Ferron Trip

We had the opportunity to visit Ferron one last time before leaving Utah. Jeff's uncle Paul passed away, and we took a day trip up to Emery county, Utah for the funeral. We were able to see many of Jeff's relatives and visit with his parents for a few hours before heading back home. It was nice to see everyone - we hadn't seen most of them since the family reunion that side had when Jeff and I first got married (so it had been almost 13 years).

Below are some pictures I took while we were in Ferron at the cemetery and around town.

Jeff's ancestors

Jeff's ancestor (same as below, but this was the government issued headstone - spelling was wrong)

Jeff's ancestor

Jeff's grandparents

Jeff's ancestor

Jeff's dad, Gerald, with Gerald's nephew, Eugene

church building in Ferron

the house Jeff's dad grew up in

Jeff's grandpa's former barber shop

some of the scenery between Ferron and St George

Hike up to Dixie mountain

With classes over for all four of us, we used some of our free time to go on a hike. I'm not sure why we've never hiked up to the top of Dixie mountain in the three years we've lived here! This hike was pretty easy (apart from the thoughts of falling to our death in my mind). I am not a fan of heights, so I was happy to stay away from the edge and play photographer... even if someone else had been there, you would not have gotten me to sit on the edge of the rocks for some of those pictures!!!

Some pictures from the fun day we had!































Last day of school!

 We'll have to assume these strange smiles on their faces are just because they are so excited about the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Kara's last day of 6th grade

Brooke's last day of 4th grade

Solar Eclipse

During this rare event, we lived in the best possible location to view the Solar Eclipse! We did not buy any special equipment to watch the eclipse, but we found out how to make our own 'viewers' thanks to Kara's science teacher. We looked crazy and several people honked, laughed, and came by to ask us what we were doing, but at least we saw the eclipse safely! Well, most of us did. I found out after that Jeff, Kara, and Brooke kept peeking directly at the sun!!! NOOO!

Some pictures:

the sun right before the eclipse

how crazy we looked

getting closer!

view from inside the box: the bright crescent is the sun, the dark circle is the moon moving in front of it

any second now....

full eclipse!

during the eclipse, all the shadows were doubled... cool, right?

Brooke's 4th grade program

Every year, the 4th grade at Brooke's school puts on a program featuring information they've learned about Utah's state history. The kids dress as pioneers, native Americans, etc., and sing and dance. Brooke did a great job! I didn't get very many photos since I recorded most of it as video, but here are a couple of photos to commemorate the event!

Brooke dancing in the program

waiting for the program to start

Jeff's graduation

We are all very excited about Jeff's graduation! He graduated with his Master of Arts in Teaching from USC! We are very proud of him and all the hard work he put into obtaining his degree!

I talked Jeff into going to graduation in California... although it was a SUPER quick trip, here are some pictures from the event (there are other, better pictures, but I haven't gotten those from my dad yet, so these'll have to do!).

on the shuttle to get to campus from the parking lot, Kara & Grandma

on the shuttle, Gerald and Judi (Jeff's parents)

Jeff on the shuttle on the way to campus! Look at his new USC tie!



Jeff and my parents in front of the bookstore

waiting to get into the ceremony... it was hot!

Brooke was looking at the hibiscus flowers and being very patient!

Kara was trying to beat the heat by hiding

we found Jeff's name in the graduation booklet

Jeff marching in!

Jeff heading up to get his diploma!

the band came in at the end of graduation and played the fight song and the school song... it was fun!

Kara's orchestra concert

 Last night was Kara's final orchestra concert of the year. We are so proud of how hard she's worked and of how much she's improved! This was only her second year of playing and she was in advanced orchestra with mostly 7th graders (and she made 1st violin!).

Some pictures: