He is Risen!

Since I have been at college for the last four years, I haven't been home for Easter. It was a joy to be home this year to celebrate with my family. :) Here are some pictures of the resurrection day of our Lord. Enjoy!

We started off the day bright and early with our sunrise service, one of my favorite things!

 Our choir sang two songs. I loved being a part!

The kid's choir sand a song also. :)

Me and Maddy girl. 

Josh and I. :)

 Stephanie and I. We make a great team!

Josh and I's Easter loot. It was funny because we bought each other some of the exact same candy.

 Sophia and I.

Some of the cutest boys in the world. Josh made both bowties so we had to get a picture. 

Pretty flowers at grandma's house. 

 We just had to dye eggs. This year we tried two new ways. The first one was with shaving cream. All you do is put shaving cream in a pan, swirl in some food coloring, and then roll the eggs around. Let them set for 10 minutes, then wipe off the shaving cream. They look pretty cool when they are done! My sister and my new cousin, Pui, who is also pregnant right now. Can't wait to have some kids in our family again. :) 

 The other new way we tried was very "granola." First, we found some leaves and flowers from outside. Next, you "glue" them on the eggs by using water. Then you wrap them in pantyhose and tie them off. Then you boil them with onion peels (weird, I know). They actually look pretty cool in the end. 

 Now, here's the "normal" way of dying eggs. Even Josh wanted participate.

 And, my cousin Chad who thought dying eggs was lame at the beginning. Ha!

Elisabeth, Paul (one of my aunt and uncle's foreign exchange students), Ken, and Pui. 

Now, this is what the adults do. More realistically, this is what my mom and dad do. Party poopers. Next time we need to dye their ears or something. 

Some of the finished products. These were the shaving cream eggs.

 I love how this one turned out. 

Some of the "normal" dyed eggs. 

 The onion dyed eggs. You can also use different color onions to dye them!

This Easter is has been amazing to remember Christ's sacrifice for us and all the world. He willingly gave up his life for us. Wow! That truth humbles me and makes me want to serve him all the more. Thank you, Lord!

Our First Garden! (And a Pancake Disaster)

Josh and I decided that we wanted to plant a garden this year. Our first ever! My handsome hubby is trying to figure out exactly how to plant these seeds. 

 And so the messy work begins . . .

 Our little greenhouse. :) We planted cantelope, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. Hopefully some of them will grow!

 Next time, we might do this outside. Just a little messy. 

My lovely husband decided to make us breakfast one Saturday morning. This is his first time making pancakes, as you might be able to tell. 

 Thrilled with his handiwork and my picture taking. 

 My chocolate chip pancakes. They may not look good, but they tasted delicious. :) 

 And the sausage was tasty. 

My friend, Sophia, gave me some beautiful daffodils. I brought some to brighten up my classroom. They make me happy. :) 

I'm just loving our spring weather and looking forward to celebrating Jesus' death and resurrection this weekend!

SBAC Testing

So, this month I have been given the job of proctoring the SBAC, the new standardized test. Honestly, I was ready for a little bit of change. And now I'm ready for it to be over. While proctoring, it can get very boring while students work on these tests for what seems like an eternity. I was supposed to read this looooooooong manual to be prepared for my duties. (I didn't read it all . . . Shhhh. :))

 I made this sign to encourage good test taking skills. I like how it turned out. :) 

Since this is just a pilot year for this new test, the scores don't really count but some kids still get nervous. Found this on Pinterest, of course. :) 

Yes, the login process is a little confusing and it takes awhile but they are catching on. 

To help time pass, I have been memorizing Psalm 100. I'm halfway done. 

 I loved this sign I found as a free download!

Thankfully, there are only two more weeks of testing left. On a side note, I have started teaching keyboarding to first graders. Now THAT is very interesting. We started off talking about the computer mouse and how the computer keys are all mixed up. We are currently learning how to log in and about special keys like backspace, enter, and the spacebar. They are very enthusiastic and a lot of fun. Here's the link to a video I showed them about the computer mouse. BEWARE! It will get stuck in your head. You have to click on the flash tab to watch it. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/songs/my-computer-mouse

Have a great weekend! 

The Longest Blog Post Ever!

Now that it's been almost a year since I posted anything on here, I guess I should post something. How does a person write a post that encompasses an entire year? Who really knows. But here it goes. Enjoy the long ride. :) 

Summer months . . . Kind of a blur due to wedding planning, etc. 

August

 Josh and I got married~just a small event. Sometime later I will do a post with more wedding pictures but for now this will have to do. 

 Next came our honeymoon . . . Lake Tahoe, Nevada. 

 Elevation=7,380 ft!

 The resort we stayed at had a mini-golf course, a theater, games you could check-out, volleyball courts, racquetball courts, swimming pools, video game room, etc. It was awesome!

 The water was extremely clear. It was amazing!

 Our waitress gave Josh his own pitcher because he was drinking so much. :) 

 The coolest (and most expensive) thing we did was go on a gondola ride up to the top of the mountain. Josh was a little scared but I loved it. Sadly, the day we went it was smokey from all the fires that had started around us so the view wasn't awesome. 

 This is us at the observation deck on the way up.

 September

Josh became the youth pastor at my home church last summer so we have been learning a lot. There are so many things that you don't learn in Bible college . . . Here are the teens at Wahooz, which has laser tag, go-karts, arcade games, etc. They all had a blast. :)

 Spending time with some of my favorite little girls. :)

 Surprisingly enough, Josh had never been baptized before. It's never too late! My dad helped Pastor Phillips baptize him in the freezing Payette River. 

 Then, Josh got to participate in his first baptism (all wet of course). 

 The baptism candidates and Pastor Phillips. I was cold standing on the shore so I can only imagine how they felt. 

 My high school friend, Emily, got married a month after I did. I was so glad that some of my friends and I got to go. It was all outside, and was quite chilly. 

 I got a new job as a keyboarding teacher and kindergarten aide in Emmett, the town I grew up in. The principal was my elementary school P.E. teacher. 

 October

For another teen activity, we carved pumpkins. I have to admit when Josh first said he wanted to do this, I was a little bit scared. But it went pretty well and no one stabbed themselves. We did have a rotten pumpkin, though. 

 Teresa, one of our great helpers and just a great woman all around. I'm so glad to have her around!

 The mess . . .

 Can't forget the SWAG! Haha! 

 Game night with friends. This needs to happen again . . . soon!

 We just had to carve our own pumpkins. Josh being silly. :)

 As you can see, mine is very simple and his is very elaborate. He was very proud of it. 

 My attempt at cinnamon roasted pumpkin seeds. They weren't too bad, I thought. Josh, on the other hand turned his nose. Lol

 For Red Ribbon Week at school, which is getting kids to stay away from drugs, we had crazy day. Stephanie did my awesome bun mohawk. I just loved my ensemble. :)

 November

We had a girls' night while the guys did "manly" things. Us girls went shopping for Operation Christmas Child boxes, watched a movie, and had a sleepover. Well, I slept at least. 

 We also made Oreo milkshakes! They were pretty tasty. :)

We packed 6 boxes all together. 

 I attempted to make Dixie Stampede style soup with bread bowls. My husband was very pleased. :) 

Another Life4ce Youth Group activity . . . raking leaves for elderly people. 

 Of course, we had to have a bonfire afterward. That pile made for a big fire!

 December

Our first time celebrating Christmas together . . . We both wanted to go cut down our own real tree in the forest but Josh had hurt his knee not too long before so that wasn't going to work out. We settled for buying a pre-cut one. We loved it and left it up for a looooooooooong time. And I'm really not sure why I didn't get a picture of it decorated. Oh well. 

 Our beautiful wreath my sister made for a fundraiser. It also stayed up forever. 

 Josh loves beanies, so I got him several for Christmas. 

Josh's parents got me my green Kitchen Aide mixer. I love it! 

 My mommy turned 50 on December 30th. She's not big on surprises so we just planned a party with her knowing. My first ever cheesecake. Josh liked it. :)

 My first ever pie, also. The crust got a little burnt. :/

 The birthday girl! 

January

 Our church got set on fire almost a year ago. It took us 9 months to rebuild the inside of it. Here are some pictures from our open house when it was completed. 

 Josh and I decided to get away when I had a day off of school. We headed to McCall, a resort town, which is home of the Winter Carnival. I loved the fireplace where we stayed. 

 All of the ice sculptures were so cool! 

 Josh mimicking the mummy. 

 Josh and I with the lake that's frozen over behind us. 

 February . . . For some reason I have no pictures for February. We did go out for Valentine's Day and hold a Valentine's Day banquet as a youth group fundraiser. Oh well!

March

For Josh's birthday, Stephanie and I put together a scavenger hunt because it was Pastor Phillips birthday the same week. We had a progressive dinner, which was a blast but we were stuffed. 

 Celebrating Josh's birthday at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Yes, I put 27 candles on there. 

 We decided to visit Pastor Phillips and Stephanie and family, who were camping at Brownlee for spring break. We had breakfast on our way. 

 We took a drive to visit Hells Canyon, where I have never been before. 

 What a cutie. :) 

 Have you ever seen a real mountain goat? Well, neither had I until now. They were little specks with our eyes but my camera was beastly. 

 Yes, it snowed on us. Yes, this was really our tent. Yes, our bedding got soaked. Yes, we slept in the Phillips' camper. Yes, it was memorable. :)

Wow! That was quite possibly the longest blog post ever. I'm going to really try to update it more regularly. I hope you enjoyed that whirlwind! Thanks for stopping by. :)