It's Official!

Last night Scott was officially inducted into the medical society.  Classes don't start until Monday, but before classes start they have a White Coat Ceremony.  This is when the medical students get to put on their white coats officially for the first time.  Some of the doctors on the school board line up.  The students hand their coat to one of the doctors in the line and that doctor puts the coat on the student.  Most of the students don't really care about the ceremony, but it's kind of fun for the wives and moms to get to be proud!  This is my attempt at getting a picture of Scott while the doctor was putting the coat on him.  I had everything lined up perfectly for the shot and then that boy walked in front of Scott at exactly the wrong moment!  If you look closely, you can see Scott getting his coat put on him behind that shorter dark haired boy.

We also had a couple of complications last night.  As we were driving to the ceremony we unfortunately ran out of gas.  Lucky for us, the building that the ceremony was in was in sight, just not particularly close.  Scott got out, nice clothes and all, and starts pushing the car (remember that it is really hot!) while I steer it.  Scott ended up pushing the car quite a ways because we couldn't get to a parking spot very quickly.  There were tons of people around, but no one was offering to help my poor husband!  As we got a little closer, the middle guy in the picture below (also dressed in his nice clothes) offers to help, then one more guy came along.  What a blessing!  With those two guys, the car went pretty smoothly and we were able to park it and run inside, with not very much time to spare.  Those poor boys were kind of a mess, but it all worked out.

We decided to not worry about the gas situation until after the ceremony because there really wasn't much we could do.  I went into the large auditorium and found a seat.  Crazily enough, I ended up sitting next to the wife of a boy from Springville.  I was actually friends with his little brother in Junior High.  I got to talking to his wife, Nicole, and I feel so blessed to have run into her.  She is also pregnant!  We were both so excited to meet someone in the same circumstances.  We also found out that they're in our ward.  They also ended up saving us in our gas dilemma and drove us to a gas station after the ceremony.  Since Scott and I have come to Houston we have had so many things like this happen to us.  We know that the Lord is watching over us and we are so grateful for how everything has worked out!

A Million Thank Yous!

The past few weeks have been crazy.  There is no way we would have survived them without our families and friends.  We had so much help loading up our U-haul and cleaning our Draper apartment that everything went so smoothly!  I could not even imagine what it would have been like without them.

Before we got to Houston, Scott was in contact with who we thought was our Elder's Quorum president.  We found out when we got here that we were actually in a different ward.  To make a long story short, due to our mistake and miscommunication we didn't have any guys to come and help us move in.  Just like in Draper, we were saved!  My best friend, Whitney, is from Houston and she and her husband were out here this summer while he was doing an internship.  They came to our rescue bright and early the next morning ready to move all of our stuff.  A normal move-in day is never fun, but in August in a city like Houston on the 3rd story of an apartment building, it is absolutely miserable!  Me being the pregnant woman that I am, couldn't really carry much, which left the other 3 a lot of carrying to do.  Without Matt and Whitney's help, this move-in truly could not have happened!  I feel more in debt to them than I can possibly even express.  Thank you!  They were also the ones that found us our awesome apartment that we are so happy to be in!

Scott and I just got back from a great two weeks of vacation! While we were in Hawaii we did a million things and I did not keep a journal about any of it, which means that this is going to a long blog post! Sorry about the trillion pictures, but I want to write it down while I still remember everything that happened!

We flew in on a Saturday afternoon and had plans to get out and see Hawaii. These plans did not happen because we did not realize how tired we would be, with the time change and everything. We ended up finding some groceries and going to bed.

Sunday we went to church. After church we went to Pearl Harbor to visit the Arizona Memorial. It was really neat, especially because just weeks earlier I was in the classroom teaching 5th graders all about Pearl Harbor and WWII. It was great to be there where it all happened. It really hits you when you see the ship lying in the water.


After Pearl Harbor we decided to go on a nice hike to Manoa Falls. The hike was one of the most gorgeous hikes I've ever done. The hike was actually better than the destination. We felt like we were on the set of a movie. It looked just like Jurassic Park. It was a complete rainforest, with all of the mosquitos and everything!




Monday we woke up bright and early to go snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. Wow! We decided that snorkeling is one of our favorite things to do. We saw some amazing fish. We actually saw a sea turtle! We tried to get pictures using an underwater camera, and unfortunately they didn't really turn out like we had hoped. You'll have to take our word for it, that it was awesome!

This day was one of our favorites because after we were done snorkeling we just drove up the east coast of Oahu and pulled off the road whenever we thought something looked cool. We stopped at a blowhole, a bunch of beaches and did a little hike. We went to Makapuu point and hiked up to a light house. You could see beautiful beaches for miles.


After the little hike we drove to what they say is the #1 beach in the US, and I'd have to say that I agree with them on that. I have never seen more turquoise water with white sandy beaches. It was also great because it was one of the least crowded beaches we were on the whole trip. In the distance are two islands that are bird preserves. We actually kayaked out to these islands later on the trip.

After we'd decided we were exhausted and wanted to head back to our hotel we made one last stop. We were driving through the mountains and Scott saw a sign that said scenic lookout point, so he quickly got off the freeway. We didn't know what to expect at this place, but it was breathtaking! It was called Pali Point (I think). The cliffs were complete faces and you could see nearly the whole east coast.



Tuesday morning we hit the International Marketplace. While we were there we stopped at a pearl stand and Scott picked an oyster out of a tub. The guy at the stand pried open the oyster and there was actually a really awesome pearl inside! It has a pink shine to it. We had it put into a necklace that has a setting that looks kind of like lava. I love it!

After the marketplace we went up to the North Shore. We went to the Laie lookout point.


Then we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Scott learned how to start fire with two sticks. He was actually really good at it! After learning about all of the Polynesian cultures we went to a Luau that has a roasted pig and all the pineapple you could eat! After dinner we got to watch the amazing show that they put on there.




Wednesday we went back to Lanikai beach and kayaked out to those two islands. Kayaking was a little more work than I originally thought it was going to be! It was fun kayaking on the waves of the ocean.


After kayaking we went back to hotel and got cleaned up. We went out for dessert at the Cheesecake Factory and got a delicious white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake. Yum!


Thursday we went up to the North Shore again and went beach hopping. After a day in the sun we decided to go to Matsumoto's famous shave ice stand. They were awesome! I got one with ice cream in it and Scott got everything in his, which included beans...very interesting. He loved it so much that we had to go back the next day too!


On our drive back we decided to stop at the Dole Plantation. We bought a couple of souvenirs and took a ride on the "Pineapple Express." It was a pretty quick trip, but you can't go to Hawaii without going to the Dole Plantation!


The next day, our last day in town we went to Waimea Bay on the North Shore and had a blast! At Waimea Bay there is a rock that you can climb on and jump off of into the ocean. It was a lot of fun, but very packed! While we were on the rock getting ready to jump we saw something right where a girl had just jumped. We thought it was a rock, then we noticed it had four stumps sticking out of it and it started to move! It was a sea turtle! It was swimming around and actually came to the surface so we could see it really well! We took videos of us jumping off the rock, but I don't have the patience to upload them right now!

Our last night in Hawaii we wanted to have dinner on the beach. We decided to go walking to see what we could find. We found a really cool restaurant in one of the hotels. It was a restaurant where you grill your own food. You order the meat you want and they bring it out raw. You take it over to this huge grill and season it up and grill up! We also grilled some pineapple and, of course, we both got tropical smoothies! it was definitely a unique and fun experience!



After dinner, we enjoyed one last walk on the beach, before we flew out the next morning! It was a great vacation and we can't wait to go back in 20 years (we don't think we'll get away again before then with a kid coming and all)!

The Boondocks Bonanza

Last Saturday we spent the day at Boondocks with my whole family. We also invited Nate and Jamie, Scott's brother and sister to come too. It was a lot of fun! We tried to find a date on the calendar when no one had anything going on (which proved very difficult) so that we could do something fun before we move away.

We were a little surprised at how much fun we could have at Boondocks! We did everything from miniature golfing, riding the go-carts, playing arcade games and riding water boats. The go-carts were everyone's favorite. I liked to ride with Scott. We made a great team! He did the driving and I did the looking behind us to tell him which side people were trying to pass us on!

During our miniature golf game Scott had the game of his life! He shot 12 under par. He was on fire! I was a little upset because I almost always beat him, but I wasn't even close to him that night. Here's a picture of him shooting an amazing putt. He had to crouch down to avoid a rock jutting out of the wall. He made the putt!

For a nice little food break, the family came over to our apartment for some pizza. It didn't take long for everyone to be ready to go back for more... especially Nate! It was such a fun day. We loved getting to spend that much time with our families. It really hit me yesterday how hard this move is going to be! Yesterday was my last day of school and it was really hard to say goodbye to my students and other teachers at the school. I can't even think about how hard it'll be to leave family!

Tomorrow morning we're off for our much anticipated 2 weeks of vacation! First, we're going to the beach house at Newport Beach with the Ellsworth's for a week. We fly straight from there to Hawaii for another week! We are so excited for one last vacation while it's just the two of us!

Here is Jamie basking on the rocks with water spraying behind her. If you can't guess, she's reenacting Ariel, from the Little Mermaid!
These are the water boats. You would just drive around and spray each other. I was smart because I made some alliances before the spraying began, so I got out of there almost completely dry! Calvin wasn't so lucky. He's always the family target, so he got soaked!

We always like to tease Sadie and Nate when they're by each other! I think they loved not being the only kid around. They liked having another person their age to do things with!

The Joys of Teaching

I cannot even believe how fast this past year has gone! At the beginning of the school year I remember looking through my plan book at how many weeks of school I had and thinking that I wouldn't make it. Today I looked back through my plan book at all of my plans from all of the weeks of school that we've gone through and I just don't even know where the time went! It's hard to believe that I have one more week left with these kids.

The end of the year really hit me hard today because with year-round school you've always got a couple of kids that have family vacations and things the last week of school, so their last day of school comes a little bit before the rest of the class. It was one of my little girl's last day of school today and it was a lot harder than I expected it would be. She waited until all of the kids had left the room and came up to give me a goodbye hug. After a quick hug, she pulled away and had tears streaming down her face. Needless to say, I lost it too. We hugged again and both just sobbed. It's especially hard with these kids because they know and I know that I will probably never see them again because we're moving. As I watched this little girl leave my room for the last time, I was heart broken. Who could have know that you could get so attached to these kids?! I really feel so blessed to have the job I do. There's almost nothing more rewarding than helping kids realize all of the good they can do and what they're capable of.

Over the past few weeks we had some class field trips, so I wanted to post some pics of my kids on those trips. We went to Timpanogos Cave to look at rock formations and to Camp Floyd to learn about what life was like during the Civil War.

Strawberry Days

Sorry that I have been really bad with posting lately. Things have been kind of busy for us. This past Thursday Scott and I decided to go to the Strawberry Day's Rodeo in Pleasant Grove. We figured that you have to go to at least one rodeo in the summer, and why not choose the one with tons of strawberries to eat?! The rodeo was a lot of fun, but the best part is that they sell delicious cups of strawberries and cream for $1.25. I don't think it gets better than that!

Our favorite thing to watch is the live cow milking competition. It's where teams of 3 grown men have to chase around their cow and get it to stand still long enough to milk it. It's ridiculous!