Friday, December 21, 2007
November/December
It's been a busy couple of months.
We were able to attend Ben and Mandi's wedding November 20. Rich and I had a great visit with family and friends, and loved being a part of the wedding.
We had a fun family reunion party at Karen's house. Almost everyone came. Amanda is still choosing to stay away from us, and we all miss her. But everyone else in Utah was able to come. We had a nice ham dinner. We also tied a quilt for them. It was a beautiful Alaskan type quilt.
Rich and I spent some time visiting with family and friends, and then we drove down to Richfield for the wedding. It was at the courthouse, but we are hoping someday they will invite us back for the Temple wedding. We had a nice dinner after the wedding at a stake house.
Rich flew home to be with Kevin for Thanksgiving, and I stayed to spend time with my parents. I was able to do some great Christmas shopping too. I didn't have to mail anything to family this year, I got to leave it all there!
Kevin tried out for the basketball team and made it.
School has been busy for me. I have a few students that seem to think they should have all my time, and they work very hard so I pay attention to them. It isn't good attention either. But I have some really wonderful students who work very hard and are a pleasure to teach.
Rich has put in his retirement papers for May 1st. The fishing season will be in full swing, and he can spend the whole summer chasing those fish.
We have had a very strange winter. We got some snow, then it melted. We finally got a little more in the last month, but not enough to ski or snowboard on. The temperatures have been very cold. The past week I have walked outside at -5. Believe me it is very cold! My eyelashes freeze together, and my hair turns white with frost. But the air is crisp and refreshing. Winter Solstice was today, and we will now start gaining daylight. That will be very nice.
We were able to attend Ben and Mandi's wedding November 20. Rich and I had a great visit with family and friends, and loved being a part of the wedding.
We had a fun family reunion party at Karen's house. Almost everyone came. Amanda is still choosing to stay away from us, and we all miss her. But everyone else in Utah was able to come. We had a nice ham dinner. We also tied a quilt for them. It was a beautiful Alaskan type quilt.
Rich and I spent some time visiting with family and friends, and then we drove down to Richfield for the wedding. It was at the courthouse, but we are hoping someday they will invite us back for the Temple wedding. We had a nice dinner after the wedding at a stake house.
Rich flew home to be with Kevin for Thanksgiving, and I stayed to spend time with my parents. I was able to do some great Christmas shopping too. I didn't have to mail anything to family this year, I got to leave it all there!
Kevin tried out for the basketball team and made it.
School has been busy for me. I have a few students that seem to think they should have all my time, and they work very hard so I pay attention to them. It isn't good attention either. But I have some really wonderful students who work very hard and are a pleasure to teach.
Rich has put in his retirement papers for May 1st. The fishing season will be in full swing, and he can spend the whole summer chasing those fish.
We have had a very strange winter. We got some snow, then it melted. We finally got a little more in the last month, but not enough to ski or snowboard on. The temperatures have been very cold. The past week I have walked outside at -5. Believe me it is very cold! My eyelashes freeze together, and my hair turns white with frost. But the air is crisp and refreshing. Winter Solstice was today, and we will now start gaining daylight. That will be very nice.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
October
We've been busy with school and work. Rich lost his job a couple of weeks ago. Budget cuts. HE goes back to the PHS for 90 days while they try and find him a job. If he doesn't take the job then he will be forced to retire. He was hoping to get 30 years, but only has 28. Kevin and I are ready to go! To a warmer climate!
Our weather has been fairly nice. Some sunny days, and barely any snow. Kevin loved trick or treating in nice weather. He just needed a light jacket.
We are heading for Utah next week. Ben is getting married to Mandi on November 20. We are happy they are finally making it official. I will post some pictures of the wedding when we get back. Meanwhile enjoy some photos family.
Our weather has been fairly nice. Some sunny days, and barely any snow. Kevin loved trick or treating in nice weather. He just needed a light jacket.
We are heading for Utah next week. Ben is getting married to Mandi on November 20. We are happy they are finally making it official. I will post some pictures of the wedding when we get back. Meanwhile enjoy some photos family.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Autumn Hiking
I took probably the last hike of the year tonight. Bonnie, Erin and Leah, Jessica, Scott, Rori, and Titan, and I all took off about 5 p.m. to hike up Mile High. The weather was cool, but partly sunny. It had rained for 4 days earlier, so the trail was very slick and muddy. We had a great time and even got some blueberries. We also saw a bear in the distance. Scott spotted it.
At the top it was very windy and cold, and the kids started crying. it was a long trip down, but we made it before it got dark.
We are into school now about 5 weeks. I have a pretty good class, but there are always a couple that just don't do what they are supposed to. One funny story is when we were studying some vocabulary and one of the words was precious. After I wrote the word on the board I heard this creepy Lord of the Rings voice saying, "My little precious." It was really funny and I didn't get upset with the Jordan. In fact the next day as we were studying the word again I let all the kids use their best Lord of the Rings voice. Ahhh we have fun in school!
Termination Dust has come, and the leaves are mostly turned colors and are dropping fast. There is a great chill in the air. Winter is just around the corner!
At the top it was very windy and cold, and the kids started crying. it was a long trip down, but we made it before it got dark.
We are into school now about 5 weeks. I have a pretty good class, but there are always a couple that just don't do what they are supposed to. One funny story is when we were studying some vocabulary and one of the words was precious. After I wrote the word on the board I heard this creepy Lord of the Rings voice saying, "My little precious." It was really funny and I didn't get upset with the Jordan. In fact the next day as we were studying the word again I let all the kids use their best Lord of the Rings voice. Ahhh we have fun in school!
Termination Dust has come, and the leaves are mostly turned colors and are dropping fast. There is a great chill in the air. Winter is just around the corner!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Summer is over
School is back in session, and summer is almost over. We have enjoyed some fabulous weather lately. And with that came several wonderful hikes, and a fishing trip. Take a look at the pictures to see the fantastic scenery that was enjoyed.
Rich and I hiked up Mile HIgh one Saturday while Kevin was off on a scout hiking trip. It was Rich's first time for this hike and he made it.
Friday, August 31, Bonnie and I hiked up the same mountain, but took a left instead of a right and hiked down the other way. We saw a beautiful double rainbow, but that meant rain, and it poured. We made it down the mountain in 3 hours and just as it was getting dark. It was a really tough hike going down that way.
Yesterday, September 3, I hiked the same trail with Evelyn and Lisa for the blueberries I had spotted a couple of days earlier. I picked about 8 cups, and Evelyn picked 10. Lisa wasn't so lucky, but ended up with a couple of cups. I made a yummy blueberry cobbler with half the berries. I was so proud of Evelyn, who at 63, made the hike without any complaining. She is a strong woman!
It is Kevin's 15th birthday tomorrow. I can't believe he is so old already. He has gotten off to a great start in High School. I haven't had any teachers call me....yet. He seems to be keeping up with his assignments. He is in a released time Seminary class, and only has five kids in his class! The other classes have 12, 20, or 18, and 8. Don't know how he got so lucky! He seems to really enjoy it, and with only 5 in the class he certainly won't be able to fall asleep.
On his last campout Kevin decided to not pack a tent, extra clothes, or a sleeping bag for a 2 night 3 day hike. And of course, no raincoat. Well, the first day it rained, poured really. That night he froze all night without a tent or a sleeping bag. I had told the scout leader to let him learn the hard way, and he said he had no choice but to let him, since he wasn't packing in extra for him. Hopefully Kevin will learn from that experience.
This past weekend Rich, Mike, Kevin and his friend Kyle headed to Seward for some fishing. They stayed overnight and got up early the next day to spend the day on the boat in the bay. The weather was perfect. They caught 4 silvers, 3 at one time. They had a great time and headed back home that day. I think that is the last fishing trip of the year. Our freezer is stocked.
We harvested our honey this weekend too. We were really disappointed that we only got 6 pints. We don't know what happened to the bees this year. They sure looked busy, but they certainly weren't producing honey. But we enjoyed some of the honey on delicious scones that Evelyn whipped up for us. And, we did get more honey that we started out with, and no one got stung getting it out!
I am enjoying being back in 4th grade again. I have more girls than boys in my class but they all love to talk. I think we will have a great year. It is sure difficult to be working so hard again, after a wonderful summer break, with lots of excitement.
The weather has turned cooler the last couple of days and you can see the leaves changing rapidly. Fall is here, and winter is not too far behind. I've got my Christmas break plans all arranged, which will get me through the long winter ahead.
Rich and I hiked up Mile HIgh one Saturday while Kevin was off on a scout hiking trip. It was Rich's first time for this hike and he made it.
Friday, August 31, Bonnie and I hiked up the same mountain, but took a left instead of a right and hiked down the other way. We saw a beautiful double rainbow, but that meant rain, and it poured. We made it down the mountain in 3 hours and just as it was getting dark. It was a really tough hike going down that way.
Yesterday, September 3, I hiked the same trail with Evelyn and Lisa for the blueberries I had spotted a couple of days earlier. I picked about 8 cups, and Evelyn picked 10. Lisa wasn't so lucky, but ended up with a couple of cups. I made a yummy blueberry cobbler with half the berries. I was so proud of Evelyn, who at 63, made the hike without any complaining. She is a strong woman!
It is Kevin's 15th birthday tomorrow. I can't believe he is so old already. He has gotten off to a great start in High School. I haven't had any teachers call me....yet. He seems to be keeping up with his assignments. He is in a released time Seminary class, and only has five kids in his class! The other classes have 12, 20, or 18, and 8. Don't know how he got so lucky! He seems to really enjoy it, and with only 5 in the class he certainly won't be able to fall asleep.
On his last campout Kevin decided to not pack a tent, extra clothes, or a sleeping bag for a 2 night 3 day hike. And of course, no raincoat. Well, the first day it rained, poured really. That night he froze all night without a tent or a sleeping bag. I had told the scout leader to let him learn the hard way, and he said he had no choice but to let him, since he wasn't packing in extra for him. Hopefully Kevin will learn from that experience.
This past weekend Rich, Mike, Kevin and his friend Kyle headed to Seward for some fishing. They stayed overnight and got up early the next day to spend the day on the boat in the bay. The weather was perfect. They caught 4 silvers, 3 at one time. They had a great time and headed back home that day. I think that is the last fishing trip of the year. Our freezer is stocked.
We harvested our honey this weekend too. We were really disappointed that we only got 6 pints. We don't know what happened to the bees this year. They sure looked busy, but they certainly weren't producing honey. But we enjoyed some of the honey on delicious scones that Evelyn whipped up for us. And, we did get more honey that we started out with, and no one got stung getting it out!
I am enjoying being back in 4th grade again. I have more girls than boys in my class but they all love to talk. I think we will have a great year. It is sure difficult to be working so hard again, after a wonderful summer break, with lots of excitement.
The weather has turned cooler the last couple of days and you can see the leaves changing rapidly. Fall is here, and winter is not too far behind. I've got my Christmas break plans all arranged, which will get me through the long winter ahead.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Family Update
I'm back in Alaska and teaching 4th grade again. I'm looking forward to getting back into more familiar territory. Enclosed are a few pictures of our vacation and our being back home again.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Monday July 8, 2007
We are in Tongxiang, China. We left the hotel this morning after a typical Chinese Breakfast. We had eggs, bannanas, noddles, Chinese doughnuts, watermelon like always, dumplings, rice because it is very easy to cook and very cheap.
,
We took a bus to the school. My mom was scared because of the way the bus driving was driving. She thought for sure someone would get run over.
We got to the school and all these people were waiting for us. There was a big sign
that said Welcome North American Teachers.
We went on a tour of the school and saw kids with their uniforms, with army soldiers
that train them to be good in the class. They have being going for a week of Chinese
soldier traning. My mom thinks we should do this in the US.
We then went to a meeting room so all the teachers could start planning lessons.
Everyone is a little worried that they all unprepared, but they are giving them 2 days to plan.
Then we had lunch. This is what we had. WE had shrimp, rice, Chines bread is very good there is a vegetable like broccoli, but better,and for the first meal yet nooooooooo fish. They have always had fish but lucky not this time.
I always try everything it makes it much more interesting.
I am having a great time so far.
We are in Tongxiang, China. We left the hotel this morning after a typical Chinese Breakfast. We had eggs, bannanas, noddles, Chinese doughnuts, watermelon like always, dumplings, rice because it is very easy to cook and very cheap.
,
We took a bus to the school. My mom was scared because of the way the bus driving was driving. She thought for sure someone would get run over.
We got to the school and all these people were waiting for us. There was a big sign
that said Welcome North American Teachers.
We went on a tour of the school and saw kids with their uniforms, with army soldiers
that train them to be good in the class. They have being going for a week of Chinese
soldier traning. My mom thinks we should do this in the US.
We then went to a meeting room so all the teachers could start planning lessons.
Everyone is a little worried that they all unprepared, but they are giving them 2 days to plan.
Then we had lunch. This is what we had. WE had shrimp, rice, Chines bread is very good there is a vegetable like broccoli, but better,and for the first meal yet nooooooooo fish. They have always had fish but lucky not this time.
I always try everything it makes it much more interesting.
I am having a great time so far.
Friday, June 29, 2007
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Our new police officer
We have a brand new police officer in our family! Congratulations to Adam who graduated today after a grueling 8 month academy. We are so proud of him and all his hard work. And we are proud of Mindy and Caden who have been there supporting him all the way. They are a great family.
Rich, Diane, Kevin, Mindy, Caden, and Jake were able to attend the ceremony today. The mayor of Dallas was there, so was the head of the FBI in Texas. They both spoke at the ceremony. Adam was all decked out his his uniform complete with his real gun! We were in a scary part of town, but we were surrounded by cops and felt very safe.
They had a video to start the program, and because Adam was one of four squad leaders he was featured quite a bit in the video. Pretty exciting.
We came home and had a yummy barbecue with corn on the cob, salad, fruit and coconut cream pie. Then we had a great game of Risk. Rich and Adam finally quit after forcing the rest of us out of the game.
It didn't rain on us today here in Forney. We did a little swimming this morning and the sun was out. Record rainfall here in Texas. Tomorrow we are heading to the water park and hope for good weather!
Rich, Diane, Kevin, Mindy, Caden, and Jake were able to attend the ceremony today. The mayor of Dallas was there, so was the head of the FBI in Texas. They both spoke at the ceremony. Adam was all decked out his his uniform complete with his real gun! We were in a scary part of town, but we were surrounded by cops and felt very safe.
They had a video to start the program, and because Adam was one of four squad leaders he was featured quite a bit in the video. Pretty exciting.
We came home and had a yummy barbecue with corn on the cob, salad, fruit and coconut cream pie. Then we had a great game of Risk. Rich and Adam finally quit after forcing the rest of us out of the game.
It didn't rain on us today here in Forney. We did a little swimming this morning and the sun was out. Record rainfall here in Texas. Tomorrow we are heading to the water park and hope for good weather!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
6 Flags
What an adventure we had a 6 Flags today. When we got there we decided we didn't need to pay for premier parking because it as all wonderful parking. That should have been our first clue. The place was empty. We got to ride on some good rides with no waiting. But then it started raining and raining and raining, and it rained on and off all day long. Not just sprinkling, but pouring rain. I had bought a rain pancho at Walmart, so a 1/3 of me stayed dry, but the boys refused to wear one. Not a cool thing to be seen in. They closed most of the rides (all the really good ones) for most of the day. Very sad. We finally decided to leave when the rain got so bad that there were huge rivers running down the sidewalks. The boys had a ball getting soaking wet! Kevin was even down on the ground doing push ups. Leave it up to Kevin to be the clown.
It was a scary ride home. I didn't even need to go on the Superman ride to get my heart rate up. I got my heart rate up driving home in the torrential rain on the freeway thru Dallas. We made it home safely!
Yesterday we went and saw Evan Almighty. Then in the evening I watched Caden so everyone else could go see the movie 1408. We also went to the mall yesterday.
Saturday Adam, Kevin, and Jake went paintballing. They had a great time together.
It was a scary ride home. I didn't even need to go on the Superman ride to get my heart rate up. I got my heart rate up driving home in the torrential rain on the freeway thru Dallas. We made it home safely!
Yesterday we went and saw Evan Almighty. Then in the evening I watched Caden so everyone else could go see the movie 1408. We also went to the mall yesterday.
Saturday Adam, Kevin, and Jake went paintballing. They had a great time together.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
We have been having a wonderful time in Utah. We love the hot weather and the sunny skies!
Our first day here we went to an art show at BYU. It featured paintings and statues of Christ. Very cool. We even got a personal tour from one of the directors.
Then the family met at Golden Corral for dinner, and boy did we pig out!
Kevin went to a basketball camp for a week at BYU and met 9 other Alaskan's there. A couple of Fullmers. Small world!
We went to see Ben and Mandi in Joseph, Utah and enjoyed spending time with them. We went rafting down the river one day on tubes. And the next day we went fishing at a couple of lakes. Kevin caught the only trout. We took a logging road back down the mountain and what an adventure that was. We saw some deer. We enjoyed looking over the edge of the canyons and thinking that if we went over the edge we would never survive, and no one would find us! But the views were awesome!
We had a wonderful birthday party for Grandma, 85, Craig and Dustin, and Father's Day. Almost all the family came.
We are heading to Texas, and look for more fun pictures.
Our first day here we went to an art show at BYU. It featured paintings and statues of Christ. Very cool. We even got a personal tour from one of the directors.
Then the family met at Golden Corral for dinner, and boy did we pig out!
Kevin went to a basketball camp for a week at BYU and met 9 other Alaskan's there. A couple of Fullmers. Small world!
We went to see Ben and Mandi in Joseph, Utah and enjoyed spending time with them. We went rafting down the river one day on tubes. And the next day we went fishing at a couple of lakes. Kevin caught the only trout. We took a logging road back down the mountain and what an adventure that was. We saw some deer. We enjoyed looking over the edge of the canyons and thinking that if we went over the edge we would never survive, and no one would find us! But the views were awesome!
We had a wonderful birthday party for Grandma, 85, Craig and Dustin, and Father's Day. Almost all the family came.
We are heading to Texas, and look for more fun pictures.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Ninilchik
Here are some great pictures of our Memorial Day trip. We had lots of fun, for most of the time. And we also froze. The weather was your typical cloudy and cold. No mosquitos! Too cold for them.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Ninilchick
We headed to Ninilchick for our annual Memorial Day weekend. Ben and Mandy came. Amanda, Dustin, and Cami came too. The weather was overcast and cool the entire weekend. I guess we could be happy that it didn't rain on us, but boy was it cold. Rich, Ben, Dustin, and Kevin went out fishing on the boat and got some halibut. Interesting weekend.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Fiirst post
I'm trying out this new blog spot. I have been using another site, but don't want to pay anymore....Hope this is helpful. I would like to use it for China this summer.
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