School's Out For Summer...

There I am smearing a cheap paper towel on my cupboard shelf listening to the sound of teenage kids shooting rubber bands back and forth at each other and Beatles music in the background. What else are students to do in those last few minutes of school? Anxiety fills the air with my handful of kids who actually came to school on the last day; I mean everyone knows 9th graders are way too cool to show up the last day of jr high. They pace back and forth whining for me to let them go out into the hall. They're dying to hear that last school bell of the year. As the clock ticks and the last announcement from the principal is made cheering begins filling the school. School is out!! The students are thrilled to finally escape the building responsible for their weekday captivity the last 9 months or so. As I see kids running out the doors I can't help but think "They think they're happy?!? If they only knew the excitement and cheering going on in every teachers' head right now." SCHOOL IS FINALLY OUT!!

So my first year of teaching is over. That means summer is here and I can finally feel like a normal wife and mom again. Back to cooking and cleaning and playing... and blogging. It's been awhile since my last post, so here are some highlights:

*Michael's 1st Easter: Easter was so much fun with Michael. We had 2 Easter egg hunts and he loved finding the eggs and shaking them. If he could hear something rattle inside it was okay to keep. If not, he dropped it and moved on to the next. I always love Easter Sunday and the program--beautiful music and inspiring talks. Such a good day!

*Bridal Shower and Wedding day for Howie: Hilary (or Howie as the grandkids say) met, dated, got engaged to, and married Chris all in 15 weeks time! What a record! Congrats to the new Mr and Mrs Fox!! We're so happy for you!

*2nd Anniversary and Best Friend's wedding: My good friend Mike married his sweet wife, Nikki, on May 2nd in the Salt Lake Temple. It was such a neat thing for us to go up and enjoy their luncheon. It happened to be the same day, same place Steve and I were married just 2 years previous. Thanks for letting us share your day with you... or should I say thanks for sharing our day with us??? Either way we're anniversary buddies now! Congrats you two! Steve and I were able to take Michael and walk around the temple. Luckily the rain stopped in time to snap a few pictures.

*Midway GetAway: So last fall I registered online to listen to the FM100 At Work Station on my computer at school. When I signed up so I could listen, it asked me if I wanted to enter in a drawing. I clicked the button and apparently submitted my info. Twenty minutes later, there I was working on lesson plans when my school phone rings. I pick it up only to hear "Mrs. Esplin, this is Bob Nelson from FM100. You are our winner to the Resort and Spa GetAway package!" I couldn't even believe it. I won a free night's stay at the Zermatt Resort in Midway. (I JUST WANT ALL MY HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS WHO TEASED ME FOR HAVING FM 100 PROGRAMMED IN MY CAR (OR BETTER KNOWN AS THE "GRANDMA STATION"--AHEM MIKE) TO KNOW IT PAID OFF LISTENING TO IT) I finally cashed in on the free hotel room over Memorial weekend. Steve and I went up (baby-less thanks to Nana and Poppy) and enjoyed celebrating our anniversary. It was short, simple, and relaxing. We think we'll make it a tradition and celebrate every anniversary over memorial weekend to get away somewhere. It was fun to look back on the last two years and see how far we've come. So much fun, love, and happiness. Being married is the best!!

*Michael is Walking! This happened just last week and he's getting better each day. It's so cute to see him toddle around! Such a proud parent moment. He's so smart and surprises us with what he comes up with. His little personality is adorable and so fun. We literally adore our little boy. He is our greatest joy! He says MaMa and DaDa and BaBa and jabbers a ton. Singing is his new favorite thing. He does it all the time. I think he just might have a pretty good voice when he gets older.

*We bought a house!! This is the last and best of all the news. Steve and I have been looking for homes on and off for about a year. In April we finally found the house we want to be our home. The house is in Saratoga Springs just right past Lehi. It's less than 5 minutes from my school. It was built in 2007 and has never been lived in. It has 4 bedrooms one of which is a huge master with a huge closet and bathroom--and a jetted tub woohoo!! It has 1 1/2 additional bathrooms and an unfinished basement. We're supposed to close any day now and will probably move next week. We're so excited to have more room and place we can call our own. We do have to put a yard in though so any volunteers would be greatly appreciated!!

*Oh I just remembered one more thing. This is more of a highlight for Steve but I guess it shouldn't be left out. We bought a truck also. It's not something to be thrilled over (unless you are my husband). It's a 1989 Ford F150. She's a beaut!! It's just an old clunker we found for a great deal that will help us haul stuff in this move and help us out as we put our yard in. I guess it will prove to be worth it to have a truck even though we're far from needing a 3rd car. Steve talks about selling it after it this fall depending on his attachment level at that point. So who knows... if in August or September you're in need of an old, well-used Ford truck, we just might have what you're looking for. :)

Here are some pics at random... Enjoy!
Sadly, this is the only picture of the house I can find. I guess we should take some pics. More to come later.