October 2021 Randoms

Josh and I went on a drive one afternoon, and stopped along Highway 93 South to examine a little cave right along the highway. I love taking random trips that involve new explorations!

I went to the Pocatello Temple Open House after the twins' XC meet in Pocatello on the 7th. Amanda and Ryan drove up from Ogden to go through it with me. It was so beautiful! There was one stained glass window on the main floor with a gorgeous picture of the Savior that made me tear up as soon as I saw it. I forgot how much I loved being in the temple: it's been so long since I've been able to go (I haven't gone since the COVID shutdown and restrictive aftermath). I loved the peaceful feeling there. We were fortunate to have a tour of the structure all to ourselves, and our tour guide was an architecture and design major. She gave us so much insight about the interior, which was so cool. I loved the floral motifs throughout, and the images of three local wildflowers found in all the details. 

One evening, Josh and I went for a drive and a soak at Cronk's Canyon Hot Springs. We don't usually soak after dark, but it was exhilarating to soak in the moonlight!

Hunting this fall was challenging: deer were pretty scarce, which is a rarity for where we live! Usually they're hanging out around our yard and in the nearby fields, but for weeks leading up to opening day of the season, we hardly saw any! Micah lucked out and got a spike in the field above our house on opening day. Unfortunately, though, Jonah and Josh were unable to fill their tags during the hunting season this year! We made some great jerky with Micah's deer meat, and got a couple of roasts out of it, which was nice. Since the twins will be gone next year, Kanyon and I might have to get our hunting licenses (much to our dismay!). 

The Hobbs family hosted an impromptu family barbecue on Sunday the 10th after church. It was so fun! Several families came, and we all brought what we had for the last-minute get-together. The weather was nice so the kids played outside, and the adults talked and laughed inside. I love times like these!

For Homecoming week in Leadore, one of the dress-up days was "Dress like your teacher". Since I was fairly new to the school, I thought it was unlikely any of the kids would actually dress like me, but I was surprised that they did a pretty good job. One student wore red pants because she said "you have a pair of red pants". One student wore big earrings because she noticed that I like earrings. One student's feet looked oddly similar to mine that day, too, which made me laugh so hard: she wore sandles and funky socks, just like I did (I don't normally do this, though, I promise!). And one of my male students wore a scarf (I love scarves) and a wig and high heels! He nailed it!

One weekend, Josh and I went camping and soaking at Challis Hot Springs. It was a last-minute camping trip, but was very rejuvenating! I love being able to take spur-of-the-moment trips with Josh!

I'm wearing a swimsuit here, btw...

I performed a special musical number with Mr. Anderson during the Junior Salmon Idol. We sang "Total Eclipse of the Heart", which is one of our go-to songs over the years. It was actually the song I auditioned with at the very first year Salmon Idol was held, but I chose to sing a different song for the Idol performance. We practiced our song choice a few days before the actual performance, where we decided who would sing what parts, and I came up with some pretty basic choreography moves, too. I love that we matched that night! It was so fun performing together--performing is truly one of my life's passions! I was also able to be a judge at the senior show for the first time since it began 15 years ago, and that was a good experience too. 

Here's my boys in the audience! btw: Salmon
got new bleachers, which is super nice!