Last Weekend

So last weekend was a pretty good one. 

Kolton's cousin Cody was getting married so we headed to the Rexburg temple and loved seeing them get hitched. We were so happy for both of them! 

From there we went to lunch at Millhollow (can't beat that place!) with Kirt, Sandra, Shannon, and Bear. We had a great time discussing their memories of Kolton putting a dead snake in the shower to scare Staci, and Kolton almost being run over by a pivot while in a pickup. I had a blast listening to those stories. 

From there, Kolton went to the DMV and took his written test to get his motorcycle license! He had been taking practice tests online and surprisingly I knew a lot of the answers. Or else I'm just a lucky guesser. He was pretty nervous but he passed of course. Just look at that happy face. 

From there we took a little detour which got us lost and at a dead end, but it was okay because we were deep in a discussion of the song Sk8er Boi. Because that's naturally the kind of material that two college graduates discuss. 

When we found ourselves and came to an agreement about who really ended up with the Sk8er Boi we stopped at the Lube Shop to get a F'real milkshake because they are just all the rage here in Terreton and we like to keep up on the latest trends. 

By the time we got home we had enough time to change clothes and head up to Dillon, MT for the reception on none other than....the roadbike! 

And I am just not completely sold on that thing. It was freezing, my bum was sore, the wind was whipping in my ears, my legs were cramped, and I was feeling super ornery. I was trying so hard to like it, but it just wasn't happening. 

We finally made it to the reception with a serious case of helmet hair. I had brought a comb so we went into the bathroom together (scandalous, I know) to freshen up. As luck would have it, there was a bit of a line when we exited the bathroom. together. and it was embarrassing. 

The reception was held in the spud cellar and it was super neat! They had quite the BBQ all set up and it was very delicious. We chatted with some family for a bit and then had to head home. 

So we got back on the bike and were out of there. The ride home was significantly better too! It's amazing what a good dinner can do for my attitude. It was even freezing cold, but I don't know if my bum had just gotten used to the seat or what, but it wasn't so bad. I was also deep in thought about school next year and thinking through some of my plans for what I want to do differently so that helped too. 

By the time we made it home we were frozen but it had still been a good day! I love it when Kolton and I can just hang out because it doesn't happen very often and it makes me remember why I like him so much!

St. George Roommate Weekend

So my favorite little KyLeigh and JJ finally got married! 

And I was not going to miss it! 

When the last school bell rang I was out the door along with the kids headed to Salt Lake. 

I forgot how LOOONG that car ride is. 

Then I had to navigate traffic through Salt Lake to get to Kelsee's apartment which was terrifying. 

But I made it. 

From there Kelsee drove (one of the wiser decisions we made on the trip) us down to Provo where we picked  up Chelsea and had to partake of some In-N-Out. Heavens, I have missed that place. 

Then we started the drive down to St. George. It was also a long one, but we filled it with plenty of conversation. 

When we finally arrived at my grandparents house, my uncle Laird was the best host. He had set us up with our towels all folded neatly on our beds and little mints on the nightstands and food in the fridge. It was like a hotel!

I ended up in the master bedroom which was fabulous. The bed and bathroom were huge and I didn't mind at all. I felt a little bit like royalty in those accommodations.

The next morning we headed to the temple to see the newly married couple come out. And get acclimated to the heat. Holy hannah it was hot down there! I have a red face in all the pictures because I was dying of heat. 

After giving the couple a huge hug because I haven't seen either of them since they left on their missions we had to go to Sonic and get a slushie to cool down. 

From there, we went to the Outlet mall which is extremely overrated, but I liked the kitchen supply store because I've gotten more and more boring since I've been married. 

Then we headed to the luncheon which was a delicious Mexican food feast. So good. And they had churros.  We got to visit with the Jones' even more at the luncheon which was fabulous. I just really can't even describe how much I love those two. 

Then we had the rest of the afternoon to hang out. We ended up going to get pedicures which was another wise decision. The ladies were so friendly and fun and I'm no longer embarrassed to show my toes. In fact, I had to run to a store to buy some shoes that would show off my new toes. Mostly because my closed toed ones weren't working well with the wet nail polish and the flip flops they gave me were more like flippers. 

Then we went to the reception which was in the backyard of one of the more gorgeous houses I've ever seen. There was ivy growing all over the walls and the patio and swimming pool were just so great. They had crepes with different kinds of filling and Jones soda bottles with their picture glued to them. I died over the cleverness. And they had golf carts to deliver us from our cars to the reception. You just can't beat that. 

And then we went to the other wise decision of the trip. The Sunday before leaving, I was at my parents flipping through their LDS Living magazine when I saw an ad for Tuacahn. The timing was fortuitous and I was able to get us some tickets for opening night of The Little Mermaid. It was so amazing! The theatre itself was pretty cool and then there's just something about plays that gets to me. I don't know if it's just the live emotion or what, but I got all choked up during "Part of Your World." 

Embarrassing. 

But Tuacahn really was great and I would recommend it to anyone. They had so many neat special effects and used water and it was just awesome. 

On Sunday we ate breakfast out on the patio which was great and then we went to Sacrament Meeting in the first church we could find. Not too hard in St. George. 

And then we started the long drive home. 

I wasn't looking forward to that part but again, great conversation. 

I really loved dropping Chelsea off at her apartment and remembering how much I love Provo, even though I felt kind of old seeing the singles and freshman and such. 

After saying my goodbyes to Kelsee in SLC, I was homeward bound and super happy to get out of the car once I got home. 

It was such a great weekend with great company! 

Let's do it again!  

Young Women Outing

So for Young Women we made a deal with the girls that if they would complete some Personal Progress goals and daily scripture study that we would take them up to Island Park. 

The trip got moved a couple of times but we finally made it work. The girls came to my classroom after school and we met up with Krystal and headed out. We made a quick stop at Broulims for some groceries and I remembered how awesome it is to delegate some of the grocery list because it just goes that much faster. 

And then we headed up! We made some ice cream that didn't finish freezing til morning which I felt super bad about. Pretty sure I burned up the ice cream maker with all that spinning. Then we had nachos for dinner and played some super funny games. Since there was no ice cream Krystal treated us to some amazing peach smoothies at midnight. 

Someone didn't last too long during the games...

Kolton and I were planning on sleeping in the bedroom right next to the room the girls would be in til we heard them bumping a volleyball around when we were ready to go to bed. So we ended up sleeping in the farthest bedroom away from where they were. And it worked out pretty good! 

The next morning we had breakfast, played some games, finally ate the ice cream as we watched the R.M. which those girls had never seen before! Then we cleaned up the cabin and headed out. I was planning on some light cleaning but Krystal really put those girls to work! The cabin was sparkling when we left. 

The ride home was very, very peaceful. All the girls just zonked til we got to Rexburg. (and I might have fallen asleep too) and got some pizza for lunch and then went home. 

It was such a fun little weekend trip and I felt like we all really got to know each other better which was great! 

This picture kills me! Every single girl was out of it. 

Boys and their Toys

So Kolton has had a dream for quite a while now and it finally came to fruition in the form of a roadbike. 

And he loves it. 

He searched Craigslist for weeks and weeks in every spare second he had and finally fell in love at first sight with a bike that was down in Ogden. 

He was having a hard time driving down there without being certain it was what he wanted, so he kept looking and looking until I was done with the obsession and told him to choose one so he could move on with life. 

So he cut a deal with the owner who agreed to meet us in Tremonton one Sunday afternoon. 

We drove down with Brevan who wanted to ride home with Kolton while I drive alone in the car. 

As soon as we got out of the car at the little Arby's gas station, Kolton had a grin on his face which only intensified as we took it for a quick test drive. 

As we pulled back into the gas station I was told to stop looking so happy so we didn't look too interested. I don't think my small smile was the problem. 

Of course we got it and Kolton and Brevan had a lovely time driving it home on that windy day. (Not sarcasm. They both loved it.)

And Kolton has found every excuse since then to drive it. 

Like I said, he's in love. 

School's Out!

So the last month of school was just crazy. 

In fifteen school days we only had five that had no activities planned. There was the faculty basketball game, field trips, farm safety, field day, etc. 

Teacher Appreciation Week is my new favorite holiday!

I was also freaking out because I was trying to finish a big research project with my kids. They each picked a topic in U.S. History to research and then they wrote a two page typed paper about it and made a poster and presented their project with a short speech they had written science fair style to parents and the rest of the school. 

After all the stress and many hours trying to figure out how it was all going to work and happen before school got out, it was a raging success. Seriously, SO FUN. 

The kids did amazing on their posters and it was so neat to see them presenting what they had learned and I was just so proud of them for all their hard work. It was a good day. 

Then we had field day which was also crazy. 

The entire school was split up into mixed grade groupings and all the teachers had activities planned for them to rotate through all day. I had a dirt cup booth where they mixed up the pudding, crushed Oreos, and made the dirt cups. It was super fun although buying 20 packages of Oreos at Walmart was semi-embarrassing. 

The whole day I was just reminded of the cruise. The kids are just rotating through every station and everyone is there to entertain them and there was some music playing in the background and I just wanted them to realize how lucky they were....I don't know if they did. But it was still a fun day. 

The last day of school was interesting too. 

I had the kids pack up the room, clean out their lockers, and check out of school. 

All of that took no more than an hour. 

Then I had to find something else for them to do. 

I had gotten an idea from listening to other people talking about their fifth grade teacher that I wanted to try out. 

I had all the kids gather in a semi circle and put my tall teacher stool in the front of the circle. Then one by one I called the kids up to the school and told them why I was going to miss being their teacher. 

You would have thought I was torturing them! They were moaning and groaning and trying to hide behind their friends so they wouldn't have to go up there. But secretly I think they all liked it. 

When I was done with my 5A group they all insisted that I get up on the chair and they would tell me what they were going to miss about me. 

Even through all my protesting somehow I ended up on the stool. 

And it was torture! 

No really, it was so sweet of them. 

I just love those kids to pieces. 

After that little moment we played the mafia card game for the rest of the time. 

And the kids were SO good at it! 

There was one girl in my 5B class and I swear she had a sixth sense. Within one minute of every round she always knew who the mafia was. I could not believe it! But the kids loved it and it was super fun to play with them. 

And that was the end my friends! 

I can't believe I actually did it! 

Before the school year started I was just terrified and stressed and in tears and I actually did it! I learned a WHOLE lot and just had tons and tons of fun. 

I will always have a special place in my heart for that group of kids. 

We just really had such a great year together.

A Surgery Story

So I wanted to tell a little about my surgery because its just really a funny story. 

We scheduled the surgery for the next week after the doctors appointment. I was a little nervous never having had any type of surgery before but honestly all I really felt was peaceful which was just so weird. 

So the morning of, kolton and I drive in to the hospital in rexburg. We got all signed in and then they took us back. 

They put me in a sweet hospital gown that had little vents where they could plug in little hoses of warm or cool air. 

Then the anesthesiologist came in to get some info and told me he was there to distract me while the nurses hooked up the I.V. 

That was part I was most nervous for because I hate any and all types of needles. But I tried to listen and respond while the nurses were doing all sorts of things I didn't want to think about. But pretty soon he left and all I could focus on were the needles being jammed in and out of my left hand. 

I told the nurses, "i think I'm going to pass out." They said to just relax.

So I lay my head way back and tried to go back to the shores of Labadee, Haiti. I pictured myself sitting on the sand with the waves rolling up around my toes. 

I was very relaxed. 

Then I opened my eyes to the nurses all gathered around me, fanning me, and kolton standing right up next to the bed. 

I thought I had just fallen asleep, but then I asked, "Did I pass out?"

They said yes. 

Later kolton told me of the traumatizing experience he had had while I was out. He said I laid back and closed my eyes and then all of the sudden I half sat up and my eyes were open but pointing in
separate directions and I started convulsing. He had freaked out and jumped out of his chair and
was next to the bed when I serenely opened my eyes. He was traumatized for a little bit. And I was so embarrassed that had all happened.

Pre-surgery just chillin in the room

Anyway....so three I.v. Tries later they finally got it in and I was left to just chill for a while before I went in. I was still dying over my embarrassing fainting episode when all the sudden there were a lot of people in my room. The nurse told me she was giving me something that would make me sleepy. 

The next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery room with an extremely sore belly. 

They took me back to my room where kolton was waiting. They tried to get me to eat something so they could give me some more meds but I either kept falling asleep or throwing up. 

Looking back on it now it just cracks me up. That anesthesia really did a number on me! I would wake up for ten minutes and talk or try to eat something and the just zonk. Once I fell asleep sitting  up with a spoon in my hand. I was just so out of it and I just couldn't control it at all. Shannon and Bear brought their kids by to visit and I talked to them for a bit and as soon as they walked out I was gone again. The nurse finally told me I had to stay awake or they wouldn't be able to give me the medicine I needed so I really did try. 

All during this weirdness the nurse would come in and chat with me and for some reason all the nurses just loved kolton. They told me how sweet he was about ten million times. I do not know why other than that he sat by my bed all day while I was out of it and was so patient. I love that man.

Anyway....finally it was time to be released. The car ride home reminded me a lot of that dumb movie Knight and Day with Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise when he drugs her. I fell asleep as soon as I got settled in the car. Woke up briefly when we stopped at Walgreens for my prescription. Woke up again and we were at sage junction. Woke up again when kolton stopped at the school to drop of some papers for me. The next time I came to we were pulling into our driveway. I got out of the car,
laid on the couch, and was out of it for two hours. Then kolton came home, we ate dinner, and I went to bed. I did not know it was physically possible for a person to sleep that much in one day. It was just crazy and so funny now.