A pirate's life on the Provo River

So we've decided that Jack is now old enough to join us on our annual "White Water on the Provo River" trip. He was initially very excited (long before he saw the river but knew he could take his pirate sword and flag). The 200' descent on a steep, loose dirt trail to the river put him on edge. Hailey shouting for me to go through the "white water" finally put him over, and he screamed and whined to the point that some friendly zoobie asked if we were all right (in reality, everyone else going down the river was really nice to our little pirate). Eventually he calmed down with the promise of a 'park day' when we arrived at Vivian Park. Really it was a lot of fun and as we climbed out of the river Jack said it was fun and "it wasn't too scary". Here are the highlights.

The Best of Steve

Steve is off to the Unitas for the week so I thought I would follow Taylor's lead (I love how he blogged about Laney when she was gone). These are two of my favorite pictures that Steve brought back from his trip to Monterey. He definitely has a more artistic eye than I do. I wonder why he has trouble dressing...

Carnival Day!

Today we went to the Utah County Fair. The main purpose was to let Jack ride the carousel. This summer we spent almost three weeks in Spokane and he got to ride the carousel several times. Today our experience was quite different from the historic carousel of Spokane. THIS carousel cost $3.00 to ride, looked like it was made with TinkerToys and could just barely support Jack's weight. Oh, but did he like it? Yes! It did the trick! The only other person on the carousel was a nice lady, her son and her disgusting, yet agile dog. (I feel like Leisy, but I couldn't resist snapping a little pic).

Teacher Theory

This is a picture of a thank-you poster my first graders made for Dominos. This picture has NOTHING to do with my theory, but I couldn't find a good picture and this one made me laugh.

I recently got a job as a reading/computer specialist at a school about two minutes away and I was able to sit through many obnoxious meetings in prep for the new school year. Do you know what I discovered? Every elementary faculty is the same. That's right! There is always the skeptical, veteran teacher; she shakes her head when planning time is brought up. She sighs and knows things will never go her way. There should be one male teacher who is quirky and funny and all the students in the school idolize this teacher. He probably likes Snickers and gets away with as much as possible. The third element is the school secretary. All teachers must bow down to this individual because her job is harder than teaching and her hours are longer. She won't let you forget this point either.

What can I say? I really love teaching...really....

Did I mention the great pay?

our black hole

Feels like we're stuck in a black hole here on Sara(h) Circle

My New Ring

I briefly mentioned the loss of my wedding ring a couple weeks ago. I have good news! The lost ring has been replaced with somewhat of an upgrade. I couldn't ask for a more beautiful symbol of our love. Having said that, I couldn't ask for a better Steve either. Steve couldn't be so easily replaced. I don't think anyone could argue with that!

P.S. I think this must be about a carat and a half! Thankfully Steve self-mined this beauty and cut down on overhead costs.

High in Utah

This past weekend I forced my family to assist in a lichen collecting foray on Boulder Mountain in southern Utah. Everyone had been sick right up until the moment we left. I trusted that we were through the worst and off we went. Well, Jack wasn't. He spent the weekend in excruciating stomach pain, Although the occasional bouts of diarrhea did offer some relief. A couple of these pictures offer a glimpse into his sufferings. Hailey's weren't much better. She was stuck taking care of a sick kid while I scraped lichens off rocks and twigs.



However, things eventually got a little better. Jack loved watching me chase lizards and really loved holding them, a swimming day at the pool raised his spirits again, and chasing a deer through Capital Reef proved to be the icing on the cake. It couldn't last forever. Jack is still sick, and when I asked him if he wants to study lichens like his dad he answers in an emphatic "no".