Califonia Here I Come.....

   Since my classroom was going so well (more pictures on that to be posted at a later date) I decided to head down to California for a week for some sun, surf and sand. Unfortunately Brandon wasn't able to come since he had to stay for work. I caught a ride with my parents who were heading home after a short trip to Provo.

  It was sooo nice being back in California and in Yucaipa. Growing up I would have never of thought that I would miss Yucaipa but there's really something to be said about coming back to a place that is so familiar and with so many memories.

 Anyway it was a great week. I was able to spend a lot of time with my parents which was really nice, see some old friends and of course most importantly hit the beach!!! Oh how I missed the ocean! Provo is nice with it's towering mountains but there is nothing in the world that can compare to just laying back on the sand and looking out at the ocean that goes on forever.

  Anyway one of the great things about this trip was that I was able to combine my favorite place with my favorite people (minus my hubby of course). My aunt and uncle were down with all of their kids and I was able to hang out with my 'second family' for a couple of days, which was awesome. We went to the beach and then hung out at their hotel for a couple of days which was really fun. This was such a relaxing vacation.

Kendra and I soaking up some sun

Justin liked that idea so much he decided to catch some rays too!

Surfs up

Some of my favorite people

Beach weather makes Kendra look even more beautiful and me look like I have an Afro!

Perfection

One of the beaches we went to

She is ALWAYS Gorgeous!

Love it!

Dad and Kara got in some ping pong at the resort.

My Summer Project : Turing Chaos into Order

So many books, so unorganized...

Here are some pictures of the progress that has been made so far on my room.  Many hours have all gone into making this room and though it isn't done yet it is much better than when we started. 

So many books!! (And about four other boxes full not pictured)

Organizing all of the books.

Doesn't it look SOOO much better?

The guys hanging the fabric on the bulletin boards.

What manly men!

Fabric: check!

Trying to get into character....

Arrrrg!

Brandon gained experience in the fine art of bulletin boarders.

Front of the room.

Big bulletin board and rug

Brandon was a little tired after all his hard work.

Dad put up the number wall

We divided the large bulletin board into thirds

Calendar Board

Get Hooked on Reading!

Word Wall

Enter at yer own risk matey.

I'm Going to the Olympics!!

 Ok so I'm not going to be heading to London anytime soon but on our way back to Utah we drove back with Brandon's parents and younger sisters and made a pit stop in Colorado Springs to visit his sister Jamie for a couple of days. While we were there we did go to the Olympic Training Center there in Colorado Springs which was really interesting. We got to see where some of the Olympians trained and lived throughout the year. 

Trying to be Olympians.

Brandon's niece could fit under the statue.

Countdown to the Olympics

Olympic Champions!

Oklahoma Vacation

    Wow have the last few weeks been Crazy!  A couple of weeks ago Brandon and I made a trip out to Oklahoma to visit his parents/sisters and to give me a chance to see his hometown. (Yes, it did take me almost an entire year of marriage to finally see where my husband grew up, shame on me... moving on....) I will admit right now that I wasn't sure what to expect. Growing up in California and having the beach and Disneyland so close you kind of get the opinion that nothing, and I mean NOTHING will even remotely compare  (yes we Californians do have snobbish of opinions about ourselves ;).  Anyway I couldn't have been more wrong, it was soo beautiful out there. It was so green and had so many trees!!  If it weren't for the humidity that plagued us the entire trip I wouldn't mind living out there.

      We also went with his parents, his sister Jamie and her two kids (who were also visiting for a few days from Colorado), and his sister Sharon and her husband Craig with their two kids to one of the area's main attractions Woolaroc. Woolaroc is museum and wildlife preserve and was so beautiful. We happened to come on a day where they were having KidsFest and so there were plenty of things for us to do. They had a petting zoo, inflatable slides, and games. It was fun to just sit back and watch the kids have fun. That being said we were all happy to head home after a couple of hours (100 degree weather plus humidity will do that to you.)

  We really did have a fun week with Brandon's family and it was a great time for me to get to know them a little bit better.  I made Brandon take me to all of the places he frequented growing up such as his elementary school, high school, where he worked etc. it was fun.

Brandon helping his niece and nephew feed the buffalo ((It's a statue that you feed trash to)

I could see forever!

Not a great picture but there were these crazy painted buffaloes all around Bartlesville.

Braum's = one of the greatest places to get ice cream ever!

Brandon really enjoyed his ice cream. lol

My Summer Project : The Beginning

         School is finally out for the summer! (Hallelujah!!!) Now it's time for me to begin my main summer project, aka: setting up my very first classroom! My parents are up this week to help me and so last night I brought them and Brandon to see my classroom for the first time. (Though I basically had to drag Brandon kicking and screaming because the Oklahoma Thunder were playing that night). We all piled into the car and headed down to Spanish Fork to Canyon Elementary.

         Here are some pictures of my empty canvas ready and waiting for me to fill it with cutesie bulletin boards, and learning centers into a place that will (hopefully) make my students excited to come to class and to learn. I will be posting pics throughout the summer to show how it is progressing. I have decided on a classroom theme which I'm pretty excited about, which I'm going to see if it becomes apparent as the room takes shape. So keep checking back in regularly to see our progress!

Best picture of most of the room.

Brandon showing off.