FIRST YEAR IN THE BOOKS

The end of May has also brought the end of my first year of teaching.  It has been a very difficult year.  I have worked harder than I ever thought I would, been more exhausted than I ever thought I could be, and it has also been more rewarding than I ever thought it would be.  I loved going to school each day.  I love those kiddos that were in my class and I love the people that I worked with.  For my own memory here are a few pictures.

 It's official.  I'm a teacher.

August 2012.
My classroom is ready for 28 cute little 2nd graders.

Very first apple for the teacher

Melt my heart!
Learning about heroes and who would have thought that some students would say I was a hero.  I think they are pretty great, too!

Valentine's Day.
Feeling the 2nd grade love.

Made this for me while I was away graduating.
So sweet!

Teacher Appreciation Week.
Feeling spoiled.  These kids and their parents were so kind to me.  Flowers and enough coke and chocolate to last me for awhile.

My sweet 2nd grade team teachers gave me these "merit badges" at the end of the year faculty party.

It was hard to say good bye to those two wonderful women that helped me so much throughout the year.  I will miss them!

MAY

I'D RATHER BE PLAYING SOCCER
At times it doesn't feel like we get a break.  S and T both finished their seasons off early but Z's team played most of the month.  Then tryouts for next year were in the middle of the month so there was no time to relax.  Practices will start up soon, I'm sure.  Soccer seems to run our lives some times!

A corner kick.

S's team- SF Charge

A goal kick.

 T is the Keeper on his team- U11 Shooters

A very rainy game!

 Going for the header.

 Z is a great passer and assist man.

 Pre-game huddle.

 Everyone has such colorful cleats.

Z's team-U14 Shooters

2nd place in D6 state league.

2ND GRADE GRADUATION

S had a really good school year.  His teacher, Mrs. Gardner, was great and he had fun classmates.  S did a great job with reading and math.  He was at the top of his class in math facts.  He passed off all addition and subtraction and even started some multiplication.  He also got 100% on all of his spelling tests- what a smarty!  He really loves school.  Of course his favorite part of school is recess but he likes everything else, too.

Singing during the graduation program

S had a small speaking part- he did awesome!

 Recognized for all of his accomplishments- we are proud of him!

BASEBALL SEASON

Of course soccer is the first love around here, but S and T also really enjoy playing baseball.  T was number 7 on the Reds and S played on the Indians. 

J and I did our best to coach S's team again. Busy time but a lot of fun!

Hey batter batter...

 Some base running

 Both boys got the chance to play 1st base.

APRIL

FINALLY A BREAK
If it's possible, I think that I was more excited for spring break than anyone else in the family.  I just wanted to sleep in, clean the house and relax.  I would have been quite happy to go nowhere and do nothing!  The boys did not like my plan because they felt like "everyone" was going to do something fun except for them.  A compromise- I gave up two days of doing nothing and the boys got a 24 hour mini vacation.  I have to admit, it was a little more fun than sleeping in and cleaning.

First stop: Real Salt Lake vs. BYU




This game was a 'friendly' between 2 of our favorite teams and a freebie with our 7 peaks passes.  I was a little unsure how it would turn out because of the rain and wind, but it was actually kind of fun.  We cheered for both sides, didn't get too wet, and had pretty great seats, too. 

Second stop: Shiloh Inn
After the game was over we headed to Salt Lake and checked in to the Shiloh Inn.  Our kids love to stay in hotels- not sure why, but they do.  We watched TV, swam a little and sat in the hot tub, and then enjoyed a small continental breakfast in the morning.

Next stop: Hogle Zoo





After checking out of the hotel, we headed up to Hogle Zoo.  We spent a couple of hours wandering around and checking out the animals. I think that every time we go to the zoo, my kids want a picture with this gorilla statue.

Last stop: Buffalo Wild Wings and Scheels

Everyone was starving when we left the zoo and we couldn't decide where to eat.  Z was also dying to go to Scheels in Sandy.  On our way there we saw this place and since we had never been there, we decided to give it a try.  The food was okay, but we probably won't go again anytime soon- too much $$$.  Z loved it and still talks about all the TV's that he could watch soccer on.

Taking funny photos at Scheels.

After Scheels, and almost exactly 24 hours later, we headed for home.  

Our mini vacay was over- back to sleeping in and cleaning.

GENERAL CONFERENCE
One of the great things about April is General Conference.  It is always such a blessing to hear from our church leaders.  These 4 got tickets to go up to Salt Lake to the Conference center for the Priesthood Session. 

SPRING SOCCER
I truly love to watch my boys play soccer.  I love sitting on the side line with the other parents.   I love cheering for their teams.  I love seeing great soccer and watching the boys get better and better.  However, the weather this spring was almost enough to keep me at home.  At several games I hid in the car as long as I could.  It was COLD, and WET, and WINDY, and COLD.  We put up the Sportsbrella and wrapped up in blankets and coats and still, some games were just plain miserable.

J coached T's team this spring.

Love the sun- one of our few warm games.

 Z is on the far right.  His team always claps for the crowd after the game.

TRIP TO VERNAL

One of Z's games was in Vernal, a long drive for a 90 minute game.  Because we had to go so far, we decided to check out a few places of interest.  We went to Dinosaur National Monument and also the Vernal temple.

We only had time for a short hike.  Here the boys are looking for fossils in the cliff wall.

 Inside the visitor center at Dinosaur National Park.

The Vernal Temple

Boys on the front steps of the temple.

Just being silly.

FINALLY

It has been a LONG three years, but finally- graduation!  I never would have made it without the help of my family.  There was a lot of hard work, late nights and sacrifice from everyone but we did it together.

We checked the boys out of school for the graduation ceremony.  

I think they learned that graduations are long and boring.

 

8 YEARS OLD 

   Our littlest family member is 8 years old.  Happy Birthday S!  He is so excited for all of the things that being 8 will bring like getting baptized and going to scouts.











 The ongoing tradition- S picks a cake and Aunt Tamra does her best to deliver.  She always does a great job.  I thought this truck turned out pretty cute and it tasted delicious, too!

My cake doesn't look nearly as good, but I think it tasted okay.  We brought this cake to Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Jack's house to celebrate. S put the candles in himself.  They aren't melted, he just pushed them in as far as he could.

Aunt Sara and Aunt Susan gave S money for his birthday.  He had to find all of the dollars by unrolling 3 huge balls of yarn.  They are always so creative!

 Super excited to be a cub scout!