Please scroll down and start at the beginning!

Lastly, but not leastly, these pictures represent where we spend 90% of our time. Kara tried to explain to me how I was supposed to publish the first post last in order for it to be on top. Well, duh, I thought. Now who's laughing? The post actually begins below. These are pictures of our schools and our church.

Keep scrolling!

These are a few pictures of our home, the front door, the insane pumpkin Dolores (the state mental institution is here in Evanston and we got a great deal on her!). However, upon closer observation, perhaps we made a mistake. It seems some of Dolores's mental state is beginning to wear off on us. We've thrown in a picture of our hydrant just because it is a vibrant color of red. Need you any further evidence of Dolores's power?

Almost There!

These are a few other pictures of Evanston. Don Pedros is our favorite resturaunt here. Perhaps what makes it so incredible (besides the really good food) is the bright green cactus chandeliers!

And yes, gasoline is $1.91 a gallon as of yesterday (November 15th); it has been plummenting for the past month.

It is good for us to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for us to have our freedom to live in this great land!

Photo Scavenger Hunt - Finally, the beginning of the new post!

Some of you have wanted to see more of our new hometown. This is Evanston and it really is starting to grow on us. In fact, we even think it is pretty (even though "pretty Wyoming" may seem like an oxymoron to many of you!). The picture of Kara is in old downtown. The picture of me is in front of the nice Rec Center we have here.

Wow

Wow! didn't realize it had been so long since we posted anything! Only once in October and that was to tell you I would post eventually. I'll try to do better in November!

I promised!

Well, here's the post I promised!
It feels like we've been running around like crazy for the past three weeks. I guess you could say that was when all the adventures began. On about the 17th of October we had fall break (a three day weekend!) and headed down to Beaver for a visit. We had family picture's of the whole Jessup clan taken as a Christmas present for Ralyn. We had a nice relaxing weekend spent deciding color schemes for the photo shoot and other silly details. Mostly we played games, made and ate ice cream cake, and went to a missionary farewell. (Tyler's cousin will be going to San Antonio, Texas! Cindy, and Dallin, watch for an Elder Jessup in about 3 months!!)

Then of course it was back to school for another week before heading down to Ogden for a trip to the temple and a day at Lagoon. My family came down and Katie brought a roomate from Rexburg. My aunt and a few cousins came along as well. Tyler and I both chickened out when it came to riding "Wicked" the new roller coaster. It was about 9:30 at night and I think we were just a little Lagooned out! The thrilling rides don't really do it for me anymore I guess. We had the most fun watching my little cousin (He's 4) ride around and around on the helicopters, then explain his excitement in a four year olds lisp-like voice! Hillarious! I was quite the day!

Just this last weekend we went back to Ogden. This time to spend Halloween with my aunt and cousins. (We don't know a lot of people in Evanston yet and there weren't any parties going on) We took the little kids trick -ot-treating. Unfortunately I forgot the costume. My one little cousin had a monster suit! He's two and absolutely adorable! We had fun watching them say trick-or-treat and hold out their bags! We both ate far to much candy, but all in all had a good night!

So tomorrow it's back to school and we're planning on not hiting the road again until Thanksgiving time when it will be back to Northern Utah for lot's of Turkey and stuffing! We're enjoying Evanston and have decided it's time to stick around for a few weeks.

Every week is so busy around here. If we're not at school or some school related meeting we're at church or some church related meeting! I'm having fun with the Young Women and after Tyler counts tithing he wishes he was with the Young Men. I told him just to volunteer! I'm sure they'd have him! We went and did Baptisms with the youth last night. Tyler came along and was able to help a lot more than me. As always it was good to be in the temple!

Well, there's the update. We're not the most exciting people on the planet, but we know how to have a good time! Keep the comments comming! We love to hear from all of you!

KJ

Oops

I know, I know, we haven't posted forever. Life is crazy. I should take time to post more often. I did add a post not too long ago, but it didn't save. Bummer. I'll post again soon. I promise! We have some good pictures from the past few weekends I'll have to share. Come back soon for an update on life!! KJ

We've never shown you all our new home!

We haven't put any pictures of our new hometown up. The one is a picture of Evanston from our apartment. The other is our apartment.

The Wal-Mart Incident

I've learned this last week that I have inherited absolutely zero talent or skill with wood from my father. I went to Wal-mart and purchased a nice desk. I should have taken a hint when it took over thirty minutes for somebody to come help me, even after numerous trips to the customer service desk. When the associates finally wheeled the desk out on a flatbed cart (in a box), I was a bit frazzled since I was supposed to pick Kara up from a hair appointment. I paid for the desk and hurried out to the car where I delightfully discovered that the box was far too heavy for me to put in the car. I seriously doubted I would be able to get any help soon from anybody working at Wal-mart so I heaved one corner of the box on to the back seat and started pushing.

After I had pushed the desk into the car as far as it would go, I again delightfully discovered that it was too long. Had I had some intelligence when it comes to construction I would have measured the box before trying to put it in the car. Had I had some talent I could have eyeballed it and discovered the box was over a foot longer than the car was wide. But now my situation was dire. I had dropped Kara off for the appointment over an hour before and was certain she was finished. I had both cell phones in my pocket (another silly oversight) and I had no way of contacting her to let her know what had happened to me. We have been having major mechanical difficulties with our car and so I was sure she assumed the worst--car dead on the side of the road.

I thought I should probably go into the store and find somebody to help me. My pride and indignation at being ignored for 30 minutes worked against me, however. I began pushing and shoving to get the desk back out on to the flat bed cart. In the meantime, the desk had slipped off the seat to the floor on one end and was now wedged between the front and back seats. I pushed and shoved and heaved and grunted a lot before my pants ripped apart at the seams. Then I diplomatically used a few Mormon cuss words and hit the box--inflicting no pain whatsoever on the box. Had I a little intelligence in the matter I would have bought a desk from a furniture store and they could have delivered it.

Finally, after sitting defeated for some time, I came to terms with the fact that I would have to go into Wal-mart to ask for help. I wondered if I should bee-line straight to the men's section and change into a pair of pants, which the cashier would have to ring up while they were covering my body. Instead I held my knees together and hobbled over to the customer service desk. In the end, a big guy came out and helped me move it into the trunk and I was on my way.

Luckily for me, I had split my pants. Kara wasn't as angry after hearing the story and seeing my predicament--even though she wasn't pleased at having to wait for an hour and a half. My pride obliterated, we started home and then I realized that I had no idea how I would get the heavy box into our apartment. I almost took it back to Wal-mart. In the end we had to carry it into the house piece by piece. I then took the next two days assembling the forty million parts into what sort of resembles a desk. In several places I've put the wrong screws in the wrong places, thereby confirming my ineptitude when it comes to even simple construction.

It's been too long

I'm afraid it's been a very long time since I updated our blog. We've been buying a car which has been a bit of a rigmarole but we finally have it and it sure is nice to drive!

This last week, well two weeks ago now, Tyler and I finally were given callings. Tyler is the new ward assistant clerk over finances (which is funny because he was the stake finance clerk in Rexburg). And I was called to be the 2nd counselor in the young women's! I'm excited! This Saturday I get to go to the stake dance. We'll see how that goes!

Overall things are going well. We're always tired it seems, but life is good. Our classes are going well most days. There are days when I want to throw my hands up and say forget this, but most days are a lot of fun! It's fun to joke with the kids. I think a lot of them like me, or at least can stand me. I'm sure there are a few who hat my guts, but that's a faze for this age right!!?

Life's good!

KJ

Family Pictures

The Whole Ormond Clan!

The Whole Jessup Clan

Aren't we so good looking!!

Snow on September 1st

I guess that's what we get for moving to Wyoming. But they say early snow means a nice long, beautiful fall! The temp is supposed to climb back into the 70's by the end of this week!

Besides the snow we had a great Labor Day weekend. We got to see both the Jessup's and the Ormond's! Mom and Dad brought us a washer and dryer which we are very excited to have!! And Sterling and Charla blessed their baby so we had fun visiting with them. We also spent a day in Park City where we test drove another car and spent some time shopping at the outlet malls. Pretty fun!

We Survived!

Wow! What a week we've had! By Friday both Tyler and I wanted to fall over. Teaching school is exhuasting. I have great kids though and I'm looking forward to the rest of the year. They seem to see me as an authority figure which is fantastic. I'm teaching Freshman Algebra so I have basically all freshman. There are a few repeater sophomores, but other than that I've got all the new kids. I told them we could be new together. Only one girl asked how old I was. I told her I was really really old. She didn't believe me, but I got away without telling them. Tyler's sixth graders are making a huge adjustment from fifth grade to now having eight periods to keep track of. I guess he had a few forlorn, lost little 11 year-olds, but being a nice guy he helped them out! He teaches 6 periods a day where I only have three. It's fun to see the kids come and go. They each have such individual personalities, likes, and dislikes. Sixths graders are full of energy and stories where ninth graders just want to be left alone for the most part. I think most of my kids (okay, may be I should call them my students) like me, but they sure don't want to let me know, let alone let their friends know. Tyler's students are thrilled to have him. You can tell the difference when we walk into the grocery store and get a huge "HI Mr. Jessup!!" from one of his students, while my student is standing behind the cash register trying to keep me from noticing him. Pretty funny! So that was the first week. We survived! And actually better than I originally thought. As we get into the swing of things it should become more routine and less exhausting. My mom asked if this is everything I ever dreamed of. Well, I think I would like things to run a little smoother eventually, but for now I'm pretty convinced that we're in the right place at the right time. Our district and our schools are incredible. We're definitely here for the kids and that's what we were hoping for.

We're making a few friends in our new little town. The new strings teacher is an interesting character. He's an amazing musician. We had a little birthday party for Tyler last week, and Matt brought his guitar and sang for us. That was fun. We also met a new couple, the Jensen's who just moved here to teach school also. David teaches eighth grade math, and Amanda stays home with their son, Robert, who is almost a year old. We've also made friends with Maile and Aaron Schilling who are in our ward. She is a new pharmacist in town and he works for a natural gas company.

So, things are working out better than we had ever hoped even if we did have to come all the way to Wyoming. For any of you looking for a nice place to settle down, Evanston seems to be working out for us! We are truly blessed. I'd say the Lord is watching out for us every day, every minute!! every second!!

Our Fort Bridger Expedition

Tyler, Brayten, and Sterling in front of on of the old captains houses. Fort Bridger was used as a trading post, Mormon Pioneer stop on the trail, and mostly an army post.

I'm sure we would have made terrible pioneers. We'll take the ICK any old day!

We decided to take a little jaunt over to Fort Bridger. It's about 30 miles from Evanston. We went when Charla and Sterling came for a visit. It's a fun place to visit if you ever get a chance. It was pretty warm, but just like when I was a kid, the clouds rolled in and we got a good rain storm just before we left!

Idaho Falls Zoo

Did you know Idaho Falls has a zoo? It does! And surprisingly it's a pretty good little zoo. If you're ever in town you should check it out!

4th of July

Here we are at the 4th of July in Provo enjoying our new little nephew Brayten. That's his mom, Charla!! Boy are we excited to be an aunt and uncle!!

Class Time

Our classrooms are all set up and ready to go on the first day of school! At least the rooms are ready. Now we have to make sure we're ready! The high school has been in quite the dissaray all summer. They've installed SmartBoards in every classroom which means rewiring the entire school. I still don't have a projector, and there are boxes stacked in my room, but we're flexible. I think both Tyler and I are excited to finally get real kids! These past three weeks we've spent in trainings preparing for kids. Here they come! On Monday I'll have close to 100 new faces and Tyler has about 120. So, not only are we real adults, we're real teachers!! We made it out of the college world! Hurray! Then again, I think this is what my mom would call, "BAM REALITY!" Life could get crazy pretty quick, but bring it on! We're ready!!

Real Adults!

Well, we went and test drove our first car today. I guess buying a car pushes us into the real adult category. The ICK is finally on it''s las leg and it's time for retirement. We have a lot of research to do on different vehicles before jumping into one, but it's definitely time for a new set of wheels! It sure is fun to sit up high in a bright red Envoy, but I doubt that will be the final purchase. We've been told that we need to get an all wheel drive vehicle or at least front wheel drive in this town, but a good size car should have that feature. For now we're just in the shoppint stage!

Our Very Own Blog!

We did it! We actually started a blog! Are you proud??!