Playing catch-up: Mom goes to San Diego...for school!

This past fall has been eye-opening and hard for me as I've taken on new and challenging responsibilities at school, in addition to finishing up online courses and projects for my CA teaching credential.  I often have to take one day at a time and hope that things will get easier so that I can look ahead more and feel better balance. 

One highlight of the job, though, was going to a Professional Learning Community (PLC) conference in San Diego with other projects teachers from our school district in October.  I waffled a little bit about the opportunity because I was worried about missing a week so early in the school year when we were trying to get new things going, but my principal and district leaders were very supportive and encouraged me to go!

We stayed in a beautiful hotel in San Diego and attended 3 very full days of classes, speakers, and break-out sessions.  Having evenings free to enjoy the hotel and different places to eat was a lot of fun, too.  It was a great experience for me and I really enjoyed getting to know the people I went with, too!

Webelos Day Hike to Sand Canyon and Pretend Campout

Time for some serious blog updating, folks!  Rewind to last month when Jason, Wade, and I joined others for a Webelos day hike to Sand Canyon.  What a gorgeous day!  We had a great turnout from both parents, family members, and Webelos boys.  

Jason did a great job leading the boys on a 3-mile hike, we did a clean-up service project, and my friend Judith put together a fun orienteering activity for the boys.  Everyone brought a sack lunch.  It was a fun, easy morning.  Last year's day hike was my very first foray into being a Webelos assistant leader.  We did a lot more at that one, like building a fire and swimming in a pond, but both Judith and I felt this year's day hike was more enjoyable because it was laid-back, quick, and easy to plan for.  The weather was better, too.  Win, win, win!

A couple weeks after that, the boys joined us in the Nation family's backyard for a pretend campout to finish off the Outdoorsman badge.  What a blast!  We roasted hot dogs and made S'Mores, and the boys put on some really funny skits for us.  I think Wade was back at the table getting food--wish I'd gotten him in this picture.  I absolutely love being in Webelos with him.  What a blessing!  The boys are great and I get to work with one of my best Ridgecrest buddies, too--Judith and I have known each other since our kids were babies.

A visit to Zion National Park

We had some fun adventures this past weekend on our way to and from Page, AZ for Jason's 1/2 marathon in Lake Powell. 

 

Our Ridgecrest friends Rob and Crystal Tomlinson were also running in the race, so they invited us to join their family and make a weekend out of it.  We stayed overnight on Friday at Crystal's parents' home in St. George.  It was fun to meet her parents Mark and Cheryl--they were so outgoing and kind and made us feel welcome.  (They're leaving to the Philippines to serve a church mission in a few months, too!)

 

On Saturday we all got on the road headed for Page and were treated to a drive through Zion National Park.  It was BEAUTIFUL!  The mile-long tunnel through the mountain was fun, and then just as we exited the tunnel we pulled over and parked in this little lot right next to the start of the Canyon Overlook trail.  We were all glad we did that before the race, ha-ha!  It wasn't hard but had some tricky spots.

 

Visiting Zion National Park was a great memory!  The views were stunning and the company we were with made it even more fun!

 

 

 

 

Jason just called..

Jason just called from the top of Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the United States' lower 48 states.  This week he's doing a 50-miler with the Boy Scouts from our ward, hiking several miles a day with heavy packs.

He said everyone was doing okay even with the blisters and bad knees; it was quite a relief to hear his voice!!!  Especially since he was supposedly going to be "off the grid" til Saturday.  We can't wait to get him home and hear ALL about it!

Way to go, guys!  WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT!

Celebrating #15 in style

Jason and I had a wonderful 15th anniversary date this week.  On Friday night we drove up in the mountains for an hour and a half and arrived at Johnny McNally's for dinner.  It's this totally random, isolated restaurant right off the Kern River, and it's famous for its steaks!



This place was worth the drive to get there!

Here's a link to their menu, so you get an idea of all the good food we ate:  MENU

Jason ordered the Porterhouse, and I had the McNally's Dinner Steak.  To splurge at the end, we got their cherry cobbler and could NOT finish it, we were so full!  After dinner we walked out to this bridge and stood right over the river for some pics:

15 years!

South view of Kern River

North view of Kern River

Any other day I would have been so car-sick on the drive home, but I was so full I couldn't think about anything else!

I contributed to our 15th by blowing a tire on the van and getting two new tires--I figured that was it and I'd be lucky if we got Taco Bell for our anniversary.  But, as usual, Jason was full of surprises and had the fantastic idea to get away from it all and go on a little adventure! 

We had so much fun!  Love you, babe!