Moroni

They put Moroni on top of the temple in Rexburg on Thursday. It was so fun to drive into Rexburg after dark the other day and see the temple all lit up. You can see it from pretty far away. I love it!

First Signs of Winter

This last week we had a cold front come through Idaho....and boy was it cold. This was found outside my door when I got home from work. It was so cold, it stayed through the night too. I'm not sure if I'm ready for winter to be here yet. I'm not looking forward shoveling my sidewalks and driveway.

Baked Potato

I went to a friend's house for dinner one night, and another one of his friends brought this cool cake that looks like a baked potato. It is all cake and frosting. Everything on the cake can be eaten. I told him I wanted him to come to my class and do a demo for them. He agreed. So when we start talking about chefs and such, he is going to come. I'm sure the kids will love it!

Medal of Honor

I went to institute on Thursday and my friend Lisa gave all of us that went on the hike a medal. That hike deserves a medal. She bought them at the scout office. She even engraved my name and the date on the back. She is so awesome. I really like my new branch.

Table Rock Mountain

This last weekend we went to Table Rock Mountain as a ward activity. This is only a 12 mile hike, but much more difficult. It was very steep for most of the hike. That little knobby hill you can see above the trees is where we hiked too. It is just in front of the Grand tetons. You can see the Tetons in the background of the other pictures. When we finally made it to the top, we stayed up there for over an hour enjoying the view, and taking power naps in the sun. The wind blows like crazy up there, and is really cold, but if you sit down off the ledge a little, it blocks the wind, and you can only feel the sun. The hike down was much easier. My calves hurt after this hike. I woke up in the middle of the night with pain. The next day I couldn't have even touch them without tons of pain. But it was also worth the hike. I want to do it again next year too.

Dananda Falls

On Labor day some friends and I went on an 18 mile hike to Danada falls. It was so awesome. We hiked up under the falls and played in the water. On the side of the river there are little hot springs that serve as great hot tubs. They are really hot. Everyone that came out of them had red marks where the water had been touching them. That is my new friend Lisa in the picture with me. We were really sore right after the hike though. The falls are beautiful, and well worth it the hike.

Retirement

Many of you in my family will recognize this bowl. It's been around for a while now. Susan was remembering that Gary used to eat his breakfast in this bowl when he was little.
For the past few years it has been used as part of a pot for my plant.
Susan was nice enough to give me on of her old pots to re-plant my spiderplant. It out grew the other pot, so I had to retire the old pot and bowl. I like my new pot much better. I'm sure it will look great in my new house.

Sneaky

Today, Ethan wanted a treat that was on top of the fridge. Susan and I had both just sat down so we told him we would get it for him in a min. He didn't want to wait, so he pulled a chair up to the counter and got it himself.

Square Ice Cream

On the way home from rafting we went and had some hot soup to warm us up, and then we stopped and had some square ice cream. Square ice cream tastes so much better than normal round ice cream. I had carmel caribou, and moose tracks. It was pretty tasty.

Ouch

I decided to walk to church in my sandals the other day. I learned that that isn't such a great idea. It gave me huge blisters on both of my feet. They hurt.

Moving

I should have posted this first, but I forgot. Susan and Darren and kids came down and helped me move in. After we unloaded everything, we went and got some food, and then went to the park and ate. It was fun. The older boys even got to feed the ducks.

School

School is also going really well. I love my classes. 8th grade is my biggest challenge. I have really good kids in my classes, they just have to make comments after everything. And they LOVE to make farting noises. They think its the funniest thing in the world. Anyway, here is a picture of my first bulletin board. I'm so proud of it. It took forever to put up, but I like it. The food names are stuck on with Velcro. The kids love racing to see who can put the right foods in the right category the fastest. Little do they know they're doing exactly what I want them to.

White Water Rafting

I love my new branch! We do so many fun things. Last weekend we went camping on Friday night and then got up and went White Water Rafting on Saturday at Hoe Back Junction. It was a TON of fun, but freezing cold! It rained on us the whole time. We had just gotten our camp set up, when the storm rolled in. A few min. later, we looked up, and lightning had struck one of the trees on the hill above us and started a tree on fire. We reported it to the rangers station and they called 911. We were afraid we were going to have to pack up and leave because it was so close to us, but they got it put out. We were lucky and made it out without anyone catching hypothermia. Tomorrow we are going on an 18 mile hike in Yellowstone. And then next weekend, we have another hike planned. This branch is so awesome. Oh, and last night we played night games.

Por Fin! (Finally)

BeforeAfter

Okay, I've made my way back to Rexburg for a visit finally. So there will be several updates. First of all, I will show the changes in my house. I didn't have any curtains or window coverings so, I had to tack blankets to my windows. It was pretty ghetto, but it kept the heat out, and gave me some privacy. However, yesterday I was walking through Home Depot, my new favorite store, and found some nice blinds for a good price, so I splurged and got some blinds. Thanks to my neighbor letting me borrow his drill, I got them installed last night. Two of my neighbors happen to be in my branch. I like having them around. You can also see the shelf my lender brought over for me to use. There sure are nice people out there in the world.

WARNING!!

Just wanted to warn you that if you don't see a post for a while it's because I'm moving into my new house tomorrow, and I won't have internet for a couple of months. I will update when I come to visit Susan and Darren.

MY Family Rocks

This weekend was our family reunion. I haven't been to a family reunion in a really long time. Probably six years or so. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone again. I braved it, and took Susan and Darren's two oldest boys with me. They were pretty good, although it was the worst night's sleep I've ever had. Darren hooked us up with a sweet 3 man tent that according to Darren "will be plenty big enough for you". Well, he forgot that my friend Katie was also coming with us, so we really had four people in in the 3-man tent. So we were pretty cozy. Ethan pulled his ususal whining every twenty min., then there was Katie snoring to my left, the youth conference that was going on in the campground next to us, the weird medievil drummer boys from across camp, and last but not least the train that goes right by the campground and blows it's horn all night long.

It was a fun weekend though. We spent most of the time at the pool. It was a nice hot spring, and a water slide. Here are some fun pictures from the weekend. Grandpa Christiansen hanging out.
The Oddo Family: Marylin, Shane, Jeremiah, Dana, and Meagan
The Hansens: Liz , Jason, Christine
The whole group.
Grandma hanging out
Me, with some sweet hair
Heather after swimming, while waiting for dinner.
Three handsome boys: Jared, Kevin, Ethan
Luke: He loves cupcakes!
Jared's dinner! Doughnut, Twix, and Broccoli
The Troops geared up for swimming: Luke, Kaitlin, Heather, Jared, Kevin, Ethan
Ethan and I hanging out in the pool
Heather in the Pool
Ethan put this "hat" on and said "Buenas Noches"
Rose and Mary Ann ready for swimming

Carousel Ride

At Porter Park here in Rexburg they have a carousel. After Kevin's last Soccer game Susan took the kids over to ride the carousel. I went in to help Ethan get on his horse and to take pictures. They didn't make me leave, and they didn't charge me to go in, so I decided to stay and ride the carousel with the boys. It's been a LONG time since I have been on a carousel ride. It was great fun! There is also a picture of Susan and Jacob waiting for us while we were on the carousel. Doesn't Susan look classy??

Raccoon in the House

The other day I woke up, and there was a raccoon in my bedroom. Fortunately he didn't get into my garbage.

Soccer

The other day at Kevin's soccer game Ethan found his friend Drake (The one on the left). They began to play around. A while later Ethan came over and told me he wanted me to come over to where he and Drake were playing to take a picture of them. He stood next to Drake for the picture, and the other boy came running and joined the picture. We have no idea who he is.

Garden Goodies

I was out in the garden the other day to see what was growing. I pulled up one of the carrots to see how they were coming along. Ethan was with me and got really excited when he saw we had carrots in the garden. (His favorite vegetable. He sometimes asks for carrots and ranch dressing for breakfast.) He dropped his ladybug, (another new facination of his) and asked if he could eat it. So we took it in the house and washed it up. As you can see, it's pretty small, but he liked it, and ate it all.
You'll also notice that he has a green bean in his hand. He didn't dare eat that raw. But we cooked some up for dinner that night, and they sure were good!!!