Aaaand...........we're back!

So I've decided after 4 months of absence, it's time to update the blog. Life's crazy as always, but if it wasn't crazy, would it be any fun? I think not. Work is keeping us both plenty busy. I'm at a brand new school that opened this year in Spanish Fork, and I've loved it so far. Each year brings new and exciting challenges. My caseload is pretty manageable so far, and includes a special ed preschool and a severe disabilities/medically fragile unit. Most of those students are in wheelchairs and cannot speak. It's been a learning experience everyday. I'm grateful for the chance I have to work with them this year, and I hope I can make some kind of difference in their lives! Brett is busy with school as well. It's cross country season so he has a meet about every week.
He's also busy with his new calling as Young Men President. We were kind of surprised at his call since I'm already the Primary President, but the Lord knows that He's doing. Brett's been awesome and he really enjoys the young men....however I'm not sure how he can handle those deacons :) I've been working on the primary program and each child is creating their own part, based on questions I've been asking them. I asked one CTR 4 boy last week, "Why are you thankful for your family?" and he said, "They help me start the Wii". Gotta love kids and their honest answers!
Well that's our life in a nutshell at the moment! Someday we'll post pictures and all that fun stuff.

The Prophet Said To Plant A Garden....

....so that's what we'll do! A few weeks ago we finally had good enough weather to start our vegetable and flower gardens. We are doing a square foot garden in the backyard with lots of yummy stuff, like squash, lettuce, spinach, radishes, canteloupe, corn, broccoli, and other veggies. I didn't ever think it would be fun to garden, but now that we have a yard of our own, it's different. I like being out in the yard and getting my hands dirty! It's fun to go out and check on the progress of our little sprouts, which we're already getting! Yay!

Brett pouring the compost

Raking

Drilling the boards

Finished!

Our radishes are sprouting! A couple other things are also starting to bud.

We also planted flowers in our front yard. We planted petunias, verbenas, snapdragons, and some other pretty things!

Zions National Park Videos

We finally broke out the video camera that my parents gave us for Christmas. We hope you enjoy the videos.

For the love of BACON!!!

Interestingly enough, Megan and I both have younger sisters who love bacon. When we ate at Denny's on the first night of our vacation in St. George we saw this sign in the window.

If that doesn't make you smile, then maybe the next picture will make your stomach turn. Apparently, someone at Denny's thought it would be a good idea to celebrate bacon with...

That's right! A bacon ice cream sundae! As much as our sisters love bacon, we highly doubt they would even consider trying this. If anyone has tried it, we'd be interested in knowing if it was worth it.

St. George Vacation, Day 2

Today was all about Zion...Zion's National Park that is. Megan and I decided to take in the gorgeous scenery that is found in Zion's Canyon. This is my favorite of all the Utah National Parks because of the stunning cliff walls and majestic peaks. Add in perfect sunny weather with temperatures in the low 70s and you have a great day. Here's a recap of what we did today:

Weeping Rock

We started out by taking the free shuttle up the canyon to Weeping Rock Trailhead. After a short 1/4 mile hike you find yourself at the base of Weeping Rock. Since most of the rock in the canyon is sandstone, water from the plateau above is able to seep down. Once the water hits a more solid rock, the pressure forces it out the sides of the cliffs. The trail took us to the base of a waterfall and we were able to see (and feel) geology at work!

Waterfall at Weeping Rock

View from the start of trailhead

Coming down the trail

Wo to those who are at ease in Zion...

Angel's Landing

The focal point of the park is Angel's Landing. It got its name from a Methodist preacher who believed that the peak was so high, that only the angels could reach its summit safely. It is a dangerous hike and we received a few warnings on the shuttle bus about hiker safety on the trail. Megan and I decided to play it safe and only hiked up half way. The hike up was much steeper than I remembered, but the views were worth it.

Angel's Landing dead ahead!

Looking back down the trail and Virgin River

At the top of the 1st set of switchbacks!

Lunch at Zion's Lodge

Once we made it down the Angel's Landing trail, we decided to take a lunch break and rest at Zion's Lodge. Zion's Lodge was built in the 1920s and has been rebuilt once after being washed away in a flood during the 1960s. It's not as elaborate as the lodges in Grand Teton, Yellowstone, or Glacier, but was also financed by the railroad in order to promote tourism. Currently, the lodge is being renovated and improved. We loved just sitting on the bench out in front relaxing and eating lunch. We also splurged and bought a yummy frozen treat from the Lodge cafe!

Zion's Lodge with Angel's Landing in the background

Lower Emerald Pool

For our 3rd hike of the day, we took a easy 1/2 mile trip to Lower Emerald Pool. We saw another waterfall, yucky brown (not emerald green) water, and lots of red clay mud. At least it wasn't a steep hike!

Court of the Patriarchs

We wrapped up our day by stopping at the Court of the Patriarchs. The Patriarchs are 3 peaks that were named by the aforementioned Methodist preacher for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. A Nephite patriarch is also represented by Mount Moroni.

Abraham's Peak on right

Abraham's Peak (left), Issac's Peak (center), Mt. Moroni (front right), and Jacob's Peak (back right)

Court of the Patriarchs Shuttle Stop

St. George Vacation, Part 1

Well, we finally made it to one of the favorite times of the school year....spring break! We wanted to take a trip somewhere, but not go very far, so we decided to go to St. George. It was apparently a good idea because we are enjoying sunshine and perfect temperatures while it's raining and snowing back home. We arrived yesterday and will stay until Saturday. Here's what we did today!

St. George Temple

This morning we did a session in the St. George Temple. It was a great experience. The temple is a great piece of history and the architecture and colors both inside and out were really cool. We went to the visitors center afterward and learned that the founding fathers appeared to President Wilford Woodruff in the temple and told him they wanted their temple work done. So he headed down to the baptistry and was baptized for 50+ people. Pretty awesome!

Isn't it pretty?

Jacob Hamblin Home

Next, we took a drive to the home of Jacob Hamblin, whom Brigham Young sent to the St. George area to be a missionary to the Native Americans. We had a cool tour of his home and property. We learned that he served his mission for 32 years! We also learned that there is a statue of him in the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City where he is known as the man with the most hours spent in a saddle in the West (due to his missionary labors, of course, but the Hall of Fame wont tell you that)!

Jacob Hamblin's home



Jacob Hamblin's saddle



Brett's a cotton pickin' fool! Haha. They had cotton and grapes growing in front of the house.
Fun stuff!

St. George Tabernacle

Next, we went to the St. George Tabernacle. I remember singing in the tabernacle on choir tour in high school and it was fun to go back. We did a nice little tour and learned some cool stuff!

Here's the inside. The chandeliers are replicas of the originals. Also, 75% of the window panes in the building are original!



Here's the top of the middle chandelier. Look very closely at the design. Can you see the owls around the outside? The tour guide told us no one is sure if that was intentional or just coincidence! It could have been a symbol used for wisdom. I thought that was pretty cool.

That is the original pulpit for the tabernacle. Every prophet up to President McKay spoke at that pulpit, and we're touching it!



This is just a big fat frog outside the tabernacle in a nice little park area!

Banana Muffins

Brett and I decided to make some gluten-free banana muffins for family home evening this week. We even went so far as to put chocolate chips on top of each one. Don't they look delicious? Too bad we forgot to add the sugar......not even joking.

It's GO(pher) time!

Alright, back to blogging. We had a little adventure in our backyard a few weeks ago. After the snow melted and we were actually able to see our grass again, we discovered some gopher holes around our concrete pad. There were about 4 of them. Our grass was dead also because they had eaten away at the roots. Rude! So we made a little trip to Home Depot to look at our options for extermination. The traps were too expensive, so we went with the gas. Here are some dramatic pictures of Brett lighting what looks like a stick of dynamite to shove into the hole. It was actually sulfur dioxide (or something like that). So now we probably have a dead colony of gophers under our driveway....

Brett just before the attack. (The helmet is for dramatic effect :)


Holding the weapon. (The "Giant Destroyer"). Oh the joys of spring!

Birthday Fun!

So Brett's birthday was last week, and because he turned 30, we had to take a couple days to celebrate. It's a big deal entering another decade! Here are some pictures of him opening his presents:

Brett is very excited about his tools!

So, about the USB drive....I got that for him because last year on his birthday I got him a digital picture frame, but he needed a USB drive to load his photos onto. Well we never got around to getting one, so now a year later, he can finally use his picture frame!

This is a head massager. One of Brett's favorite things is to have his head massaged!

On President's Day, we made our semi-annual trip to Tucanos for Brett's birthday lunch. It is the best. You can't just go to Tucanos on a whim, you must prepare for such a feast.

Me enjoying a fried banana.

Brett enjoying a chicken heart.

Puzzle Mania and Mug Shots

I gave Megan this lovely puzzle for Christmas. We spent several hours working on it together and completed it on a Saturday night while listening to BYU basketball on the radio (BYU vs. CSU). There is a sense of accomplishment when the last puzzle piece is put in. While we are only willing to try 500 piece puzzles, we may venture up to 1000 pieces in the future.

On of my favorite Christmas gifts was this chalkboard mug from Megan. She leaves me messages from time to time including "I love you!" and "World's Best Husband". It always brightens my day whenever I need to get a drink.