Rachel's Rexburg Temple Shots

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After working all summer on the temple grounds, I decided I had to capture what I was seeing every morning as we dove the truck up that hill at 6 AM. I know the grounds so well--every plant and flower, every crack in the pavement, and every remote corner of fence. You learn quick after 40 hours a week of weeding, deadheading, planting flowers, mowing lawns, etc. It made me fall in love with the place! I also love to take pictures so hopefully you'll enjoy as I share both of these loves with you.

I PROMISE, I don't have a potty mouth but...

Here is our camping adventure at Bitch Creek!

Yes, that is the actual name. I apologize to those who just gasped in horror and covered their eyes. I can assure you there will be no more swearing in this post so you can rest easy. Here are our tents in the long grasses. It was in a deep gourge that suddenly cuts through the middle of rolling bare potato fields. It was quite a steep hike to get down there. At the bottom are pine trees and and the creek between abrupt rocky cliffs.

We went with our friends Justin and Beth Avenius a few monts ago. (I'm still trying to catch up on the blogging.) They showed us a good time and were kind enough to put up with our embarrassing lack of backpacking equipment. Here's Beth and little happy Owen.

Why Andrew feels the need to make this face at least once before
we can ever get a good photo I'll never know...

Take Two.
(There's Justin fishing in the background)



Here's Justin's catch of the morning. Cooked over the fire it made for a yummy breakfast. (Believe it or not, it was my first freshly caught and cooked fish ever!)

On my Way to Work

Can you believe the view I get to enjoy every morning? I LOVE Idaho.

The Snake River

The Aspens changing into such vivid colors that I had to pull over one day and get some shots.

As beautiful as the Sonoran desert...just a different kind of beautiful.

Aspen lined swamp by the side of the road.

Barbie and...SpiderMan?

Our good friends Jared and Amanda Grimmer bought us kites a few months ago. We were pretty stoked. Andrew was especially excited that his kite has SpiderMan on it =) (mine has Barbie). On a recent windy day, we went up to the ball fields on campus to test them out. It was so windy in fact, that we had a hard time getting them up in the air at first. I'm sure we looked ridiculous out there running back and forth across the fields, frantically trying to keep our dollar store kites up in the air. By the time we left however, we had a few great runs. And it was a BLAST! We need to go on more dates like this in the future. It was so pretty up there as the sun was going down that I had to snap these pictures.

Check out that backdrop!

Sweatshirt Weather

I heard on the radio that there is a chance of rain and SNOW this weekend! I suppose that summer is officially over now. On my way to work in the morning, I drive past groves of yellow and orange trees with my heater on full blast. Our families back home are wearing shorts and flipflops and lounging in pools. Andrew is excited for this sweatshirt weather. We love Idaho's change of seasons! Arizona's seasons consist of HOT, not quite so hot, and a little chilly. The only feel for fall I had growing up was when my teachers used contruction paper cornstalks to decorate our classrooms with. It still seems so magical here in Idaho to actually have the trees outside the color of flames, leaves flying everywhere, and farmers harvesting potatos out in the fields. All of the public schools around here are actually out for almost two weeks in honor of this "spud harvest". Community members...even as young as my third graders...are out working with these spuds! Anyway, to all you poor family and friends sweating in the "Valley of the Sun"...Happy Fall! This is fall done the right way.

Harvest Bounty?

Here is the fall version of our garden. We started it out with such enthusiasm and high hopes! We sacrificed a lot to get it put together, watered and taken care of every day. I wish we had a picture of it at its prime! It was full and green and we had enough vegetables coming in to feed us for awhile. But then...life happened. Andrew started working 10 hours five to six days a week and Rachel was working 12 hours or more in her classroom and our poor garden was left to its own devices. We're surprised it turned out this well actually. As you can see we have a beautiful sunflower and cute little pumpkin...plus a lot of dead corn stalks and bean plants. I wish the hanging flower basket on our front stoop fared as well without water as the garden did. =(

Mrs. Ashmore's 3rd Grade Class

You've been asking to see my classroom for awhile now...so mom, this is for you...(and for me a little bit because its fun to show it off!)

Welcome! (Keep in mind that I have a lot to hang and set up in my room yet. It's still a work in progress.) Thank you, I decorated the door myself. (Much of the decor compliments of Andrew's mom.)

This is the view as you come in the door. Orange is my least favorite color in the entire world. I guess you could say that I intensely despise the color. So when I first walked in and saw the wall of bright orange cabinets and orange chairs, I was less than pleased. Oh well. I'm dealing.

But if you ignore the orange-ness, it is really a cute little classroom. This is what the kids have named "The Pizza Table"...because it's round...like a pizza. We use it as one of our Centers stations. (Notice the giant letter and envelope on the bulletin board? We learned this week how to write a letter in the proper format. )

I'll take you in a circle through the entire classroom. Next, is our

mini computer lab, the class library, and the teacher's (that's me!) desk.

We bought that extremely ugly, extremely comfortable couch at the D.I. for 30 bucks. The kids love it in that library. Do you see the bookshelves in there? Andrew was kind enough to build those for me. Kid are much more likely to read my books if the covers are facing outward. In front of my desk are the student's cubbies.

The kids know that there is an imaginary line that separates their area from my area behind my desk. They are not to go back there unless invited. I was selfish and put my desk by the only window in the room. I love my desk area. Can you see my Associates and Bachelors diplomas? Do they not look so official? I still shake my head in disbelief sometimes that I am actually an adult with a college degree.

The view from my desk to the opposite side of the room...and more orange cabinets. If you look to the left of the whiteboards, we have what the kids have dubbed "The Kidney Shaped Table". If you haven't guessed, it is shaped like a kidney. This sits in front of our wall with the schedules and class rules. To the right of the whiteboard is our math meeting wall. Our vocabulary words wall is to the right of the ugly orange cabinet and above the coat/backpack hooks. (Do you like my cool director's chair at the front? We got it a yard sale for a few bucks. I love it.)

Just outside my room, to the left of the door, is our apple tree. "Mrs. Ashmore's Pick of the Crop." Teachers have to do cheesy, crafty crap like this to make a nice environment for the kids. Okay, okay...I'll admit it: I get a lot of pleasure in creating this cheesy, crafty crap. Its the art major in me leaking out. I made everything by hand except the apples I wrote the student's names on. And yes, I realize that yellow, green , and red apples do not all grow on the same trees. Oh well! I had to work with what I had!

So Mom...what do ya think?