End of Summer 2020

 It seemed like our summer ended when our vacation came to an end. We got home from our trip to southern Utah on the evening of August 11, and the very next day I was working in my classroom preparing for school to start the next week, and the day after that, my back-to-school meetings started. It was a whirlwind getting back in to the swing of work and school once we returned from our family trip! 

My friend Jen with me to work in my classroom on the 12th, and I appreciated her help SO much! She's the first person who's helped me put my classroom together in the past 4 years, and I couldn't believe how much more I got done in just a few hours with another person's help than I would've been able to get done alone. She organized my books and crafts while I adjusted table and desk heights (since I had older, taller students this year). I had an hour-long meeting with my Principal and Superintendent about some concerns I had regarding my class list and last year's yearbook stipend, and that went pretty well. The whole time I was gone, Jen stayed busy getting some things I needed done in my classroom, and when I got back, we worked on doing a couple bulletin boards together.  

Now that I teach older students, my classroom book inventory
needed to be reorganized. I took out a lot of younger-level books
and added a lot of chapter books, and Jen helped me organize
them all on my shelves according to my criteria. I absolutely
LOVE this corner of my classroom SO much!

Jen also organized my crafts (you can't see them in this photo),
and the seating area under the large bulletin board. The wall looks
a LOT different now that the bulletin board is complete, but the
 placement of the rug and benches and pillows has stayed the same.
It's the area of the room I use for read-alouds and group meetings. 

Jen also helped me do 2 bulletin boards: one in my classroom by
the mailboxes, and the big one above their backpack hooks in 
the hall. Nobody has EVER helped me with my bulletin boards
before, and it meant so much to me to have another person help me
lift and staple the long paper and also give their input on colors & layout. 

Jen and I went to Idaho Falls after working all morning. I had my follow-up eye tattoo appointment (which, thankfully, wasn't as long or as painful as the initial one), and she went school shopping for her kids. Afterwards, we had dinner together at a Thai Restaurant. I love Thai food! For dessert, I got coconut rice with ice cream, and it was divine! I just love sticky rice! The gift of Jen's company all day was a birthday gift I treasured! 

The very next day, I woke up at 4:30am and got ready to go BACK to Mud Lake for my teacher work days. I took Kanyon with me so he could go to XC practice with his team, and he and his friend Jackson helped me and some other teachers throughout the day, moving furniture and office supplies, etc. I got a LOT done in my classroom, thanks to their help, and by the end of the day, I was starting to feel more prepared for school to start. 

Friday the 14th was my 41st birthday. I finished my 40 Things List just in time, and it felt good to be in my 40's! I started the day by performing with my band of Shane, Jeff, and Amanda at the District back-to-school meeting. We sang both songs from the fair, and it was fun to have a live audience! We were fed a nice lunch, provided by the district, and the staff even sang happy birthday to me, which was a fun surprise! 

When I got home to Salmon that night, Josh and I went out with Phil & Darcy. We went bowling and had dinner at the bowling alley, too, then we continued the party at their house with games and snacks. It was a fun, laidback birthday night!

The bowling alley in Salmon has my
favorite loaded fries! They are so yummy!

I got some very thoughtful gifts: My mom sent me some beautiful dish towels she embroidered and I've already hung up a few for decoration in my kitchen. Josh got me a new bike--my previous bike was 20 years old! Gina got me an awesome t-shirt with a hot air balloon on it, which is my classroom theme, and it was such a thoughtful surprise! Amanda gifted me some hair product to help me with my new hairstyle, and I was so grateful!

Additionally, Micah surprised me by decorating the house for me while I was gone at work, and when I came in the door, I was so happy to see the birthday banner hung! I usually hang it above the table, and by the desk area, but he wanted to make sure I saw it when I first walked in, so he put it directly above the kitchen cabinets, which was so thoughtful! Kendra also baked me a mini strawberry rhubarb pie, my favorite! I loved the mini version, especially because I'd been watching my sugar intake all summer. It was the perfect size, and so delicious!

Josh took me on a jeep ride up above Williams Lake on the afternoon of Sunday the 16th. We both had never taken that route before! It was fun to see the lake from a different perspective, and to spend some one-on-one time with Josh, too!

The first day of school at West Jefferson was Wednesday, August 19. I teach a 3rd/4th split class this year. I started the year with 17 students (and am now up to 19). I wore my new shirt that Gina gave me, and got lots of compliments! It was so comfy and I loved that it went with my classroom theme! It was the perfect shirt for the first day! Kanyon is now in 8th grade. He got a large locker for all his help with the principal and staff the previous week, which he was pretty excited about. He's got the same core teachers as last year, but also has a few elective classes in the high school, too. He has a good schedule, and a great group of friends! Additionally, he was on the XC team, and since he's an 8th grader, he was one of the team leaders, which was fun to see. We were asked to wear masks in the halls of school, but each teacher could decide if masks were required in their classrooms. One of Kanyon's teachers has cancer, so the administrators have been very respectful of their health needs. I thought it was a good compromise. 

It was hard to start school 2 weeks ahead of Salmon, and know that Josh and the twins were still on summer break while we were in school! West Jefferson starts so much earlier because they have a 2-week Spud Harvest break in September/October. The day after our school started, Ammon ended his summer internship job in Victor, and drove home to Salmon to pick up his clothes/belongings and head up to Moscow to start his junior year of school at the U of I. I drove back to Salmon that evening so I could see him, and literally only spent about 15 minutes with him before he left, but it was worth it! 

Check out his packed car!!

Ammon's official first day of school was Monday the 24th. The students at the U of I had to be tested for COVID before being allowed back on the campus. Even then, only half of his classes are in-person, and the rest are virtual (which he hates!). I'm glad he was allowed to be back on campus! Not all universities started that way this fall!

There's a new wildlife fence north of Leadore, which was under construction all year, and finally got completed this summer. The very next morning on my drive back to Mud Lake (after I came to see Ammon before he went to Moscow for the new schoolyear), there was a mama moose that had been separated from her calf. The calf was on the wilderness side of the fence, and the mom was on the road side of the fence. It was a bit stressful driving along side her! She kept running, halting, and changing directions, because she was unable to make it to where her calf was, and it was running along the opposite side of the fence trying to stay close to her. The fence is only 3 miles long--so I don't know how effective it will really be, but on this particular morning, it wasn't a safe zone for the moose OR the drivers on the road! Thankfully, she never hit my car, but I thought about her all day, and hoped she made it safely back to her calf!

That's the calf on the other side of the fence.

That's the mama running frantically between
the fence and the road.

There were several days at the end of August that the skies were filled with smoke from wildfires. This usually happens at the end of every August, but this year, they weren't from local wildfires. Apparently the smoke blew in from California and also covered the skies of Utah and across and Idaho. 

Josh found a large toad at the golf course one day in late August; it was in a drain pipe along a cart path. It's an animal he doesn't see often at the golf course, so it was a fun surprise for him to run into one that was so large in size, too! He sent me the photo while I was at school, and I instantly responded that I wanted him to catch it and save it because I wanted it as a pet!! I love toads and frogs! Unfortunately, he didn't follow through with my request! 

Josh and I went camping at Meadow Lake as our final summer shindig the last weekend in August. He took up the camping trailer with his motorcycle in it on Thursday night, and he went motorbike riding and hiking all day on Friday. After I got off work on Friday, I drove up and met him at the campground. None of the boys were interested in joining us, but we had a good time! Josh loved exploring the mountainous area north of Meadow Lake, and seeing territory he'd never covered before. There was lots of old settler cabins and old mines and even property for sale, and he happily explored and dreamed of his future cabin in the mountains all day. After I arrived, he grilled me dinner, and we went to bed early. On Saturday, we played games, read books, lounged around, and I floated over the lake on the paddle board, and even convinced Josh to join me at the end...much to his chagrin!!! We couldn't get it to balance correctly with both of us on it, and unfortunately he fell right in the water before we could even do a proper lift off!! We took a ride in the truck together to Leadore Saturday afternoon, and cooked over the campfire that night. It was such a peaceful getaway for the two of us! It was a wonderful final hoorah to Summer. 

This cabin was still in good shape, and the family
of its deceased owner even had a registry for passers by.
Check out the oval rainbow that appears as a halo
over the cabin! I've never seen this effect before,
and Josh didn't notice it until I pointed it out! So cool!

This photo is of the same cabin, and is the essence
of Josh's hope for retirement: a cabin in the mountains,
with acres of land (and NO neighbors!) surrounding it, 
and a view of the nearby scenic mountains!

I finally caught Jonah using our new hot tub at the end of summer! The boys haven't loved it near as much as Josh and I have--in fact, Kanyon and Ammon still have yet to try it! Regardless--it's been a joy to have!