Happy Thanksgiving to You All

Ahhh.. family gatherings in the 'good old days'.....those days being in the 1950s!
This was a complete family gathering for my side of the family.....we're working on locating one for papa's side!
Grandpa L. is nearest to us, Grandma to his left, Uncle Randy, Great Grandma, Great-Grandpa, 'Granny', Uncle Gerald, and Uncle Scott.
I can still walk through every room of this house in my mind! Do you notice those great aluminum style glasses?! I loved those things! They always felt soooo cold to your teeth!

School Intensive?!

It's been quite the week! Spending the bulk of a day among 200 singers was .....interesting!
The high school near our school hosts a festival for the 3 elementary schools within it's boundaries. We bring our junior high choirs to sing for each other, meet & hear the high school choir, and get a tour of the facilities. Then....they ALL get on stage to sing one number together. It was impressive to see 200 kids file onstage and sing a patriotic piece. I believe it was the highlight for most of my 70 students attending. But wait....there's more.....that evening we came back to sing a concert for the families. ALL the students dressed in black and white. which made the mass-choir even more impressive.
Just our school on stage performing their piece.
During the day we wore our own chorus uniform. Ah, the joys of transporting 70 (missing 15 of us) to and from a high school, keeping them from disappearing into the high school crowd, and getting them back and actually returning to their classes is always a plate-load!
But wait......there's more!........ The Friday before papa and I spent the evening at the equivalent of a school carnival. Every fall our school hosts a Family Fun Night, so we spent the night hawking candy, setting up portable lights, teaching students to make change, keeping a hawkeye on the change box AND the candy, and saying hello to a ton of students and their parents.
And yet....wait.....there's more! The week ended with our State Convention meeting in Tucson, a DOEM retirement party in the northern regions, and several speaking engagements on Sunday.
We are truly an 'integrated' parental unit LOL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PUNKIN!

2 weeks old, and a joyful addition to our little family

1st Birthday - mommy was a coward and gave you
a cupcake in a bowl for you to devour. Daddy encouraged
you to put it on your head a few frames later.
Several proud Grandma's here! 4 generations
are loving every minute!
2nd Birthday - there was a top to this carousel cake
but the missing chunk was the result of an early
birthday nibble!
5th Birthday, your last in CA. Love your smile!
You got to have a party this year!
6th Birthday, our first winter back in AZ
And we'll stop our post here so we don't cause you any embarrassment,
but we loved and still cherish every year we've had with you. What a joy to see how God has grown you into an incredible women, wife, mother, and friend!
Love you forever, our sweet daughter :o)

Someone Stole October!!

Record heat....record cold....end of baseball season (for most teams anyway),... beginning of Fall....October holidays......all of a sudden October is in the past and it's November!! I have NO idea where it went, but I must have been in it somewhere along the way LOL
We went to the last D-backs game, enjoyed a 3-day cold spell last week, and now 'enjoying' record temps in the 90s.
Our schedule is slammed to the hilt, adding some sinus/allergy/junk days along the way, and we're just trying to keep up! Hopefully it won't be over a month before we sign-in to update again! I actually forgot our password it had been so (too) long!
Happy Fall Ya'll!

Frogannai

Here is my 'new' classroom friend for the year. I've named her Frogannai (gaelic for little frog, I believe). She is sitting on top of her 'secret box'. When my kindergarten students see Frogannai sitting on her secret box they know she has something for them to 'play with'. Sometimes it's colored squares, sometimes cut-out shapes, sometimes papers to take home. They don't really seem to care as long as they know they get to handle something special from Frogannai LOL.
I'm excited to have a gaelic poem about Frogannai to teach my students as well. I usually do a few frog themed lessons along the way, so the poem will fit in nicely :o)

Arizona Sunset

Here's the view that greeted me as I went out to fetch our mail this evening. The colors are so much brighter than my camera can capture, but hopefully this gives you a hint at the sight that took my breath away for a moment.


This second picture is out on our front street. What a great silhouette of AZ.

We have amazing sunsets here in the desert, but especially during Monsoon season.

Thank You....Hurricane Jimena!

Rain is a big deal in the desert! And we FINALLY got some good rain thanks to the hurricane traveling up the west coast of Mexico.
Saturday morning was our typical Monsoon rain, at last, and we all enjoyed hearing and watching it. I had to be out for some errands, and it was interesting how everybody's moods were upbeat and happy. Like I said, rain in the desert is a BIG deal!



These shots are out our patio gate. The most measured rainfall in the valley was just over an inch, which may not sound like much to some of you, but out here it can cause flash floods and close streets. The last picture is out our front window. But as is true to the desert as well,
Sunday and Monday have been gorgeous. We are going to a Diamondbacks game
for our Labor Day fun!