Dora? Not quite...

Every year at the beginning of October, I start stressing about what to be for Halloween.  As a first grade teacher, I pretty much have to dress up every year.  This year, my costume ended up being one of the easiest ever - thanks to a dress I purchased for my birthday this summer and a hat I borrowed from my dad.  Throw on some knee-high boots and a pair of binoculars, and VOILA! -

I called myself an explorer, and even thought of wearing a "My name is..." sticker with Dora written on it.  Then I could be Dora the Explorer.  But I decided against that at the last minute.  At school, I was called a variety of fun names - zoologist, ranger, safari-er, Africa hunter, someone who looks for animals, and more.

Spencer and I did not go to any Halloween parties this year, so he didn't have a costume.  If we had gone somewhere, I wanted to wrap him up in a roll of butcher paper and he could be my map.  Maybe next year.

We stayed home on Saturday night to pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters, and I couldn't believe how many kids came by!  Our neighborhood is pretty small, and full of young families.  Also, the ward didn't do a trunk or treat.  So if kids wanted to dress up and get candy, they would have to work for it!  It was nice to know that some of the traditions I remember best about Halloween as a child are still going strong.  Even the rain we got early in the evening did not deter the trick-or-treaters.  We ran out of candy around 6:30 or 7:00, so while Spencer drove down to the store for more I passed out hot cocoa packets.  Whatever works, right?

Zion

Three cheers for fall break!  Hip hip hooray!  Hip hip hooray!  Hip hip HOORAY!  Last weekend I did not have school on Thursday or Friday, so I went with my parents, my brother Michael, wife Jessica, and baby Asher, and my uncle David to Zion National Park.  My brother Adam met us there from St. George with his friend Brittany and her son.  Poor Spencer had to stay home and work.  Don't feel too sorry for him though.  The previous weekend he went camping with his buddies for the elk hunt.  But I did miss him a lot.

Michael made a great video compilation of our trip.


Untitled from Michael Jolley on Vimeo.


I took tons of pictures.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Kids Say...

...the darndest things!  Here's a conversation that happened at school a few days ago.

One of my students said, “So, you’re just a mom who comes in and teaches us stuff.” I said no, I wasn’t a mom, I was a teacher. He said, “Yes you are a mom, I saw it.” I was confused about what he meant, then he explained by pointing at my purse by my desk. “You have a purse, so you’re a mom.” Trying not to laugh, I said, yes I had a purse, but that didn’t mean I was a mom. He looked at me for a minute, then said, “So you’re a gramma then.”

And then yesterday a girl in my class wrote the following story:

Translation:  "I know a teacher that teached students.  The students were happy that they were at school."

Too cute.

Head in the clouds?

We live about 1000 feet above the valley, and today on the way home I got to drive through the clouds.  It was nice. 

The end.