Grouchy Bear

Last Sunday, Darren and I received a phone call we had been expecting for a while. My grandfather passed away. Even though we knew it was coming, it still was hard. We are blessed to have known such a wonderful man and I am so glad to know that he is no longer in pain and he is with his eternal companion again after 10 long years. Earl Dean Kern was born and raised in Preston Idaho and he could not be more of a cowboy. He loved his horses, his family, and his wife. We were able to see him one last time at Tyler and Lisa's wedding back in December so we are left with only good memories. On Monday April 23, 2012 We will be celebrating his life with our family close by. We was a true role model to me about how a marriage should be treated. My grandparents were married just shy of 55 years when my grandmother passed away 10 years ago. I know they are both look down on me and rooting me on in my life and only wanting the best for Darren and I.



This picture was at my wedding just three years ago. I love and miss you Grouchy Bear!
Earl Dean Kern 1924-2012

Updates since January!

A lot has happened since January when I updated this last. We finished out holiday season in Seattle with lots of fun adventures!





We went to a Thunderbird hockey game with the entire family, and then also went to the Ballard locks. The Ballard locks are where Lake Union and the Puget Sound meet and it has channels where boats go through to get to one or the other. The boats travel in on one side and then the water either raises or falls to the level of where they are going to. It is so fun to go and watch all the boats go through. We have been lucky enough to experience the Ballard Locks on our own boat!





We also had the chance to go to Snoqualmie Falls. It is a beautiful waterfall that is not far from my home town of Maple Valley. We hadn't been there in years, so it was fun to see all the changes that they are doing to the visitor center. After our time in Seattle, we headed back to Boise. We loved our time there and had a lot of great memories. We loved how there was a greenbelt to go around the Boise river. We went on in regularly and will really miss this. I finished my student teaching back in November, and was offered a long-term subbing position for a teacher that is on the fourth grade team. This was a great experience to have and I know that it will really help when I continue to look for jobs.



At the end of March I went back to Maple Valley to help with 5th grade camp at Camp Casey. I loved going when I was a camper, a high school counselor, and I still love to go as a teacher now! The students have such a fun time to get away from the school and to learn and a whole new environment. Once camp was over, my mom and I drove back to Boise and finished cleaning our house (Darren moved us while I was in Seattle!). Once we checked out of our house in Boise, we made the 4 hour travel to Rexburg. It feels good to be back. We can't wait to finish with school and then be on to more and exciting things! :)

Merry Christmas

I hope you all had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. Darren and I have been busy traveling since Thanksgiving! In the last week we have already been in Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Washington. My brother just got married down in Mesa, Arizona. It was such a blast and it was great to see all my family that came.

Darren and I took a few pictures at the wedding, but I forgot my cord for my camera, so this is from our phone! The day was so nice. The sun was shinning and it was about 70 degrees which was a nice change from the cold in Boise. Lisa looked beautiful we we are so excited to welcome her into the Cline family :)

This year for Christmas, Darren and I went to Granger for Christmas, then we went to Maple Valley. We had a great time in Granger and we were able to catch up with family and spend lots of time hanging out.

One of the nights we were there, we went to a Christmas party. They are good friends of ours, and they asked Darren if he would be willing to dress up as Santa for all the kids. He agreed, and I have to say, he was a great Santa. I took lots of pictures and all the kids loved him (except 2!). I will put up more as soon as we get back to Boise. He did a great job of passing out the presents, and getting the kids excited for Christmas morning!

On another day, we went to Leavenworth. Leavenworth is a Bavarian town about 2 1/2 hours away from Granger. We had been wanting to go walk around for a while and we finally decided to go! Darren's mom and brother also came with us. Leavenworth was all decorated for the Holidays and the lights were beautiful.

We were able to go to a fun bakery and get some yummy treats. We walked throughout all the stores looking at all the stuff, and looked to see if we could find any chocolate Darren use to eat while he was on his mission in Germany and Austria. We were able to find it in one store and we made sure we bought lots of it! For dinner we made a final stop at a outdoor Bratwurst stand. Oh boy, were they good! :)
It was getting so cold out, we were hurried and finished eating then quickly walked back to the car! Overall, it was so fun and a great day to send walking around outside.

We have a few more days left in Maple Valley, then we will be back on Boise until April. I will be starting my long-term subbing job in the beginning of February and Darren will be taking a few classes online and working part-time. Then in April we will be back in Rexburg!! We wish every one a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year. (I hope to post pictures from Maple Valley and our entire trip when we get back to Boise!

Boise, ID

I am horrible about this blog, but a ton has happened since the last blog! We have moved to Nampa Idaho because Darren is doing an internship for American Construction Supply and I am student teaching at Reagan Elementary. Darren started on the first of August and has loved working! I started inservice this last week and they were full of meetings and working in the classroom. School starts on Monday, and I am so excited. I have officially 37 kids in my class, so I am sure that there will never be a dull moment!

We have done a few touristy things in the Boise area, but as we live here longer we will be able to do more. We went to the old State Penitentiary and it was so cool! The buildings were amazing and the history that was there was very fascinating. This coming week the Western Idaho Fair is coming to Boise, and I am so excited to go!! I love fairs, because that means fair food and especially elephant ears.. I hope they have them :)

I haven't taken very many pictures since we have been here, but as soon as I do then I will post them!

Catching Up!

A lot has happened since the last blog! We are back in Idaho and doing great. We got back right before Christmas and made the move back to Idaho and got all unpacked. Darren had knee surgery just 2 days after we got back. He did great through surgery and recovery was a little more complected. We drove to Washington for Christmas and spent time with both of our families. School started up again in January and we made it through the semester with no problems.

Now that everyone is a little caught up we are in the summer semester at BYU-I. Kylie is in her last semester on campus and Darren just has 2 more! We are enjoying the weather getting nicer and we both have our bikes out and riding every where. Darren is working on campus for an old teacher. He is working in the wood shop and loves it!

Another move is not too far away. We will be moving to Boise in August because Kylie is doing her student teacher there. She will be in a 4th grade class at Reagen Elementary school in Nampa. Darren will be doing an internship in Boise as well. The company does the concrete frame work for the new freeway they are doing. We are both excited to be getting done with school! Kylie will be walking in July, just a few short months away :)

We had some great friends Mike and Lyndsey (& Drake) just move away and they will be missed for sure :( Well, that is our life in a nutshell. The pictures below are just a few of what we have done in the last few days.


When we got out!


The group that went.


Burt the Blazer and Tyler's new Jeep.

Few Days Left

We have been on Maui since August and our time is coming to an end. We are leaving in just a few days. We have had so much fun while we have been here and have loved every minute of it. The last few days we have been able to go exploring around the island because we ended work last week. Thursday we hopped on the scooter and drove to Wailea which is on the other side. We went and looked around all the hotels for christmas trees. We also went to Alexanders which is a fish place that we love, and it was amazing as usual. Then on Saturday we drove the west side of Maui to go to the Olivine pools. It was so windy that we couldn't even get down to them but it was so much fun. Sunday we went to Costco and had great samples. Monday we went on our whale watch. It was so fun! We saw tons of whales, full breech, tales, and even males fighting. It was so cool to see. We also went through the middle of 300 spinner dolphins which were jumping out of the water. I was so glad that we were able to go out and see all the animals. Here are some pictures of our recent adventures.

Wailea:




Olivine Pools:





Whale Watching:

Mardi Gras of the Pacific

We just experienced our first Halloween on Maui. Oh man, what a crazy night it was, It was one of the best people watching I have ever watched in my life. I now know why it is called the Mardi Gras of the Pacific. I have to say there were more bums showing then I ever want to see for the rest of my life. I had to work, but I was still able to dress up. Darren and I went as caveman. Some people thought we were from the Flinstones, but we were not! After I got off work, we were able to jump from place to place to hang out. It was a ton of fun and we are glad we were finally able to get the full experience.




Some of the real treasures of the night :)