Minor Miners

For those of you regularly driving through Salt Lake County you've probably noticed billboards telling people to "Bring your minors to see our miners."  Advertisements for Rio Tinto's Kennicott Copper Mine.  Well today we got that chance to go on a field trip with all of Stephanie's 7th grade, utah history students, to the copper mine.

Did you know... the Bingham Canyon Mine produces about
one fourth of all the copper used annually in the United States!

Sadly we chose the wrong day (week even) to go up into the hills to the visitors center.  Snow was predicted at higher elevations, and guess what... the mine is at a higher elevation.  So we spent most of our time in the visitors center watching videos and examining dioramas in order to avoid the absolute blizzard that was outside.

This was no simple snow-day.  See that snow falling HORIZONTALLY!
Pretty much a blizzard up there.

I really enjoyed the educational experience and had fun being with Stephanie while she was among her students and fellow teachers.  I was able to snag a couple of pictures looking down into the pit which is so deep you can't even see the bottom.... at least not in this storm.

  

yeah, it was cold.

A Return to Middle School

So you know how people are always saying that the last thing they would want to do is relive middle school? That's what I do everyday! For those of you who don't know, I'm just finishing up my second week as a 7th grade history teacher. My school is called Providence Hall Jr. High. It's an IB school, which basically means that all the teachers are required to add a world view into their lessons. For example, I teach Utah history, so I've been teaching Utah geology/geography, and then I I follow up with basic geology and world geography. As I wouldn't have chosen to teach Utah history--it's great being able to broaden the curriculum into something a bit more interesting.

Here is the school 23 days before the first day

This is Providence Hall Jr. High's first year (new building and everything--although there is a Providence Hall Elementary down the street), and it's been really interesting to be there as school procedures, curriculum (as this is Utah's first IB school) and even bell schedules are worked out. (I think we're on our fourth bell schedule already.) The administration as well as the other teachers I work with are all amazing, and I can honestly say I would want my kids to go to this type of a school.

My greatest fear about starting to actually teach, was that I wouldn't really know what I was doing, but I feel really good about everything. I'm better than I expected at learning names, I've been staying ahead on my lesson plans, and I've been having fun. I guess I really did choose the right major! Whoo!

Me in my classroom the weekend before the first day.

trying to get ready

View of my finished classroom from the door

From the back of the room

Providence Hall (finished)

View of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple from my school.

Grass growing on the rugby field

Washington!

Better late than never (I hope you agree) and although this post is very late, I'm excited to finally write about our fun and exciting trip to Washington this summer. 

First, we had some excitement (AKA drama) as we drove up to my parents' house in Richland. Our car, which we had just gotten major mechanical work done on, was running weird--slow to accelerate, jumpy tachometer, etc. About 10 miles west of Burley, ID, it stopped. We thought we had run out of gas as the gas light doesn't work and we rely on the tripometer to fill up. We were just considering jumping the barbed wire fence to talk to a farm house when a ID State police officer came up behind us. He took Michael into town and brought him back with a gallon of gas. But the car still wouldn't start. We ended up calling a tow truck and getting towed to a mechanic. A very nice, honest man who gave me some hope for the gild. It turns out our distributor was missing a bolt, which caused it to come detached from the engine. Thus, our car died. After a quick bolt replacement, (and a lighter wallet) we were on our way again.

I was very excited to give my neices Madeleine and Lydia the tutus I had made for them. They were super easy to make and since both my nieces are girly-girls, I had high hopes for their approval. I wasn't disappointed. They loved them, and it was so fun to see them running around in them. We also brought our nephew Asher a BYU ball as a sort of we-love-you-too-even-though-I-didn't-make-you-anything gift. He loved it too, so it all worked out wonderfully. (It probably helped that he's inherited his mom and dad's obsession with BYU.)

Lydia, modeling her tutu

Maddie, being a ballerina 

Asher, showing off his BYU ball (thank you cheerleader hat threw it right to Michael)

Relaxing after FHE

Lydia on the slide

During the week that Michael and I stayed with my parents, we took Madeleine to Swim Lessons and Lydia to the park while we waited. Lydia, who will turn two soon, definitely has the strongest personality of any child I have ever met of that age. She knows what she wants and goes for it. We were kept busy running around after her from slide to swing to bridge to tunnel and all over again. Don't even get me started on her reaction when another little boy though he could have a turn on the swing. (And no, she did not want me to hold her doll so she wouldn't fall off the playground.)

What you don't know is she is actually reaching for her doll
that I stole in order to get her to look at me :-)

Laughing at Uncle Michael

Maddie "being pretty" after swimming lessons

Maddie "helping" me make cookies at Grandmas

On one of the nice summer nights we were there, we had a barbecue at a nice park by the Columbia River. Emma's the only one that actually went swimming (except for Teddy Bear). The rest of us spent more time talking, cooking and eating.

Teddy Bear

The Columbia... and Hannah and Emma

Tinker Bell (Italian Greyhound)

We also were able to make a trip up to Quincy, town of my childhood and home of my grandpa Ashby. It was nice being back on the farm. My brother-in-law Paul brought his remote control car and he and Michael had fun using the tractor to make a track for it. It got some good air off some of the jumps they made.
Of course, we also had a cookout and sat around listening to fun stories from Grandpa.

Grandpa Ashby on the tractor

Harry showing off

Talking about the war

Nice view of the jump Michael and Paul made

My younger sister Hannah had EFY in Tacoma, and Michael and I decided (sort of last minute) that we would take her and then spend the might in Anacortes at Michael's parents house. We spent some time in Seattle, visiting the Asian district and the sculpture park before heading up to Anacortes. The traditional Anacortes activities (kayaking, sailing and beach bonfire) had to be packed into one day, but we did it, and had a fabulous time.

China Town

Cabana beach

Yes, we're in love

We love Washington, and definitely look forward to the day that it will be our families official home.

...in the middle of the street.

We moved!
I know that news is so last month, but it's true! And this is my post about it.

Farm Gate is a great apartment complex.  Currently located in the middle of nowhere, it will be surrounded with residential developments within a year or so.  It also happens to be right next to Herriman High School, and on the road that leads to the copper mine. (I don't think it's the only road.. just one of them).

View toward SLC

Our Temple!

See how 'farmy' it is

The mine

High School football stadium

City Center in the foreground (with the weird roof) and Stephanie's school way in the back

and there's a pool  ^_^

We really enjoy living here.  We've been doing our best to take advantage of the fitness room and pool facilities.  It's interesting to live outside of the 'Provo bubble' and has begun to make us think that we are growing up... but we know better.

July Fourth

As soon as we got home from the cruise, it was time to celebrate our country's birth.  Wendy had us all over for dinner and games:

And then we celebrated with the traditional lighting of paper-wrapped gunpowder.

Newest addition to Utah's allowed firework list:

My awesome wife... 

-michael

Wonderful World of Disney

After our amazing Disney cruise experience, we decided to do a day at DIsney World. That's right, just one day. We wanted to make the most of it, so we decided to buy a park hopper ticket--which we did on ebay before leaving for the cruise. Sadly, we arrived in Florida, only to remember that we had forgotten our tickets at home. LUckily, our friend Chris was able to break into our house (okay, we gave him the garage code.) and then overnight them to us.

This was my first trip to Disney World, and I wanted to experience it all. At first, Michael was a little wary, but after looking at maps, we decided we could do all four parks in one day. His siblings were initially really surprised and skeptical of our plan, but one by one, they all joined in and we ended up doing all four parks together. It was awesome.

No, we didn't get to do the shows and some of the rides we normally would have done had we had a few days, but it was incredible, and I'm glad we did it the way we wanted to. It definitely made for a busy day though.

We arrived at Animal Kingdom a little before it opened at 9AM and headed straight to Expedition Everest. Amazing. Fun. Scary. Exciting. Amazing. We ended up riding it twice because the line was so short, then we booked it over to the Safari--which was like jungle cruise, but with real animals and not as many corny jokes. We then went back to Expedition Everest, where we used our fast passes to ride it a deserved third time, and ended our Animal Kingdom adventure riding the Kawali River Rapids, on which we all got soaking wet.

11:20 AM. Hollywood Studios (formally known as MGM). We went straight to Star Tours, which they recently renovated to include about 54 new adventures and destinations. We rode it twice in a row (worth it), then Michael, the Herds and I went on the Disney backlot tour while the rest of the family went to the Muppets 3D movie. We then met up again and went to the Lights, Cameras, Action! A really cool car stunt show. We ate lunch while watching the show and I really enjoyed the cool stunts and amazing driving.
We then went and got in a short line for Tower of Terror, before going over and using fast passes for Rockin' Roller Coaster--which can only be described as amazing. It was like a mix between California Screamin', Space Mountain and any other amazing roller coaster you can think of.

Tower of Terror

At this point, some of the family went to Epcot, while Michael and I went over to ride Star Tours again with Gavin, quickly meeting up with the Herds again to ride Tower of Terror one last time before heading over ourselves.

5:30PM Epcot. We immediately went to get fast passes for Mission Space and then went to Innoventions for a while. We rode segways, went to a sort of lame weather simulator and played video games. We then met the family for dinner and then Michael, Kacy and I went to Mexico (¡Olé!) and Norway (Sejt), before heading over to Mission Space. Very, very cool. The last thing we snuck in before the park closed (seriously, we got in line at 8:55 and the park closed at 9) was test track. We went in the single rider line so we wouldn't have to wait so long, and I ended up sitting next to the cutest little girl who got so scared she kept grabbing my leg.

Epcot

 Segways

Splash Moutnain

After Splash Moutain

9:40PM Magic Kingdom. It was like coming home. The entrance was exactly like Disneyland, and even though it changed around after that, I still loved it. We were together with all Michael's siblings (minus Madeline) and rushed over to Splash Mountain, where there was practically no line, so we were able to stay on and ride it twice. We then went over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, again finding almost no line. (Of all the rides that are at both Disneyland and Disney World, this was the only one that I think might have a leg up.) We then went and rode Pirates of the Caribbean (definitely better at DL) and then Jungle Cruise (twice). We then went over to try and do Space Mountain, but it was closed, so we went to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. We were just about out of time at this point, but rushed over to fantasy land and ended the night on Peter Pan.

Truly a magical (and exhausting) day.