From Temperate to Polar and Back

Whew! BUSY. 

All Fired Up

Justin came to visit over a weekend and we also decided to finally get a fire pit. We've been wanting one and I thought it would be too expensive. (That was partly because I was just looking on pinterest at all of these dreamy outdoor entertaining areas. I wanted outdoor furniture and a rug and heaters and fans and bla bla bla so it would have been like 400$.) I got sick of waiting and putting it off but still didn't want to spend a ton so I just got chair pads for the plastic chairs Dallin's parents already gave us and then I pulled out the camp chairs and got a cheap tv tray. The fire pit itself was only 54$ from walmart! I was proud of myself because I put it all together all by myself and found this certain 2 hour log that is easy to light and also good for the environment. I was in heaven. For some reason I find fire really relaxing. 

While Justin was here Jon came over and we hung out. (And they gamed of course.) Apparently Jon went to high school with my brother! Crazy right?

The clear link boys got to go to a football game. I found out he wouldn't be home while working out with michelle... Dallin is forgetful. But he said it was really fun since they were so close!

We have been watching the voice, notorious, designated survivor. This guy on the voice is my favorite!

The J Dogs

I took Jakey with me to pick up the groceries. It was cute bonding time. I had to physically grocery shop last week since I forgot to go online, and it was so annoying now that I'm so used to doing everything online. I freakin' love online shopping. For instance, I was taking a bath and decided it'd be better with a bathtub pillow, so I just bought one right then and there in the tub. How did people function before the internet?

Look how cute they are! Even when they're sleepy they stay with me downstairs until I go to bed.

 Wedding Time

Although wedding season is usually summer, we didn't go to a single wedding over the summer and had two in a row (with the same exact colors) in November. First was Jessica and Preston's wedding, so Trenden flew in just for the day since he's so busy. It was good to see him again. It was a lot of work for Kaylynn's family, but Preston's backyard ended up gorgeous.

I sent this to my dad and shelly because I was wearing the pearls they gave me before my wedding. Oh, nostalgia. 

This was them cutting the cake.

This was their first dance and where they did their receiving line.

I tried to do a panorama of it, but it doesn't do it justice. The floating pool candles were cool. They also had a lot of good food! Soup, salad, 4 different types of cake, veggies, fruit, etc. Excellent!

Teaching'

We finally got our scooters in! The students loved them. It was funny they all wanted to know where I bought them and how much they were or what they're called and how they can get one of their own. I loved to see the ones who usually aren't fans of PE getting into it. I don't care who you are...scooters are a riot!

Here they are in action!

I put a thermos in the microwave and literally lit the thing on fire! Evidently I don't react to emergencies very well because I just started screaming "DALLIN FIRE! DALLIN FIRE! DALLIN FIRE!" while collecting random objects I thought would help. He ran down gave it one simple blow and it went out. Of course then he turned to me and said, "How were you planning to put it out with that?" lol

We got school pictures back. As the tradition goes I had to give it to my parents and they go "aww" and then we say jokes about how I'll never graduate and I'll just keep taking school pictures the rest of my life. 

I have noticed certain deficiencies in my teaching, and these happen to be 3 issues that I don't always know what to do about. I think that the more you learn about the psychology behind an issue, the better prepared you are to deal with it. I think it also helped me a lot to be able to put my finger on an exact problem, because if you're just overwhelmed you don't know what you can do to fix it. I've decided to read a lot about defiance specifically because I don't know much about what helps with that. If anyone reading this knows a resource on childhood defiance, I would definitely appreciate it!

This was my way of dealing with my back hurting. LOL I deflated a beach ball enough that it felt like lumbar support!

I am collaborating with the art teacher to provide a winter camp so that students can still come to school and make crafts and play games on a few of the days of Christmas break. This was one thing I found on pinterest that would be fun to make.

We had a really huge Veteran's day assembly and it was a half day. A lot of parents and veterans came to watch. The students had different singing and speaking parts, and overall they did great!

I was surprised at how many people they were able to fit into the gym!

 Politics always suck.

This was the first time that Dallin and I really paid attention to the election. (Like really paid attention. It's not that we were completely oblivious before, but this time we actually watched every debate and stuff. And you might disagree with me stating I wasn't oblivious if you went to my Miss Utah send-off. Talk about embarrassing.) Anyway, the reaction to the results of the election shocked me. I'm not saying that I'm pro-Trump at all. But I couldn't believe that people thought if they start marching in the streets it would solve anything. I saw a thing on the news that one high school let their students sluff school so that they could protest. Ridiculous in my opinion. You have to learn at some point in life that you're not always going to get your way. That many protests where people wasted time and didn't work or go to school and nothing changed anyway. So to me, that just seems like a little kid throwing a fit because their side didn't win. But what do I know? (Again, if you went to the Miss Utah send-off, it's not much.)

This guy seemed to be on my side though, so I'm not alone! Some people were so much about their own opinion that they were actually rooting for Trump to fail! I just think there is a better way to resolve your issues than hoping that the whole country goes down hill. (Again, not saying I voted for Trump. It was very annoying actually, I tried to vote but couldn't because I'm not registered in Arizona. I think they should let you register at the voting place right before or while you're in line. I don't get why it has to be a month beforehand.)
There was a petition going around when I taught junior high last year that the students were all signing, and it was anti-math-homework. I had to explain to them that even if everyone in the school signed it math homework would still exist because it's a valuable part of learning and ultimately the teacher and administrations' call. I think that a lot of people think that if they all group together for a cause it has to happen.
(Now that I've gone against my rule of never talking about the 3 taboo subjects of politics, money, and religion on this blog, I will probably have a lot of people who are against me and think I'm dumb. So that's just the breaks I guess.)

 Beauty is time consuming.

Tiffany the hair lady came to my house to do my hair, and my roots went completely black which is not what I was going for. The lady doing my eyelashes actually asked me if I was Hispanic, and I think that might be why. When I told her I'm Caucasian she thought that meant my heritage was Asian and I had to explain to her that it means white. Anyway, it was nice that Tiff came to my house so I didn't have to go elsewhere. My whole forehead ended up brown since you can see the  dye kindof got everywhere. 

This was while I was waiting for my lash appointment. She did an okay job. Conversation was just a little weird. Found her on groupon so I got an awesome deal!

Utah! 

We went to Utah for Ben's wedding! One of the first things when we got there was take family pictures with Dallin's family. I think they are going to end up really cute. The photographer seemed good and it was entertaining watching all of the adults go bananas trying to get the kids to look at the camera. (making faces, doing little jigs, saying their names over and over again, etc.) 

The only thing that was weird was the photographer kept saying, "giggles" as if saying the word would make us physically giggle. So no one did, but she kept trying with that phrase. lol Overall it was fun and I'm super excited to have more recent pics with Down and it also made me feel like a part of their family. So that was nice. 

The girls went to see Fantastic Beasts, and I ended up seeing it twice because we went again with the boys after. Tom, Dallin, and Jim wanted to see it. 

It was pretty cool because there were a few references to the Harry Potter story we all know and love. It was a little creepy at times, and the story didn't have much to do with HP, but since it's supposed to take place years before that made sense. Overall I thought it was interesting. 

The Wedding!

Jamie and Ben got married on Saturday and we were in Logan for that. I took a few pictures, but to be honest a lot of the time it was because I accidentally bumped the camera button while I was recording. I recorded probably hours of footage because I was making them a wedding video. It ended up being difficult to do from only a cell phone because the video was shaky a lot. (Even though I was trying with all my might to make it smooth and still.)

Anyway, here's 3 generations of Graff men.

Here's all the siblings! Her family and friends were all saying how alike they look. Ooooh who's that hottie on the right? :) lol

It was a long day for the small children involved. The ceremony was in the morning, lunch in the middle, and reception in the evening. This little guy made me gag while changing his diaper during the ceremony. Hard to believe since he's so cute right?

The two grandpa's chatting it up. This was my first time meeting Dallin's dad's dad. He made yachts!

In between the lunch and reception the Graffs went to a fun center in Logan (yes, in high heels and a dress). It was fun. And I kicked Dallin's trash in air hockey. This was Declan and Kensley holding hands inside the jungle gym thing. 

This was at the reception. Another accidental pic.

That's her mother at the reception talking to some people.

After the ceremony.

They had a cut out pop up thing of a sister who couldn't be there.

It was a pretty day and not that cold considering it's Utah in November. I mean, I was freezing, but I'm also a wimp. It wasn't that bad.

This is the glorious wedding video! 

I got into some kind of trance while editing this thing. It was like I got in a zone and would sit for 5 or 6 hours at a time nitpicking. Both Dallin and I were both video ing at the same time so I went through tons and tons of videos. Plus I was being kindof a perfectionist because I wanted it to look good. I was really glad that I got such a good response because I was kindof figuring it out as I went. My family and Dallin's family were all so nice to be about it and acted impressed so it made me feel good. Dallin also said since I had fun doing it that I should buy a real camera and make people wedding videos and charge. I think that'd be cool after I know more about it.

This was us at their new apartment in between the ceremony and lunch.

My mom was so sweet and let us drive her car while we were there. And brian too. He picked us up from the air port and let us take his car when we went to PC. Anyway, She has a completely see-through bag with tissues in the center console. And on the outside she labeled it "TISSUES." Thank you for helping us identify the contents of that bag mother. I also think it's adoreable that she has an "I love my grand dogs" bumper sticker. :)

At the lunch. The place was cool cuz it was historic and the food was great!

Dallin & Declan

No idea who this is

This is Dallin's smolder. Either that or its his "grumpy cuz I need a nap" face.

Selfie with the bride! She looked beautiful.

Us with the bride and groom. I had to abandon my shoes every once in a while because my feet were killing me.

On our way back to my mom's house from Logan, we stopped at Twigs for old time sake. It was just as delectable as I remember it. And we always have great conversations there for some reason. I love how happy 'Down' looks in this picture.

We stayed at my mom's house and it was good to see them and Bentley.

Right when I've been getting all used to the warm weather in AZ, we go to Utah for one of their first snow storms! It was beautiful to wake up to. I was so much more grateful for it and excited about it than I ever was in Utah, probably because I know I won't be seeing that much anymore.

This was us trying to take a picture on the plane while we were flying into Utah. There was seriously no visibility at all and we were wondering how the pilot could see where he was going. It was like a blizzard out there.

We spent a lot of time with the niece and nephews. It's nice to be able to laugh at the funny things they do and pick them up and stuff but then get to go home and not deal with the bad stuff. lol There are only 7 of them, but when they're all together in one place it feels like a lot. Congrats to Michelle by the way! She is expecting another in May!

My mom took me to get a foot zone and that felt really good. I don't really tell a difference other than it feels like a really good foot rub. But it's supposed to be cleaning out your whole body and good for all your systems....

"The brothers" played a lot of magic cards. Which I obviously don't get. It seems like they always get into things that don't make any sense to me. It also felt to me like a lot of money (but I'm a tight wad.) Oh well. He doesn't get to see them very often. 

Michelle and Brian are building a house out in Eagle Mountain and we all went to see what their neighborhood will be. It is really cute. And Rudy talks a lot now and we kept laughing at certain words sounding like other offensive words.... like when he says 'stick,' and 'truck' lol you can imagine.

We had to work Tuesday and Wednesday so we flew back and forth. So this was when we were leaving SLC the first time. All things considered it really wasn't bad and we were grateful we were able to spend Thanksgiving with family.
The weather in utah is really gloomy this time of year. The snow is fun and can be pretty, but I don't miss this kind of weather.

Waiting for our plane.

We were both reading most of the rides and Dallin is reading a book on business. We thought this was interesting.

While we were away, the Millers were babysitting again. I felt so bad because apparently Josie developed really terrible ear infections. I guess she figured that if she couldn't sleep no one should because more Mary and Eric were going nuts from sleep deprivation! She would just scratch and cry and paw at you and stuff. So the 2 days we were back I took her to the vet and got her all sorts of medicine. (High maintenance diva is well-known in there by now.) The next night she slept like a baby and her ears are a lot better now.

Dallin says, "It's like this festive fever comes over you and you suddenly have the whole house decorated! I can never help because I never know you've decided to do it or that it's happening. I just come down stairs and all of a sudden it's a winter wonderland in here!"
He's kindof right. It must be that I'm the same with decorating as I am with video editing. Even if I end up staying up past my bedtime, I cannot stop until it is all perfect.

I am an idiot when it comes to putting up lights. Doesn't work with command strips I guess.

I am officially an Arizona resident! It's so strange finally having a license from a different state.

The students were so good the day I came back to teach. And we had fun playing frisbee! The only bad part was getting barf on my hand. This little first grade girl randomly started vomiting a ton all over herself. That was fun.

Another plane ride back to Utah.

And it was freezing when we got there. Another blizzard!

And we got to see this face again :)        Seriously, have you ever seen a dog with that great of posture?

We were babysitting while the graffs went to a movie.

On Thanksgiving Day we were with Down's family and afterward went to Walmart for black friday. No casualties and we both got what we wanted. Thanksgiving was awesome because I didn't have to cook at all!

I was so excited about my robot vacuum and then I had to leave it because it was too big. I got an excellent deal though!

The day after Thanksgiving we went to Park City to be with my fam. Here we are at dinner.

If you get offended easily skip over this part. 
We played a name game that I found on pinterest, and it was so funny. You can find it here
www.theredheadedhostess.com/blog/home-and-family-/fun-home-and-family/fun-family-game-1/
Anyway, it's basically about getting your team to guess a person by using phrases or acting them out. Well, Bill Clinton was in there and during the charades round this came out of my mother. "I woulda just had sex with a woman!" At another point in the day this quote was said, "That's what the holidays are all about.... DIA-BEETUS."
The next day my step-dad yells, "I don't hear any swear words so Alabama must be winning." from the other room. What can I say? ROLL TIDE. Dallin has pulled me over to his side.
This was when we went to lunch, it was beautiful because you could see the slopes and mountains from every angle.

We were planning on going skiing, but everyone in the family caught the black plague because of me and also there wasn't enough snow. Sorry guys.

Our view from the room. 

I love the adult pool inside this lodge. It's so relaxing and nice. No risk of an oblivious 12 year old jumping in right next to you. :)

Then we laughed our butts off by using the photo booth on my computer. Enjoy the fruits of our labor.

I'm convinced this is what my mother will look like when she's old.

I know this is true, especially for those last pics, but I don't care at all. 

It may seem dumb to non-dog-baby people, but we both said the trip would have been so much better for us if we had our kids with us. They are so cute and fun. They were so relieved when we came home, they just wanted to snuggle and sleep. 

Josie is obsessed with that pink elephant currently. It hasn't left her sight in 2 weeks. 

 Went to the dentist to get poked, prodded, and lectured about flossing....... I mean for a cleaning. lol but guess what?!? NO CAVITIES! I haven't done that in 2 years! Score!
(And I'm exaggerating. These guys were great and it wasn't that bad. The hygenist's analogy was "why would you wipe your cheeks but not the crack after you go to the bathroom?"
Fair point, my lady. Fair point. If anything's going to get me to floss that will. lol )

Holy crap am I done yet?
If you read this whole thing kudos to you, man. Dallin probably won't even read it. It's like 4 years long. Happy belated Thanksgiving from us!

-Sydney