Halloween Party

Spencer, Madison and I went to Santaquin for the fall break. We met up with most of my family at Camille's house. We enjoyed three nights of intense fun! We traveled up to the SLC area for the Gardner Village Witch Fest. We also had our own Halloween Party.

Change is in the Air

I have been very fortunate to have my sister Camille live just a couple of miles away from me. We have enjoyed the past 7 years watching our children play together and have thoroughly enjoyed the convenience of having each other close. We are only 13 months apart and have always been one another's best friend. And although I have treasured our relationship, I have taken it for granted. Nine days ago, Camille announced her family was moving to Payson. To say I was shocked was an understatement.

We have worked so hard to move her children to Naples Elementary, the same school my children attend. We even had Spencer and Abby in the same class. And I was looking forward to hopefully teaching some of her children in the next few years. It seems that I am constantly realizing the effect this will have on our families.

The move is a really good one for her family. I am happy for them and really, really sad for me. Sometimes, change is too hard!

Brayden Turns Twelve

This past Wednesday, Brayden turned 12. We sent him balloons at school since the days of taking cupcakes to his classroom are over. My sister Dynelle was in town. Her daughter Audrey was also born on August 31st, so we threw one big party together at Naples Park. Mother Nature made her appearance in the form of bees, hail and wind....but we persevered with happiness. It turned out to be a wonderful party.

Brayden was made a deacon on Sunday. It sure meant a lot to him to have his Grandma Helen and Grandpa Dave there. My parents were in Logan for Rebeka's baby blessing (Garrett and Emily's baby). Although I can't believe he is old enough to be a deacon, my heart is full to watch him live a life worthy of the priesthood. I can't wait to watch him pass the sacrament.

Our stake is doing the handcart trek next summer for the youth, including 12-year-olds. I am so grateful Brayden gets to experience the trek. I experienced it as an adult and it strengthened my testimony of the gospel by leaps and bounds. I can't imagine what it will do to a 12-year-old. This afternoon we went to the cinema to watch 17 Miracles, which is a movie about the handcart company. The movie was incredible. It surpassed my expectations. I highly recommend it...but I will warn you, take tissues because I wish I'd had!

Student Teaching

Today was my first day of Student Teaching. I have waited and waited for this day and I can't believe I am already to this point in my education although I have certainly taken my time to get here. I'm currently in a 1st grade class. The teacher's name is Mrs. Kester. I feel blessed to be in her class because back in my subbing days, students would always tell me how their favorite teacher was Mrs. Kester. She is energetic and bright. She is young enough in her career that she well remembers her teacher education; because of this, she puts forth the extra effort to put me at ease. She has set up a table in the room for me, equipped with a caddy of pens and post-it notes. I can't tell you what this means to me. You should have seen some of my dire spots in my practicum placements.

The children are adorable. I've already learned all 22 of their names. Some of them are a challenge academically, so it keeps us busy. The new common core is being taught this year. It steps the expectations up drastically for each student. Needless to say, both the students and the teachers were exhausted by the end of today.

I love watching Mrs. Kester introduce word strategies to the children. Today she introduced the bossy grandma 'e'. It of course makes the other vowel say it's name, such as 'take.' The children loved the story and the way in which it was told. I doubt they ever forget it.

Today I feel fortunate because of this opportunity to learn. It puts me more at ease for next year when I have my own students. I already feel better prepared and it is only day #1.

But I am exhausted. Please tell me I'll get used to this.

New School Year

Another school year has began. Spencer is in 2nd grade and is looping with Mrs. Schoenfeld. He loves his class and plans to explode his brain with all kinds of science and reading facts. Madison is in 4th grade and is excited to have her first male teacher, Mr. Curtis. I'm excited because I get to do my student teaching in his room for six weeks! Brayden has started 6th grade in the Middle school. So far, he loves it. He told me there isn't anything he misses about elementary school. Our old principal, Mr. Anderson, is at the middle school with him this year, so I know he is in very good hands.

A Concert for Two

Tyler and I were lucky enough to have a weekend reprieve by ourselves before school started and all chaos let loose. Grandma Helen was kind to watch the children while we stayed in SLC for two days. We had tickets to the Sugarland concert at the USANA amphitheater. Sara Barelleis
was opening for Sugarland. I love her songs and couldn't wait to hear "King of Anything". She was adorable to watch and magical to listen to. Sugarland put on an amazing performance. They are probably the best entertainers I've ever seen. This concert moved up into our top favorite spot!

Daddy Daughter Date

I have the most fabulous calling in my ward. I am the Girls Activity Days leader. I have so much fun in this calling, especially since Madison is in the group of girls. We just had our Daddy/Daughter Date which was based on a 'nerd' theme. We dressed as nerds and played nerdy games. We even had the dads tell us their most nerdy experiences. My assistant, Kristy McKonkie and I have a great time together. This party was a success!

Camping

Our favorite part of summer is the opportunity to camp! On this trip, we joined our good friends, the Stewarts, on Taylor Mountain. The kids enjoyed shooting their bb guns while the parents visited. We also found some wonderful trails for 4 wheeling. Oaks Park Reservoir wasn't too far away so we also visited it. We had a wonderful time.

Logan

On our way to Bear Lake, we stopped in Logan. My family had never been there before so I wanted to show them around. We took a picture at the beautiful temple. Then we drove to the USU campus so the children could see where I was getting my teaching degree from. We made the hike up to Old Main and snapped a picture. The kids couldn't wait to roll back down the hill. They ended up being very dizzy which did not make the windy trip up Logan canyon very fun at all. Ahh, memories.

Bear Lake

At the end of July, we drove to Bear Lake to camp and play with our Brinkerhoff family. Every one in the Brinkerhoff family was able to attend...which made it perfect. This was our first time to Bear Lake and boy did we love it. The best thing about the lake is that the water stays shallow for quite a ways out, creating lots of care free fun for kids. We rented a wave runner for a couple of hours and had a blast speeding around on it. The kids perfected the art of canoeing and kayaking. We also spent many hours on the "pod" which is a big inflatable which was perfect for small children.

Spencer had to keep his hand dry because of his stitches. We attached a bag with a rubber band but demanded that he keep the hand out of the water. He was a trooper and kept it dry the whole time. I was very impressed.

Minnetonka cave was an hour away from our camping spot so we decided to check it out. We were very impressed with it's huge rooms and growing stalagmites. On our way back to the lake, we stopped for a raspberry shake which Bear Lake is famous for. Wow....they were delicious.

It was wonderful to play with my family for 3 non-stop days. And we loved, loved Bear Lake.

Stitches

I had left the kids home for a couple of hours by themselves to get my hair done. I was getting a trim and highlights. Getting highlights is a process of streaking a section of hair with dye and wrapping each section in tinfoil. It is very time consuming. My hair was wrapped and I was waiting the necessary 20 minutes to set the color when my cell phone rang. It was Brayden telling my to come home quickly because Spencer had cut his thumb and needed to go to the hospital. He told me Camille was on the way to check things out. I hung up and went into panic mode. My sister-in-law DeAnna (who was doing my hair) helped me to take out the tinfoil from my hair and washed out the color. I called Camille and found out that she and Spencer was at the ER. I met her there and checked out Spencer's thumb. Sure enough, the cut was deep and gory and needed stitches. He had cut his thumb with a pocket knife.

Brayden has been learning first aid in scouts. He was able to remain calm and confident through the whole ordeal. He handled the situation like a pro. He wrapped the hand in a towel, called Camille about the situation and was even waiting on the front lawn for her arrival.

Thank goodness for Scouts.

Yellowstone

Teton National Park

Our First Day in Yellowstone

Approaching Jackson, Wyoming

The views were breathtaking

Ice cream in Farson, Wyoming

Everyone was taking pictures by the antler arch in Jackson, we we did too. My husband was far too amazed with all the antlers.

Guess what the kids enjoyed the most during the whole trip? Yes, every hotel had a swimming pool. Next year, were skipping the long drive and vacationing at a water park.

Brayden and Stephanie were amazed with the geysers.

Old Faithful is beautiful. But I could tell the kids were thinking "that's all it does?!"

The waterfalls were incredible, the Brayden drama.....not so much.

This arch is by the town of Gardiner, MT. We stayed there our 3rd night.

We saw this bear and then another one with cubs. The park rangers made us keep driving though so the photos turned out badly.

This coyote had his eye on some prairie dogs.

This is by Yellowstone Lake...which is huge.

This geyeser is part of Mammoth Springs.

The buffalo were adorable.

We spent the last five days in Yellowstone National Park with our very good friends and neighbors, the McConkies. Our children loved having their best friends on vacation with them. They had fun switching places in vehicles, swimming, picnicking, hiking and souvenir shopping along with them.

We loved finding waterfalls, geysers, buffalo, bears, elk and coyotes. The quaint, little tourist towns we stayed in were charming and expensive. But the memories are priceless.