Word's Gotten Around

The rumors are true!

We are having a little boy!  We are so excited!

I can't exactly describe how I feel, just a mixture of excitement, amazement, a little overwhelmed (when I think about me being a mom, and being responsible for teaching our little boy what he needs to know), humbled (that we are being blessed with a sweet spirit to join our home), the list goes on.

I am 24 weeks along, 5 months along, working on the 6th.  He is due March 8th.  I can feel him squirming around, and every time I feel him move I am just in wonder and amazed that there is a baby inside me! :-)  Craig can feel him kick from the outside now, and that is fun, too.  I am glad he can feel him now, too.

It is still slowly sinking in, I think.  We are having a baby.

Work, work, work

This year I am teaching 5th grade, and I LOVE it!  What a nice change from the 2nd graders...these kids are so much more independent, which is something I definitely prefer!  I think this has been my favorite year teaching so far.  I have so many crazy stories at the end of every day.  

Craig has been going to school, and has been super busy finishing up his LAST semester!!  (hooray!)  He has a job lined up for when he graduates working at Zions Bancorporation in Salt Lake in their Corporate Finance Department.  I am so proud of him!  

Some of Summer Time...

- I made my first batch of homemade strawberry freezer jam (yum!) and a little decor for the bathroom...there was plenty of time to be a little crafty with Craig being at work all day.

- We spent many weekends at the lake perfecting our slalom skiing skills.

- We tubed down Oneida

- We drove, and drove, and drove some more back and forth from Salt Lake to Logan. Every weekend.

- We spent a day at the races...

 saw some crazy rock-crawlers...

  a HUGE monster truck....

some other good-lookin' cars

 and watched trucks fly through the air in the off-road truck rally.

Even though I'm not much of a car person, it was way fun! 

- And last but not least, we found out some exciting news...a little bundle of joy coming in March!!

Act Your Age, Please

Last weekend, we decided that it would be fun to take a trip down to see the Manti pageant. Friday afternoon came quickly, so I whipped up a couple sandwiches, packed the car, threw some shoes on, and went to pick up Craig from work so we could head down and make it on time.

It just so happens that I have an Aunt and Uncle that live in Manti, so while we were there, they treated us like Kings and Queens. They were so kind! They had dinner waiting for us when we got there, and told us all of the ins and outs of the pageant.

We had a great time! I really enjoyed the pageant...it is a must-see if you have never been.

After the pageant, we walked back to my Aunt's and Uncle's house, and I bent down to take my shoes off, and on my feet were two DIFFERENT shoes! I had spent the whole afternoon and night with two completely different shoes on, and I hadn't even noticed. They were both a kind of white tennis shoe, but really? That is something someone much older than I should have done. I am only 22! Ha!

And Summer Begins

At least for Craig. He made it through another semester! Wahoo! And only one more to go! Hooray!! He got an internship at Zions Bancorporation in Salt Lake, and started working today. I am excited for the opportunity that he has, but not looking forward to the last month that I will be teaching up here in Logan while he is down in Salt Lake City for most of the time during the weeks.

The second graders are still as cute as ever, there is ALWAYS something to laugh about during the day. As for next year, since I am on the bottom of the totem pole in the district, I am still waiting to see where and what grade I will be teaching. There has been a lot of shifting around. I don't have too many preferences, I am just grateful to have a job! So we will see what happens!

Nice to Meet You

Friday night we got to welcome home my little brother, Jared! He just returned from serving in the Warsaw, Poland mission. It was so good to see him! Although we loved reading his weekly emails, and seeing how much he has learned and grown, it is fun having him home again!

After waiting for two years, and then waiting anxiously in the airport for 20 minutes, it was a joyful reunion! Well, at least a reunion for most of us. For Craig and Jared, it was more like a "nice to meet you!"

Surviving the 2nd Grade...

...and loving it! 2 weeks ago, I interviewed for a job teaching 2nd grade. I interviewed on a Thursday afternoon, found out I got the job Thursday night, (wahoo!) and started teaching on Monday. It was a really fast transition, and it was kinda stressful being thrown into a classroom in the middle of the year. but I am so grateful! The school is less than a half mile away from our apartment, so as it warms up, I am excited to be able to walk or ride my bike to work. One thing that I have learned, teaching 2nd grade is WAY different than teaching 6th grade! There are definitely pros and cons to both. But I love my students, they are all so cute! I feel like I know them all so well already, and it has only been 2 weeks! In my classroom alone, languages that kids speak other than English include: Spanish, Burmese, Arabic, Korean, Chinese, Turkish, Thai, and British (as one student replied when asked what other languages they spoke...ha!) It is a pretty diverse bunch of kids and it makes it really fun.

It is amazing how things always seem to work out better than I could have planned! What a blessing!