3rd grade musical

On Thursday, Dec. 18th, Halee's 3rd grade had their Christmas musical. It was very well done. She was excited to have gotten a lead role as "Little Red Riding Hood." She worked hard memorizing lines, and she even had 2 songs that she sang. Her Grandma Beckie made her the little red hood for her part. It was called "A Storybook Christmas." Santa's elves were tired of hearing the same old nursery rhymes, so they decided to change them up. The wolf and his two weasel followers were the main guys finding out how the stories had changed. The 3 little pigs were now interior decorators after the wolf destroyed their homes, and little Red Riding Hood was now into whole foods. She doesn't do sweets anymore, but has an organic deli in which she tries to convince the wolf is better for him. In this song,she sings about spices and natural foods, an "almost turkey dinner," that will make his "palate rejoice." She was great, very animated and seemed like a natural on the stage. I just put a little bit of it here, but it was a very, cute well done play.

Jeffrey behind the camera

Last night we were sitting at the school gym waiting for the 3rd grade Christmas musical, and Jeffrey grabs the camera. Pretty funny. Dallin and Ethan were his victims, he took one of me as well, but I burned that one.. heehee

Bald Eagle on the fence

The other day I pass by the windows and see 2 bald eagles sitting on the fence post behind the house. wow! There was a bunch of smaller birds on the fence and then these two awesome huge birds sitting on the post!! I couldn't zoom in close enough, but wow that was cool. Then the next time I walked past the window, one was caught in the barbed wire fence. I got all suited up and bundled up with huge thick gloves, because I knew he would fight me, but I was going to help this huge bird. Well, by the time I got out there, he had managed to get himself free. whew. That was a close one.

Crazy Hats

The kids put on some funny snow hats before going outside to play. Dallin will finally join the kids for a picture instead of crying or running away!!

Gas prices

Gas is now $1.49 a gallon at the Maverick in town! What a drastic change, from just under $4 a gallon, to under $2!

Halee is 9

On Tuesday, December 9th, Halee turned 9 years old. She took Christmas Oreo's as treats for her class, then when we were all home, we had cake and ice cream and a few presents. Then we headed to the church for the ward Christmas party.

I hope she feels celebrated, and knows that she is loved!!

Happy birthday, Halee!

Putting up Christmas

We put up the Christmas tree and decorated the Johnson home while listening to the Christmas devotional Sunday night. These pictures probably don't really show, but it does really look pretty. Especially at nighttime with all the lights lit up.

House update

Here are some pictures of the house as of lately. The first picture is the stairs coming to the basement. The kids' area is all down stairs. Their rooms and bathroom as well as the laundry room. There is a log burning stove down there as well. The next picture is of the basement as you walk down the stairs. The next picture is of the pantry that seperates the kitchen from the living room. I am excited about this one, it is a nice sized pantry. The last picture is of the living from the front door. Hard to tell in pictures, but it is coming along pretty well.

More snow today, and very cold!! I am subbing again this week. I am in a 5th grade class. I was a little apprehensive with all the technology that teachers have now, but it all worked out ok. Plus, you always have those students that could pretty much take over the teacher role. I do like being back in the classroom, and I can feel my instincts kick in sometimes. I forget just how demanding being a teacher is, and go home exhausted. I feel for these ladies that work all day, only to go home and have the rest of the day to do more work. I will probably end up going back to teaching full time, but I sure hope it isn't very soon. I enjoy teaching every now and then, but teaching full time is one of the most demanding jobs because you can't just leave it at school, it follows you home.

This Halee is in the 3rd grade. It's crazy to think that this is the grade that I use to teach in school. She is growing and maturing in her thinking as well as her understanding. I can see myself in her so much sometimes that it's scary. She is a good, good girl and walks a straight line! She loves going to achievement days, and she already has a lot of her goals checked off. She made the 3rd grade Christmas musical and is one of the lead characters. She is animated and loves being in front of people. She loves animals and has a tender heart towards them. She is a good sister and loves to take care of her brothers. She is turning 9 years old on Tuesday and I am very proud of her.

This isn't the best picture of Ethan. But anyway, he is in kindergarten and absolutely loves it!! He loves getting up with the kids. Every morning he asks me "Is it school day?" And everyday I answer yes thinking he's going to moan and groan, but he jumps up and says" Thank you!!" He is a funny boy. He has such a personality it's funny. He will ask me to help him with things, and then he'll say "Thank you young lady!" The other day at the store he grabbed the door and said, "Beauty first!" His teacher tells me he says things like that to her and she loves him being around. He is a great sharer and most of the time surrenders whatever it is he has to Dallin for the sake of making him happy. He is like a little man, and he makes me proud to see him around others. He is very kind and thinks about their feelings. When someone is hurt and crying, he sometimes cries because they got hurt. I love this Ethan!!

Kid's school pics

Jeffrey is in the second grade. This picture about sums him up. He is always giggling and thinks things are funny. A lot of things pass over him and he is pretty clueless most of the time =). That is probably why he is always laughing. But, that's ok. He is very social and will talk to anyone. He enjoys talking to adults, and is learning the "correct" way to do that! =)He does think deeply about things as well and is always asking the "why does it have to be that way?" question. He likes science and figuring out how things work. One day the light bulb is going to turn on to the menial things of life, but until then, I love his innocence!

What's facing me today??

This never, never ending story.......

Doth mine eyes deceive me??!

I just filled up my van for #1.74 a gallon!!! Wow. I haven't seen those prices for a looooonnnngggg time. Awesome!! It cost me $37 to fill up instead of $75.. It is a happy day.. Now if the prices at the grocery store would follow the same pattern.. hmmm

A Snowy Day

Today reminded me of two things: the first being the children's Caldecott book called "The Snowy Day" and the other being the Christmas song " Oh the weather outside is frightful...." I believe that the snow is here to stay for the season, but it truly is beautiful throughout the valley.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving reminded me of this children's book. The owner of the house just kept inviting people in and saying," Come awa'in. There's room for one more. There's always room for one more." So travelers and people passing by came on in until his house literally exploded. The Johnson house was filled to capacity over the weekend with siblings and their families. Sometimes we felt like the house would literally explode!! Cousins galore, and we were packed in all the rooms. It was loud, it was crazy, but it was also kind of fun! It was nice when the kids were tucked in bed, and the adults could have fun and play games. We ended it with the blessing of baby Bryce who is doing great! Even great-grandma and grandpa Nicholls were here. I don't have any pictures myself, but maybe I can borrow some to post.

The Door Greeter

This was the coolest costume I thought!! This was an actual person on an actual horse that was right by the door to go into the festival. Wow, that was cool. Very eerie, but cool. The horse would walk around and the person would not say a word. Some kids were really scared, but it was way cool to me. The horse was just massive with long hair just like the horse in the movie. I understood later that it was actually a girl in the costume.

Halloween Festival

With the exception of Dallin, everyone is a Star Wars character this year. Eric is Darth Maul, Ethan is a clone trooper, Jeffrey is a Clone trooper Commander Cody, Halee is a jedi padawan named Ahsoka. Apparently she is from the newest series, Star Wars the Clone Wars. We went to the town Halloween Festival on Saturday and it was a pretty fun time. They had lots of fun activities for the kids to do and almost everyone was dressed up. ( I was just the getaway car driver.) It's fun how the whole town gets together and celebrates every holiday, even Halloween. It's done in a fun, not so scary way that makes it enjoyable for everyone.

"Dallin do"

There was a community Halloween Festival (yes, they actually called it a Halloween Festival!=) in town last Saturday night. All the kids have Star Wars character costumes, and Dallin was going to be Darth Vader. He let me put the cape on him, but he did not want to mask. He kept saying "Dallin do, Dallin do." Well, I just left him alone, and then he comes out of the room wearing this hat and gloves. I had gotten hats and gloves for the kids that cover their faces to protect them from the cold wind here. This was Dallin's hat. He came out with this hat and gloves on and with a smile as huge as ever, said "Dallin do!" So, Dallin put together his own costume. It was definitely a funny night. Eric kept calling him "luchador" which I believe means wrestler in spanish. It's from Nacho Libre, the movie. Quite funny.

A new nephew

This is our newest nephew. He is Eric's oldest sister (Chereon)'s baby. He was born on October 9, and he was 3 weeks early. She was having diabete problems and was getting worse, so they induced her and he was born. He had trouble at first and his lungs collapsed, so he was flown to Primay Children's Hospital in SLC, Utah. He has been there for the last week and a half or so, and all the siblings (there are 6) have been here with us! wow... He had so many wires and gadgets hooked up to him that he was hard to even hold. He is doing lots better now and is working on eating on his own. He has had the feeding tube this whole time and didn't ever learn how to suck yet, so that is the hurdle they are trying to overcome now. He is finally home with his family and goes into the hospital every night to be weighed. I believe his feeding tube is coming out in the next day or two.

Winter has arrived

I "borrowed" this picture from the Star Valley web cam. It snowed pretty well this weekend. I guess I could tell I was the foreigner because I didn't get up in testimony meeting and say how thankful I was for the snow! In fact, I was kind of smirking! I don't think I'm quite ready for winter yet. I have so loved the spring, summer and the fall. It has been such beautiful weather, I frown at the thought of being boxed in under snow for months. But people here are grateful, and that's impressive. The more snow, the less drought, they say. I grudgingly dug out the kids' snow boots, and snow pants, and big coats and gloves so they could go out and play in the first snow of the season. But, it does make the valley look beautiful in it's whiteness. Finger's crossed that we will be in our house before Thanksgiving.

Family photo update

Here we are at the same "photo" shoot. You can see our house behind us. It is now having the tieback wrap put on, and most of the framing is done. Electrical is going in now.

Eric, Dallin-2 1/2, Halee- 8 1/2, Ethan-5 1/2, Jenn (too old!), Jeffrey- 7

Ethan and Dalllin

Here is how these guys usually look. These two are usually so happy and they love playing with each other!! In the new house, Ethan has requested having Dallin be his roommate, they just play so well together, and Ethan is so accommodating to Dallin. Ethan is 5 1/2 and loves kindergarten. He loves learning, and the fact that he is reading and writing and having Spanish! He brings home something cool everyday and is able to tell me what they learned that day. Dallin is finally talking a lot more, and putting phrases together. Hopefully he will catch up before too long. He has definitely changed and has grown since we've been here.

Four fun kids

We had a quick photo session before church last Sunday. This is probably the only picture we have where Dallin is looking at the camera and sitting with the kids. We must have clicked right as Ethan was looking down, because he usually is always smiling. Anyway, everyone is growing and changing. Dallin is getting to be such the little guy. I have missed being with him as I have been teaching a lot lately!! They are sure good kids and really good friends. I sure hope that stays that way!!

Rock band

One of my kids' favorite things to do is dance to the ringer sounds on my cell phone. They went and got the guitars from the guitar hero game, and rocked out. They are so funny, and so fun to be around!!

Ode to Bella

We had a sad weekend last weekend. Our little black, furry friend passed away. Bella, our fun puppy, got a hold of some rat poison that grandpa had in the garage. Boy oh boy, that was not a pleasant day at all!! It was a small mistake of forgetting to make sure all the holes were covered in the garage, and of course, she found the one that was left open. We were very sad, and we had a service and buried our friend on the property behind our new house. This is a rather large rock that we wrote her name and some messages on. That afternoon reminded me of so many afternoons growing up of burying many furry friends, and feeling so sad and empty. It's amazing how much they become a part of your life. I know that animals were put here to comfort us and be friends to us, because our kids sure loved her, especially Halee. Halee reminds me of me when I was young, she seems to have a "connection" to animals. I feel sure that she is up there waiting for us. I am just so sad that she suffered the way that she did. I hope she knows how much she touched us in the short time she was with us!!

Teaching

I haven't had much of a chance to do much blogging lately. I have taken a long term subbing job at one of the elementary schools. It is in special ed. Talk about being out of my comfort zone!! Somedays I find it mentally exhausting, and very hard to know what to do. I have always been the classroom teacher that didn't have to modify and teach these students. What an opportunity to see the flipside. I am growing to love these guys that I work with. Somedays are better than others, but it has been a challenge. It is very hard juggling Dallin at a sitter's, getting the kids to the bus, having someone pick up Ethan from the kindergarten bus, and then be home in time to meet the other kids from the bus. But, I think it is a good opportunity and also I feel like I am contributing to the complete the house fund!!

First snow????

Saturday, September 1st, brought cold rain, and then snow!! We were out wearing shorts, when the rain came, we went inside. Then the kids begged to go play in the snow, so they put all their snow clothes on. They got soaked and snowy, then the next day it was normal again. Crazy!! The weather has been great! Cool and crisp, but still warm by the afternoon.

Catching up

School has started here. It started August 27th. I couldn't be happier with the kids' teachers. They are what each one needs and I look forward to a great year. Ethan's kindergarten teacher's name is Mrs. Johnson =), Jeffrey's 2nd grade teacher is Mr. Hathaway. Mr. Hathaway was our bishop when we moved into the ward. He does really well with boys and Jeffrey always talks about the fun things they did in class to learn things. Halee's 3rd grade teacher is Mrs. Jensen. Again, a great lady with a great personality and all three are very caring and good teachers. How awesome it is that the teachers at school are also at church! Very unique.

House progress

Slowly, but surely the house is coming along. There was a crew here to put up the trusses and then the sheeting for the roof. They just finished up today, and the roofing guys will be here on Monday to put the lining and then the shingles on. It sure looks quite different now. The walk out basement is really going to be cool. I was never quite able to picture how that would turn out, but it's really cool. There is a nice big slab of cement right out that door. You can see how tall of a porch we are going to have to have to get in the front door. But more windows went in today, as well as the stairway getting downstairs. The first two pictures are from Grandpa's front porch looking down his drive to the house. Then behind the house and Abby dog that stays close to the action, lastly is Dallin and Grandpa checking out the day's work. This view is from the long part of the house that will be the master bedroom.

Floating the Snake river

There is a saying that I have heard a lot of people say here. "I floated the Snake," or "Have you done the Snake?" Well, I can finally say yes, I have done the Snake. They are referring to the Snake River that runs through Wyoming and Idaho around Jackson Hole. A couple of weeks ago, a couple of the brothers and their families were here, and six of us adults rented a raft and floated down the Snake River. We didn't do the guided float, we just went down ourselves. It was really fun, and REALLY, REALLY cold!!!!! The rapids were never really bad, and we even jumped out a couple of times. It was really beautiful and a fun experience. I didn't take pictures along the way for fear the camera would be wet and ruined. =)