Caitlin and Jirik

Halloween

2011-11-24T08:08:00.001-07:00

Since it's already Thanksgiving, I should probably post our Halloween pictures :-)

We went as a cave couple!

We had a Halloween Parade at school and the costumes were a hit!

Schmauch Family Visit

2011-07-19T22:33:00.001-06:00

Jirik and I took a road trip to Washington to visit my family. Here are some photos that sum up our fun trip!

We were there for my dad's birthday. This cake tasted AMAZING!

I loved having a cat to cuddle with :-)

My niece Emily is so cute!

Dana made her famous appetizers!

We had a lot of fun chatting and playing lots of games.

My mother is a fabulous cook. I loved all the food!

creme brulee... a new favorite dessert

Emily and I made chocolate-covered strawberries.

I had a lot of fun doing Emily's hair in the mornings.

I'm really glad we were able to visit the same time as Lisa's family. They are a blast!

Have I mentioned I love this girl :-)

We played a lot of bocce ball and lasso golf.

little Brandt... adorable!

cute face :-)

We set off some pretty big fireworks!

Overall, we had a great visit! Highlights of the trip:

** shopping trips with my mom, Lisa, and Emily (my closet is filled with cute new shoes)

** Burgerville

** Dana's appetizers

** lawn games with Jirik

** playing games with Lisa's family (Emily's favorite was Dungeon Quest, haha)

** being outside (I love our yard & garden)

** Fireworks with Cathy's kids

** great food every day

** Air conditioning

Last Day of School

2011-05-27T17:45:00.001-06:00

Today was the last day of school! My kiddos did awesome in the dance festival! I will truly miss this bunch, but I'm excited for my new group in August :-)

Next year I will definitely take more videos! Maybe it's just because I love these kids, but I think these videos are priceless!

Their favorite part of second grade:

Their favorite book or series:

Dance Practice (they did much better today for the real thing though):

Done!

2011-03-17T19:26:00.000-06:00

Today I finished my ESL endorsement! 18 credits and way too much homework, but it's done! I went out to celebrate with some friends and am quite content :-)

Oh, and there was a fire about 50 feet from our condo the other day... very scary. I just double-checked our insurance policy and we do have renters insurance... just in case someone decides to burn part of the Boulders down again (2 times in 3 years). Maybe we should move...

Young Love

2011-02-14T20:24:00.001-07:00

My students LOVE Valentine's Day. One girl called it "Candy Day," a term I feel summed up our day well! It was a little crazy, but I love watching little kids on this lovers holiday :-) You can totally see the little crushes between students and it is pretty darn hilarious to watch. We wrote letters, decorated cookies, and passed out valentines.

funny note from a little boy to his crush

my candy loot :-)

lovely cookies

Knowing today would be a long day for me, (I teach an after school class, and then stay to do more work... so I tend to get home kinda late most nights) Jirik and I celebrated Valentine's this weekend. We had fun spending time together, watching movies, and making some yummy foods (some of which I posted on our cooking blog). I love my husband! I love that we share interests (check out our board game blog) and can always have fun together.

Saturday night dinner (filet mignon wrapped in bacon)

Sunday Breakfast (crepes with strawberries & whipped cream)

Saturday Fun

2011-01-22T21:44:00.000-07:00

I love Saturdays. Today we spent pretty much the whole day with Paul & Jesse. It was awesome as always :-) First, they treated us to Red Robin.

(Oh Chicken Caprese Sandwich, how I love you...).

Then we played a board game called Ghost Stories. It's one of those cooperative games where we try to defeat the big bad guy together. Despite our best efforts we lost. There were some epic battles, but those haunters got the best of us.

To console ourselves we went to Magleby's for appetizers and dessert.

They have the best chocolate cake ever, just so you know.

We ended the night by watching episodes of the BBCs Top Gear. HILARIOUS!!

It was a fun Saturday, but now it's back to laundry, cleaning, filling out applications, and getting stuff done for work. It was nice to have a break... thanks Paul and Jesse... you guys are my favorite (and congrats on getting us out of the house, haha).

Photoshop Delights

2011-01-15T15:46:00.003-07:00

My parents gave me Photoshop Elements for my birthday. I am in love with this program! Over Christmas break I designed all the stuff for this blog (background, sidebar images, etc.). I enjoy making things pretty :-) Jirik brought up the idea of doing a board game blog. I think initially it was because he saw how much fun I had designing the blog stuff and this gave me another blog to design, but the more we talked about the more excited we got. We LOVE playing together and it's a lot of fun having games as a common interest. Cathy saw me designing our new board game blog and she and I starting talking about how much fun it would be to do a cooking blog with all of us sisters. The four of us sisters live in four different states so a cooking blog would help keep us connected. Ahhhh, sister bonding at its finest :-)
So, without further ado, here are the two other blogs we are working on (drum roll please.....)

http://hynstgames.blogspot.com/

http://sisters-in-the-kitchen.blogspot.com/

Organized!!

2011-01-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

My sisters always find the best products to use... and then I copy them. When I was 14 or 15 they discovered mineral makeup and so I started using mineral makeup. When they switched brands, I switched brands. This has happened with brands, beauty products, and the like. When I was home for Christmas I saw Cathy's makeup in a perfect little organizer. Then she got my mom the same organizer for Christmas. So what did I ask for for my birthday? Yes, I wanted the same thing. It is AWESOME! It's okay to be a copycat sometimes, right?

They come in a set of two and hold my makeup products perfectly! There are tons of little pockets on the inside and outside that fit brushes, mascara, lipstick, and all that small stuff that usually get lost in the midst of the rest of my makeup. Jirik's a fan too, because now my makeup isn't spread all over the counter. After I organized all my makeup I decided to tackle the rest of the bathroom as well. Ahhhh... so nice to be organized!

Thanks Cathy!!

Home for the Holidays

2010-12-27T22:49:00.004-07:00

I LOVE Christmas! It's such a happy time of year! I have been going a little picture crazy, so I thought I'd share some :-)

Our class Christmas party. I love teaching at a school where we can say "Christmas" instead of "winter" or "holiday." We had a blast singing Christmas songs and Santa even came for a visit.

We made reindeer puppets!

We left the blizzard in Provo and came to Washington on Dec. 22nd. This is the first Christmas I have been home since I was married. It's been fun to spend time with my parents, siblings, and especially my nephews. Here are some pictures of my trip so far...

Cameron and Jirik

Whenever I needed a distraction for the little ones I turned to Photo Booth. The boys were so entertained!

Cameron with a letter from Santa :-)

Cameron was the first one up.

Jirik & I with my cute nephews. Kids make Christmas so much more exciting!

My dad helping Brandt with his new toy. Brandt kept saying, "batteries, batteries."

Cameron opening presents. He is so adorable! When asked what his favorite Christmas gift was he answered, "family."

us!

Isn't he cute!?! Love him!

Jirik had fun too.

Alex, my 13 year old nephew... he makes me feel so short!

Jirik received much needed gloves & a hat from my sisters.

Dana got me an awesome watch!

My dad acting surprised about a gift he picked out :-)

Cathy got me a Vera Bradley purse!

My parents with Brandt.


Brandt using the ipad. I am so impressed by how well he can use this thing!!

Brandt dancing with Santa. This cracks me up!

Overall, it's been a wonderful and relaxing Christmas and I am so grateful for family! We fly back to Provo on Saturday, then I'm back to work on Monday.

Christmas Pictures

2010-12-18T19:08:00.003-07:00

Today Paul and Jesse took some Christmas pictures for us. I did not get them done in time for Christmas cards, but here they are on our blog for your viewing pleasure :-)

We fly to home to visit my side of the family on Wednesday and I'm looking forward to many more pictures to be taken, especially with my cute little nephews :-)

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T21:02:00.002-07:00

Jirik & I stayed here for Thanksgiving. We opted out of doing the huge, traditional meal. We just grabbed some of our favorites and focused on relaxing. I have to say, it was wonderful! We were able to sleep in and spend lots of time together every day. I usually spend too much time on work stuff and don't spend as much time with Jirik as I would want, so it was nice to have the time with each other. We didn't do any super early morning Black Friday sales this year, but I did head to Gap because everything was 50% off. I also got my hair done (it had been almost a year and a half... it was needed!). I went pretty dark this time. I think I might prefer it light, but it is a nice change.

As always with Thanksgiving, my mind turns more to the things in life I'm grateful for. We are nowhere near where I thought we would be. I think I expected we would be doing the house and kid thing by now, but that's just not in the cards for us yet. Even though I thought I'd be further in my life plan, I realize that we are doing alright and have a lot to be grateful for. I'm thankful for the support of both of our families. We are really blessed to each have caring parents and wonderful siblings. I am soooo thankful for my job. We pretty much couldn't live without it. I have no doubt that Jirik will be able to find a great job for him and I think this experience will bring us closer. I will now understand how he feels after a super long day at work and he will understand what it's like to stay home. I have to say, I am so grateful for Jirik. He's always trying his best to find a job to support us so I can get along with "my plan" and he is so sweet to me. When I went to Gap on Black Friday he came with me and let me pile all the clothes on him that I wanted to try on. He always puts my wants and needs above his own. I live a very blessed life.

It's been a great 5 day weekend, but I know it's going to make this week seem so long! Knowing I'll be going home in 3 1/2 weeks will hopefully help me push through!

Halloween Weekend

2010-10-31T19:42:00.002-06:00

I love Halloween. I'm not sure what it is, but it's my favorite holiday to decorate for. This year I decked out our apartment with spooky decor. I think it looks pretty amazing. Cameron would love it :-) I can't wait until I have a house so I can add outdoor decorations.

This month Jirik went to the doctor because his gluten free diet was no longer helping him. The doctor put him on some medicine that is helping him and we can eat gluten again! At least for now...

I have not really baked in over a year, because gluten-free baking was hard and expensive. So with gluten now a "safe food" I made lots of ghoulish goodies this month. I actually love to bake and cook, I just don't have the time to do it often. Here are some of my creations:

On Friday we had a Halloween parade at school. I was tired of being a cow, so this year I opted for a pirate. I really wanted Jirik to dress up with me, so the good husband that he is, he dressed up as Davy Jones (from Pirates of the Caribbean). He was a hit with the kids! He was a good sport as my students mauled at him most of the day. He had told them that the mask was his new face, so they were constantly trying to prove him wrong. It was a fun day.

That night we met up with Paul and Jesse (also dressed up as pirates) and went to Nickel City. We got addicted to a new game and won lots of tickets, I mean treasures.....Arrrrrgh. We realized the games were awesome, but the prizes not so much. So we found a couple kids to give them to. One little boy (who I'm pretty sure was scared of us) we gave 1300 tickets. I'm glad we were able to make his night. And just think of the stories he can tell at school on Monday, haha. Our night of treasure seeking left us hungry so we went to In-and-Out. We then came back to our place and played the board game Pirate's Cove.

Saturday we had a lazy day and played games and watched a scary movie together. Overall, it's been a great Halloween weekend!

Hi

2010-10-17T22:59:00.001-06:00

Life is good.

Coolest ward announcement

2010-07-05T11:34:00.000-06:00

"Brothers and Sisters, Brother Marvelle has had a problem come up recently and he needs all of your help. As you know he runs a catering business and he prepared for 2000 people yesterday. but only 1300 showed up. Brothers and Sisters he needs our help. So after church if you would be willing, please help him by taking home some food."

I tell ya, the blessings you get when you go to church. Pulled pork....... yummmmm

School is out!

2010-06-01T13:19:00.000-06:00

Caitlin has just finished her second year of teaching last Friday! We celebrated by having Martin and Trish come down for the weekend to play games with us and the Aweshins. Caitlin will have off this week and will begin teaching her sign language summer school next Monday. We are excited to spend more time together during this summer eating snowcones and otterpops (as well as learning the art of gluten free cooking).

As many people know we have a growing problem in our life called board games. We have set a new record for ourselves by playing 73 games in the month of May! We figure with the summertime upon June will be well over 100!! (weekends help a lot).

April - In Pictures

2010-05-02T13:27:00.000-06:00

April was a fun month for us and I've actually been trying to take more pictures to show it! Lisa and Scott came the week before spring break. It was really nice to see family. They treated us to my FAVORITE restaurant: Tucanos :-) They also brought my old foosball table back. I forgot my camera when we went out to dinner, so unfortunately I do not have pictures of their visit, but here is the foosball table:

The next week was my spring break. GLORIOUS! I needed it so much. My first day off I decided to be crafty. I used to love doing crafts, but I just don't feel I have the time anymore. We moved our desktop computer into our family room a while ago and our second bedroom is now our game room. I wanted some kind of game room sign, but couldn't find one. So, I decided to make one. Here is the result:

Also, Martin and Trish came down to visit. We had a great time and are glad they are relatively close to us. We played lots of board games! We love to share our addiction with others :-) Jirik and I have lived in Utah for a while now without any family, so it really means a lot to us when we get to visit with family from either side. We are looking forward to hopefully moving closer to family within the next year or two.

The week after spring break, Seth (one of Jirik's old roomates) and his wife stayed with us for a few days. They also treated us to Tucanos with some other mutual friends, so April was pretty happy for me food-wise :-)

At the end of April we went on a quadruple date. We went bowling and then came back to our place to play a couple games. Jirik and I used to go bowling all the time when we were dating and when we lived in the basement apartment our first year of marriage because that was one of the only things within walking distance. We don't go very often now, and it's been about 2 years. It was really fun to go out and do something. We play games several times a week, but it's nice to go out every once in a while. And here's a shout-out to Paul and Jessie: without them I doubt we would have contact with other humans besides at work. We play games with them at least every weekend. Here are pictures from the date:

So that was our April! Now we are in May and I'm counting down the days! May means testing and teaching the end-of-year dance for the festival, and these are not my favorite times :-( I have decided to teach summer school to make a little extra money, but I still have all of July free. I seriously can't wait until July! I want to read some books, gets things ready for next school year, dream about houses (I call myself "house hungry," you know how most girls are baby hungry, I really want a house), watch HGTV, and just relax. We haven't decided if we'll be able to visit family or not, but that would be fun too.

Here's hoping May flies by!

Pulling My Hair Out

2010-03-26T17:19:00.000-06:00

My students were so naughty this afternoon :-(

Constant talking, disrespect, lying, and kleptomania ... arrrrgh

It's a good thing it's Friday...

Caitlin and I are back together again

2010-03-22T20:58:00.000-06:00

After quite a long time being separated Caitlin and I have gotten back together again. We resolved our issues and believe that we can coexist now (even though we are separately posting today.... and the separation is referring to our blog separation only. Caitlin is very happily married to me and I am very very happily ever after married to her).

We have now added a new addition to our blog! We are nerds, board game nerds. Our collection of board games is actually available online for anyone to see! Also along the right side of our blog you will see the list of the last 10 games we have played. Isn't that neato, I think so.

Anyways on a more important note, we would like to congratulate Martin and Trish on their new (upcoming) addition to their family. Not to steal the spotlight from them, but we recently added a new member to our family as well. His name is Jack, but we call him Mr. Jack.

Life is great!!!

And PaJe you are great too.

- "the house spouse"

Favorite Quotes

2010-03-22T19:14:00.001-06:00

Kids are funny. Usually without meaning to be. It's actually one of my favorite things about my job. Sometimes the humor is what gets me through tough days :-)

I'm not sure if the quotes are still funny out of context, maybe it's the way the kids say it that makes it so remarkably hilarious. I think their mannerisms definitely add to the humor. Either way, I'll share.

My most favorite quotes from the last week:

Background: I had a few kids in from lunch recess and we heard a high pitched, giddy scream from outside the window. One boy asked who was screaming. I told him that I wasn't sure. The next little boy insisted it must be a girl. His response below:
"Girls scream when they're chased. That's why boys don't like chasing girls; we like peace and quiet." -- 7 year old boy

Background: We were starting a unit on explorers, so we were discussing places we would like to explore and what an explorer is.
Me: "Boys and girls, raise your hand if you can name a famous explorer."
(long pause... no one could think of one)
8 year old boy (said with pride, he was not trying to be funny): Chuck Norris
Me: Ummm... ok ..... anyone else? (longer pause) How about Columbus, anyone heard of Columbus.... (no response)
Same boy: No, Chuck Norris!
Me: Ok, today I'm going to teach you about Columbus...

My all time favorite quote from last year (or at least the one I remember the best) was when one of my little boy's hair was getting a little long. He grabbed his shaggy sideburns and said, "Look Mrs. Hynst, I'm starting to grow a beard!" He totally thought that a beard grows down your face from your sideburns instead of from your actual face.

Sometimes their quotes aren't funny, but very sweet. I have one little girl who always tells me how nice I am. She told me whoever is in my family is very lucky (she also told Jirik that he was lucky to have me when he came in to help one day, haha). One day she even told me that she wished I was her mom (that made me pretty sad, because she has a mom). She frequently asks me why I don't have kids. I always tell her that I'm saving up money, but I plan to someday. Today she told me when I do have kids they will be very lucky and I'll be a great mom. She is such a sweet little girl, and I wish she felt more love at home.

Overall gist of the post:
These kids sometimes drive me a little crazy, but they are funny and/or sweet just often enough to make it all worth it :-)

Blog response

2010-01-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

Now I can't have Paul blogging more than I do, so I'll match him.... but I am tired and will make it brief.

Life Status Update:
Caitlin = teacher
Jirik = free agent

Good News and Bad News

2009-09-27T17:14:00.000-06:00

Bad news: I have Celiac Disease.

Good News: I can now spell Celiac.

Actually this is some of the best news I have had in a long time! For five years I haven't known what was physically wrong with me and it good to know that its not just in my head!

This is Jirik btw, as far as we know Caitlin is a normal person.... that smiles a lot....

2009-06-08T08:38:00.000-06:00

So I come home as usual and I say "Where's that loverly wife of mine?!?" Responding to the "Over here!" I turned and saw some random girl in the bedroom. Needless to say I was a little troubled and concerned. I mean she looked like she could've been related to Caitlin, but her hair and a few other things were way off... it was creepy, she had the same glasses as Caitlin! I didn't say a word and got back in the car. I mean cmon, I didn't want to be there with some random girl in the bedroom when Caitlin got home.....

2009-04-21T12:50:00.001-06:00

Take that Comcast! I win!

Summer Trips

2009-03-28T12:52:00.000-06:00

We just got our tickets home to Virginia for Rachel's wedding. We will be arriving June 11th and staying until June 18th. We'll also be doing a trip to Washington in July or August. We can't wait until summer!!

Jirik the Intern

2009-03-21T22:21:00.000-06:00

I got an internship lined up for this Summer!
I will be working for a small company called Environmental Concepts. For a few weeks I will go to Washington State for a few weeks for training. Its really cool actually, free room and board and they even have a private chef that does all of the meals! Caitlin gets to go too and even will be able to see her family quite a bit since they live near the company's office.

I will get to do a variety of tasks, well actually now that I think of it I really have no idea what in the world I will be doing. All I know is that the company's president will be personally training me and even said I could call him Mike. He also said I could calfl him Dad, but I dunno.... It will be fun though and it'll be a great little addition to the resume! Oh and here's a picture of my boss, cool guy eh?

Graduation ! nope not yet....

2009-03-21T22:09:00.000-06:00

So I finally cracked the password and username so I can post on our blog. Caitlin thought it would be best if I wasn't allowed to, but I feel like the truth should be revealed!

So a little update on the truth....

Time = Januaryish 2009
Professor: So Jirik are you going to graduate this April?
Jirik: I better! If not something must really be wrong with me!

Time = Beginning of March 2009
Professor: So Jirik looks like you are on the graduation list! Congrats!
Jirik: Well uh actually... I decided to delay graduation a little bit....

Okay so yeah I am not graduating until December 2009. By that time I will have a manufacturing minor and some experience in Six Sigma. At that point I will either get a job or go into grad school in Lean Manufacturing. So long chemical engineering!!

New Addition

2008-11-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

We did it! We bought a car!! Pictures and details to follow...

Zoom Zoom

2008-11-02T20:53:00.001-07:00

The weather is getting colder and the distances we have to walk have definitely not been getting shorter. As a result we have decided a car may be in our future. I have been sick pretty much for a few months, and we're hoping a car might help with health issues. It's really hard getting food because we can only buy what we can carry home. Therefore no heavy packages or liquids or stocking up on anything. We've just began our car search and have gotten a lot of tips from family members. We've been looking at a few used cars and also considering an '08 Corolla. Basically we need a 4-door automatic that is really reliable and decently priced. We're still debating all of it, and would love any help! If you have any suggestions leave a comment on this post! Thanks!!

Halloween Video Tour

2008-10-18T10:49:00.000-06:00

We recently bought a cheap video camera and decided to test it out by taping a video tour of our condo with our Halloween decor up. I was feeling pretty sick and didn't want to be on camera, but as the cameraman, Jirik had a different plan...

Enjoy!

There were a few decorations we didn't get on tape and I posted them on my personal blog.

This Past Week...

2008-08-02T19:34:00.000-06:00

This week Martin and Trish stayed at our place for a few days on their way to Idaho. It was great to see them! I saw all of my family this summer, so I was really glad we got to see some of Jirik's family as well. We loved sharing some good times on the Wii, watching movies, and just talking. They were also a huge help in getting some of the bigger items that I need for my classroom. Without a car it's hard to transport big, bulky, or heavy things. I was able to get wire storage cages from Target that I'm going to use as bookcases, tons of notebooks and some other school supplies from Target, animal print pillows from Costco along with hanging folders and labels, and other misc. items. It was such a load off my back (actually quite literally). They left Friday morning to go to their new apartment and we are way excited for them!!

Updates on the flood situation:

~ carpet is dry
~ still no padding
~ Living room is put back together, but will need to be removed again when the padding is installed
~ sprinkler head and pipe replaced, resulting in hole in the wall because the last sprinkler went through the 2x4
~ water valve turned back on, and no more waterfall
~ Next steps: (1) wait another day or two to ensure problem is fixed, (2) Maintenance people need to replace drywall and paint, (3) empty living room, (4) carpet padding replaced, (5) reassemble living room, (6) Get back to normal life

Flood Update

2008-07-24T14:43:00.000-06:00

Our carpet is feeling pretty dry so we are happy! We still have to keep the fans going until Monday though. That's when the carpet guy comes back to take the fans and put in new carpet padding (right now we are without padding). We also have to wait until then to reassemble our living room. So for now the office is our hang out room. Because of all the fun yesterday we didn't get too much done, so today's agenda: unpack and replenish our food supply. Papa John's carried us through yesterday and part of today, but I think it's time to hit a grocery store. Unfortunately, Pioneer Day is considered a holiday in Utah so buses do not run :-( Albertsons should be open though, and it's a walkable distance. Happy Pioneer Day!

Homecoming Surprise

2008-07-23T22:29:00.000-06:00

So today we flew back home after a wonderful week with my family, which I will soon share more about in my personal blog. But for now, I would like to relate what happened when we arrived home...

There was a strong stench when we opened the door and I was afraid I left something out that spoiled. Then I walked in further to find the carpet quite squishy... not a good sign! Now I must rewind and give some background information. About a month or so ago I noticed one of our sprinklers (you know the indoor ones that go off when there's a fire) dripping a little bit. I called our landlords and they called the HOA, but the sprinklers are so old no one knew what to do. I put a towel down to catch the little bit of water but it wasn't bad. It dripped on and off for a weekend, then there was no sign of any more water. We were told just to call if it happened again, but there were no more problems with it. Before we left on our trip I checked all the sprinklers and they were all good. Okay, so fast forward to this morning. After I noticed the carpet was particularly squishy, I saw the steady stream of water draining from the sprinkler in the living room. The wall was damaged and there was a water filled pocket that looked quite interesting. After further investigation I discovered that the entire living room carpet was soaked. Not a good thing to come home to! We were gone a week, but have no idea when the waterfall started. But before you think this is a post solely for complaining or venting, we do feel blessed that it didn't damage many of our belongings, which would not have been the case if this happened with any other sprinkler in the house. Also, we are grateful that our landlord and HOA are very fast acting and helpful. We called minutes after getting home, and they came pretty quickly to pull up the drenched carpet padding and dry the carpet. I'm not gonna lie, this was a pretty big inconvenience because it involved moving all of our furniture out of our living room and we have to have a couple loud fans blowing constantly until Monday. So our living room will be bare for several days and a little on the loud side, but I have to say it's nice to get things fixed in a timely manner. A little while after the carpet guy (I took a nap around this time so I don't actually know the time frame), another guy came and turned off the water valve to the sprinklers (I wish this had been done the first time we had problems, but because they are so old no one, not even the HOA, knew about this valve). Long story short: I am grateful for no longer having a waterfall in the living room.

Basketball Hoop

2008-07-01T20:19:00.000-06:00

As an early anniversary gift I got Jirik a basketball hoop off Craigslist. He's been wanting one all summer and finally the right deal came along. It was a success, and he seems pretty happy about it (as do the neighborhood kids :-)).

Condo

2008-06-30T12:42:00.000-06:00

Here are the pictures of how we set up our new place:

Click here to see the rest of the place...

Great Googily Moogily

2008-06-22T20:27:00.000-06:00

We got a new calling in our ward: primary teachers! We teach the CTR 8 class, which includes kids 7 turning 8 this year. Half are going into 2nd grade and half are going into 3rd grade. Some of them even go to Franklin Elementary (where I teach 2nd grade), but none are in my class. This is a pretty fun age group, but still a challenge. We taught our first lesson today and it was an adventure! Some kids seem to have the inability to stay in a chair for more than a minute or stay on topic for that matter, but it's all pretty entertaining. We're grateful for this calling and it's way nice to have another calling together as a couple because we are able to see each other a lot on Sundays!

In the beginning...

2008-05-31T19:28:00.000-06:00

Since we live in the land of Far Away we have decided to start up our own blog so family can share in our highs and lows of our many adventures.......