Summer is Here...and so is HIGH WATER!!!

 Summer is finally here!  On Friday afternoon, Justin picked up Jordyn and her friend Andrea for a sleepover, so that Sharon (Andreas mom) and i could go to lunch with the teachers after school.  The river has really been climbing the last couple of days, and this weekend has probably been the highest that ive ever seen it! 

 Rocky and Phil stopped by to check out the river too, and we all went on an adventure to see how high it was on the island.

 This downed tree from that spring snowstorm we had, has taken on the shape of a lance, and as Rocky models here, sits at a very emasculating level!  In fact, after the storm, and the phone company cutting any trees down that were too close to the phone lines, we have several downed trees on the island that we'll have to clean up.  I guess we'll be good to go for firewood though :)

 Meanwhile, Jordyn and Andrea have discovered the fine art of whittling!  They spent hours working at "Jordyn and Andrea's Whittling Shop", to make wooden pens and other assorted goodies.  Im sure Andreas folks will be thrilled to know we armed her with a knife and let her play outside :)

 Of course, Justin gave them a lecture...i mean, lesson, on safety, so they were respectful of the knife and just enjoyed carving the wood.

 The girls fell asleep under their fort in the living room while watching a movie and then spent most of the next morning whittling too!  After Andrea went home, Jordyn went over to Grandma and Grandpa Bruen's house for sleepover.  Her cousin Mandy is there, so they should have some fun together.  What a great way to kick off summer!  Cheers!

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!!!!

 Yesterday was the last day of school!!!  The kids were fired up and ready...as were the teachers and staff :)  The kids spent the morning cleaning their classrooms, bagging up the junk in their desks, and packing up any last minute artwork hanging on the walls.  Then we all signed yearbooks!  It was a half day, so all the kids got out at 11:00! 

 We have a tradition that we do, called the "car wash", the teachers line up on either side, while the kids walk down the middle, and while doing so, the teachers pretend to wash the kids for summer! 

 Well, this year, we added a little twist to the car wash with silly string!  We armed a few parents with cans of silly string and then sent the kids through the car wash, while we sprayed them down with silly string!  It was a fabulous,  hilarious ending to the day!  I was a bit sad to watch the bus drive away, knowing that was the last time those 5th graders would be riding that bus!  Ive grown really fond of several of those kids over the years, so i will miss them!  Good Luck class of 2014...and be sure to visit us :)

Summer Is Almost Here!!!

 How do you know when summer is almost here?!?  When your neighbors grandkids start coming up for visits!  These are Jordyn's summertime friends, Andrew and Mackenzie.  As soon as they get out of school, they start spending weekends up in the canyon with their grandparents, Marci and Darwin...and when they are up here, they spend a lot of time hanging out with Jordyn too!  They spend hours playing outside, riding bikes, splashing around in the ditch, playing on the trampoline, watching movies in bad weather, and of course riding around on the four-wheeler!  There are no children in the canyon except Jordyn, so she loves it when they come up, and i think they have a pretty good time too :)  Last Saturday they went Geo Caching with Marci at a few nearby locations.  They found all but the one at Archers, so i guess they'll have to keep looking!

 Meanwhile, i pulled some rhubarb from the garden and decided to make some jam.  This was my first time working with rhubarb, so i wasnt sure what to expect, but when it was all said and done, it turned out really tasty, so i thought i would include the recipe here....enjoy!

Rhubarb-Strawberry Jam:  6 cups of diced rhubarb, 2 1/2 cups of sugar (let rhubarb and sugar sit in a covered pot overnight).  When finished setting, boil mixture for about 15 minutes or so (until it starts to mush down nice), then add in about a pint of cut up strawberries to soften.  When it gets to desired consistency, remove from heat and add in 1 box of strawberry jello.  When mixed well, pour into jars.  My jars sealed themselves, so they are good to go!  enjoy :)  Summer is almost here...i can taste it!

Game Fest!!!

Once again, getting caught up on activities now that school is out...May 15th was Game Fest...a much anticipated event that all 3 mountain schools participate it!  Game Fest is always a blast...a great way to let the kids get some of that "end of school" energy out!

Jordyn took second place in the long jump and first place in the shot put!  Way to go kiddo!

She took second place in the 100 yard dash, and then 4th place in the 100 yard dash for the second heat...and for the 440, she came in 4th.  But after all the activities they had all day, i think she was pretty wiped out :)  It was a fabulous day though, and Justin, Jordyn and i all had a blast!

Gnomes, Ice Cream and Tornados, Oh my!

 Trying to catch up again, these photos are from last week!  My last day was Wednesday, so on Thursday, Justin took Jordyn to school.  When he went to pick her up, there were tornado warnings for the Red Feather area (very rare for the mountains, but it does happen every 30 years or so).  Anyways, on his way to get her, he saw all kinds of tornado fingers forming, but none touching down...what he did see though, was all the damage that happened on the Manhattan road only minutes before he passed through there (thank goodness he was running late that day).  Anyways, when my cousin came up the next day, we decided to enjoy a day in Red Feather and scope out the storm damage.  First we picked Jordyn up from school, and naturally gave Christy a tour of Gnome Road, which she loved...

 Then we took some photos on our way home of the damage on the Manhattan road.  These photos dont quite do it justice, but WOW!  Over 200 trees down!

 Here is a shot of Jordyn and i next to a HUGE downed tree...look at the size of those roots...

 and this is a full shot of that same tree!

 

Here is a shot of Jordyn enjoying her ice cream next to another downed tree...its hard to see, but her face is covered in ice cream!

And here is a row of trees completely uprooted and laying on their sides where they fell.  Very sad to see all these beautiful trees torn down, especially since they just cleared the area of beetle kill recently, so the area was pretty sparse already.  Anyways, im just glad Justin and Jordyn didnt get caught up in all this!  The kids were actually pulled off of the school bus, and had to remain in the building until the tornado threat was gone...except of course my storm chasing family, that hopped in the car to check it out!  :)

Fishing with Grandpa ~

 Jordyn and Grandpa did some fishing last weekend, the first time out for the season!  They did pretty good too...a couple of browns and a rainbow!  Then grandpa showed her how to gut it, and she enjoyed some trout for lunch!  Bring on summer!  :)

I Made It!!!

I made it!!! Or should i say, WE made it!!!  I completed my first year as a preschool teacher today! (and with all the trainings, con ed, and college classes i had to take, surprisingly, my family survived too!)  :)  I celebrated today by going to lunch with my partner in crime, Sharon (where i enjoyed a beer, while Sharon, being 36 weeks pregnant, watched).  I then came home and enjoyed a bloody mary while relaxing on the couch...im pretty sure i dozed off a few times for a couple hours, and now i am good to go!  We had our preschool graduation ceremony today, and that was fun, and now, i have a few random days to go back in the next week to break the room down and we are good to go!  Vacation...you never looked sooooo good!  :)