Nothing New

Well, I don't really have anything new to report, but I figured it's been such a long time since I posted anything that I should. Really things seem quite mundane in our lives. But here's what happening at the Andersen household...

*Devin is continuing school and looking for jobs. He recently did a short job working for BYU with some Japanese junior high kids that came. It was really fun for him because all he had to do was chaperone and tour kids around BYU. But he got to go to all these fun places in Utah and speak Japanese which he loves.

*I am still teaching 4th grade. This past week has been SUPER crazy. It's the end of the term so I've been grading like crazy. My aide has been gone for the whole week so I can't dump my menial tasks on her. (Yes, I realize I'm spoiled to even have an aide). Friday was our class auction and class party. Let's just say Friday was completely nuts. With my class I do a money reward system so our auction let them use their money to "buy" things. It was hilarious. Devin came and was my auctioneer which was a huge life safer for me. The kids definitely don't know bidding strategies yet. It was so funny to see them bid $150 bucks for a bouncy ball. But what was especially funny was when there was more than one of an item. I had 2 girls going at it for some stickers that were American Girl - I had several packs of stickers. The first girl got hers for $50 and the second girl who realized there were more got hers for $25. Our class party was really fun, but low key - which was great for me as I tried to frantically update grades.

*Friday night was also my school's Fall Festival. The kids aren't allowed to wear their costumes to school so they have a "festival/fund raiser" and let them wear it then. The teachers weren't required to go, but Devin and I did. We got a $15 movie gift card out of it though. Can I just say how funny/weird the Board at my school is? They really wanted to make it mandatory for the teachers, but our principal stood up for us and made it optional. Then they go and give the teachers that did go a movie gift card. Hmm...good thing I went!

*We are still trying to get pregnant, but much to our dismay and our bank account it hasn't happened yet. We are finding out fast that babies are expensive and we don't even have one yet :)

Even with life's challenges it's still a great life and Devin and I feel extremely blessed in our lives. Devin and I are excited for the future and all that might change and happen. We are hoping to go to Japan next year and will probably be there for about a year. That both excites and scares me to death. I better start learning more Japanese fast!

Catch up

I haven't posted in a little while so this is the condensed catch up version. I like pictures so if you don't -- too bad.

Triathlon:
Devin did another triathlon with David and Adam. This one was at Yuba lake. We went down Friday night and camped then did the triathlon and hurried home after that. It was quick, but fun.

"Spilled milk:"
It's been pretty rainy recently and on our way home one day we caught this awesome picture of the clouds "spilling" over the mountain. It was cool because the way the clouds were moving really made it seem like "spilled milk."

Gardening:
Our Garden has been doing very well. We've been getting quite the giant produce as evidence of this carrot. Ruth and I got together and made homemade tomato sauce. I'm excited to use it and see how it is.
Birthday Celebrations:
We celebrated my birthday with my family and cousins by going up the canyon and having tin foil dinners. It was a little rainy so we got creative and used a tarp to create a little tent. On my actual birthday Devin took me out to dinner at an Italian restaurant up at the Gateway called Biaggi's. It was really delicious and we got some great deals thanks to the Dine o' Round (Thanks Katie for telling us about that). Then for even more celebrations this past week we drove to Park City via the Alpine Loop and Provo Canyon. We wanted to go the scenic route to see the fall leaves. I love the fall and it was SO gorgeous. Even though the above picture is blurry I still thought it was pretty cool looking at all the aspens.We stayed over night at the Silver King hotel, walked around Main Street, did some shopping, and had an all around GREAT time relaxing with each other. Below is the view from our hotel room window. It was a perfect time of year to see the fall foliage. The Silver King has some fun memories for me from when I was a little kid. My family stayed there several times and it's a pretty nice hotel. Devin was so nice to let me do something that I love...shopping. We went to the outlets and he was so patient as I went into all the stores I wanted to and tried on tons of clothes. I ended up getting a nice shirt, several pairs of earrings, and 2 new coats that were WAY on sale.
I had the whole week off for my fall break. This week has been so nice and I think it will be hard to go back to the school routine tomorrow.

Yard Work

Come one come all!

To the 1st ever semi-annual
Andersen Family yard work party!!!

When: Friday September 25th
Time: 6:00pm
Where: Andersen Family Residence
1198 E. Mountain Oaks Circle
Alpine, UT 84004

Join us for an evening of fun yard work with great friends and great food.
Pizza, Brownies, and Ice Cream will be provided!!

Please RSVP by the 24th to Sarah or Devin

Back to School

I survived the first week of school! Although it has been really tiring and a lot of work it's been fun too. My class is really cute with quite a lot of girls. I have 25 students: 8 boys and 17 girls. They are all really well behaved which is really nice after my bunch I had last year. I only have a few that could even be considered a little bit too talkative and I just walk over and say "give me a buck you're not paying attention" and the entire class quiets down. Or I just give bucks to those that are quite and immediately everyone sits up straight, folds their arms, and shuts up. As mentioned earlier the 4th grade is doing a monetary reward system and the kids really seem to go for it. Although the first day they got really excited thinking it was real money they were getting. I've decided that kids really think the funniest things sometimes. One student turned to me "Mrs. Andersen do you have any kids?" To which I replied, "No" all while thinking "Here we go again" (I had a similar conversation with a student last year). She just simply said, "Well you should totally have kids" and continued to say why I should have kids. Here was her explanation of why I should I have kids: "They poop all the time, they pee when they cry, they cry all the time, they'll keep you up at night, they'll drive you nuts. Yeah you should definitely have kids."

I think we'll have to work on her persuasion skills. :)

Devin also starts school again this next week. He only has two classes and is really excited to be done. Once again this year he is going to be taking the bus and I'll drop him off and pick him up from the bus stop. Too bad he has to get to school so early only to sit around and study until his 1:00 class. Oh well, I guess that's what happens when you only have one car.

Happy Back to School Everyone!

Whitewater Rafting in Jackson

Need I say more?

Merry Go Round of Life

Do you every feel like your life is just going in circles? That's what I feel like recently as I get ready to start my second year of teaching. I feel like I'm on a Merry go Round, it all just seems very repetitive. I'm starting to worry and stress about teaching (much like last year), Devin is getting ready to go to school (much like last year), Devin is still looking for a job (much like last year), and we are still trying to get pregnant (much like last year). Don't get me wrong it is a "Merry" go round for a reason -- our life is good, it just seems very much like last year. Not much has changed. I actually hate talking with people you haven't seen in a while and then have to explain that NOTHING has changed in your life since you last talked to them. It just gets a little frustrating sometimes.

Anyway here I go round again...and I'll try to be happy to do it!

Amazing Adventures

The Andersen's have teamed up with the Ferrero's yet again for another amazing adventure. This past adventure took the families to....
Highlights included . . .
*Camping near the Grand Teton National Park at Gros Ventre campground. Although camping is fun both parties were ready for some civilization near the end. *Eating delicious dutch oven dinner and cobbler ridiculously late. Each night it got later and later :) And here is Lynsie anxiously waiting for dinner. She's so excited she just can't contain her emotions.*Shopping and touring downtown Jackson. Man there were a TON of antlers everywhere!!*Canoeing along the Snake River where lots of beautiful scenery and animals were seen. Among the animals were several bald eagles (one who almost pooped on us), hawks, offsprey, otters, pelicans, and a butterfly that let Sarah hold it. There was quite a bit of waiting since the car could only hold one canoe at a time. Here are the Andersen's waiting for the canoe trip.*Whitewater rafting down the Snake River. This was probably the hightlight of the trip for the Andersen's with Big Kahuna being among the favorite rapids. Photo courtesy of davehansenwhitewater.com.*Seeing a wide range of animals all throughout the trip including lots of bison and two moose! Yes it is a moose behind that bush.


Other highlights included . . .

Where the families got to see Old Faithful! Lots of different geysers all with beautiful blue water and orange/yellow rocks. Seeing the Upper and Lower Falls along the Yellowstone River which cuts through the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.


The Andersen's got to relive some of their honeymoon memories including posing by the lookout of the Lower Falls. Overall there were some amazing adventures for all involved! Can't wait to see where the next adventures will take them!