Alaska:Russian River Falls

We decided to do some hiking along the Kenai River country.  It is SO pretty and after talking with my cousins and their kids we decided the Russian River Falls hike wasn't bad "a walk" they said... about 15 minutes on a bike, they said.  Well, when we got there we noticed signs saying it was 2.8 miles one way.  We figured it must not be too hard so we braved it anyway.  There were a few times along our walk when I wondered if we were ever going to make it.  But we did make it and about 3 minutes after arriving it all became worth EVERY single step!  

Lots of little waterfalls along the way. 

Primroses

Definitely a gorgeous view!

Everything was SO green! 

First view of one of the creeks that feed into the Russian River.

Apparently, over this bridge and through the woods in the other direction is a cabin you can rent and stay in! 

These mushrooms remind me of Mario Kart on the Wii.  I know, I'm weird! 

We made it!  Look at those salmon jumping upstream! 

No wonder the salmon spawn out!  They have to swim up this! 

AND THEN THESE GUYS APPEARED!!! 

It was like my very own in person view of Brother Bear!  

  

AHHHHH!  Those are REAL bears!  I can't explain the feelings of awe and inspiration I felt in this moment.  

Mama bear caught a fish!!! 

Step one get to drier ground.

Step two skin fish. 

Step three eat and enjoy! 

Step four share with kids. 

Or at least the one who won't try fishing by themselves! 

 

 This was one of the single most memorable moments of my life! 

We went down to the bank to get a closer look.  

Where we saw the most salmon trying to swim up stream.  Some were already spawned out.  

fireweed is everywhere! 

Alaska Part 1

This summer John headed to Alaska in June and was there for 42 days before I got to go up and join him and some of my extended family.  Over the next week I plan to upload some of our favorite experiences! Here are a few from my first few days :)  

Together again at last... It's been a LONG 42 days!  John has grown a lot of new facial hair! 

View from the deck of my cousin's house

Out on the river boat on the lake 

John's become quite the multi-talented guy!

Looking at my cousin's house from the lake.

This is what it looks like outside at 9:30 pm on a cloudy day in the middle/end of July in Alaska.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

I'm so thankful for a day off of school!  It allowed us to have an extra low stress day.  It was lovely!  We slept in, ate a yummy breakfast, got in some game playing, laundry, exercising, blog reading, and yes I even did some things for school.

However, I'd be remised if I didn't express gratitude for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  As I've taught my third graders about this man and his dreams for America over the past week which will continue this week.  It has been interesting discussing segregation, civil rights, and equality and hearing their points of view.

While I do believe the simple version of Dr. King's dream has come true... I do still believe we have a long way to go as a society to accomplish the real intent I heard when listening to his speech in its entirety today for the first time.  So, let's keep moving towards the end goal.  I know its attainable if we can put our pride aside.

Also, to the state of AZ... I'm disappointed you've renamed the holiday Human Rights Day.  Give Dr. King some credit!

Busy, Busy

Life around our house is busy busy these days!  Over the Thanksgiving holiday break we got a ton of things accomplished.  We decorated the tree, most of the rest of the house is decorated and all of our outside lights are hung!  We also caught up on cleaning and laundry.  All while John cooked the Thanksgiving turkey ;)  So proud!  Pictures to come, soon, hopefully. 

Thanksgiving Round 2

So we're hosting Thanksgiving at our house for the 2nd year in a row.  We delegated much more (so it seems to me) this year.  I guess that's because last year I made all the pies and I'm only making chocolate pies this year.  I'm excited to eat on our new dining room table with the new tablecloths and napkins my mom got for us. If I would have been more on top of things I would have made a center piece, but alas, it's not going to happen this year.  Maybe next year I really LOVE hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house.  We have a fantastic time and it seems to me that everyone else is much more relaxed and less stressed coming to our house.  I hope that's true.  I'm looking forward to a great day.  The only squabble about last year is that the food wasn't ready by the time we had said it would be.  So I instructed the cook, that I didn't care what time they planned dinner for, but that the food better be ready by that time.  It's a huge pet peeve of mine when people say we'll eat at ____ but then 30 minutes later we still haven't started.  Pictures tomorrow of my beautiful new table and setup.  I'm very blessed. 

Baby Lilly

So I'm an auntie again!  This time to a new niece Lilly on my side of the family, she's the first grandchild for my mom.  She is SO precious!  I got to go to Indiana in October to meet her and she is just perfect!  She has the curliest hair and pulls the BEST faces!  Here's some of my favorite pictures of her. 

New Blogger

Can I just say I DID NOT appreciate having to take the last at least 2 if not 3 hours trying to get my blog to look the way I wanted it to!  This new blogger design stuff is very frustrating!  The one thing I couldn't figure out was how to get my Blog title to be centered on my header... anyone know how?  I finally got the rest of it to look the way I wanted.  Yay!  (Not the best welcome back into the blogging world!

Reset and Coming Back

Well, we've been trying out the Nurtured Heart Approach at school.  I must say, with my class it is totally working!  I love it.  I'm not perfect at it by any means, but one aspect of the Nurtured Hear is 'Reset'.  A word I say when one or some of my students aren't doing what they need to be.  This means they put their heads down until I ask them to come back.  When I say 'Come back' it means that students are to come back to their greatness. 

Well, I figured it was time for my blog to come back to its greatness (not that it was ever that great to anyone but me, but that's ok) I have so much that I've been doing.  I've done more crafty things in the last week than I have in the previous 8 months and I had a ton of fun!  So look forward to many more updates, especially if I can get my blogger app working on my phone! 

Summer

Summer so far this year has been VERY busy but a lot of fun too!

We've been to conferences, went to Disneyland and our personal favorite California Adventures, and even been on our very first cruise, and something about me reading an 11 book children's series in 10 days...

And then there's the more mundane aspect of summer for a couple of teachers, doctors, dentists, and various other appointments.

Not to mention the regular every day stuff like church callings, seeing friends and family, and oh yeah, even cleaning the house!

So to keep you tied over I'm giving you a code for 20% off your purchase at our etsy store, 2teachersjewelry, which is full of earrings right now! Just enter SUMMER11 at checkout for 20% off. Don't see something you like? want something specific? Let us know and we'll work it out!

Rob & Tracie Morris - Former Super Bowl Champion, Parents of 5 and Mormons

So thankful for people with testimonies this strong and willing to share!

(if your emotional state is fragile like mine is... you may need tissues to watch this)