Although these are really bad quality pictures. I took them the other night on my cell phone while my school had back to school night. I only had 4 parents show up, so needless to say I was bored. haha. I know it could be prettier, but with special education, we try and keep the wall distractions to a minimum and since its middle school, we try not to make it to babyish.

Amazing week!

It has been an amazing week! Although I only had three days of school, it went beautifully. My new 6th graders are adorable and so good! I ended up only getting 4 new 6th graders instead of the original 6 that were planned, but they are each so perfect I wish I could clone them all! My 7th graders and 8th graders were all here last year, but they have all grown 5 feet over summer, I swear. They all seemed to have grown up so much! and gotten so much more mature it's amazing. I am down to only 15 students, with a new one on Monday. It really is so beneficial the less students I have. They get so much more individual attention when there are less of them, and it so great. I have readers ranging from kindergarten reading level, to no reading, all the way to 8th grade levels. We are a wide range, but the kids are so helpful and nice to each other. I never want the kindness to end :) (pictures will come soon.. i promise)

In other news, Levi has registered for his first class! going back to school after such a long break is really hard, and I am so proud of him! I am excited for him to take this next step in his life, and he's going to do great!!

Oregon

I know I know, every time we start a post it begins with how sorry we are we don't post more. Its hard to fill up a blog with working on a website, and preparing for school to start. One exciting thing we did was drive up to Government Camp, Oregon. It was really exciting. Levi has never been to Oregon. I used to spend every summer there. I have cousins that live in Washington, and so each summer we would meet them in Sunriver, Oregon, which really is the best place ever. Anyways, we left friday morning veryy early (around 3 AM)

Soon after the Oregon/California boarder, we stopped at a camp ground to let the dogs out, and change drivers.

We made it to Mt. Hood around 2. We stayed in a house that sierra has been renting for the summer. Saturday, we went snowboarding in the morning. It is pretty amazing the set up they have up there. In order to get on the first chair lift, you have to strap into your snowboard, without any snow. You are in this building with carpet on the floors, and you just scoot along. There was a surprising amount of snow still. It was very slushy, but what Californian doesn't love slushy snow? That afternoon we went to lake trillium, which is about 5 mins from government camp. Its so crazy to be snowboarding in the morning and then swimming at a lake in the afternoon

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Levi went snowboarding again Sunday. We ended up leaving a day early, so we could drive half way home and spend the night in Mt. Shasta. While driving home we got stuck in this huge storm. (it's funny, because my parents were camping this same weekend and the storm hit them on Saturday night). There was so much hail people were pulling over to the side of the road because you couldn't see anything. We swore the windshield was going to crack.

We stayed at a Best Western in Mount Shasta, and it really was the most fun thing ever. Levi and I determined that we have never gone somewhere, and stayed in a hotel just the two of us since Hawaii. It was an experience, and it was fun to have the dogs there. It was nice to also just watch some T.V. and relax after being in a house with about 14 people, (when we were in Hood).

We made it home Monday, safety. It was a really good time, and we do want to go back next year.

Other than that, nothing really exciting happened this summer. We still have the kitten, Figaro, who loves the dogs more than the cats. They love to chase him around, and he loves to sneak attack them.

I have two in service days Monday and Tuesday and then my students come back on Wednesday. I am up to 20 students, 6-8th grade, with 3 aides. So, hopefully I will survive my first year teaching. Levi is looking into going back to school for architecture, and has really been interested in drawing and I am applying to a masters program for my masters in Special Education.

I will post pictures of my classroom soon enough :)

a few more updates

There really isnt a whole lot to report. work keeps me busy. A few weeks ago i had the opportunity to re-finish our deck. It was very much in need of repair. Here are some before and after pics. As you can see we got a new porch swing and a pretty cool fire pit. thanks mom and dad.

Before After

We have been pretty lucky so far this summer. Sac reaches temps of 105 on the regular and it broke 90 for the first time 2 weeks ago. and of course went promptly to 105. Out AC isnt all the great but i installed a ceiling fan inn the front room and that has been helping.

Lets see, for chelsey Birthday we went and saw Flight of the Concords. You may not know about them, (they are a folk comedy band from New Zealand) was one of the funniest and best shows i have ever seen. You should look them up

As Chelsey might have mentioned, i have been getting into photography a lot more.I have spent quite a bit of time reading and learning. I have to do a little photoshoping and a tad bit of graphic design for work so its kinda like the next step. Staci let me borrow a lens and i have been renting and borrowing others as well. This part mostly is for Staci, so if you dont understand, read up.

So the more i read and the more pictures i take the more unhappy with the pictures i take. What i thought were great pics, i all the sudden notice all the little details that most people wont notice but, are the little things that make good pictures become spectacular. Its all together unfair what a difference the L II lens make. I understand that a someone with more skill can work wonders with lesser quality lenses, but still. I dont have 2000 dollars for the next step up.

I think that all people getting into photog. lens with a low apature, but i have found that its over rated for the majority of shooting, because you're not supposed to shot as low as the go anyways, so its kinda a wasted feature. Case in point.. I rented a Tikona 11-162.8 and i really really like the wide angle so much more then the zoom. Its great for landscapes and taking pictures in short spaces. Thats def the step im going to go in with it. But as i mentioned before, im going to got for the Canon 10-22 3.5 I feel the extra 10mm of zoom makes it some much more versatile then the slightly faster aperture, which at night its better to shoot at something like 4 or higher. Plus i finally g=figure out how to properly use the WB and the ISO so dark shots ware easier to manage that way.

on a side note, the lens you let me borrow, i picked up a Hood for and a polarized filter. I went and shot on the snow for a day and it was very very hard cause every angle changes the light and i blew out most of the pictures. The vinaigretteing the corner has gotten worse. its gotten big on the one corner and very slight in 2 more. Im going to take it to a shop to get it repaired after i stop being lazy.

So these are not the best, but here are a few pictures that i am proud of.

Whats great about this one is there was no photoshop work done on it other then me taking out a peice of gum. We are getting this one printed out. you may not be able to tell put the image size of this dont start to pixles or distort until about bigger then about 35 inches wide. Thats whats good about the SLR cameras.

Heres on of Zoe. Again i love these because they are super clear, and the fit perfect on the new 27 HD apple at work (sorry dad). jealous much?

This one was of chelsey at Disneyland last month. I just did a little touch up work on it.

This one was off our deck looking down on Sacramento

And here is one of Ari tanning.

Anyways, thats a little bit for now. I have gotten much more into skateboarding and hopefully i can have some pictures up for you guys later on. There is a huge indoor skate park next to my work, so its been helping the non-snow months go by a little easier.

Sorry for all the typos and spelling errors. im lazy and not going back to fix it.

a sort of new addition

Well, my summer has been slightly lazy so far. It is weird being on summer break, but I am enjoying the break, and not really getting anything I need to get done. :)

We actually have a sort of new addition. I know I know what everyone is thinking, "how many animals do Chelsey and Levi need?" Well, just listen.. haha. So, at Levi's new work/warehouse area, there was a little kitten found wandering around. Now, you know me, and you know I felt bad for the little guy. So, with help from his co-workers, Levi brought the little guy home. Levi is showing some restraint, and the new kitten is living in the "man-cave"/shed area in our front yard. It stays cool in there, and there is a couch.

We named him Figaro, and we are still looking for a home for him. It seems as everyone as too many animals. If worse comes to worse we will keep him as an outdoor animal only.. haha. I know we are nuts, but we just can't say no.

Other than that, things are pretty normal. I am still working with children with autism. I only have one client, so its not very much. We are avoiding the heat, and Levi is still with sierra. Hopefully posts will become more regularly throughout the summer

Once again

Once again it has been a while. I don't have pictures to show, just news to report. I am not sure if all of you have heard, but since April 6th, I have been teaching. I am basically a "long term sub" but I have my own classroom! Its been very over whelming, but I have learned so much! I have 17 students, from grades 6-8, and its a special day class. My kids are so much fun, and we are having a great time! The great news that I just received is that I actually got the job for next year! I applied for the position, and they've decided to hire me. So next year I will actually be a real teacher! It is very exciting. It was a perfect thing to happen right before summer, right before my birthday and right before I am done with school (one more class this wednesday and then I am completely done)

Levi is getting totally into photography, and he's learning a lot! Look forward to some beautiful pictures by him!

I am not sure what else is new. The pups are wonderful, and Levi installed a ceiling fan for the first time ever today! and it works great :)

Been a while, thought i would add up some pics of the new glasses and some snowboarding stuff.

and some pics from Sugar bowl last weekend. there was some videos but thats a lot of work.

And then one from Disney Land last weekend. Yes... Disneyland again

Rain

Just a quick update to show what the Guthrie/Thompson clan does when its crazy raining/windy outside and Levi is at work.



And then, since I uploaded all my pictures since Christmas onto my computer. I found more I wanted to post.

Levi in his Frenchie pajama pants my mom found. Zoe with her black bar glasses (Levi's christmas present) and the tired pups on christmas.


Zoe and Junior actually sleeping together, and a picture of the crazy fog we've been getting