Peace Out School Year!

I survived the last week of school! Wahoo!!! I hated my 1st period class so much. I was so happy to be rid of them! The week was pretty chill and I was done really early all week due to weird schedule conflicts with Boise High. On Tuesday I decided I wanted to make the staff some cookies with my extra time. I started an ISU class and I didn't realize I needed to have a book and I ordered it on Amazon and it finally came in an empty package! I had to wait for them to send it again. I am very behind in my class now so I will have to do double the work this week. At least that's all I really have to worry about right now. I took the kids to Chick Fil A to celebrate my last day of work. Woot! They've also been begging for me to make crepes so we had crepes today. I can only cook one at a time and I can't successfully cook them fast so it took me 2 hours this morning. Oy! I definitely traded one job for another. My kids expect me to feed them and stuff! Rude! Our friends booked a theater room tonight so we are going to Quiet Place 2. I'm so excited! Alright well that's all. I need to go on a long run...woof!

I made the faculty some cookies.

We went to Chick Fil A to celebrate my last day of work!

Cutest Piper note.

Garden munchers

Crepes! 

 

Gabby's Dance Recital

 This last week was busy. I had to go to Nampa on Monday to take Gabby to her dress rehearsal and then again on Tuesday for her recital. My parents came into town to watch Gabby's recital. They came about 3:00 and we visited and they got us Casa Mexico for dinner...yum! Then we drove to watch the recital. Hart and Jory also met us at the recital. The recital was cute and not too long which is the best! Gabby did a great job! Afterwards we went and got a Krispy Kreme donut. On Wednesday I was the clerk at the track meet and that was a bit of a disaster. It was so much harder than I thought it would be and I didn't do a great job but at the end of the meet...I totally had it figured out. My ISU class started last Monday. I'm already really behind but I talked to my professor and he's okay with me catching up after work is done this coming week. I think I will be able to get caught up and be okay when that's the only thing I really have to worry about. 4 more school days! Tuesday through Thursday I'm going to be done by 10:30 because of scheduling conflicts at Boise High. I'm basically done there. Woot! 

My friend Jaynee turned 30 last week and we had a big party for her on Saturday night. She is a HUGE Friends fan and had a Friends themed party. We had tons of fun!

Today I need to go on a long run. I decided I want to try to run a full marathon this year since I'm turning 40. It might be a BIG mistake. Ha. 

We got to dog sit for my friend Lisa. The kids were SOOOO excited and had so much fun. It made their weekend. Corbin joined scouts about a month ago and he went on his first camping outing. He said it rained off and on but other than that he had fun. I'm just happy for him to get out of his room for 5 minutes.

The girls made a presentation to present why they deserved to go to the Dollar Store. Spoiler alert. It worked.

Girl's Just Want To Have Fun costume

Jaynee's 30!

Scott is almost as tall as Jaynee kneeling on the ground. 

Little Graham 

Gabby's Dance!

Mother's Day, Birthday Pics

Alright let's see... after the trip there's been work and Mother's Day. Work is full on survival mode for me at this point. I HATE my 1st period class. It's just a lot of hard students lumped together and there is no fixing it. Rather than me being uber stressed out and possibly killing them or dying of a heart attack I just relaxed big time. I let them do what they want to a degree and they are much more manageable and less stressful. Ideal? No...way better...YES! So since then it hasn't been too bad. I have 9 more school days. 9! 

Scott has been pretty dissatisfied with work lately. He feels overqualified and underpaid. He is casually on the hunt for something else but in the meantime he decided to ask for a significant raise. Luckily they met him more than halfway what he was asking for and gave him some appreciation to boot. He may still be on the hunt but getting a raise and thanks helps!  Okay that is all.

The weather was beautiful today! Had a fun time with the kids at the park.

Blueberry flowers

Gabby Dad Card

Scott has been wanting a massage FOREVER! I bought him one! 

Scott helped Ryan with a school project. (How a plasma dome works)...I don't know ask Ryan.

The kids were playing a stuffed animal game forever! 

Scott's work spoiled him on his b-day! 

His boss made this cake!

Gabby Mother's Day card

Inside

Inside each petal was a note but mostly a picture of hearts.

Cute Piper pic.

I went to go inside and Scott scared me so good! I always go straight to the ground when I get scared.

Scott's garden pic. We have potatoes, beets, spinach, lettuce,  and peas all coming up!  

Ryan's watermelon plant from school.

Ryan sleeps with his coonskin hat. So cute.

I almost died when I came to bed and saw him with my eye mask. (That eye mask is ridiculous I'm aware...but it's cozy. (Ryan has been sleeping on our floor for months).

I made this owl pattern for a back up project at school.

Scott spends HOURS on his garden.

Extra Mother's Day notes.

Scott birthday love.

Scott's 40th Birthday Southwest Road Trip Extravaganza!

 As Scott's birthday was approaching he kept saying, "babe, it's my 40th birthday coming up!" He wanted to do something big and special for it but what? He finally came up with a family road trip idea. He planned it. I got a sub and work off and got the kids packed and the rest was all him. This was Scott's trip and we were all going along for the ride. I will say he planned a great trip! It was so fun and he was having so much fun and was so happy to be driving and listening to his music and audiobooks and stopping multiple, multiple times to take pictures. It was great! I was so happy he was so energized by the whole trip and that I didn't have to drive for 1 minute! I hate to drive. We headed out Friday evening around 5:30. It always takes longer to leave than expected for us and I have tried to learn to ROLL. WITH. IT. We made it to Salt Lake and ended up chatting until 1:00 in the morning before going to bed, Scott talking with his parents down stairs and me talking to Noel upstairs. Ha. We slept in and hung out for a bit. My steps challenge ended on the trip so I had to walk a few miles that morning to make a dent in my steps anyway. Colie and Rustin and Nana and Papa decided to caravan with us and join us in Bryce Canyon for the day. It was so fun to have a little extra time with them. A lot of it was driving in separate cars but we did get to get out at each overlook and take pictures over and over and over again. We also had lunch in Fillmore and ice cream in Panguitch. So there was some hang time. The last stop at Bryce Canyon had a really cool hike that a bunch of us went on. We tried to go to subway for dinner on our way out of Bryce but it was closed so we had to go to the tavern/diner right next door. It wasn't amazing, but it wasn't bad. After dinner we went our separate ways and those guys must have made it home really really late that night as they had a much longer drive ahead of them than we did. We drove for about an hour to Kanab, UT where we stayed for the night. We rolled into Kanab around 11:30 pm. Our hotel room was a tiny cabin with 3 queen size beds. It was pretty awesome! 

Sunday morning (as has been decided was my favorite day) we got up and hit the road pretty quickly. This day had a lot of stops to see a bunch of different things. First stop (I think) was the Toadstool Hoodoo Park. This was a cool hike. It was about a mile to the destination so it was perfect. The hike ended with lots of really cool hoodoo rock formations. After that hike we loaded back up and headed onward. We stopped and checked out Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam.  The next stop was Horseshoe Bend. This hike was a bit harder because it was in the afternoon when we were more tired and the temperature was hotter. It was again about a 1 mile hike to get to the horseshoe bend lookout. It was really cool but  we were all a little too hot and too tired by that point. We then continued to make the most beautiful drive to Sedona, AZ. The last hour was through a canyon and it was breathtaking. Scott had to stop about 20 times to take pictures. We got to Sedona around 5:00 that night. Sedona is so beautiful. I would love to go and visit again. We stayed at a great hotel that had a golf course connected to it right next some red mountains. It was beautiful! The kids went swimming and we ordered pizza for dinner that night. 

The next day Scott wanted to get up and take pictures so I took the kids to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. I got to splurge on some breakfast and Scott got to take pictures. It was a win, win. We took our time to hit the road and just enjoyed a slow morning in a beautiful location. We got packed up and drove to the grand canyon. This drive was quite long. The grand canyon was very cool. We went to the main look out and hopped on a bus and saw a few other look outs and headed out. The drive to Vegas felt very long. This day was a lot of driving and other than the ride home was probably my least favorite day. We made it to Vegas around 9:30 pm and stayed with our friends the Ethingtons. We drove by the strip on the freeway and had the kids check out all of the cool buildings in Vegas. We put the kids to bed and Scott and I chatted with Richard for a few hours. 

Tuesday was Scott's birthday! The Ethington's played hooky and went to work and school late to hang with us for the morning. We went on a cool hike right by their house in Red Rock Canyon. After that we came back to the house and Cat was making a birthday spectacular breakfast feast! We ate pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and fresh fruit along with a special Ethington Happy Birthday rendition that can't be beat! After breakfast the Ethingtons went on with their day and the Cannons had a hang for several hours. Scott and I both took a long nap and just hung out for a bit. After we were well rested we drove to the Hoover Dam which was about an hour away. After the Hoover Dam we came back and we left the kids at home and Richard and Cat treated us to all you can eat sushi. The things I was willing to try were good! (No shrimp and giant slabs of raw fish for me thanks). It was a great day!

Wednesday we got up early and packed and headed out! It was a long terrible awful ugly drive. I didn't realize that most of the drive would be on a highway. I hate highways! Every time Scott passed a car I had to put my head down and not look. At one point he had to pass about 4 semis at once. Stress! I was so glad he was driving and not me. Right after we left Ely NV our check engine light came on (about 6 hours from Boise) we decided to turn around and check it out. It was just a warning light to get our oil changed so it wasn't an emergency and we pressed on! The kids were amazing in the car the whole time and were such good troopers on all the hikes and all the things. They had a really good time. We all did. The next day at work was rough! Who knew 2 days of work could feel like 10. More on regular life next time.

And we're off! Let the birthday roundtrip begin! 

Lunch in windy Fillmore.

Ice cream pit stop in Panguitch, UT.

Cedar Breaks national monument. Brr. It was cold and windy!

Entering Bryce Canyon. Bryce may have been my favorite stop...maybe...so hard to pick!

A path we hiked down.

Bryce canyon family pic.

Our cute cabin.

Three queens!

Lake Powell

Glen Canyon Dam

Horseshoe Bend

Hotel pool at Sedona. 

Sedona

Sedona

Sedona

Grand Canyon

Free bus ride to different look outs.

Ryan bought this hat as his souvenir at the Grand Canyon. He wears it constantly. I hope he wears it forever. So cute!

Birthday boy on his birthday! Climbing rocks! His favorite! 

The hike was straight up at times. I'm glad no one died!

These kiddos made it to the top! (Piper made it about halfway which was very good for her, she was freaked out!)

Hoover Dam

Scott would wonder off and do who knows what forever it felt like sometimes. We found some shade and a bench while he was taking pictures, poloing, taking in the scenery???

Sushi bar. This was yummy and fun! 

Richard and Scott have been friends since the 7th grade! 

Scott driving us home!