West J school district started on Tuesday, January 2. Micah moved down to Terreton with us on Monday evening, and started school with us on Tuesday. Jonah had come down at the beginning of December when the new Trimester started at West J, but Micah waited until after the Christmas concerts to move down. (Salmon is on a semester system, and West J has trimesters, so it was never a good time really to make the switch.) Salmon started school after Christmas Break on Wednesday, January 3. Jonah had auditions for the West J basketball team prior to Christmas Break, but we found out he didn't make the team. It was sad at first, but I was so grateful not to have to drive him to 6am practices every day, and I was glad that our January didn't end up being even more stressful with scheduling, since Ammon already had a ton of games scheduled. Basically, the whole month of January was consumed with Ammon's basketball games alone!
Our good friend Amanda married Ryan Berube in Ogden on Friday the 5th. I took the day off work, and Josh came and picked me up and we drove down to Ogden together. We checked into our hotel, relaxed for a bit, then got ready for the wedding. Her wedding was at a venue downtown, a building refurbished to hold events. It was pretty cool inside; I liked the exposed, painted brick on the walls. It was a lovely wedding, and fun to see so many of the Vermaas family again--we'd seen them a few weeks prior at Bill's viewing/funeral, but this was a happier occasion. I loved when Amanda said "I will take care of Ryan's body and he will take care of my heart". After the wedding, the reception was held at the same location. After a couple of hours, we left with John and his parents and walked down the street to eat a local restaurant. We had a lovely dinner, then left for our hotel for the night.
The next day, we had tickets to see "Aida" at the new Hale Center Theater in Sandy. We took our time the next morning at the hotel, sleeping in and relaxing, before leaving for SLC. John met us there to see it, too. It was incredible! I loved the new theater, the digital panels, and the special effects. Josh really enjoyed it too, which is unusual for him (he normally just "tolerates" musicals!). After the play, we met up with our friend Eve, as she had recently arrived back in the states from being in England while she was off track from college, and gave her a ride back to Idaho. Ammon had a basketball game in American Falls at 4:00 that day, but we made it back to Pocatello around 5:30, and totally missed it. He was a starter for the game, and he had an excellent game with several points, and we were sorry we missed it!
 |
| Starters Body Bumping Each Other -- Photo courtesy of Dawn Aldous |
Ammon turned 18 on the 11th. He also had a home basketball game against Ririe that same evening. I made some posters at school that day, and we drove up to watch his game that night. Josh and I held up the posters throughout the game. One said "Happy Birthday, Ammon", another said "#11 is 18 now!", another one said "We love you, Ammon", and the last one said "Shake and Bake" (a phrase he uses for his character on one of the XBox games that he got from the movie Talladega Nights). We kept holding them throughout the game, but he only looked up a few times! That night, he opened his gifts (including new dress shoes, ties, belts and clothes). Happy Birthday Ammon! 18 sure looks good on you!
Ammon invited some friends over for a party the next day, Friday the 12th (it was his turn for a friend party--the last one!). We had pizza, snacks, and the kids played poker! It was so fun to have the house filled with his friends! Jonah and Micah went to their friend Wyatt Platz's house for the evening, and Kanyon hung out with Ammon's friends. It was a nice evening!
Ammon had another home game against Mackay on Saturday the 13th and WON!
 |
| It looks like the guy behind Ammon wants to dance with him! |
 |
| Same shot from a different perspective-their bodies are perfectly aligned for the dance! |
After church on Sunday, the 14th, we finally ate Ammon's birthday meal of roast, mashed potatoes, creamy corn, and rolls. Grandma and Grandpa T. joined us for the meal and the dessert afterwards--Ammon picked tapioca pudding.
My class worked on a unit of penguins during the month of January. They had so much fun with discovery, hands-on learning! I got the idea while I was student teaching last year with Mrs. Centeno, and expounded on what I had done the previous year. I really enjoyed the unit, and so did my class!
Ammon had a game in Firth on Wednesday the 17th. I drove down to watch it after work. I got there during the C team game. I picked up Josh and Ammon and took them to Idaho Falls to go shopping--Ammon had to trade the dress shoes he got for his birthday for a bigger size. When we got back to Firth, the C game was still going on in double overtime (which is nice that we didn't miss much when we were gone!)
He had a home game against North Fremont on Friday the 19th in Salmon. The other boys and I drove straight there from West J to watch it.
 |
| It looks like he just really wanted to hold Ammon's hand! |
 |
| Swish! |
The next ball game was at West J on Wednesday the 24th. That was fun for me to be in the audience among my teaching community, but wearing the black and orange colors rather than the blue from West J's school colors! Everybody in Salmon kept questioning me when they'd see me during the season and ask if I was still a "Savage" fan! Of course! I will support my kids with their colors, regardless of where I work! It was an exciting game, but ultimately, Salmon lost.
The next day I had Parent Teacher conferences, so Kanyon didn't have school. It was also Ammon's senior presentation day. I had conferences that morning, drove with the other boys to Salmon for the presentation, then drove back by myself and finished my P.T. conferences, working until 8:00 that night. It was a very stressful day, and I had so much anxiety about it that I had a hard time sleeping the night before. Ammon did a great job in his presentation! He was in a group with 5 other classmates, and their presentation room was the Music Room. He had a panel of 4 judges. He was given 10 minutes to present his slideshow, and talk about his project, and answer questions. He'd also submitted his paperwork, which had been previously judged that morning. The score for his project was a culmination of the presentation and paperwork combined. He did such a great job, and I was so proud of him and super grateful that I was able to watch it! I was bummed that I missed the open house a few hours later, because I wasn't able to see everyone else's projects. Josh missed the open house too, because he had to drive bus since there was no substitutes available for that afternoon, either.
The next day, I had a teacher work day, and then I went to play dominoes that night with my group of friends. We've been getting together once each month for dominoes, and usually another time each month for something else fun, like a movie, or shopping. I love getting together with them! These ladies have saved my soul this year--it was good for me to get out of the house, have someone to talk to, laugh with, cry to, and feel like I belong somewhere other than school.
 |
| Angie, Tanis, Rosalba, Val, and Lidia |
I stayed in West J overnight so that I could go to Ammon's game in Ririe the next day on Saturday the 27th. I picked up Eve that afternoon (his game was at 4:00), and we went to the Fuji hibachi grill in Idaho Falls to eat before heading to the game. I'd never eaten there before, but thought it was so fun! The Ririe game was a blowout, which was a bummer, and afterwards, Ammon decided to ride home with me rather than go home on the bus so that he could get to the girls' senior night at hockey a little earlier. I needed to drop Eve back off in Rexburg, so I was taking a highway I'd never taken, and got a little lost getting onto that highway, and never saw the MPH sign. Anways, I ended up getting pulled over and getting a ticket by a cop who was not very nice. He told me I was speeding, I told him I was following the car in front of me to gauge how fast to go (I was going about 60), and he said "No, you were all by your lonesome...". Ummm, I don't think so. I was so ticked off after that, and I'm not sure we saved Ammon much time after all!
Ammon played in Darby on Thursday the 30th, and Salmon won that game! Yay! I missed it, but Josh drove the bus for it.
