Its Been Awhile...

So much for being good at blogging! I will try to be better. These last few months have been wonderful and I am still feeling very blessed. I don't really know how to sum up my life as of late, so I am just posting a few pictures that I have.

There are only 8 days left of school (who's counting) and both the kids and I are ready for summer! I am continuing to get ready to go to Africa, which is sneaking up on me at an alarming (but exciting) rate. Last week I was down and out for a few days with strep throat and pneumonia, but had many people taking good care of me.

We have been talking for months about going to the aquarium, and finally did it. This is Blake and I petting sting rays.

For Spring break I was able to go home for a wonderful visit. These are 2 of my darling nephews.

I also got in another visit with Grandma Mason while I was there.

I love teacher appreciation week. Its probably my favorite week all school year. On the last day, one of my kids wore this purple shirt (my favorite color).

These are my cute kids! The saintly woman in the back is my TA. I really can't express how grateful I am for that woman.

One weekend I got to travel up to Idaho to visit one of my mission companions, Sis. Bush. This is her nephew who became my bff.

Pay (Sis. Bush) lives out in the middle of nowhere. This is me petting a horse (as if you couldn't have figured that out...)

Me petting a calf that Cory (Pay's husband) is holding. It was adorable.

Pay and I before we went 4-wheeling. The coveralls reminded me of Grandpa Fred, and very well may have been the best things that have ever happened to me!

Occasionally we try to have roommate nights. This one ended in a lot of money going down the drain at Sephora. I blame Debra. :)

This is Debra in her latest performance of "Tale of Two Cities". She did a great job, and Janae and I got to see it a couple of times. We were also able to get a group of friends from our ward to all go see it together. The cardboard sign was used when Janae and I were picked up from the airport at different times. We wanted to use the same sign for Deb.

Grandma turns 100!

I wonder what it would be like to be ONE CENTURY old. Grandma Mason has seen the beginnings/changes of cars, computers, the internet, cell phones, subways and many, MANY other things. She has lived through the depression and two world wars. She has outlived all of her family except for one daughter (my mom). She has left quite the legacy. As we celebrated her birthday this weekend, I learned that Grandma has never broken a bone; she has traveled to Europe and Tahiti; she grew up on a ranch and spent her summers canning peaches; her first car was a Studebaker and she got her driver's license at 15 (fyi, that would have been in 1926). But even with all her glory days, I will always remember grandma for her quick wit, sense of humor, and openness. I'll remember building card houses and feeding the squirrels in her backyard. And I will remember the way that she tears up when she says goodbye nowadays. I love you, Grandma.

Grandma was given the beautiful lei by a Tongan family in my parents' ward.

Grandma with all of her living female descendants.

Grandma with all of her grandkids, minus one. We might be few in number, but at least we are pretty. (That comment is for Randi and Rachelle :) )

The Family

Game Night

Often people in our ward like to get together for game nights, and yesterday it was determined that we needed one since there was no school today. So at church we all let the word spread, and voila! 20 people at our house. Our ward was actually just split last week, so we got to have friends from both wards come. I seriously love these people. It feels so good to be surrounded by friends who are all doing the same thing in life that I am. I'm sorry this picture isn't very good, someone took it on their phone and it was all I had :).

It's On.

Did you ever wonder what your teachers did after all the kids went home?

At Providence Hall, we have a marshmellow fight. That's right. On Friday we had the 2nd annual marshmellow war between staff (teachers, admin, charter board, etc). We played capture the flag on the bottom floor of the school. All classrooms are off-limits, but beyond that, the school is yours. But with these teachers, it's like a fight to the death. I'm talking camo, automatic double-barrelled guns, and face paint. It was the greatest thing (not to mention that Sarah and I-shown above- were rather instrumental in helping our team to win).

If only our kids could see us now!

A Day in the Life of First Grade...

I love my job. I really do. It is demanding no doubt, but my class this year is simply adorable, and they keep me on my feet. I've taken a few pictures as of late of a couple of things that we have done (I try to put pics into a slide show for the end of the year), so I just thought that I would share.

Last week the school art teacher threw an ice cream party for our class because they had the most entries in the art contest. They also won a popcorn party because they earned the most number of points in art. Yep, my kids are amazing.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream...

See that Home Depot apron? I wear that all day, every day. I keep stickers, stamps, usually an extra pencil, and fake money to give to the kids when they are being extra good.

If that picture doesn't make you want to teach first grade, I don't know what will...

These are a couple of pictures from a language arts lesson. We played antonym charades and tried to guess what antonyms the kids were acting out.

I think this one was dead and alive?

hot and cold

This was one of the coolest, though difficult lessons I've taught this year. We started a new unit about organization in our communities (rules, routines, community helpers). Providence Hall is trying to become an IB (international baccaulaureate) school. There is a lot involved in that I won't go into, but part of the program consists of teaching kids a lot of inquiry: allowing them to reach and understand lessons on their own, without explicitly teaching them. This is one of those lessons. While they were at lunch, I destroyed my room (that's why it was the hardest lesson for me to teach :) ) I dumped every desk and threw crayons, pencils, etc everywhere. They came in from lunch and were-naturally-stunned. Technically, they still don't know it was me, they think it might have been a leprechaun. But it took them about 20 minutes or so to put the room back together, then I pulled them back to the carpet and we talked about it. "Why was that so frustrating?" "Why is it important to stay organized?" "Why does Miss Rodgers always make you put your crayons back in the same spot?" etc. The kids got a lot from the lesson, and I think it was one of my better teaching moments.

Girls' Night Out

(Not pictured: Deb and Jeni)

Have you ever written a post, just because you have a picture you can put on it? :) This is Janae and I one night at dinner with the roommies (Deb, Janae, me, and our old roommate, Jeni). We went to Chili's and had a great girls night out. I feel blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people.

The Zoo (well, kind of...)

So our friend, Blake, has been telling us about his dad who loves animals. He told us that he had a lot, so Nae and I were excited about our trip to the "zoo". And he wasn't kidding!

Chinchilla....

Pretty birds (he has 2 aviaries)

This is me holding a chinchilla. Good thing Blake and Janae said something or I think I would have squeezed the life out of the poor thing...

This is Blake hitting the Rhea's cage. Otherwise it may have eaten us.

This is Janae with a rhea. It's a mini-ostrich.

Nae with a chinchilla (if you haven't guessed, it was the only thing we were brave enough to hold :) )

Me with a chinchilla. Janae says I look like a proud dad who doesn't know how to hold my newborn baby.

There were actually many more pictures, and many more animals, but this is taking me way too long to attach them :) Nonetheless, we had a great time!