Back-to-School Blessings

This book showed up the other morning...it's from a student I had last year and her mom! So happy to have it!!! People are incredibly thoughtful, kind, and generous.

Emily and I started a faculty hiking club. We went yesterday in the rain and through the mud--five women representing five grade levels! Amazing ladies! The colors are already appearing for autumn. Saw this garter snake. So much contentment to be felt in the canyon.

Literally, 17 trainings later...

So I'm the stake Primary president which means I'm also a Unit Commissioner in the scouting organization. I'm trying to get my people to submit themselves to training by being a good example, so I've been taking more training and now I have SEVENTEEN certificates in my binder! SEVENTEEN! Such a range! I have certificates for everything from Physical Wellness to Safety Afloat to Trek Safely. And I must say...my testimony of scouting has been strengthened! The training is there. Training saves time. If only people would DO their training.

Oh, my new class is so great! They are wonderful people!!! I was just scrolling through their photos and smiling all the while. Today was our sixth day together and they have perfect attendance so far (unheard of!). The little dearhearts...sigh.

Speaking of dearhearts...I had this IDEA for a science bulletin board (no Pinterest, people, MY idea!) but I'm not artsy enough to bring those ideas to fruition. So LAST YEAR'S Room Mother says, "I'll make it for you!" And she did. Isn't she incredible??? All I had were the roasting sticks and she did the rest. I just can't make fire unless it's, you know, a real fire.

We have a camping theme going on. My Author's Chair this year is a camp chair. How easy was that? All of my Battle of the Books books are stored in the cooler that says "cool books." How punny is that? I had the students choose a bandana at Back-to-School Night with the assignment to bring a favorite object tied up in it the following morning to help us get through introductions. Those bandanas were tied around everything from dance trophies to footballs to stuffed animals to family photos...and, bless my teacher soul, one girl brought a book! My mom collected owls so I grabbed that little light when she passed away to use as a symbol of wisdom and learning in my classroom. The students turn it off when we leave for lunch or recess and they turn it back on when we return to class for more instruction.

There was snow on Timp Saturday morning 23 August 2014!

We made a cave in our classroom because we're going to visit a certain cave in the near future. Thanks, Science Guy, you're the BEST!

I did it!

Today marks the end of 52 weeks of exercise, meaning a minimum of 6 days a week with a minimum of 35 minutes each day. I've learned a lot!

Summah Vacay! Day 44

Tuesday 12 August 2014

Well, the day has come. Summer vacation is now officially over. Tomorrow begins my first paid day of the new school year. Sigh. Sigh...

I did not darken the door of the school today.

No, I did not. Rather, I treated myself to my annual physical exam at the doctor's office. And then I got my head examined by the eye doctor.

And that's a wrap for Summah Vacay! 2014.

SV! Day 43

Some very special helpers came to assist me in my classroom today. This isn't all of them. So blessed!

Also, and I am not making this up, I met a new friend...Momoko! Yes! She is from Japan and actually served in my mission (at a later date). It was fun to speak Japanese with her and find out that we have some of the same friends in common.

So there you have it three days in a row: Sachiko, Tomoko, and Momoko!

Tomoko

Sunday 10 August 2014

My friend, Tomoko, invited me to Sunday Dinner. Do you think I could have possibly taken a photograph of her? So I'm putting in a picture I took at the temple the day before because my Japanese sisters are so Celestial! They are amazing women and I'm glad I was able to visit them in their homes in Japan once upon a time. Tomoko kept telling her husband and four children, "If it weren't for Jody...you wouldn't be here." She gives me waaaaay too much credit. I loved hearing her calling her children to dinner--the Japanese Mama in her certainly came out!

Ah, Sachiko and Tomoko. Did I really once live in Japan?

Capitol

Saturday 9 August 2014

I took my friend Sachiko to Salt Lake so she could catch her flight back to Japan. She requested that we visit the capitol, something I haven't done in a few years. Do you think I could have possibly taken a photograph of Sachiko? Oh well, it is a stunning building!

SV! Day 42

Friday 8 August 2014

Some of the nicest people on the planet gave me some apricots off their tree. In fact, three of them helped me pick them! I made jam.

SV! Day 41

Thursday 7 August 2014

Elliptical, post office, district office, temple, grocery store, Round Table...but NO cow bison peering into my Corolla.

SV! Day 40

Wednesday 6 August 2014

And there's Wonderland in the rearview. I cried a bit today saying goodbye to people and places.

SV! Day 39

Tuesday 5 August 2014

More rain, but we got pretty lucky by heading to Grand Teton National Park. We made foil dinners on the shore of Jackson Lake. Went to the top of Signal Mountain. My last day in YELL. Dinner at Lake House in Grant. "It's a hard place to leave." By golly, it is.

SV! Day 38

Monday 4 August 2014

We've never hiked Pelican Valley because there's only two of us. It's a territory very much inhabited by grizzlies. Bear Management has all these rules: can't start hiking there before 9:00 a.m. and must be out by 7:00 p.m., you have to be an Olympian to make it from the trailhead to the first backcountry campsite during that time frame (discourages use), they closed the nice little cut-off trail to Turbid Lake (the less the bears are annoyed, the less they kill people). But with FIVE of us and THREE cans of bear spray, we felt pretty good about giving it a whirl. Gorgeous. Can't wait to go back.

Bison in the Mist

Sunday 3 August 2014

I'm an early riser and the fam wasn't due to arrive until 10:00 a.m. or so, so I drove out to Nez Perce Ford and snapped a few. We spent the day at Old Faithful and I loved pushing Grandpa in the wheelchair. He is so witty and quick! We also walked Norris Geyser Basin's Back Basin. And then we finished the evening off at Artists Paint Pots. I could look at white mud blurping for hours.