29 New Third Graders

We started school yesterday and it really was a great day! The past few weeks I have been worried about starting school because I knew I had some really tough kids and I really just loved loved loved my kids last year. Well... it turned about to be so wonderful! I have so many cute and good kids that I already love so much! It is completely different from last year- last year I had 19 boys and 11 girls, this year, 19 girls and 10 boys. I know its horrible, but I really preferred my boys last year :) I haven't even really had the chance to miss my kids from last year because most of them are in my room or hugging me at EVERY chance they get! I only have a few pictures, but I just thought I would share with you how cute they are...

A Summer Full of Work

Well, I go back to school on Thursday and the kids come back next Wednesday. I have been working at the school all summer and here is the final finished product.

The Oregon Coast

Midway through our trip in Washington, Steve and I headed off by ourselves to the Oregon coast which is about two hours from where his family lives. It was the most gorgeous drive and so different from Utah- it is definately the greenest place on earth. Here are some of the views we saw on our drive up there.

You can barely see it, but this is the bridge that you cross to leave Washington and go into Oregon.

The Columbia River that is the border of Washington and Oregon.

We stayed in a little town called Astoria- its right on the river and only about 20 minutes from the beach. Our hotel sat right on the marina and you could sit out on our balcony and watch the boats come in and out. After we settled in and took a small rest, we headed for our first stop Seaside Beach. As you can see the day was cloudy and it was cold, like on 60 degrees. I think I was expecting a beach like Mexico- hot and dry and everyone hanging around in thier swim suits. Well, although gorgeous, the Oregon beaches are much different. It was chilly and windy and I was absolutely freezing and seeing as how we live in Utah in 100 degree weather, I brought NO warm clothes! So Steve and I went into town and stopped at a tourist shop and bought me some sweats and a sweatshirt. Here are the pictures from Seaside...

As you can see, cold and cloudy!

Me, freezing, trying to gain warmth from the warm sand.

So we decided not the spend the majority of our time at Seaside because it was way too touristy with too many people. So we headed south to Cannon Beach. By the time we reached Cannon Beach the sun was out and so it was warmer, not warm by any means but warmer. I still got lots of good use out of my new warm clothes. It was so nice just to relax and lay around the beach for a couple of hours. Steve bought a kite and unsucessfully tried to fly it for about an hour. He also was in the water, pretty deep too, but he was definately the only one in it! After the time on the beach we went to dinner at a place called Mo's- the restaurant is world famous for its clam chowder. I hate the stuff but according to Steve it was really good! After dinner, we headed back to Astoria- but not of course after stopping back in Seaside for a visit to the outlet stores there! Here are the pictures from Cannon Beach...

Utah looks nothing like this, beautiful isn't it?

Up & Away to the Northwest

Last week Steve and I flew to the northwest (Washington & Oregon) to visit Steve's family for the first time since our wedding. We left last Friday and returned yesterday. The trip started out bad- first, Steve was late coming home from work and therefore we were really late from leaving for the airport, second, I haven't flown in two years and apparently you aren't allowed to take lotions, gels or liquids in your carry on bag that are bigger than travel size. Well, to say the least I had to throw away at least $50 dollars worth of products that I had just bought! The trip quickly turned around when we realized that the tickets that Steve's dad had got for us were first class! I don't think I will ever be able to fly coach again. We got all the drinks and snacks we wanted, pillows, blankets, tv and movies on our own personal television screens, we got to move to the front of lines and be the first to board and leave the plane! This is definately the way to fly!

Steve in the Vegas airport during our layover.

The first two nights we stayed at Steve's parents, then we went to the Oregon coast to the beach, and the last nights we stayed at Steve's sister and her husbands.

Steve and I with his aunt Carol.

Steve and his older sister Jen.

Me and Ashley, Steve's niece (who I guess is mine too) looking at pictures.

Overall, it was a really fun trip and we were grateful that we were able to spend time with Steve's family.

Quick Update

Not much happening around the Berglund house the past couple of weeks... Both Steve and I have been working alot lately so we haven't had a whole lot of time to do anything fun. Steve's boss just had a baby last week and therefore has put all of the work onto him which consequently means about 14 hour days for him :( I have spent the last several days in my classroom- I am so close to being ready and its definately been fun to hang out and chit chat with my teacher friends. We got our class lists yesterday and great news... I only have 24 kids (so far)! This may not seem like a big deal but compared to having 30 last year, it will be like heaven. It makes me really sad to think that some of my old kids won't be coming back, but I know I will love these ones just as much (hopefully!).

Steve and I are leaving for the northwest on Friday. We will fly into Portland and stay at his parents for two days and then we will go just the two of us to the Oregon coast. I am really excited because I have never been there and I haven't been to the beach in like 4 years! When we come back from the coast we will stay the rest of the time at Steve's sisters house in Vancouver (which is the same city as his parents live in). After flying home, my mom comes into town on Wednesday to stay until Saturday. We can't wait for it all!

Saturday at Seven Peaks

On Saturday Steve and I went to Seven Peaks with our friends Tori and Tim who were in town from Vegas where they are living for the summer. Neither Steve and I had ever been there even though we lived in Utah for like 4 years! But we love water parks and amusements parks so we knew we were in for a fun day. We got there at about noon and spent the day in the pool, the lazy river, and on the slides.

Taking a break to eat lunch! Hamburgers and frieds- yum!

Basically, I am a baby and won't go on any slide that has any really steep drops so there was about 4 slides that I wouldn't go anywhere near. Tori and Tim on the other hand are both much braver than me and had no problem riding them! We were at the park until a little after 5- so if you do the math that is 5 straight hours in the hot hot sun with very little shade. And yes, we both got very burned. Poor Steve looks like a purple tomato and is just miserable, I on the other hand turned more tan than red.

Tim trying to get enough air to do a backflip.

Tori and I getting ready to go home.

After we got home we showered up and got ready to meet them at the movies for Batman The Dark Knight. Since we watched Batman Begins the night before we were prepared to see it. It was amazing! I have never really been into the Batman movies but I really enjoyed it and it was totally worth the 2 1/2 hours! It was a tiring and busy day but really fun!

Cami's Reception

My friend Cami got married on Friday and Steve and I were able to go to the reception that evening. It was at the Skyroom restaurant on BYU campus- I had never been up there before and it was really nice and a nice place to have a reception! Cami and Nate both looked great and we are really excited for them!

We met our friends Tori and Tim there and had a great time. They are living in Vegas for the summer while Tim does his internship there so we don't get to see them very often!! There is never a dull moment with the two of them. Cami's grandpa is Elder L. Tom Perry and so obviously he was at the reception. He was wondering around the room stopping at tables and talking to the guests but sadly he never stopped at our table :( We couldn't figure if we were giving off some bad vibe or what! Steve really wanted the chance to meet and talk to him but after that there was just never a chance where they weren't always tons of people surrounding him!

After the reception we did some searching for Batman Begins (in preparation for the Dark Night on Saturday) and after finding an old friend of Tori and Tim's that had it we went up to there place and watched the movie. We didn't get home until like 1:30 but it was a great night!

Tori and I with the beautiful bride!!


The four of us at the reception.