Hello!

Hello from Yellowstone Bear World!

Riles

Riley owned on the rope swing :)

Here's the best one

Here's Jim again....

This one is best!

Good Effort

Here's Jim taking a turn on the rope swing....

Good try :-)

It's a Done Deal!

The newlyweds :)

Kevin & Jessica Wagner

The Wedding Weekend Part 1

We are on our way to the BIG BIG day :)

Anyone have any marshmallows??

It's Good to be King

Happy Father's Day to the King of our Castle!!!

I really should say happy father's WEEKEND because that's what this king thinks it is....

Friday night-- watch all the taped hours of the US open.

Saturday-- lounge in the pool, watch the US Open, get a hand delivered Sonic strawberry-banana shake.

Sunday-- dinner with the fam, watch the US open (maybe cry a little if someone he likes wins....)

We love you Jimbo!!

You are a great dad :)

Sneak preview

Perhaps you'll want to attend Kevin & Jessica's reception in Bakersfield.....

These sweet little treats will be there, and I'm sure they won't last long!!!

As for me--- I am so glad baking day is done!! I am grateful the weatherman was correct so that I baked on the coolest day of the week. (it was a balmy 92 degrees-- yes, that's balmy for bakersfield in the summer!!)

I'm so so so excited for the big wedding on Saturday!!!

Off-Roading in the Camster

Destination Bakersfield.

Sometimes the trip from Provo to Bakersfield (or vice versa) is not the best. Traffic can be obnoxious ridiculous.  If there is one, just one, stupid horrible car crash traffic can be stopped for hours. Literally. 

On our trip home we were pleased to find the traffic past Las Vegas to be mysteriously wonderfully smooth.  Until we left Barstow that is.  Then we hit it. Completely stopped traffic.

Have no fear. The Camster is here!!

With GPS what could go wrong?  We decided to take a different route to pass the problem, whatever it was.  We started out on paved roads....

Then the pavement ended.

Holy Moly. There we were off roading on the dirt road.  After awhile we saw no civilization in any form. No lights. No buildings. No people. No other cars!

However, GPS said we could get through.  Then disaster. The road we were traveling down no longer appeared on the GPS. What? Ya. Crazy.  I started having visions of our family on the show "I shouldn't be alive."  I had just read an article in my "Reader's Digest" about how smart, logical people make the dumbest decisions when faced with a problem.

Oh man. I was sure that I read the article in hopes that I could intervene and prevent us from some imminent disaster. We traveled forward.  It was too late to go back. We figured the power line workers had to get out somehow too.  We saw 3 cute jack rabbits. :)

Then finally, we met up with civilization!! Hooray! Get me to a bathroom. Never have we been more grateful for paved road.  I guess there was some big wreck. There were rumors that the highway was going to be closed for 6 hours.  Guess we avoided that!!

The Camster proved us well. And today she got all cleaned up too!  It is sure nice to be home. (and not on any reality tv shows!)

Monopoly

What do you do when five of the family members just ran 13.1 miles and can barely walk??  You allow them to wear their 'stretchy pants' and just chill with family for the night :)

Creepy picture winner.... Andrea!

BBQ Dinner = $25.00, Monopoly Game = $15.00, Family Time = Priceless :)

Riley and Marissa-- the even numbered children. 

And seriously Riley... that is SOME hair!!

Ben, Jacquie, and Andrea

Just two weeks away from Kevin & Jessica's big day!!

Watch out! This game is intense!

Watch out! This game lasts forever!!

I don't really know who ended up winning. But everyone had a good time. And the runners were thankful they didn't have to walk anywhere.

:)

Oh Andrea

The race pamphlet said you should "eat like a horse" after the race....

Perhaps this is going a bit too far??

:)

They did it!!

Jim, Marissa, Jacquie, Riley, and Andrea just finished the Utah Valley Half Marathon!!

Riley came in first running in 1 hour and 55 minutes!! Totally awesome!!

I am so proud :) They all did great!

Wedding Planner

 

School already seems like a year ago....

I'm deep into my new job as a wedding planner.  And let me tell you, there are not enough hours in the day!!  My timeline continually gets altered and rearranged.  Yesterday, not much went right...  We (Andrea, my assistant, and I) made the trek across town to the cheapest, dumpiest, best fabric store in town.  It is like a scavenger hunt type of fabric store-- but it is the BEST!!  The dim lighting when we walked in should have been a clue.... the emergency power was on due to a multi-block power outage.  No problem, we thought, as I have a trusty little flashlight in my purse.  A few minutes later even the emergency power was gone.... unless you were paying with cash and no person in their right mind would carry cash on THAT side of town

you would probably need to leave.

"UGH!" we said.

So we made the long journey back to our side of town.  Of course we made the happy hour stop at Sonic-- we had EARNED it!  I hope to make it there tomorrow.  (the fabric store that is..... and okay, Sonic too!)  Hopefully with the Jupiter eclipse done, the stars will be lined in MY favor, and we can get all that we need!

Keep your fingers crossed!

Last Day of School!

It has been a long and challenging school year!!

But the big hug and tear-filled eyes from the most challenging student I have ever had reminded me why I love being a teacher. I love it even when it isn't easy.

And this year was far from easy. However, I have been lucky to have an influence on some great little kids!! Some have such difficult lives. Some have to parent themselves. Some have so many challenges.

I'm happy to say that my most challenging student has also brought some of the biggest rewards. He has made a lot of progress this year.

This little class sign was made by the shining star in my room. I was so fortunate to have him. He helped me every day!!

Another year come and gone.

School's out for SUMMER!!