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??!