The One and Only Ivan - Official Book Trailer

I recently read this book.  I loved it!  It was a fast read but one that I will never forget.  It is based on true events but of course is fiction since the Gorilla talks throughout the whole book.  This book has heart where as I feel a lot of books don't.  It's a book I enjoyed but one I am sure children will enjoy as well!

An EPIC journey

I took an epic journey this summer.  It was one of the very best I have ever been on.  I gained many new friends, tasted new treats, learn new words, learned how to be brave, and learned that the power of love is the most powerful thing we have.  I never wanted to take this journey, thinking it was too dark and scary.  But with the help of some really great friends I made it.  This is not to say their were times I was angry.  Times were I cried and thought life was so unjust.  Times when I just didn't understand.  Times when I didn't know if I could carry on. But I did!  I finished my journey better than I started.  I am so glad I took this journey and in the end I understood it all! 

You ask who these friends were?  What were these special treats I ate?  Where was I?  What made me angry, sad, happy?  Well, let me list the friends that were involved: Marie, who started it all; Harry Potter, he taught me to do what is right not what is easy; Hermione Granger, who taught me to always read; Ron Weasley, who always let me come over to the Burrow; The Weasley Family, who made me laugh and cry, who held my hand when I was scared, and Mrs. Weasley, who always knew where everyone was;  Sirius Black; Remus and Tonks; Luna; Neville; Dumbledore; and Snape, who taught me to not judge people for you never know their motives.  The special treats I ate were Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean.  We can thank Marie for the vomit flavor I got to taste!  While on my journey I visited Hogwarts, Privet Drive, the Burrow, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and Weasley Wizard Wheezes.  I even got to go to a few Quidditch Games.  I was mad, happy, and sad as my friends gave their all to defeat the Dark Lord.

I can't believe I didn't take this journey sooner.  This summer was my first time venturing into Potter Land and know I understand why people love it so much!  I thought the books were great.  I have loved the movies as well!  Thank you Marie for inviting me to ride the Hogwart's Express and experience one of my favorite journeys I have taken!  I have become a Harry Potter nerd!

  

Aunt Cindy and Uncle John

My Aunt Cindy, her husband Uncle John, their grandson Nic, and their 5 children; Logan, Ali, Paje, Skylynn, and Jazmyn came to MAT Camp this year.  Last year when I got home from camp, Aunt Cindy, Paje, Sky and Jazzy came to visit my family.  I had never met the children and I hadn't seen Aunt Cindy since she got married about 16 years before.  It was so fun to see them.  I told them about camp and they started planning a trip out west.  I was so happy to see them two days before camp.  I got to see Uncle John for the first time since their wedding and I met three cousins I hadn't met before.  I enjoyed them so much at camp!  Aunt Cindy helped in all of my morning classes.  Sky and Jazzy were in three of my classes.  Nic and Logan would occasionally help/wrestle in my classroom.  Ali played her clarinet for my students.  And Paje always let me have a bit of her cookie or cupcake that she had decorated in her cake decorating class!  Uncle John was so patient at the camp ground as he was the only one that didn't attend classes.  Whenever he was around though, he was super helpful to me.
After a week at camp, Aunt Cindy and Uncle John came to Utah to visit my family.  We had a lot of fun with them while they were here.  We went up to Payson Lakes, went and saw Brave, and the kids came over and Logan mowed my lawn.  Don't worry, they got snow cones as payment!  I didn't get many pictures of them and I am so bummed I didn't.  Paje took my camera while we were at the lake.  These are pretty much the only pictures I have so enjoy!  I hope to see this side of the family soon!  I loved having them here!

Ducks on a log

The Lake

Squirrel

Everyone was very excited with the wildlife we found running around

 I jumped off of this bridge two weeks before this picture was taken!!

 SNAKE!!! Scared me so bad!

 Creepster tree: It says "Look Behind You"

 Logan and Jazzy getting the watermelon out of the lake!

 

Music and Arts and Theater = One Awesome Week

MAT Camp has come and gone again!  It always comes so fast and I always hate to see it go.  It is the best job in the world.  My only wish is that I could do it for multiple weeks in the summer.  This year was especially great because of all the family that got to be there.  I had so much help this year, at times I didn't know what to have all of them do!  I felt that my crafts were better this year and I was much better with my classroom management.  (Do the other teachers at camp even pay attention to this or is it just the teacher in me?)
A few days before camp started, I went to Salt Lake to spend the night with Michele Hustedt's In-Laws.  Late in the night we went to pick up Michele and Anna from the airport.  I sawAnna first, her big blue eyes roaming the airport in her little backpack.  I would like to think she remembered me because she smiled a lot for me.  The next day we headed out for Evanston.  We got there in the early afternoon.  The fun ensued.  We went to the school were camp was being held and dropped off all my supplies, we created a completely dark room for Anna to sleep in by stuffing the window with paper towel rolls and clothes from the costume box (which might not have been the best idea because we couldn't use any of those paper towels all week, we had to go buy them because we couldn't mess up the window treatment!) and made dinner!  Saturday we went shopping, made ice-cream, watched movies, colored rice, and played with Anna.  It was so fun!

Sunday was another busy day of making sure we were ready for camp.  We had a staff meeting that night for camp.  We meet all of the teachers that would be at camp which is always fun.  The man that came to teach piano was so funny.  He grew up in Lithuania and told us if we wanted to learn about communism, he was an expert!  He needed a ride from the camp meeting to his host families house.  I had brought my car over, which for those that know where I was staying you know that this is absolutely ridiculous because I was staying at a house that is three houses away from the school!  So I offered to take the piano teacher home.  He gave me the worst directions and on the way through the crazy maze of getting home, we passed Michele out talking a walk around the block.  When I finally got home, Michele attacked me because she wanted to know who the boy in my car was.  She couldn't believe how fast I had moved.  Little did she know that this man is married with two children! HA!  It was a running joke all week.
My classes were so great this year.  My little kid classes were Animal Art, Comte's Corner, and Making Musical Instruments.  They were good but I know that I can improve for next year.  Some improvements I want to make are: be more free with my crafts (little ones don't understand too many directions), ask for more help with my really little kids, try the crafts to see how long they take, and be prepared for extra time.  One of my favorite moments in my little kid classes was one little girl named Helena.  She was so cute and became my little friend!

Colored rice and pasta for musical instrument

Seahorses

Bear Masks


Felt Faces

Felt Faces

Mom reading to my kids!

My older kid classes were fabulous!  First, my Duck Tape Class was the BOMB.  For the most part my students were super creative and willing to try.  And that's what made it so successful. On Tuesday I gave my students the challenge to make a hat out of Duct Tape.  The boys in the class were super excited.  At the end of class we all decided that we needed to do a fashion show in the talent show.  My students were asked to make anything the could wear and bring it to show off.  Thursday's talent show was so great in so many ways.  But the night ended with some pretty creative kids and their duct tape creations!   One boy in my class and his cousin were way into Avatar.  Not the movie but the little animated cartoon.  It really is the best!  I am also a little obsessed with it, so when these students knew what it was I was way excited.  On Wednesday they decided to make Davatar: The Last Duct Bender costumes.  It was awesome.  Next years improvements: a lot more Duct Tape!

A duct tape belt

The boys hard at work making hats

NINJA'S

Damon's finished hat!  SO COOL!!!

Taylor's crown: Made with no instruction from anyone but her own mind!

More hats!

Trying to take an action shot!  

 You know who this is?  Oh, just the Davatar!

One class that I redid from last year was science!  Of course I changed the experiments we tried.  The class was more successful than last year.  We made bouncy balls, slime, galaxy playdough, and lava lamps.  The kids loved it all!  None of them could tell me what their favorite thing to do was.  This is a must for next year.  If anyone has suggestion, please leave a comment about cool projects you know of!

Lava Lamp

The kids, as was I , were so fascinated by the lava lamps. 

 SLIME.  I can't handle the feel of this substance.  The kids had a great time helping Ms. Jody through it though.  

Galaxy Playdough

The last class I did for the older kids was recycled jewelry which went really well, I just didn't have very many students in it!  The girls loved painting with nail polish, making pop top bracelets, and making beads from magazines.  Some of the girls even went the extra mile and made things at home to bring in.  It was so fun to be with a small group of students!  I got to know each one so well!

Thank you to all those that saved pop tops for me, especially Marie. 

Thursday night was awesome.  It was the talent show.  As I said previously, my Duct Tape class ended the show in style.  But another highlight of the night was Marley and I's debut dancing expedition.  It was EPIC.  We are already planning an encore for next year, I hope this entices some of you to come to camp next year.  I want to give a shout out to Marley: It wouldn't have been as cute without my little ladybug!  Thanks for being brave and for being concerned about the jar lids that fell off of my ears!

 I meet a couple and their little boy last year at camp.  They came again this year and their little boys birthday was on Thursday.  We celebrated with cupcakes!  I love these pictures of Breck and Marley.

Happy Birthday Breck!

I was so happy to spend time with all my family.  They each helped in their own way.  To Uncle Dean and Aunt Carolee, thanks for letting me stay in the most comfortable bed at your house.  Thanks for hiring me back Aunt Carolee.  Thanks to Ethan for just being awesome.  Thanks to Aunt Linda and Uncle Ron for contributing your great personalities to the house.  Thanks to my mom for being there when I needed her and for providing food when it was needed.  Thanks to Sam and Marley for being there and for your camera use!  Thank you to Michele for helping in the classes she could help in and for helping clean up.  Thank you for being the sleep nazi and getting me to bed on time!  Thanks for playing with me Anna.  Thank you Aunt Cindy for helping in pretty much all my classes.  Thank you Uncle John for being willing to bring your family to camp.  Thank you to Nic, Logan, Ali, Paje, Jazmyn, and Sky for making me laugh.  Thank you for the hugs!  I love my family and am so thankful for them!