Spring Break 2016

We were blessed to be able to go to Idaho and visit family for spring break. We did a lot of fun things with both families. We began by having an Easter picnic and egg hunt at Tyrell's sister's house. Then we spent a couple of days with Grandma Teeter (who had just had surgery on her foot so needed our help). It snowed! I was mad! But we did get to hang out with Grandma Teeter longer because of the snow. I don't know that she had too much fun with all the kid movies she had to endure those few days, but we sure liked the conversations and pushing her wheelchair to the bathroom.

Before heading to see my family I went to Jerome to visit with a special friend and her boys. The kids were so excited and got to play at the park for close to 4 hours then have Burger King with their friends. She and I visited and decided it wasn't fair that we only had one afternoon and evening. Hopefully this summer we can go for some more time. The girls went to Target (its coveted, I don't get to go often). We probably had a little more fun than we should have, but it was worth it!

School Begins

Koen began his fourth grade year and Kai began his first grade year. Havyn was supposed to begin her kindergarten year, but as we all know she was not quite up to par on academics largely because of her premature birth. They did the screening and she scored extremely low and qualified for a Jr. Kindergarten program they have here. We could still choose to put her in Kindergarten, but we knew she would struggle. I think the BEST thing we did for her was say Jr. Kindergarten will work. We told her she qualified for a special class because she is such a smart girl and she didn't know any different. She formed friendships and learned so much! She had such a great teacher and is now beyond ready for Kindergarten. She scored very high on the screener this time. She knows how to write her name, the alphabet, numbers, simple addition, concepts of print, and much more.

For Tyrell and I, we were to enter one of the biggest changes in our lives. Education is NOT the same everywhere and I didn't even know how to read the specials schedule. Today I laugh because of how far I have come!  We were the only two hired in this district (which is one of the largest in WY) from Idaho. They do this wall that they leave up all year for who is new and where they are from. It's really nice and welcoming really. The new hire week was nothing like I had experienced before. They knew our names, and gave us school district apparel, fed us, and even paid us a hefty bonus! 

Then the real work began! I LOVED my class from day 1. They were just what I needed this year. They forgave my flaws and misunderstandings (as there were many and I was trying). They laughed with me and taught me probably more than I taught them. I learned about wildlife and mines! Things I really didn't know. They also taught me that even though they are small they are so capable of big and important things! I found myself letting them guide some things and letting lose a little more. I found myself doing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) when I am fairly certain I thought that was a swear word before. I was terrified of it! Its chaotic and messy! But they LEARN from it and so do you! I'm sad to send them to fourth grade, but they need it and they are more than ready for it. I met my little second graders coming into to third grade next the last day of school. They are so so little! I can't wait to see what they will become and what they will teach me!

Summer 2015

We had some pretty amazing adventures the first year in WY. We did a lot of work on our rental house, but mostly we just had fun seeing things we hadn't ever seen before. We went to Mount Rushmore (I had never seen it) because it's about 3 hours away from here. The kids weren't nearly as excited as I was! I guess you get old and realize how neat it is to be able to see things like that.

The kids had the most fun at Storybook Island (In Rapid City, SD) and the free, yes I said FREE public swimming pool here in Gillette. They also had many park lunches, as we call them, and played at several well-kept parks. We were just in awe at how nice everything was cared for here. 

We also went the fair and the kids got to ride ponies for FREE! They also got to eat a dinner for FREE! I was so impressed. We did pay to ride the carnival rides and the kids had a blast.

The BIG move

June 9th, 2015 was our last half day to work in Jerome so we were prepped and had the truck mostly loaded and ready to pull out as soon as we could. We had found a place to live when I interviewed and we were so ready to get to our new home, Gillette, WY and start getting used to our new surrounding and let them kids settle before they had to start at a new school and go to daycare, since Grandma Teeter didn't move with us.
We made it to Shelley, ID that night and parked the truck at my grandparents house. We spent the night with family and had a bittersweet morning on the 10th. I can still remember that morning clearly because unknown to me it would be the last morning I would ever hug my Grandma King before she would pass in less than a month. We woke up quite early to get headed on the road as we knew it would be an at least 10 hour trip with a U-Haul and me driving the car loaded with 4 kids. The day was pretty uneventful and went quite well, until we arrived. I don't know if I just thought because things were all exciting and happy in my mind that that meant there wouldn't be any hard parts or if I was in denial, but clearly I wasn't expecting to find the house filthy (as they had told me they had a cleaning lady clean it), a broken window with duct tape on it (not a fun conversation with the landlord who never did fix it), a broken garbage disposal, wet carpet from cleaning (though they had over a month to do it), no help to unpack (I dropped the freezer trying to help Tyrell unload it and wasn't much muscle for anything else), 4 really grumpy kids who needed a bath (but the tub was filthy), phones that didn't work so well (poor phone company for area), no dinner, and not much money to just throw in the towel and get a hotel. I had to drive to Wal-Mart for cleaning supplies so we could at least shower and got flipped off because the turn lanes here are very different than Idaho and I didn't understand them so I went the wrong way. By the time I got home the kids were asleep in one room in sleeping bags on the damp carpet, Tyrell was exhausted, and I felt like I had a lot of work to do. I began cleaning the shower so Tyrell could use it and then unpacked a lot of the kitchen so we could eat in the morning. It was well after midnight when I finally fell onto the mattress on the floor and used whatever stuffed animal I could find for a pillow. I cried for my mom and mother in law more than I had ever thought I would. Things did get better, but it took a few days. The summer was actually one of the best summers we have ever had, as you will see.

The Last Year in Jerome, ID

As I can see I slacked in the blogging world after our first year in Jerome so I will start updating there.
Koen completed his 3rd grade year as was referred to the GATE (gifted and talented education) program. Kai attended kindergarten and learned to LOVE school. Havyn and Kael spent plenty of time making memories with their Grandma Teeter, who babysat them everyday.

We bought our first ever and probably last ever BRAND NEW car.

We both taught the 2014-2015 year in Jerome. Tyrell stayed at the middle school there and I taught 4th grade. That year was not all I had hoped it would be and near the end I wondered if I would continue to teach. I knew I wasn't going to go back to the school I was currently teaching at and wasn't sure what I was going to do. We had kind of jokingly talked about venturing to Wyoming one day, as the educational experiences that are available for kids there as well as the teacher pay were preferable. We nervously started applying for jobs that we kind of laughed off as no way we would get interviews because Wyoming is known for being very competitive as far as teaching jobs go. Tyrell got a call to interview and we were beyond ecstatic that he had even stood out among the many applicants (almost 100 for Alica's elementary job). A few days after interviewing he received news that they would like to hire him. We couldn't believe it! Our lives were about to change majorly! Soon after I got my first interview, then a second and no luck. When the call came for a third we thought it best to take the long journey to be there in person and nail this one. It worked! We were now anticipating a move in 2 short months, far away from everything and everyone we had ever known.

Camping

Update: I must have written this a LONG time ago and now I can't find any pictures so for the sake of the memory I will post it unfinished now.

We went coming this summer at 1000 Springs in Hagerman. Boy, was it hot and buggy! We spent one night sweating off half our body weight in a tent. Then, we decided that for the benefit of us all we would upgrade to a small cabin with beds and an air conditioner. The pool was a blast! Kai even got brave enough to go off the diving board! Koen became better at swimming and did the diving board too! Havyn surprised me by going down the slide and Kael realized that water is fun when you stay in the kiddie pool.