Back to school!

Wow, we have been so busy. I was really dreading going back to school especially since it came so fast. I went back to meetings on Aug. 12. School started for the kids on the 18th. Sammi is in fourth grade and Joe is in 2nd grade. They are growing up so fast. I am still in kindergarten! This will be my 11th year teaching kindergarten. My first group of kindergarten students are now in 11th grade. I can't believe that.

This year I have 27 kids in my class. They are pretty cute. Two days before school started we had 33 kids in each class and we finally got approval from the district to hire another teacher. The principal asked me if I wanted to go full time. It was a bit tempting, but I decided that it was more important for me to spend time with family and little Jacob. So we hired a teacher the Friday before school started. We had twelve more kids register during the first week so we still ended up with big classes. Oh well, we will do the best we can to teach all of those cuties.

Mark and I went to Lagoon with my brother and sister, Nathan and Shelly on my birthday. Grandma Linda watched Jacob for us. We had a fun day. We rode on the new roller coaster Wicked and it was really fun. I realized that I can't quite handle the rides like I did when I was younger. I was feeling a tiny bit sick. Next time I go, I think that I am going to take a motion sickness pill just to take the edge off. We are going to take the kids to Lagoon and stay in the campground during UEA break.

We went camping at Payson Lakes last weekend. We took a canoe and boy did the kids have fun. They rowed all afternoon. We tied a bunch of ropes together and tied the canoe to the shore. It was like a dog on a leash. They would row out as far as the rope would go and then they would circle back around. They got really good a steering and paddling. We tried to fish, but we didn't catch any. There was a bear in the neighboring campsite, but we didn't know that until the next day. We felt safe in Shelly's trailer, but if we were in a tent I probably would have packed up and gone home.


We are doing piano again and Joe will be starting this year. It will feel good to get back in a normal routine.

Fallen Arch

I was watching the news last night and heard a report that Wall Arch fell this week. That is crazy. It is or should I say was a huge arch. We were there in June. The kids and Mark climbed up and stood right under it and had a great time exploring and climbing around the area. I am glad no one was there when it fell or it could have been really dangerous. I am also glad that the kids got to see it before it fell down because it was pretty impressive.

What we did during our summer break.

Goblin Valley













Hiking in Arches with Grandma and Shelly.









Chocolate Fondue Dip made by Sammi. Yum!

Jordonelle State Park with Shelly.

Fly fishing in the Provo river.

Hiking in Devil's Garden - Arches

Fun in Shelly's new trailer.

Delicate Arch

Happy 7th Birthday Joe.

















Goblin Valley
Playing hide and seek.




















Arches National Park
Delicate Arch













Firey Furnace - Arches















Joe's lost his second tooth
with the help of Shelly.
Grandma Linda pulled
the first one a few weeks before.

Petting zoo at Newton
town celebration.

Washing the car.

Doing pioneer chores at
This Is The Place Historic Park.

7 Peaks - Jacob overcame his fear of the water
and loved swimming once again.

This Is The Place Historic Park.

Singing around the campfire
at Kelly's Grove in Hobblecreek
Canyon.

Digging trenches for
our new sprinklers.

Balloon festival at the
Provo Freedom Festival

Summer is almost over!

I can't believe how fast summer has gone. They say time flies when you are having fun and we sure have had fun. We had a camping summer, thanks to Shelly and her new trailer. We spent the first week of summer at Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Goblin Valley, and Capital Reef. We had a great time learning all about the parks and going hiking. Sammi and Joe earned four Jr. Ranger badges that week and we had fun making up songs about the cryptobiotic soil. We also went to Jolley's Ranch up Hobble Creek Canyon for a couple of nights and last weekend we went to Jordonelle State Park for a couple of nights. Of course we went to Lamb Days and had a great time. We even rode up to Newton to visit Aunt Cora for a weekend too. I went to Girl's camp for a few days and I have taken a few classes this summer as well.

This summer we have also done a lot of home improvements. We put in a sprinkler system in June. Boy is it nice to have a green lawn. We were always fighting to keep it alive in the hot summers previously, but not this year. No more dragging the hose around. Yeah! We just got new windows for the entire house this last week. The windows look so good , now there are a lot of things that don't look so good, like the posts and the paint. There is always a list of house projects that we want to do. Oh, the joys of owning a home!

Now it is time to get back to the classroom and get all ready for another school year. It always makes me sad, but it is a bit exciting too. I miss the carefree days of summer already though.