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. =)

A new friend

We now have a new little friend. She is a Border Collie puppy, and her name is Bella. She is about 8 weeks old, and she is very fun to have around. It is much easier not having to have her inside and worrying about all the inside training. I took a chicken run that grandpa was finished with, (seeing as he is now sending them slowly to the great chicken ranch in the sky) and used it for her a kennel. It's perfect right now for her. She has a carrier in there to stay warm at night in, her food and water at her disposal, and room to run around and potty. When we are outside, we take her out, but then she goes back in when we leave or at night time. She is already chasing those chickens and she is half their size! Pretty funny.

Digging the well

They guys came on Tuesday to dig the well for the house. That was a fun thing to watch. I couldn't even get how big this truck was in the picture. It was a few stories high, anyway. They had to dig down to about 200 feet and found a pretty good flowing water source.

After the rain

There are the most amazing rainbows here after a thunderstorm. In Texas, we could usually see one part of it, sometimes both parts, but here, you can always see the whole rainbow. Especially sitting up here on the hill, it's so amazing to see after the rain. The kids love to look at them, and this day, there were two of them. You can't really see from the pictures just how huge they were, but they were truly something to see. I can only imagine how cool it was for Noah to see one of these awesome signs of nature after being in a dark boat for so long. Dallin loves to be outside and watch the rain and then the rainbow.

Girl's Camp

I am behind once again. This girl's camp took up so much of my time since January. I had no idea how much goes on behind the scenes, until I had this calling. wow.. I lived it, breathed it, and dreamed about it. But, the good thing is, the girls are still talking about it, and telling me how much they loved it. It was at a church campsite outside of Soda Springs, Idaho. It was a beautiful place, and very well taken care of. I believe our stake pays to keep it maintained. It is a church owned property that is for scout and girl's camp. It was great, except for the fact it was very remote and there were no services including cell phone. Which normally wasn't a big deal, and we did confiscate some cell phones from the girls, but then when it was time to be picked up and go home, we couldn't call the priesthood that was pulling the trailer with all the stuff in it. Anyway, it was a great camp, and the theme was "Anchored in Christ." Pictured here is some girls making their camp backpacks, and some stations along their hike. They took 10 minutes and found very, very small traces of nature. Ex. insect eggs, chewed leaves, snail trail, animal tracks, etc... We did find elk tracks, deer and coyote tracks. It was an experience.