Here's a recap of what happened in February...with a few snapshots and accompanying tidbits of info:
February 1: Josh and I both captured the beautiful sunset: Josh in Salmon and me in Mud Lake. We unknowingly took these photos 5 minutes apart, unaware that the other was viewing the sunset at the same time!
February 1: My dominoes friends got together at Val's house. We ate soup that Tanis made for dinner, talked, laughed, and played games.
February 4: Josh drove the Salmon junior high boys basketball team to Mud Lake. The 8th grade team played first, starting the last hour of school, so the elementary and junior high classes went to the big gym to watch the first half of the game. It was the first one all season that spectators could come watch, due to the Governor's orders lightening up. It was so fun!! I loved that I got to sit with both my class and my husband! Kanyon liked seeing his friends from both teams; in fact, when the 8th grade game was done, he was able to spend time with his Salmon friends during the 7th grade game too.
February 6: The Legacy choir sang the national anthem at the senior night of the last home hockey tournament. I missed when the choir sang at both the girls' and boys' basketball senior nights, so I was glad I got to see them at the hockey event! It's unfortunately not the greatest venue for spectators, though: it was hard to hear them from the stands, but when I got up closer to them, they sounded great!
February 7 was SuperBowl Sunday. It was my team, the Buccaneers, against the Kansas City Chiefs. We invited some teenagers over to the house to hang out for the game, similar to how we celebrated SuperBowl Sunday last year. I made lots of food, and we ate, laughed at the commercials, and were underwhelmed and disappointed at how much of a blow-out game it was. Thankfully my team won!! (But I wish it had been more exciting to see.) Micah was the winner of our prediction game with his guess of 28-17; the real score was 31-9. Fun fact: This year's SuperBowl included the first female ref in the history of NFL SuperBowls!
February 8: I really admired the crescent moon on my early morning drive back to Mud Lake.
February 9: I instigated a "Mammals" week with my class at school. The 4th graders each did reports on different species of bears, and the 3rd graders wrote reports on unique species of wild cats. I took the brown bear that we inherited from Josh's grandpa, and the lynx that we inherited from my grandpa to share with the class. The kids really enjoyed having the animals in the classroom all week and even nicknamed the bear "Cuddles"! A special guest from the community also come and showed them a black bear, which was cool. We did art projects to go along with the reports, measured strips of paper that matched the height/length of the animal, and completed a chart that compared the animal's weights. It was a fun week of learning! I love hands-on learning experiences like this!
February 11: My class had our Valentine's party. One of the students gave these inflatable headbands to everyone, which was cool because they were all mammals--she unknowingly got them before she knew we were having mammals week the same week that we celebrated Valentine's Day! As a teacher, I love celebrating Valentine's Day! I love that everyone shares gifts of love with each other! Kanyon had a junior high dance that afternoon that I took pictures at, too (have I mentioned that I'm the yearbook advisor?). Dances aren't his favorite thing, but he's a good sport, and usually dances several times with the ladies!
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Kanyon with his friend Dax
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February 12: It snowed 4 inches in Salmon!
February 13: I sat in my new chairs watching the snow fall, and drinking some Chai in the cool cup that Micah gave me for Christmas last year. I love being home. I miss it all week when I'm teaching.
February 13: Josh got his new specialized license plate for his new Mini! I had no idea he was getting a specialty one: it was a fun surprise to see him open the mail when the plates arrived!
February 13: We had our monthly game night with the Hobbs' and Oswald's at the Hobbs' home. We played Pennies again, and this time I WON!!! The previous two times, Josh won, so I was ecstatic!!! It was definitely a fun moment for me!!
February 14: It snowed SO much overnight!!! I measured that morning, and it was up to 8 inches! It was crazy that it snowed so much twice in one week!
February 14: We celebrated Kanyon's birthday as a family (more about that in the next blog post), and later that evening, Amanda and Ryan came over and played games with us. We played one of my new favorite games "Codenames". We broke apart into different teams, and had so much fun together! We were laughing so hard at a new strategy that Amanda used that we hadn't even thought of..."dirt for 7"!!
February 15 was President's Day. None of us had school, so Josh and I celebrated our engagement anniversary out of town. We drove to Idaho Falls, got massages, ate dinner at Jalisco's (and were one of the only people in the restaurant), and went to the Salmon vs. West J boys basketball districts game at West J on our way home. I sang the national anthem for the crowd at the beginning of the game. It was a nail-biter game! It was exciting, and so close! We sat on the very top row: I was on the West J side, and Josh was on the Salmon side, and we both cheered for both teams. Ultimately, West J won. It was an all-around, really fun date!
February 18: Josh drove the ski bus for Salmon again. He saw the twins just a little bit throughout the day, and even rode the lift once with Micah. He really enjoys being able to go skiing while on the job!
February 18: I saw a big herd of elk outside of Leadore on my drive home to Salmon after work on Friday!
February 19: Josh took me to soak in the Royal Gorge Hot Springs. We hadn't been there in many months--we don't go to hot springs as much anymore now that we own our own hot tub. It was relaxing, and we loved listening to the river as we soaked!
February 22: Josh drove the Salmon high school boys basketball team to a District game at Firth. He stopped and picked me up from my school on the way, which was nice. I like when I get to spend time with him mid-week, no matter what the opportunity is. There was a fantastic showing of Salmon students who came to be spectators at the game too, thanks to some community members who rented vans and offered to drive them. It was awesome for the Salmon team to have so much support, especially on a school night! Jonah and Micah rode down with their friend Anthony in Rick and LaVerne Sessions' van, and they really enjoyed it! Salmon lost, so this was sadly their last game of the year. While I waited for the team after the game in the parking lot with Josh, I saw a sign there that really bugs me, and has bugged me every time I've seen it over the years. Spelling errors on public signs are so tacky--especially on school grounds!
February 24: Kanyon competed at a home Scholastic Tournament at West J. He joined the team earlier in the year. They practiced weekly during lunchtime in Mr. Packer's room, and then competed in tournaments in February and March. He really liked being a part of the team, especially when he was able to answer questions and contribute to his team's score! I love going to these events: I've been going for a couple years, helping as a timer or reader. I was thrilled that I got to be a reader at this particular meet, especially because Kanyon's group was in my room 2 out of the 3 rounds!
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His Junior High Team (except for friend Jaxson who was sick
that day) and their awesome mentor Mr. Packer. |
