June 2013

June was a month bustling with activity. I laugh when people say things like, "Oh it must be nice to have the whole summer off and nothing to do." Ummm....that's not the case. :) I married a youth pastor...summer is a crazy busy time for youth ministry!

Tyler and I were very blessed by a visit from his brother Scott at the beginning of June. The 5 days he was here went by WAY TOO FAST. It felt like he had just got here and then all of a sudden it was time for him to go home! He was here the week we bought our house (I guess I need to post about that too eventually!), so it was kind of a crazy week with that but Scott was so wonderful with all the craziness. He was here for Tyler's birthday so that was lots of fun! Tyler and Scott enjoyed lots of disc golfing during Scott's visit and we also played lots of Wii, ate a ton of good food, and just had a great time! The last two days of Scott's visit we  traveled over to Seattle for a Yankee game and the Yankees won! Woo hoo!!

Love this guy. A real man will carry his wife's pink blanket with no shame. I married well!

 Brothers!

 Love these Ellis men!

 We had to visit the market of course. This place just makes me smile. 

 Beautiful flowers from the market. 

 Did you know Starbucks has pink coffee sleeves now?! I squealed when I saw them. It's the little things that make me happy!

 On the way home we were stopped for almost 3 hours due to a semi truck rolling over and blocking both lanes. It was a bummer but thankfully no one was hurt seriously. 

Just a few days after Scott left our church held their annual VBS. Tyler and I are in charge of recreation. It rained 4/5 days which meant we had to do games in the gym, which was tough but I think it went as well as it could have!

This was our 3rd VBS in Moses Lake and the 3rd year this cutie was attached to Tyler.

The last week of June we took a group of our junior high kiddos to ENTER in Portland. Enter is a mix between a missions trip/summer camp. Each day we completed a service project and also enjoyed lots of fun activities. It's a great introduction to our students about what it means to serve. My favorite thing we did this year was visit the Union Gospel Mission in Portland. Most of our students were completely out of their comfort zone which I was thankful for. I think it's powerful for our students to see life through a different lens. I hope the trip was impactful for our students and planted a life long seed in them about the importance of serving others. 

And That's A Wrap!

The last month of school is always crazy for me, but so much fun! I always get to May and wonder where the school year went. The days and months seem SO long sometimes, but the year sure flies by fast.

I absolutely loved my group of 2nd graders this year and it was very bittersweet to see the school year come to an end. Many people have asked me why I haven't applied to teach public school so I can make more money. Tyler and I have given lots of thought to the prospect of me working in public school and I have been close to applying. But, I LOVE my school. I love the students, the parents, and my coworkers. The other teachers I work with have become some of my best friends. Yes, I could go to public school and make more money and yes, sometimes it's VERY tempting, but I don't know that I would be nearly as happy. Money isn't everything. I know God has me where I am at and I know that the best place to be is where God wants me.

This year I only had 12 kiddos (I started the year with 14 but two moved for various reasons) and let me tell you...amazing. There are some great perks to working at a private school! So far for next year I think I have about 16...still such a great number! I feel for all you teachers with 30! I really feel like I can give each of my students individual attention and help which makes my teacher heart happy. 

At the beginning of May a group of amazing parents at my school put on a WONDERFUL teacher appreciation week. Us teachers were so spoiled! We were blessed with coffee, lunch, our cars washed, not to mention many amazing gifts from our students. I love that parents at my school work so hard to make the teachers feel loved and supported. I had many stressful days that were brightened due to the generosity of the families of my students. 

I had a great school year. I am blessed!

April 2013

I am officially horrible at updating our blog! It really is my hope to get better at updating, but time just seems to get away from me! Since I last updated in March I am going to do my best to update what we have been up to the last few months in the next few posts!

Tyler and I enjoyed a quiet Easter together! We are big dorks and do Easter baskets for each other...just a fun tradition! We made a huge Easter lunch and just enjoyed being together! Oh, and Tyler sent me on an Easter egg hunt in our apartment! We ended the day with homemade strawberry shortcake and Wreck it Ralph!

Tyler's Easter Basket

 Easter morning:)

At the beginning of April I had Spring Break and it could have not come at a more perfect time. By April, I am really feeling the fatigue of the school year and a break is very welcome! We decided not to go away since the next week we were traveling to Portland for a wedding and just wanted to enjoy some time at home, plus Tyler had quite a list of work things to accomplish so he needed to be in the office that week. We decided to take a quick day trip up to Leavenworth one of the days...we LOVE Leavenworth! We fit in some mini golf and had a delicious dinner at Viscontis!

During Spring Break I took some time and spruced up our patio! I love to garden and it was nice to have some extra time to plant new flowers.

 Before and After

We traveled to Portland to celebrate the wedding of our dear friends Josh and Heidi! It was a beautiful Christ-centered wedding. Our sweet friend Emelia was there too! We had a great time!

April was a lovely month!!

Bikes!

Tyler and I have been wanting to purchase bikes for awhile now. We loved to ride bikes in California, but haven't had any for over 3 years. In Southern California there was a lot to do so we stayed busy visiting Disneyland, the beach, going to parks, walking Mt. Rubidoux, etc. We didn't think about not having bikes as much because there were so many other things to do. Last summer we realized how much we missed having bikes and while we did enjoy playing catch, disk golf, and taking walks, we started to think it would be nice to have bikes again. Last month, we finally made our bike purchase while we were away on a weekend getaway! The weather is getting warmer and we are already loving being outside in the sunshine and riding!

 Safety first!

 It only takes a few minutes to ride to Starbucks!;) Every great bike ride involves a pitstop at Starbucks!:)

Christmas 2012

Here are some snapshots of our visit to Redding for Christmas! We had a wonderful trip despite the yucky travel conditions! I definitely shed many tears when we had to leave. It never gets easier to say goodbye. 

We ran into the Oregon Ducks "Duck" at In N Out!

 At the start of our trip:) We have fun together!

Since the weather was so yucky we stayed a night with our dear friends Chad and Ally so we wouldn't have to drive on icy roads in the dark! Don't they live in a beautiful place?

 Ashton and Auntie Tiff:)

 Chad entertaining us with his stories! He makes me wheeze!

 Crossing the border into California! Yay!!!

I love my family:)

Got to visit with our Berg family:)

 My Grandpa has left a legacy I will cherish forever. I sure love him.

 Merry Christmas!

Snapshots from Thanksgiving 2012

We had a great trip to Riverside for Thanksgiving. It's always so good to see the Ellis family. Oh how we miss them. We also got to see several of our dear friends. Unfortunately, I was having such a great time visiting with them that I forgot to snap some pictures!:( 

Those of you who follow my Instagram account have already seen these pictures of our trip. It's funny how I used to always carry my camera, but my iPhone is now my camera! 

We got to take sweet Leila on a birthday date! She is 4 now...how did that happen?!

Sweet memories at Sweet Frog:)

 We got to meet sweet Andelyn and hang out with her awesome parents!

 Uncle Ty and Leila

 Ty and Scott putting together Leila's new dollhouse. 

 Brothers laughing...

 He loves his nieces.