So much to be grateful for!

Wow, Thanksgiving over and Christmas is coming! It has come way too fast this year, but I love this time of year! Especially spending so much time with family and friends and celebrating Christ's birth. I am so grateful and blessed to have so much! I don't know what I would do without my family, my friends, and the gospel. This weekend was no exception! I got the opportunity to go to my Grandma and Grandpa Lloyd's house for Thanksgiving. I am very grateful for their hardworking examples and the love they show me! I feel so special to be in their presence! Then my parents and I came home and had pie with Scott and Kim and their cute kids. They let McKenzie stay over night for the next two nights, so we had a lot of fun with her! She is such a cutie! We took her shopping, put up Christmas decorations, watched movies, went to lunch, and I helped her make a Gingerbread House! Here are a few pictures of her and me with the finished product. She was a great decorater and couldn't wait to eat the leftover candy! :)

Before I went off for Thanksgiving, I had my class make Indian Tribe Habitats for each of the Indian Tribes of Utah. I had my class last year do this, and they had a blast, so I did it again this year. This is how they turned out!

Since we were studying Indians, I also had them make Indian pots for art. This was my first attempt at teaching how to make pots, so some of them are kind of funny looking, but I guess that is what gives them personality! Once they shaped them, they air-dried and I had them paint black around them. Once that dried, they took a small pin and scratched a design in the black, to make them look like Indian pots. I think they really enjoyed this, even though it was quite the process! :)

Well, I guess it is back to the craziness of teaching tomorrow and I know I sometimes complain a lot about my job, but I just want to say that I am so blessed to be around such cute kids and help them grow and learn! I really think that they help me learn and grow as a person as well and I am thankful for that.

Pictures of Trip

Double-Decker Tour Bus


World War 2 Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Dorothy's Shoes! American History Museum

Union Station

Air and Space Museum

Jefferson Memorial

Washington Monument from Jefferson Monument

Natural History Museum

Capitol Building

National Archives-Declaration of Independence

The White House

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Mount Vernon

Niagara Falls!

Hill Cumorah Monument

Joseph Smith's Family Farm House

The First Smith Family Farm House

Palmyra Temple overlooking the Sacred Grove

Sally and I in our FABULOUS PJ's, staying overnight in our GHETTO hotel!!! :)

Washington DC and Toronto!

And..... I'm back! This last Friday I got home from my trip with Sally to Washington DC and Toronto! The 2 weeks passed by way too fast and now, as always, back to reality!

The first thing we did was fly to Washington DC for 3 days and see all of the sites we could there. As you will see in the pictures, we went to all of the major monuments, the Capitol Building, the White House, The Air and Space Museum, American History Museum, National History Museum, the National Archives Building, Arlington National Cemetary, and Mount Vernon (George Washington's Home). Phew! Lets just say, we were EXHAUSTED everyday in Washington! It was a lot to see, but it was a blast! It was really neat to be in all of these historical locations and I learned so much history too!

After the 3 days in Washington, we flew to Toronto, Canada to see Sally's parents that are Mission Presidents there. It was so nice to be with them and very fun to go to all the sites there too! We went to Niagara Falls, Palmyra, and some other little fun shopping places Sally's mom took us to. The land there was so beautiful, even if most everything was dead! It was especially awesome to go to all of the sites in Palmyra where the Church was restored again. I felt the spirit so strong in each of the places we visited. We went on the Hill Cumorah, Joseph Smith's family farm, the Sacred Grove, the Book of Mormon publishing site, and Peter Whitmer's Farmhouse (where the first Sacrament Meeting was held). It was a real testimony builder and just plain NEAT!

On our way home, our flight from Toronto to New York was delayed, so we missed our connecting flight to Salt Lake and had to stay over night in New York. We called a hotel and stayed there, but the problem was that it was such a NASTY hotel! It felt like one of those places that are on the TV show CSI! And we didn't have our luggage either! We almost didn't stay, but we finally convinced ourselves that it was better than staying at the airport all night, so we bought ourselves some "I Love NY" PJ's (hence the picture you will see). Needless to say, when our alarms went off at 4:30 so we could catch our flight, we had NO PROBLEM waking up! We made our flight and as soon as we landed in Salt Lake, I had to go to work. Crazy, I know! Anyway, to sum it up, it was a great break and I am ready to tackle work again! Here are some pictures....Enjoy!