September 2, 2010
After visiting Custer State Park, we drove across Wyoming to Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone was the first National Park created by the department of the interior in 1872. It is famous for the Old Faithful geyser, which explodes from the ground at regular intervals. You can see pictures of Tidy Teddy in front of some of the mountains at the park.
Your friend,
Matt Perkins
September 2, 2010
From there, we traveled west to the Black Hills, which are famous for their stunning beauty. Next, we traveled to Custer State Park which has a lot of different wildlife, including mountain goats, sheep, and even buffalo! Buffalo were once nearly extinct, but have been brought back by special laws and conservation.
Your friend,
Matt Perkins
September 2, 2010
Next, we traveled to Mt. Rushmore, which was built in the 1930’s to commemorate 4 of our greatest presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt. These presidents faces were carved out of stone in to the side of the mountain. Today, it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the entire country! You can see the picture that I took with TT next to their faces.
Sincerely,
Matt Perkins
September 1, 2010
Dear Ms. England’s Class,
Recently, Tidy Teddy came with me on a road trip across America! We started in Iowa, and from there, we drove to South Dakota.
In South Dakota, we first traveled to Wall, which is famous for having a pioneer-style drug store. At the store, you can get anything you can imagine!
Sincerely,
Matt Perkins
May 29, 2010
Dear 1st Graders,
This weekend Tidy Teddy traveled with me to compete in the McMinnville City Triathlon in McMinnville, TN. A triathlon has three parts: swim, bike, and run. Before the race started, Tidy Teddy helped me set up my transition area. The transition area is where you keep all your equipment you will need for the race and where you transition from the swim to the bike, and the bike to the run. Lilly, one of my teammates celebrated with Tidy Teddy after winning her age group. Lilly trained very hard for her first triathlon and won!
Love,
Ms. England
May 19, 2010
Dear Ms. England’s class,
Here is Tidy Teddy near Mosul, Iraq with Captain Joeseph Weir. He is in the Special Forces. He is also a team leader, green beret. Joe has been in Iraq since January and will return to TN in September. Along with his 9 soldiers, Joe helps to train Iraqi solders. This picture was taken at Firebase Yost. It was named after MSG Anthony R. Yost who was killed while conducting combat operations. He was a team sergeant and died in 2006. He left behind a family.
Your friend,
Captain Joeseph Weir
May 16, 2010
Dear Ms. England’s class,
Tidy Teddy, Ms. England, and I baked some chocolate chip cookies last night, in honor of National Chocolate Chip Day – Saturday, May 15th!
Tidy Teddy bought a lovely box of Duncan Hines cookie mix from the grocery store. He began by reading the directions on the back of the box.
According to the box, Tidy Teddy preheated the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, he gathered the necessary ingredients to add to the powdered cookie mix, including one egg and some margarine. Since this part can sometimes get messy, for adult supervision, Ms. England helped Tidy Teddy crack the egg and slightly melt the margarine. We both helped Tidy Teddy mix the ingredients together to make a dough. Unfortunately, Tidy Teddy did not realize the recipe called for ONE tablespoon of margarine, not the whole STICK! The dough was very gooey, but we managed to drop tablespoon amounts about 3 inches a part on an ungreased cookie sheet. We placed the sheet in the oven to bake for 10 minutes.
Tidy Teddy then set an alarm for 10 minutes, but, UH OH! Tidy Teddy decided to take a nap and didn’t keep an eye on the cookies. They cooked a bit faster than expected and began to lose shape and color…Fortunately, Ms. England and I had his back and used an oven mitt to remove the cookies from the oven to cool.
Tidy Teddy apologized and helped to cut the cookies into heart shapes…He decorated with some mini M&M’s, as it is one of his favorite candies! Even though Tidy Teddy did make a few mistakes, he used his creativity to make an even better final product – M&M chocolate chip cookies, made with LOVE!
Your friend,
Kristie Koerner
May 9, 2010
Dear Miss England’s class,
Tidy Teddy came to Iowa. He visited with our family in the small town of Vinton. He traveled 5 miles north of town to visit the farm of one of our friends. Tidy Teddy rode in the John Deere Gator with our daughter, Taylor. He then sat on the John Deere seed planter with Taylor. Then they climbed into one of Farmer Dean’s tractors where Tidy Teddy pretended to drive it. When they were climbing down out of the tractor, Tidy Teddy tried to slide down the railing, but Taylor held on to him so he wouldn’t fall. The last thing Tidy Teddy did before we left the farm was to play with the dogs and then get his picture taken with them. Tidy Teddy’s trip to the farm was fun!
Your Friends,
Audra and Taylor Hootman
May 6, 2010
Dear Miss England’s first grade class,
Tidy Teddy wanted to see what classrooms looked like in Atlanta, Georgia, so he joined Miss Northrop’s kindergarten class for the day. He met 15 smart, sweet students at Cook Elementary school. Tidy Teddy loved joining us for a read-aloud story, lots of fun rhymes, coloring, reading books, center activities, and a math lesson about subtracting. He saw that Miss Northrop’s kindergarteners were almost ready to join kids like Miss England’s class in first grade next year!
Love,
Miss Northrop’s kindergarten class
Tidy Teddy's Travels 