Melissa, Andy and the kids' Blog

For the past few months I have been thinking about getting a car.  I now have to drive to work, but my Firebird won't get out of the driveway when it snows.  I almost bought a car in August, but then decided that it wasn't the right one.  I also knew that I would need to get a Utah driver's license if I wanted cheaper insurance, so yesterday I decided to go get a new license.  By the way, a few years ago I swore I would not move to Utah.  Now I am actually licensed in Utah. Well, on the way back from getting my license, I decided to go look at some cars.  I wasn't planning on buying one because Uncle Bob was going to come with me to get one.  Well, I drove a 2006 Toyota Corolla S, and I loved it.  They gave me a good deal.  I did call Bill, Tracy and Bob just to make sure it was a good deal.  They also offered me a good trade in value for the Firebird.  I left Ken Garf Honda 4 hours later with a new, sporty car.  I think this car was meant for me because everything work...

The first day of school started on August 19th, and I am glad to say that I am still alive on October 5th.  I have 26 perfect students...I wish!  At least they are cute...some of the time.  Teaching has definitely been a little crazy at times, but it has had some good moments too. Recently we started a science unit on terrariums, so we made a class terrarium.  Along with a plant, we also have tons of rollie pollies and a worm.  We shall see how long all these things live. My students loved making it.  Today one child was excited to show me that the seeds we planted are growing!  It is good to see them excited about something.  By the end of the day they are definitely not excited to listen to me anymore, but then I am ready to go home as well.   Math is also at the end of the day, and sometimes it can be a bit hard for them to understand. It can also be a bit boring. I am trying to spice up my lessons a bit more, but somedays it is difficult to make math exciting.  I hate it when we sp...

Here are some pictures of my classroom! Below is the job chart. This is the library. I needed to get a new hair cut before I started teaching! That is about all I have time to say!  Wish me luck!

Trisha, Ava and Jeremy came in town for the Fourth of July!  It was really good to see them. Here we are with our cousins! Ava and Addie were together all day! I really had a fun weekend with family.  I even took a day off work, so Trisha and I had more time to play.  It felt like a vacation because I stayed at my cousin's house for a couple nights and then my uncle's house a couple nights.  It was nice to get away from Provo at least! I guess I should catch y'all up on my life.  Recently I have been working on my classroom and working 30 hours at the creamery.  My classroom is practically finished.  I just have a few things I want to put up, and then I will take some pictures to post on my blog.  Exactly one month from today I start teaching 3rd grade.  Wish me luck because I am sure going to need it! I am also trying to survive living with a roommate that is stressed out with wedding plans and having a long distance fiance'.  At least I am not going to be her bridesma...

We had a get together with all the family, but I only took pictures of my grandparents.  Oooops! Kate and I realized that we could fit in one shirt together!  It needed a bigger neck hole...our necks were red afterwards. We decided to play a trick on Serena while she was in the shower.  Someone told us that it would make us more united to play tricks on each other.  It was rather funny! Look in the mirror and you can see Kate and I waiting for Serena to come out. We are a little crazy at times!

My roommate thought that it would be fun to make some cute frames.  Someone had once given her a frame that was decorated with scrapbook paper.  We decided that we would also make some frames.  To make these frames we bought wood frames, scrapbook paper (thicker the better), sponge brushes, paint and modge podge.  First we planned out how we wanted to decorate the frames, and then we used a paint that matched the paper the best.  We decided that we would rather have the frames look stained, so we just added some water to the paint.  After we painted the frames, we wiped them down with a paper towel to give them a more stained look.  Then we cut out the paper...the middle was a little difficult, but we used a blade.  Then we put modge podge on the frame and smoothed out the paper over it.  Then some of us added more paper on top with modge podge.  Once we had everything on our frames, we did a layer of modge podge on top.  This gets rid of the paper look.  They all turned out so cute.  ...

Above: This was the 4th grade class that I worked with for the month of March. I miss them already! Below: I had my mission reunion. Here I am with President and Sister Lee. They were the best. Above: My friends and I got to go to the Sunday morning session of General Conference! This is in front of the Conference Center. Below: The sisters in my ward had a sleepover at my Bishop's house (mansion). It was fun sharing embarrassing stories in front of our bishop. I threw a bridal shower for my friend, Sonja. I will be her bridesmaid next month in Washington. I think this will be my sixth official time being a bridesmaid!!!

Kate, Serena, and I had a great time at Serena's birthday party. The boy to girl ratio was definately in our favor!!! I'm in the corner with my feet doing spirit toes! We all seemed to match very nicely. I just have to prove how strong I really am! Here is one amazing pyramid! Luckly I got to be on top! The guys couldn't keep their hands off of me! Of course they loved tickling me! Here are some more of the amazing people that came to party with us. Ok, so this was a couple days before. Kate is making a veil for a friend, and let's just say that we were having a little fun with it! I should probably catch you all up on my life. This past week I started working in a fourth grade classroom. It is just for the month of March. It is part of my EL ED program. We get to work in the schools for a month and we teach a few lessons a day. We don't have to go to classes at BYU during this month. I will get observed once a week for a grade. Next week I have to t...

Here are the pictures from my late Christmas with my family. I'm sure the kids didn't mind having more than one Christmas. Mom and Bill are excited to have their children and grandchildren home! Look at the "men." It is always so good to see my nieces (Ava & Kiera ) and my nephew ( Kael ). Andrew is consoling Bobby because Shanda dropped a big dollop of whipcream on him. It scared him so much that he didn't even want to lick it off. The Clan likes to by lazy every now and then.

On the 19th of December I drove up with Uncle Fred and family to Oregon. The drive normally takes about 12 hours, but we had a nice 18 hour or so drive through snowy weather conditions. At least the boys got some good sleep. I-84 closed the next day, so at least we made it to Oregon where we were pretty much snowed in for a week. One day Trisha, Jeremy, Ava, and I bundled up to go play out in the snow. Jeremy even got me strapped in to a snowboard and I "snowboarded" down their driveway and street. Hey, it is the most snowboarding I've ever done. Jeremy even stuck Ava on the snowboard and she loved it. Ava kept us entertained throughout the week while we were trying not to get cabin fever. I think she read this Winnie the Pooh book at least 100 times! It was sure fun to get to spend a lot of time with her and Trish. Since we couldn't get out of Oregon to drive up to Washington for Christmas, we just stayed at Trisha's and eventually went across town to Grandma...