Fall 2013

Mrs. Stevenett's Classroom Blog

Here is our classroom blog - thanks Kaili Valantine for all of your help and craftiness :)
http://mrsstevenettsclassroom.blogspot.com/

Life in First Grade

Since it is my first year teaching, I have been told by several to take pictures for memory purposes. So...here's our class. I went with a basketball theme...surprised? I also decided on red, black and white as the color scheme. I still have a bit to do but we're getting there:)

our door (the outside)

our door (the inside)

DIBELS Bulletin Board

Clipboards, games & manipulatives, Sharp/Not Sharp pencils

Bathroom Passes

My desk/shelves

Behavior Management system

Birthday Wall

Morning Meeting Board

Courtside Calendar

Voice Level reminder

Reading Corner

Our Scoreboard (another behavior management/incentive)

Reading Bulletin Board

Math Bulletin Board

Clock helpers :)

everyone's advice..."stay organized"....

...I'm trying...

1st Graders can't say Stevenett very easily, so Mrs. S. is my name :)

Our hallway Bulletin Board

I couldn't have had this classroom ready without help. My cute sister-in-law Scarlet made the "Mrs. S." and "Let's Read" signs. My in-laws helped with incentives and our class treasure box-which the kids LOVE. My grandma Cher gave me all of the fabric for my bulletins. My mom helped me create most of my bulletins and charts. Jackson put in just as much work as me... and TA DA!! Thank you to everybody who helped me. First grade is definitely a challenge but I LOVE my kids and there is never a dull moment in our class. 172 more school days to go...but who's counting? :)

Addition to the family - Now we're 3!

We have waited over two years to get a cute little pup together. Finally we have landlords that let us, thanks parents:)

We found him on KSL, in the midst of getting my classroom put together, moving, and RaceCar's wedding, we dropped everything and ran up north to get him. We had a blast with him and fell completely in love from the second we picked him out. Not to mention he lost his lunch on me in the car, not even 5 minutes after we picked him up :( haha the joys! 

He is 10 1/2 weeks old and weighs 2.8 lbs right now. We named him MJ because we had no time to come up with something better than our favorite basketball player. Somehow we end up calling him Jordan when he's in trouble. MJ is half poodle and half chihuahua...aka a poochie:)

He is so fun to have around, yes a lot of work, but he's so worth it. Jackson adores him and it's a constant fight over who gets to cuddle him when he's sleepy and calm haha! 

Tips for potty training anyone?? Haha

His first bath

Zonked haha!!!

The chewing phase...

This is how he rides in the car lately!

Settling Down...For Now :)

Jacks and I had a fun-filled summer, filled with vacations and playing! But behind our smiles and pictures taken around the world was two kids trying to figure things out. I hope and pray the decision that we had to make this summer will be the hardest one we'll ever have to face...because it was sure a trial for us. 

When Jacks finished his ball career at SUU in March he knew he wasn't ready to give it up. We immediately started talking to agents, pursuing playing basketball professionally, overseas. I thought for sure that when the SUU team started post-workouts and training/conditioning in the Spring he'd admit that he was glad and relieved to be done...I was terribly wrong! He missed the game even more. As we decided on an agent (Steve James) in June, offers started rolling in, however we hadn't received that offer that we called "the deal maker". We practiced patience like it was our life support. We had quite a few long, hard, and sleepless nights. Finally in August we were faced with a final decision, as we both had job offers here in Sevier County. Luckily we had picked a great agent who understood what we were facing. Even though there were a couple of those "deal makers"  promised to us, we felt that we couldn't take that risk-for our opportunities here were opportunities that we have wanted since day one. The next fear was facing the fact that teams still might offer after we had already committed to our jobs here. We didn't want to know what we were missing out on overseas. Luckily, our agent respected that and wished us well. I hope that someday we will understand why things worked out the way they did, but for now we are happy with the promise we've made to each other to get overseas and visit a few of those places in Europe that we want to see. I'm holding him to it! :)

We are so blessed to have very supportive families that comforted us throughout this decision. Ultimately it had to be made by us and the promptings we felt, but we wouldn't have survived without our friends and family helping us along the way. 

I took a job teaching first grade at Monroe Elementary, where I've always wanted to be. We've made it through the first week of school and going strong:) Jackson is working in the accounting department at Barney Trucking in Salina. He did an internship there a couple summers ago and loved it. He will finish his Masters degree, online,  in December and working full time - yes he will be super busy, good thing he doesn't stress;)

I'm so lucky to have a selfless husband who isn't scared to work his butt off. I know he gave up his dream to prepare for our future and future family. He's my hero! I love you, Jacks! 

Race's and Car's Wedding

The Jorgensen/Parsons wedding was so much fun and turned out perfect. Pure joy and happiness were in their eyes on August 10th, 2013. I will never forget the experience we shared with them in the temple. Young Love. We couldn't be more proud of them. The wedding day was beautiful and the reception the night before was absolutely perfect, despite the two hour long line haha!! We can't wait to see all their success at SUU with ball and golf!! - More pics to come:) -

Hawaii Trip May 2013

Jacks and I had been talking about a graduation trip ever since we got home from our honeymoon a year and a half ago. As the date drew closer and closer, our good friends, the Pedersen's, informed us of great deals on plane tickets to Hawaii that were ending soon...an hour later we were booked to Hawaii!

We were lucky to go on days that they, along with the Everett's, were staying so that we could all stay together.

We left two days after graduation and the 6 hour flight was miserable haha. We were so anxious and could not even sleep because we were so excited. Oh, and our flight was four hours delayed, which made us even more anxious.

We landed in Honolulu at about 2 am Hawaii time and the group picked us up. We spent 3 nights on the North Shore of Ohau in the Laie area.

The first day we were there we went to Shark's Cove, where we TRIED to snorkel. The waves were big and it made it hard to keep ourselves out of the rocks and coral. While trying to toss snorkel gear out to Jackson, a huge wave took me out. We lost the BORROWED snorkel gear and I cut my foot open haha.

pics from Shark's Cove Beach 

We then decided to try another beach.

Next, we went to Wiamea Beach. The waves were huge but there were no rocks so we had a blast trying to dodge them. The boys boogieboarded and cliff jumped too!

pics from Wiamea Beach

Trevor, Easton, Jackson

Jade, Jacks, Trevor, Brooke, Daysha, Easton

After Wiamea, we grabbed some shaved ice and stopped by Turtle Beach to see the turtles come up on shore. 

After Turtle Beach we stopped by Temple Beach as the sun was going down. Temple Beach is right across the road from the Temple in Laie. We were the only ones there and Jacks and I slept in the sand. We could not keep up with the Hawiian time zone. 

The next day we ventured on a "secret" hike that led us to a gorgeous waterfall. The scenery was unbelievable and we had never seen anything like it. I was just SO glad that snakes do not exist on Hawaii or I would have been a nervous wreck the whole 3 hours because it was pure jungle!

 

This pink flower would turn the trail into this amazing pink pathway. Very neat!

We'll always remember this pond...where we had to hide out for a bit haha

This waterfall was dried out but it was still pretty cool.

 

After the hike we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was really neat and a fun experience. 

I'll never understand how they can climb a palm tree with bare feet but whatever!

 The canoe show!

Jackson gave us quite a show at the Tahiti village haha!

The night show was incredible but we weren't allowed to take pictures. 

The next day, Daysha's uncle took us out to a point where the boys jumped off into the water. The girls hiked down to the water haha. Then we snorkeled back to the beach, which took an hour or more. Then we drove to Hukilau Beach to find some waves for surfing.

 After a couple hours there, we headed to Castle Beach. Jackson is a natural when it comes to surfing but his wife isn't a very good photographer haha.

definitely missed him in the picture lol

 

After the beach we got cleaned up and headed to the temple where we spent a couple hours inside. It was absolutely gorgeous and definitely is one of my favorite temples ever!

The next day Jacks and I flew to Kauai. The Pedersen's and Everett's spent their last day in Honolulu and then flew home. 

We stayed at the Marriott Resort in Kauai. It was absolutely gorgeous! We just spent the first day swimming in the ocean and pool and getting tan.

Kalipaki Beach - the beach in front of our resort just a few steps out of our hotel room!

The pool at the resort

We had no idea where to eat but we found this little fish taco trailer down the street from the resort and it was seriously the best!! And no, we didn't order fish tacos - bleh!

Jackson loved Paco's Tacos but I think he loved saying "Paco's Tacos" more than eating there haha

The next day we took a bus to Hanalei Bay, which we hear is one of the best. The weather on the North Shore that day was awful haha. It was still very pretty but after walking in the rain and eating at a yucky Hawaiian fast food we took the bus back to the resort lol. 

When we got back we took an elevator that went into the mountain and took us to the top where we overlooked our resort and the beach. 

I dropped my flipflop off the side and he saved the day lol

The next day we spent being lazy. We laid out, swam in the pool and ocean, played card, and caught crabs haha

The beach right before the sun went down

On our way to dinner

Playing with the stray cats and hammock

We couldn't have asked for a better trip following graduation. It was definitely a much needed break and vacation. :)