Hello Blogging world! I'm sure many of you have looked at our blog for a long time and have been thinking something like, "Ok, California was great, but what else is going on." Or maybe you have just given up on even checking for something new. Well... because of that, I have made a decision to temporarily leave to blogging world!

If your are curious as to why here is an explanation.

I love looking at all of you beautiful people and the things that you do.

I love looking at all of the wonderful creations that you make.

Photographs, bows, cakes, and so much more!

I crave the ability to create such things right now, and it kills me to look at your ideas

and become so inspired to create something of my own when I don't have the time.

Its just not the season for me to do that right now.

So for now ... I will just create a great classroom, 26 happy 3rd graders

that absolutely mean the world to me, little minds that are thirsting for knowledge,

and a home full of love.

Michael and I still want to be friends with you!

So call us!

Email us!

We would love to hear from you!

So ... until things change happy blogging and I'll be back one day!

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

California

A few weeks ago Michael and I went to California with my family. To start our vacation Michael and I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house on the way to the airport. It was beautiful! My Grandmother works in the office there so we were able to walk through with her. It was great!

Once in California we had a blast. We went to the beach and to Magic Mountain. It was great to be with the family again and back in my home town!

Death in the Family

Last week Michael and I decided to take a trip to Arches National Park for our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY. It seemed like a great place to get away from the capstone paper and enjoy the Summer. It proved to be just that . . . with a few extra surprises in store.

Arches is beautiful! We drove down Wednesday evening and woke up bright and early Thursday to fit in a whole day of hiking. We saw the beautiful arches pictured below and had a lot of fun.




The place where Wall Arch once stood




Thursday evening it rained a little, so Michael and I took cover under our tent's awesome rain fly and ate our delicious peach cobbler. Despite Michael's face he did enjoy it.


However, there was a tragedy while we were in Moab. If you know Michael you should know that the 1996 Chevy Lumina he bought after his mission was named "Grandpa". After hiking all day Thursday we decided to head back to our camp. On the drive back, Grandpa overheated. We had to pull over to let him cool down and once he did we were able to make it back to our campsite. However, just as we pulled in to the campsite, he overheated again and died. We had him towed the next morning to a local mechanic, whose number we got from the kind ladies that were camping in the site next to ours. While the mechanic took a look at Grandpa we walked the entire length of down town Moab (only 2 miles long) looking at all the cute shops. After killing time for two hours, we returned to hear the diagnosis on our beloved family member. We were very hopeful when we walked up to the shop and saw Grandpa backed out of the garage and parked outside. Michael and I both thought we would be driving home in him that night. However, the mechanic, with a grim face, (like a doctor telling someone their family member had just passed away) informed us that Grandpa's engine was completely fried! We decided that Grandpa had finally come to the end of his road, seeing as it would cost more to fix him up than Michael originally paid for him.

Having come to grips with the passing of Grandpa, the only problem that faced us now was figuring out how to get home with all our camping gear. The only rental car agency had pulled out of Moab exactly one week earlier, so that option wasn't going work. We even contemplated buying a brand new car at one of the two little dealerships there in Moab (not really though). After getting in touch with my mom she told us she could pick us up but it wouldn't be until the next morning so . . . we needed to find a place to stay for the night. There were plenty of little motels and hostels in town, but we called up our friends from the neighboring campsite Terri and Deb and they offered to let us camp with them at their site for a night! They were so generous. They came and picked us up at the auto shop, with all our gear, feed us dinner and breakfast and even shared their S'mores! Michael and I will never forget their generosity. This world is filled with some absolutely amazing people. All in all it was a memorable trip and we will not soon forget the experiences and the people we met during our adventure in Moab, Utah.

Grandpa in his final resting place: Moab, Utah.

Someday Soon

Michael is finishing his capstone paper (35 pages of research and analysis. Michael is sick of typing and thinking about Eisenhower and the Pact of Madrid). So I'm waiting patiently with all of our camping gear in the front room so we can take off to Arches as soon as the paper is turned in. Pictures will come as soon as we get back!

Summer Days

Well, Summer is here! This last weekend we went up to our friend's cabin. We had lots of fun laughing eating and eating LOTS of good food. Thanks guys for a great time.

Blessings

Yes... that is the grade that I will be teaching next year! And...I could not be happier. I have enjoyed 5th grade, but now I know that lower grades are a much better fit for me! I'm not going to be at Canyon Crest anymore, I will be moving to Sunset View Elementary.

For a while we were wondering if I would even find a job in Utah, so we feel so blessed that this opportunity presented itself and that it is at such a wonderful school.

I'm already antsy for summer so I can start planning for the new year.
Michael is doing well, he is slaving away writing a CRAZY paper for his Capstone Course. He is busy but is doing a great job. We both can't wait for the rest that summer will bring!

Priceless

Dealing with a class that talks, and talks, and talks... hard.

Dealing with off task students for 6.5 hours a day... SUPER hard.
Having students talk back to you and be disrespectful...CRAZY hard.
Walking into class and seeing this on the front board...PRICELESS!


Or having a student bring me this after I had to email his mom because of his behavior...another PRICELESS moment.


My student Elisabeth made the graduation poster and then had the class sign it. When I walked into my room Monday morning I just smiled. It was so nice to know that my students were thinking of me when I was gone. I may not get to see that they like me everyday and that is one thing that can make teaching hard, but moments like that make it all worth it. As far as Ty's letter...the only reason I post it is because he came to school sorry, but so happy to do better the next day. And he was!!! He still had his adorable personality and little quirks that only Ty has, but he was so much better and because of that I know he learned a lot more. I love my job.