsey. Once in a while we would get a few less active kids come but we could always depend on those four to be there.

It ended up being the best group of kids we had ever taught. We especially clicked and bonded with Patrick. He quickly became our favorite! He had a great sense of humor, a great attitude, and always acted like he wanted to be there. We tried to make the class fun by bringing treats on their birthdays and involving them in the class. We took interest in what they were involved in and made a point of getting to know them. They just thought we were old!

We taught the class for about a year and then we were both moved to other callings in the ward. We were sad! I was so afraid that we were going to lose track of Patrick and all his shinanigans but we didn't. Patrick has stayed close to us, especially Ryan, and we have stayed involved with what he's doing.

Patrick is a senior this year getting ready to go to college. At the high school here in the spring, the senior class nominates guys from their class for "Mr.Nice Guy". They do this instead of a Homecoming King in the fall. I found out through Patrick's mom, Kari, who is also a very dear friend of mine and we work in Relief Society together, that Patrick had been nominated along with five other guys. Patrick invited us to attend his skit he had to perform and then asked Ryan to drive him and his mom around the football field at half-time during the Powder Puff game.

Of course we were there, excited and all, to be a part of Patrick's life once again. His skit was very good and humorous, just like Patrick! We had fun watching all the skits but Patrick's was our favorite. Here are a few pictures of his skit.






Kari was not excited at all about the ride-a-long the next night on the football field. She even (jokingly, I think) asked me to stand in as his mom! I kept teasing her and telling her I was going to yell at her while she was on the football field. She would threaten me and tell me I better not (I did one time). I thought they both looked adorable that night. Patrick was in his tux and Kari was all decked out in her fancy outfit. They were the first out onto the field, so we had time for plenty of pictures to remember this night by. Patrick was by far the cutest guy out there, but we are biased!







Colby and Taylor are crazy about Patrick! In their book, he is one cool guy. They call him all sorts of nicknames: Pat, Patty, Peppermint Patty, Panda, etc. He is so good to them and takes the time to treat them like his buddies! Patrick didn't end up winning but should be really proud to be one of six guys nominated out of a class of hundreds. Patrick will always be our "Nice Guy". I hope that we will always be involved in his life. He is one great kid and we are blessed to know him and his parents!