June 2017 - End of School/Beginning of Summer

Since summer has been so busy, I'm going to blog it one week at a time rather than trying to cram a month of fun into one super long post! However, June started on a weekend, rather than a full week, so I'll start with just that!

Our last day of school was Thursday, June 1. The high school/junior high had their annual bbq and games on that day, and the elementary had kindergarten graduation that morning. The school day started with a graduate's parade through the elementary--consisting of both graduating seniors AND kindergarten graduates! It was so fun! Then they walked right into the gym and the kindergarten graduates walked onto the stage for their program. I stood behind my little friend Ben the whole time, trying to remain unseen. He did so well, and I was super proud of him! After graduation ended, and the class party was done, I helped the teacher clean up the classroom until school got out. Thankfully, it was an early release--everybody was so excited to be out for the summer! Jonah and Micah went to a friend's house for a party for several hours after school, until Micah had to ref a soccer game in town that evening, and Kanyon came home with me.  

Two Kindergarteners Brylee and Ben, in front of the bulletin board I made
to go along with the Graduation Theme "Oh the Places You'll Go"

I was in charge of lining the students up in the halls until all the students
had graduated, then I took them back onstage for their parents to find them.

Some of the parents had made this awesome decorative banner/balloon arch
the night before. It looked terrific and was a great backdrop for graduation!

Kanyon with his 4th grade teacher Mrs. Clarke.
She was so amazing and we are so grateful he had her!

June 2: Jonah and Micah left that morning with the stake youth to head to Pocatello for the Idaho Falls Temple Youth Cultural Celebration the following night. They'd been practicing weekly since March, learning songs and dances with other youth in our stake, the same songs and dance steps as all the participants learned. They left on a bus, drove to Pocatello, had practice all day in Holt Arena (with thousands of other eastern Idaho youth), and spent the night at host family's houses that night (which they both TOTALLY loved!). I was supposed to be a chaperone for the event, but learned the previous week that I was no longer needed, which worked out great for me, because then I could go to the High School graduation that night instead. Ammon's best friend Eli was a senior this year, so Ammon stayed home from the YCC event practice that day in order to go to the graduation that night, too. Graduation was fantastic--lasting just an hour. The valedictorians did a joined talk, where each of them had their own part they wrote but it went along well with what the others said, which was nice. And the speaker was Nola Barningham, which was a fabulous choice--her talk was was so inspiring! I like how the programs were printed on fans, so you could cool yourself down in the hot gym during the graduation (something we should do again next year when Ammon's class graduates!) I was so glad I was able to go to it! After graduation ended, we took photos outside for a while before Ammon and I left to drive down to a hotel in Idaho Falls for the night, so that we could meet up with our stake at the drop-off location the next morning in Pocatello for him to attend the second day's practice and YCC event the following night. 

Best Buds Tim Barningham, Eli Jackson, and Ammon Tolman

The Jackson family

...just because he's so handsome

June 3: Ammon and I woke up early, ate breakfast, and met up at the Highland Stake Center in Pocatello at 8:00 with our youth group. We figured out where his costume packet was, where he was supposed to go, and then I said goodbye and headed back to Idaho Falls to take a shower and check out of my hotel room. Then I had the day to myself! I did a little shopping, took myself out to lunch, went to a movie, and relaxed until it was time to meet up again at the Highland Church with David and Gina that evening so we could ride to the Holt Arena together (parking was limited there). The Holt Arena was jam-packed with people--12,000 participating youth and another 12,000 in the audience. It was the hottest day of the year so far, over 90*, and the combination of the amount of people inside with the heat outside made the building stifling. It was incredibly hot and moist, and smelled like a giant locker room! I sat by the Williams', Hobbs', and Beyeler's. We got there early, and weren't impressed with the youth director--the lady was very ornery. Apparently all the youth were tired of her too, because they weren't listening to what she said and she repeated it in the microphone a dozen times, which was annoying! FINALLY, as it was getting ready to start, the youth settled down, the lady stopped talking, and as President Eyring came in on a giant modified golf cart, the arena went silent and everyone stood up. It was incredible! He spoke for a few minutes before the celebration production got underway. There was multiple songs, dances, acting parts, and video throughout the one-plus hour program detailing the history of the area, and the history of the temple being built. It was very inspiring, and very cool to see all the youth with their coordinated movements during the dance numbers, and the different costume pieces they wore to add effect. I like how the giant structure in front was changed and reconfigured for each of the different sections of the program, and how it eventually became the shape of the Idaho Falls Temple. One of the boys' favorite songs was the Spud song--you could feel the excitement the youth had in performing it, and seeing the giant potato sacks being thrown around during the dance was hilarious! For the last song, "The Spirit of God", the kids all turned on their individual LED lights, and the Angel Moroni was suddenly lifted up through the top of the temple stucture. It was magical and I felt the spirit so strong! I'm glad the boys had the opportunity to participate in the Youth Cultural Celebration, and that they were willing to participate in it, too!!! After the celebration ended, the bus drove the youth back to the Highland church parking lot again where we met up with them. The stake provided them with pizza, and then I checked them out to drive home. We left the church about 10:30pm. Right after we got on the freeway, we realized that there was a massive traffic jam due to thousands of people being on the road and the six-mile-long, one-lane road construction ahead. It took almost 3 hours to make it through those 6 miles. It was SOOOO frustrating! We couldn't drive through the median to get on the southbound lanes in order to take an alternate route because the police were ticketing anyone who did so, and there was no exit until the road construction ended! We were truly stuck! After an already tiring day, we didn't make it home to Salmon until 3:30 that morning. We drove Hannah home and dropped her off, so it was 4:00am before we got to our own home and beds. 

This is owned by the son of the Logan Restaurant's
owner. I'm in love with Indian food now! It was divine!

Taking myself on a date!

I watched a matinee by myself of Snatched

President Eyring's entrance and address

The youth were separated into 4 districts, based on their stake location.
We were in the yellow district. 

Ammon front and center

Micah, center

Jonah, center

June 4: The temple dedication was in 3 sessions that day, and took the place of having our regular church. But, we didn't make it to any of them. The older 3 boys and I slept for most of the day as a result from getting home so late. I seriously didn't even wake up until around noon! We had lunch with Josh's family, and then I went back to bed for a few hours. Josh had a meeting with the Stake Youth leaders that night regarding the upcoming youth conference, and then he had to work for a little bit at the golf course fertilizing greens, so I went into town with him. I love watching him work! I'm always interested at all the different things he has to know how to do for his job--and I love seeing the beautiful landscape of the golf course develop throughout the summer as a result of all his hard work.