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. 

June 2014 10 years!!

This  year for our 10 year anniversary Tyrell surprised me with a trip to Las Vegas! We had gone there on our honeymoon, but like most couples, we were pretty limited on what we could afford to do. This time, though still limited, we were able to do a lot more. The first night we were there we were able to take a helicopter tour of the strip. I had never been flying, let alone in a helicopter. I was pretty nervous. It was sooo much fun, though. 

Then we went on the new high roller. That wasn't as fun as I had expected, but still neat. It moves really slow and takes about 30 min. to get around the entire thing.

The next morning we decide to walk around a little and just see what was there. Then, we went over to Mandalay Bay to see the aquarium they have there. It was really cool and impressive. 

After the aquarium we headed to

The wax figures here were so cool! They looked real! Judge for yourself. Warning: picture overload about to take place.

At the end of the wax museum there was a Marvel 4d movie. You could literally smell and feel the movie! We got sprayed a couple of times when something sprayed in the movie. We got jabbed in the back as well when one of the characters get jabbed. At one point there are things scattering across the floor and you could feel a sense that it was happening on your feet and lower legs. Kind of creepy, but really cool!

Later that night we had tickets to 

Which was beyond amazing!! I have never seen so much talent! They didn't allow pictures so this is all we have. 

I don't remember the order of the other exhibits we were able to go to but I do have pictures. 

Tyrell was so excited when we left the aquarium because there was a newer exhibit that they were giving away free tickets to when you went to the aquarium. It was called Score. It was a sports museum full of actual memorabilia. 

His team is on the top 50 most valued teams, ranking 18! 

One of my favorite exhibits was the Titanic. They didnt allow pictures in there either. As younentervthey give you a ticket. You become a passenger on the ship. The tickets have names and information that is real. At the end you get to look at the list of survivors and deaths to find your name and find out if you lived. 

Both of our people survived. The tour was really interesting. Among artifacts they have brought out of the ocean and preserved there were stories about people who were on the ship and why. I found it interesting that several passengers were supposed to be on other ships and ended up on the titanic for various reasons. They also had a replica of an iceberg you could touch to feel the coolness. There were sections that were set up to look like the different classes in the ship. There was a real part of the actual ship at the end of the exhibit. It was huge!

The last night we were there we decided to do the Eiffel Tower experience. 

This was really fun! The Eiffel Tower replica is exactly half as tall as the real one. They had wanted it to be the same size, but were told no by the airport. Once you are to the top you are in the open air, but are surrounded by a fence type thing. We watched many of the free shows up there. Here are some pictures of the fountains from the Eiffel Tower.

And, of course the view of the strip.

Some of the other things we did were free. The botoniacal gardens were beautiful.

We also went to the coke store and did their flavors from around the world testers. Some were delicious while others tasted like cough syrup.

The Hershey's store was fun too! They had a jelly belly Statue of Liberty and some Hershey's bar sculptures.

We really had a great time! It's probably one of the best times I have ever had!!