Sparklin' Fun

As many of you know, I had the good fortune to be in Utah for a month in July. It was great to reunite with some of my best friends and my family. The first Friday that I was in town, I spent the night at Dre and Rus Waite's. They are definitely some of my bestest friends in the whole world!!! And..their boy Tanner is the bomb! It was good to be with them and to enjoy some much needed bonding time!!!

I LOVE TO SEE THE TEMPLE!!!! TWIN FALLS, IDAHO

Jenn and I had a really neat experience as we were traveling to Utah on the second day of the journey. We started feeling hungry for dinner right around Twin Falls, Idaho and we decided that we would stop and eat. As we pulled off the freeway, we saw off in the distance an Angel Moroni. That could only mean one thing...there was a temple in the area. We decided to navigate the RAV4 in that direction so that we could see the temple. When we arrived at the temple, we noticed that there were people going from the chapel of the Stake Center into the temple. There was also a guy in the parking lot that was directing traffic. We pulled up to the guy and he told us that the Open House for the temple had begun and that it was the VIP day...meaning for people in the community that were associated with the press, other churches, the government, etc. He told us that we were welcome to join them. Jenn and I looked at each other...here we were in our traveling clothes. How could we go to a temple open house like that? The guy talked to us some more and told us that there had been quite a few people that had pulled off the highway for the tour and that others had looked how we did. We decided to go for it and we are so glad that we did! The temple is absolutely beautiful! It is a smaller temple but wow! It is amazing! There was such a neat spirit throughout the building...especially in the Celestial Room. The tour guide, who was actually a General Authority, invited us to think about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and the love that they have for us. A feeling of peace and love came over me as I sat there in the temple. Here I was in scrubs and a t-shirt and still Heavenly Father was aware of me and poured his spirit and his love upon me. I love the temple and everything it stands for! What a blessing it was to be able to enter!

After the tour, they invited us to the Stake Center where they had a buffet of food set up and they were also giving out Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD's. We truly were treated like VIP's.

Now, if you need to stop on a long road trip...tell me what could be better than this??? It was great!!!

YAKIMA, WASHINGTON...HOME OF SOME REALLY GREAT PEOPLE!!!

Jenn drove down with me to Utah after visiting in Washington for a week. On our way down, we stopped in Yakima to stay the night. While in Yakima, we stopped and saw Hermana Sarah MacDonald Mugleston (one of my mission companions) and Becky Meinzer Emhoff (one of my friends from my BYU days). It was great to reunite with these girls...even if it wasn't for too long. I will definitely have to go back and visit sometime soon! Plus, it is a beautiful drive over through Mt. Rainier to get to Yakima. Thanks, Becky, for letting us stay the night!!!

Hermana MacDaddyDonald Mugleston and Me

Love her!!!

Matt and Becky and their two awesome little guys

Rise and Shout, the Cougars are Out!!! Becky and I

TALL SHIPS...and a PRETTY COOL CAR

What is a tall ship, you ask? THE DEFINITION: A tall ship is a large traditionally rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. Traditional rigging may include square rigs and gaff rigs, with separate topmasts and topsails. It is generally more complex than modern rigging, which utilizes newer materials such as aluminum and steel to construct taller, lightweight masts with fewer, more versatile sails. The term tall ship has come into widespread use in the mid-20th century with the advent of The Tall Ships' Races. So, now that you are all versed in what a Tall Ship is exactly, I will tell you that a group of friends and I went to Tacoma on the 4th of July to see a Tall Ship for ourselves. The next time the Tall Ships come to Tacoma will be in 2011. So, it was a neat thing to see for sure. There was a festival that went along with it with a bunch of vendors and shows and stuff. We had a great time! Enjoy the pics!

If you are curious,

this is what a Tall Ship looks like.

Kind of cool, huh???

Me with a Tall Ship...

I dressed kind of for the occassion and wore what Scott gave me for my birthday...

a jacket with ships on it! :)

Aye, Aye Matey! Me and Sara as "Pirates"!

Jenn, Katrina, Christine, and Me :)

So, I thought that I might become a Viking...

Does it work for me?

Katrina and I showing off our tatoos.

Don't worry...they are fake!

PS...Like the sunglasses? I bought them at the festival!

So, the day before the 4th of July, Jenn and I went to a little country town just south of Graham. It is called Eatonville. They were having fireworks on the 3rd of July. We ate dinner at a little Ma and Pops Diner...that is delicious by the way...and enjoyed the fireworks. We were also excited to see this little old car. Had to take some pics for sure!

MT. Rainier and My Claim to Fame

So, I am really fortunate to have a friend, Jenn Hoffenreich, who sings with the world known Mormon Tabernacle Choir. And, the cool thing is that she likes to hang out and have a good time with me! She definitely has become my claim to fame! She came for a visit at the beginning of July. It was fun to introduce her to alot of my friends in Washington state. We had a great time!!! We saw the fireworks celebrating the 4th of July two nights in a row--once in Eatonville and the other time over beautiful Lake Washington, we enjoyed some much needed rest and relaxation with massages and pedicures, and we enjoyed a day seeing some really TALL ships that came into the Puget Sound in Tacoma. Perhaps the neatest thing that we did was our visit to Mt. Rainier. My good friend, Frank Jastrzembski (a math teacher at my school), took us to see this "little piece of heaven on earth."

Jenn pushing her way through two gigantic trees in Mt. Rainier.

Yep! It's true!

I moved to Washington and became a "Tree Huggin" fool!!!

Me, Jenn and Frank at the Grove of the Patriarchs.

This was a really neat place with trees over a thousand years old.

If only they could talk!!!

Ready...one, two, three PUSH!!!

BON VOYAGE KIM!!!

WE WILL MISS YOU!!!

My roommate, April, and I just goofing off...

don't ask what we are doing with a croquet mallet!!!

This is one of the coolest ladies that I have met in Washington!

Carolyn Bohnhoff...my mom at GKHS!

She is always looking out for me!

My awesome...and sometimes really goofy roommates...

April Harris and Kim Moore

Thanks for the memories, girls!

You are the best!!!

Little Ms. Sharlynn Gates.

The hostess of the party and definitely one of my best friends in Washington!

Kim all excited and rearing up to go to Istanbul... NOT Constantinople!!!

Kim is quite the little juggler. She juggles just about anything...yes, even croquet malletts! Watch out!!!

My awesome roommate, Kim Moore, just took a giant leap in her life. She made the move across the world...literally...to Istanbul! She is brilliant and is going to be teaching Physics at Roberts College for the next two years. Kim is very loved and will be missed greatly! I already miss her lots! I can't even imagine what it is going to be like when school starts and she isn't there. It has been great to have two roommates who I work with at GKHS, too. Anyway, we had a going away party for Kim at our good friend Sharlynn Gates home. These pictures are from that fun evening. Best of luck in Istanbul, Kim! You will rock it there...and I will somehow come to visit!!! LOVE YOU!!!

GKHS CLASS OF 2008 GRADUATION!!!

ANNOUNCING:

GRAHAM-KAPOWSIN HIGH SCHOOL

CLASS OF 2008

GRADUATION, JUNE 7, 2008

TACOMA, WASHINGTON

YAHOO!!! Me and Andy Hoagland.

Love ya, dude!

What's up homes? Travis and Ian. Travis is now serving in the Navy!

Two darling couples...Kara McCool and Andy Hoagland along with

Kayla Gilman and Taylor Morrison.

I got super tight with all four of these kiddos!

They rock! This was a very happy day for all of us!!!

Michelle Hicks...a special one indeed!

Michelle and I spent many hours together in conversation.

Upon graduating, she gave me one of those awesome Willow Tree Figures

of two girls engaged in deep conversation.

The name of the Figure was Heart and Soul.

This is one girl that opened up her heart to me and I did the same with her.

Definitely a special connection! Love her!!!

This is Desiree Glaze.

One of the hardest workers I have ever met and

one of the neatest changes I have ever witnessed in a student!

Funny that I am hugging her so tight that her glasses are falling off! :)

Scire Green...probably one of the most inspiring of all of my students.

She is definitely destined for greatness.

This is MY Andy! I love this kid! What can I say?

HE DID IT!!!

This is Tasha Killmer and Brandon Gates. Great couple!

Brandon is looking forward to going into the Coast Guard. This is me with Rachel Aszklar, Taylor Thetford and Lauren Collier.

All AMAZING girls!!! Wow! The memories and the joy!!! These are some pics from the Class of 2008 Graduation that took place in June of this year. One of the greatest blessings I have received in my life is the opportunity I have to work with such awesome students! I love the youth at GK! I learn from them on a continual basis. Some of these kids in the pics I really wondered if they were going to graduate but they stuck with it and finished strong in the end. Others have set strong examples of what I hope to someday become. I couldn't be prouder of these kiddos! I really believe that one of the reasons why I have been in Washington was for the Class of 2008. A special connection was formed with many of these youth. I am now gearing up to start another new school year! I look forward to all the new memories that I am going to make with my Eagles!!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!!