The Greatest Concert

Ever since high school (when I was first introduced to country music) the one concert I have been dying to go to has been Rascal Flatts. On September 9th, 2011 my dream finally came true! I used the excuse of wanting to take Elise for her birthday. . . but my real reason for wanting to go was purely selfish. Breanne, Elise and I got to the concert at the Usana Amphitheatre right on time. We got to see the opening act of Justin Moore and Sara Evans. And then FINALLY we were graced with the presence of Rascal Flatts! The show was so entertaining, on top of the fact that they are so amazing at performing live. We had such a great time together singing, dancing, and watching drunk people. . . And I think it's safe to say that Rascal Flatts has been my favorite group I've seen in concert yet!

During Justin Moore, while it was still light out

During Sara Evans

RASCAL FLATTS!!!

So this video doesn't so much showcase the talents of Rascal Flatts as it does my dancing around and singing at the top of my lungs! haha : )

**You'll note that I linked different favorite songs by these artists several times throughout my post**

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend was full of family fun! Ginny, Nathan, and I headed up to Boise to hang out with Jensa's family. It was right before Ava's birthday so we had a little practice party for her. After that fun fill portion of the trip I headed down to Brigham City to watch Elise's kids for the day. Danelle was basking in the warm weather so we played in the pool and even made an obstacle course out of it.

Attempting to take a picture with all three kids. . . yeah right!

Chase and his idol- twinners for the day

Swimming at the hotel

Ava opening her presents

Ginny, Ava, and Celeste at Pojo's

Ava thoroughly enjoying the carousel

Gunnison being forced to accept my kisses

Danelle jumping into the pool

Belated Birthday

Aaron and Amy's wedding was March 26th, just 2 days before Breanne's birthday! Since we had the whole family together we decided to make a little trip to Disneyland for her birthday. . . In all honesty Disneyland sort of lost it's magic to me. It was great when I was a kid but now all I see are long lines and over priced food. Luckily we had Danelle, Ava, and Chase with us. I was able to see how great this place is through a child's eyes once again. It was so much fun rediscovering Disneyland!

The Castle. . . which gets smaller every time I go! 

Riding "It's a Small World"

In line for "Dumbo's Magic Flight"

Big Kids photo op with Goofy

The over priced but oh so delicious churros!

Seeing how excited Ava was to meet a "real" princess almost brought tears to my eyes. Disneyland really knows what they're doing  : )

Lupe Fiasco Concert

Nothing beats a free concert, especially when it's someone as big as Lupe Fiasco! Breanne, Nathan, and I went to Pioneer Park (aka Hobo Park). It was a finale for the free concert series they had been doing all Summer long. Granted it was ridiculously crowded, sweaty, and smelled like weed. . . but it was a free concert! And Lupe Fiasco was so great live!

We were pretty far back. . . I believe that is humidity on the lens

**I linked Lupe Fiasco's name to a couple of my favorite songs by him, in case that video wasn't enough : ) **

Manti Pagent

I had only ever heard of the Manti Pagent a few times before this Summer. My grandma said that it was a wonderful show, and Tela's family invited me to come with them. I'm so glad I went... The Manti Pagent is a reinactment of the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints. In all honesty, it was a little bit on the cheesy side. But the setting was amazing and I have a new love for not only the Pioneers, but the Manti Temple. It was quite a drive out to Ephraim, Utah, but it was well worth it!

We had dinner before and found the perfect seats (then were rained on)

Manti Pagent

Manti Temple at dusk

Donut Falls

Before Tela left for her mission I wanted to make sure we did some fun things in Salt Lake. Janae, Tela, and I decided to hike Donut Falls up Big Cottonwood Canyon one Saturday. Even though it was hot outside, we were surprised to find that there was snow on the ground! We also didn't quite know where the trail was- so what should have been a 30 minute hike ended up being about 2 and a half hours. On the bright side, we eventually made it to the falls, and got to see so much beautiful scenery that most people miss!

Before our hike began

The view- part way through our hike

Hiking in snow... in JULY!

I tried to "ski" and slid into mud

Finally made it to the Falls! (which were sort of a let down... very small)

Utah Summer Games

The Utah Summer Games are like the Olympics of Utah. They are held in Cedar City each Summer. You can compete in any sport imaginable: weight lifting, water polo, gymnastics, basketball, golf, track, etc. I, of course, competed in volleyball. My friend Brooke asked me to join her team and I gladly accepted. Little did I know that our division was the Open Division (aka: older women) My team ended up winning the championship and recieving gold medals. It would have been more satisfying in the upper division... which is where I plan to compete next year. But until then, my gald medal will hang in my room with honor!

Champions!

Park City and Pine View

My parents came up to visit Park City in July. Of course, if someone comes anywhere reletively close to where we are in Utah we have to have a small gathering. So we did just that. First we hung out around Park City. We did the slides, carousel, downtown, etc. Then later we went boating up at Pine View Resevoir. It was so much fun to go out on a boat! We did a little bit of wakeboarding, tubing, and relaxing. Even my dad attempted to wakeboard! For the most part the kids loved it... except when there was wind in their faces...

At the Park City Alpine Slides

Alpine Slide

Alpine Coaster

Loving the attention... getting to lick 3 ice cream cones!

Waiting by the carousel

Swimming... but afraid of the deep end

Main Street Park City at night

Resting in the boat at Pine View

Me wakeboarding... note the snow capped mountains in the background

Dad's attempt at wakeboarding

Trying to keep the wind out of our  eyes

Speaking of Easter....

A few of us Metcalf's met up at my grandparent's house in West Jordan, Utah. The "fun" side of Easter really isn't any fun unless there are young children around. Lucky for us, we have Danelle!

Feeding the ducks is a staple

HOORAY!

Searching for eggs in the front yard

Dessert!

Camping

In all my years of life I had never gone camping until this last April. I don't consider Girls Camp camping because in all honesty we stayed in cabins of wagons/ teepee's. I went with Marli's family around Easter weekend. It was so much fun! Just the cousins our age camped out the night before and the rest of the family showed up the next day for lunch, games, and an Easter egg hunt! I love her family, and it was so much fun to be a part of their celebration!

Right next to our campground- out Southwest of Enterprise

Marli and Me

After sleeping on the ground the girls huddled together in the bed of the truck to keep warm

Easter egg hunting

Most of Marli's family

Long Time No Post...

There's a reason I haven't posted on my blog in a while... and that reason is 45 little five and six year olds! I have been working so hard with them this last month and a half. Now I am finally off track and ready to get all caught up on my blog. But I figured that while I caught up I might as well give a little peek into the blog I have for my classroom. Check it out! :)

www.kindergarten-metcalf.blogspot.com

Everything I need to know I learned in...

KINDERGARTEN!
Well- I did it! I snagged myself a job teaching Kindergarten at Herriman Elementary. I'm pretty dang excited about this... and nervous too! I've never worked with kids this young. But I know it is going to be so much fun! I got this job pretty late in the hiring season, so I only have a few weeks to get my classroom and lessons prepared rather than a few months. But who's to say I wouldn't have procrastinated until now like I usually do? ; )

At this point I really don't want to be reminded of the crying, stickiness, and short attention spans. I just want to bask in the fact that I have a job and get to work with some adorable little 5 and 6 year old kids!

Denver

Back in February I had the chance to go out to Denver for Suni's birthday. It was such a great weekend with all of her friends!

We hung out in downtown Denver. We went to dinner and an amazing duel piano bar called Sing Sing 

Out of Suni's thirteen friends that went out with us, six were redheads! What are the odds? We had to document it

Touring downtown Denver the next day

Pearl Street in Boulder (where Suni lives)

Snowboarding in Breckenridge with Suni and a few friends. This was my first time snowboarding since I tore my ACL. I was a little bit nervous but had nothing to worry about. I went straight from snowboarding to the airport. It was such a fun weekend and a great break from life! : )