A Trip To The Coast

 Back in September (September 11th to be exact) we were lucky enough to take a trip with most of my family to the east coast. My mom and LaWayne had decided they wanted to see what the Carolinas were about and since they found an amazing deal on airline tickets we were able to join them for 6 of the 12 days.  It was a great trip where we were able to experience a lot of new things as a family and we couldn't have asked for better company. This first picture is all of us and our luggage ready to depart from Salt Lake City. Alden was so proud of his orange suitcase that he can push all by himself I didn't know if he was going to leave it with the sky cap.

 Alden and Jonathan were so excited to ride on an airplane. We kept them entertained in the airport for the couple hour wait by going up and down the escalator over and over and over and then, by watching the planes come in and take off. Unfortunately we had light come on right as we were about to take off and had to head back tot he gate. It was about 45 minutes later that we were taking off so Alden spent his first time on a plane like this.

 After a brief stop in Chicago he spent the rest of the ride like this. Thanks Grandma for entertaining him.

 Jamie and her boys did awesome as well. I was super proud of our kids for how well they flew there and back. I don't think most people even knew they were there.

 We flew in to Charleston, South Carolina and spent two days exploring what there was. Alden loved this water feature in the hotel lobby and had to show us every time we walked by or went to breakfast. Good thing Jonathan was more enthusiastic than the rest of us about it.

 

In Charleston we explored the King Street area. It is like Chicago's Magnificent Mile, lots of stores that I can't even afford to step inside. The high light for Cass was getting to walk past Charleston College in order to get there. It really is a beautiful campus and I am sure we would have enjoyed shopping more if we had been more acclimated to the humidity.

Entrance to Charleston College

 After King Street we ran over and caught a ferry to Fort Sumter. It was a beautiful ride with a lot of nice views of Charleston. Here is a look back at the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.

 This is the USS Yorktown that we also passed on our way out to Fort Sumter.

 

The best family picture you are going to get on the ferry with a 2 year old who didn't get a nap.

 Here is a look back at the Charleston sky line. In the historic part no buildings are allowed to be taller than the church steeples. We thought that was pretty neat.

 And finally Fort Sumter!

 A picture of the inside, we took a lot, but I don't know what most of them are.

 And what else do you do in a historic fort except see if you can fit little boys in really old cannons? They fit don't worry.

 The next day was Jonathan's birthday so we headed to the children's museum for something fun for the boys to do before heading on to North Carolina.

 Although they enjoyed the grocery store and a few other attractions most of the time was spent in the water area.  All three loved it there.

 That night we celebrated Jonathan's birthday in a hotel in Fayetteville, North Carolina with cars cupcakes and presents, what could be better?

 The next day we headed to Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks. We passed some interesting things like this sign that was posted several places.

We drove through Roanoke Island which made Cass the history buff pretty happy.

And here was home. Mom and the rest of the family stayed in this beach house for a week. We only spent three days and two nights before we had to come home, but it was an awesome place. We had our own pool, hot tub, Foosball table, and everyone got their own room and bathroom.  The beach was just one and a half blocks from the back  of the house so we took a couple of trips over on foot.

Also just down the road from this house was another huge historical site, Kitty Hawk.  It was so interesting to walk through the museum and then to go outside and see where the first flight happened. This picture is a replica of the first motorized glider/airplane the Wright Brothers flew.

This rock marks where the first flight took off from. Then there are four more additional rocks that show how far each flight went.

There is also quite a steep hill with a monument on top that you can climb to the top of to get a good view of everything. Cass and I went with my Dad and it was definitely worth the hike. The view was incredible.

On the other side of the monument there is a small parkish area with this model of the the first flight. It shows all the men it took to get this thing off the ground and the picture being taken of the first flight. Cass just jumped right in and hung out with the other men.

Our attempt at a self timer group shot. I should have cropped it, but didn't so oh well.

And a great shot of the boys. I love this picture.

Here is us at the beach. We had a lot of fun playing in the water and sand.

Look at this sweet fort Cass built.

As mentioned earlier we headed home before everyone else. It made for a long day with the time difference, but we found things to keep us entertained like the moving sidewalk in the Chicago airport. I can't even count how many times Alden went up and down this, what a way to spend Cass' birthday :)

 

Again we had a great time on this trip with family and loved seeing so many things we didn't think we would ever see. It was also so fun to watch Alden and Jonathan enjoy each other so much they both struggled a little when we came home because their friend wasn't around anymore. I hope Alden will be able to build relationships with all of cousins where family really are his best friends. Thanks Mom and Dad and LaWayne for letting us crash your trip.

Christmas in August?!

 Earlier int eh summer (I can't remember if it was June or July) we took LaWayne to a Bees game because tickets were buy one get one free. At that game there was a table for the school Western Governor's University who was pairing up with the Bees to give away some scholarships to cover tuition for the upcoming school year. Cass had just applied and been accepted to WGU so he picked up the flier to bring home. After looking it over and a quick phone call he learned he did qualify to apply for the scholarship so he did.  Time went by and we heard nothing so we figured he didn't get it, bummer. Then one Monday monday morning there was an email saying he was a finalist and he needed to answer 5 questions before noon the next day. 6 winners would be chosen based on the answers to these questions, they would be notified on Wednesday and then be honored at the last home game for the Bees that Friday August 22nd. Holy cow were we excited. Cass did a great job answering the questions and on Wednesday we found out he was a winner. We got free tickets to the game for us and both of our parents. The game ended up getting rained out, but they still did all of the awards and presentations they had planned for in between innings.

Look how much water they were pushing off the field!

Waiting in the rain for the presentation to start.

Yea! Cass got a BIG check! 

Posing for pictures

The official one they sent to us

There was a nice story done up on the school's webpage and we still had a fun night. Cass got to keep the giant check as well as another bag of free WGU stuff.

Proud parents

Alden didn't mind the rain as long as he got to play grandma's Ipad. 

I am pretty pretty proud of him too.  This helps us out tremendously.

The original flier that started it all. 

How thankful we are that we decided to splurge on the original baseball game. If everything works out to plan now Cass should be able to get his master's degree in about 3 semesters with an incredibly low financial burden to our family. I am thankful for Cass for continuing his education so that he can better support his family. Grateful for his work ethic and the things he is teaching our son by trying to constantly better himself.  We hope all of our friends and family can have times in their lives when they feel as blessed as we do right now.

Welcome to Mr. Peterson's Classroom

 After a little over a year and a half of looking for a full time teaching position in Utah County Cass was blessed enough to find one this year.  He is teaching 8th grade math at Mapleton Junior High and we could not be happier with where he is at. Math was a new passion he discover while substituting last year and while he is working on his master's degree to teach math the school wrote him a letter of endorsement so he can already teach the subject. Although it seemed like forever before Cass found a job and there were days I think we both wondered if he ever would we can see now that this really is the best place for Cass and our family. He has a great administration and mentor teachers to help him out. They have observed him a couple of times already and have lots of positive things to say about him. It truly is a blessing to have so many supportive people on your side for your first year teaching. There are also some additional perks at Mapleton Junior that I have never seen before. There is a free fountain machine in the teacher's lounge so Cass can get his daily fix of Pepsi, every Friday they pop popcorn in the movie style popcorn maker for the teachers to snack on throughout the day and once a month each department brings in lunch for the staff so that they can eat together and get to know each other better. In a couple of weeks they have a family trick-or-treating activity as well. Again we are so thankful for the positive work environment here and how much Cass enjoys going to work every day.

The blessed fountain machine 

My favorite part of his job, he brings me home popcorn every Friday :) 

Doesn't get more official than your very own name plate on the wall

 The rest are pictures of his classroom. It is huge and will definitely evolve over time. He was advised as a math teacher to keep the decorating to a minimum as math is a difficult subject for most students and they don't need too many distractions in the classroom.

 This piece of art work will be explained in the next post...