MAY

May was a great month...wet and cold, but great none the less. Busy, but not as busy as it used to be when all the kids were home and there were concerts and school activities galore to fill up our time.  I still had plenty of down time to read :) As it turns out I read 29 books this school year and I am partway through two more so by the first week of June I will have read 31!  YaY!

Miranda in Peru and Chile:
Shortly after graduation on May 3rd Miranda headed to Peru with her friends Talley and Matt.  They were able to visit a few schools and help distribute supplies.  They were also able to go to Machu Picchu.  I loved that on one of the snapshots Miranda sent home she said "I am the happiest and best version of myself in Latin America." I love that it still holds a piece of her heart.

Those are REAL alpacas! 

Miranda, Matt Easton, and Talley Timms

  

Here are two of the best pictures from Peru:

This one looks like it came straight from a National Geographic!

"My favorite picture. Walking with the kids that walk 8 miles to school each day.  Look at this incredible scenery" Miranda

After spending a week in Peru, Miranda and Talley headed to Chile and Matt flew back home.  They were able to spend another week or so in Chile.  She spent a few days visiting mission friends and then they flew down south to Chiloe.  They had some rainy days, but had a great time and were able to see some beautiful places and people.  They were able to spend a few nights hanging out with Anna Maria and Alejandro and their families as well.  

Cajon del maipo

Petrohue

Paula's Wedding:

The next big event was Paula's wedding.  What a great day!  So happy for Paula and Trent.  So happy to see my sister in law have a great man in her life. The kids looked great too.  They were married in the Draper Temple and then had a luncheon at Millennial Falls.

Nathan and Jaxon

 Paula and Trent had each of the kids pick their own cakes. They all cut them at the same time.  It was so cute.  Such a great idea to help them all feel included in the special day.

 What a CUTE family!!! 

The Hatch Family

The now traditional in IN LAWS photo 

 End of the school year:

The last few weeks of school were filled with all types of shenanigans. The Thursday before Memorial day was our Warriorpalooza event. This event was new this year.  Traditionally we have done Jogapalooza where the kids do a type of fun run. This year instead of running the kids went through obstacle courses.  The weather was cool and drizzly but we made it through the day without any major downpours.  I clocked in about 11 miles going back and forth making sure everything was going smoothly.  This was my last major event to be in charge of and, thankfully, it went fairly smoothly.  I was one of the "lucky' teachers that got chosen for the dunk tank. It was SO cold! Mr Vance and I decidee to dress up for the event. Tenuun dunked me with his first throw! 

On Memorial Day we had a 6th grade BBQ at Dion Drummond's home.  The WHOLE team was able to make it with their families.  We should have gotten a photo with the whole team, but we didn't. Bummer! We had tons of yummy food though and had a great time visiting.  

The Tuesday after Memorial Day we had our ice cream sundae reward --my class got 1st place in Warriorpalooza! We also had transition time where 1st-6th grade visited the grade above to get tips and meet the teachers. However, the craziest part of the day came when the students were finally able to redeem their "duct tape a teacher to the wall" coupons.  Yep..I got ducted tapped to the wall...all in a days work...right?! Dion, Erin, Loralee Barlow, Mr. Druce, and Mr. Whittle were also taped to the wall. We had to stay up the entire passing period between 4th and 5th.  It was actually pretty hilarious and only scary when they removed the chairs we were standing on.  Ended up just doing a slow descent down the wall.

And then Friday came it is was time to say goodbye.  What a bittersweet day.  I will miss these kids!  

 I will SO miss working with these lovelies everyday! 

The 6th grade team rocked this year!  We all filled in a special place to make it a well rounded team that could help all students.  It was so easy and fun working with these guys.  I think going through the grieving process after loosing Sam also brought us so much closer. I can't believe it was a choice I made to leave them.  I will SO miss having them in my life on a daily basis.  Since part of my new job is being an instructional coach for the 5th and 6th grade teachers in our LEA I hope to still be able to see them frequently, but I know it will be different.  Oh how lucky I was to have them for this year. So thankful to call them friends!

Rebecca Yockey, Kevin Vance, Erin Druce, me, Dion Drummond

 And that's a wrap...on teaching ...on 6th grade...on my classroom...and even on the month of May.  The last day of school was May 31st. It was a little crazy seeing my classroom so empty.  I only took one tub of stuff to my new office. The rest is at home in storage...I couldn't say goodbye to it all yet.

Now it on to SUMMER!! On to 3 weeks in Europe!! On to being an instructional coach and the LEA Literacy Coordinator (eeek!).  Now let's see if the sun will finally come out again...