Christmas Break 2013

I could not wait for Christmas break this year. Work was wearing me out and I couldn't wait to see my family again. This break was also the longest one I ever remember having, both as a teacher and being in school myself. I had 17 days total and 13 of them were spent at home (counting 2 travel days). It was also long enough to get used to not working again so going back tomorrow will be challenging but overall, it was a fantastic break.

Being home was wonderful as always. I spent lots of time with all of my family members and we kept busy. Sometimes I go home for too long and get bored but not this time. The Valley was extremely cold but that's normal. At least it was pretty.

We enjoyed a nice Christmas program in Sacrament meeting and went home to take our traditional Sunday before Christmas pictures.

Christmas Eve was spent without Whitney and Andy but my grandma was able to join us. We have our big meal on Christmas Eve and still had a little program where my Dad read the Christmas story from the Bible and I told a few stories.

Christmas Day was wonderful. As I grow older, I enjoy giving more than receiving and just love being able to be home with my entire family. Whitney and Andy joined us in the afternoon so we could all be together.

Christmas Morning

 My favorite gift was a t-shirt quilt I asked my mom to make. It wasn't quite finished but we got it done Christmas night.

 My dad loves toys and got us all a foosball table to share.

 I loved all of my gifts! My family knows me well.

Besides the usual Christmas festivities, we played lots of games, talked a lot, relaxed, went to Pueblo, ate too much, watched movies, and shot guns. My dad got a skeet shooter and clay pigeons for Christmas so we went shooting 3 different times. I was pretty darn good with the shotgun too; impressed myself even.

Shooting shotguns at the shooting range:

Everyone got in on the action:

Then we shot .22s

 Then shot shotguns again on our property:

If you can't tell, we hate guns :)

Usually we have a boring New Year's Eve and often come back to Utah to be with friends but this year, we got to spend it all together as a family which was fun. It was a pretty hopin' party until about 11 when we all crashed. We managed to ring in the year at midnight but as you can tell, were pretty tired...

 except for Sarah!

We went home on Thursday so Sarah could work for a day and I could see some friends. Now it's back to work and routines and seeing how long my New Year's resolutions will last this time.

I hope you all had a great Christmas as well!

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, I got to go home to a winter wonderland! It was a blistering -10 degrees at night and 20 degrees during the day with about 15 inches of snow on the ground. It looked more like Christmas than Thanksgiving but sure was beautiful.

Since we really hadn't had snow in Salt Lake (until now) yet, I was kind of excited about all of the snow. Although frigid, I did go outside to frolic and play.

I got to see my little sister every day during the break which was awesome and my aunt and uncle joined us this year also. We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner at our house and enjoyed each others company. 

A few years ago we started taking family pictures over Thanksgiving. Saturday we braved the cold long enough to snap a few pictures.

We finished off with one in the house but as you can see, some people were already done with taking them :) 

The rest of the time home was spent doing about all you can do in the valley. We stayed home, went bowling, and went shooting. We tried out the new Conejos County Shooting Range which was really nice. I shot some guns that I have never shot before and look forward to shooting there again.

We drove back to Salt Lake on Sunday. Leaving is always easy in November knowing that I will be back home in 3 weeks for Christmas. It was wonderful being home and I was reminded of how blessed I am to get to go home as often as I do. I am thankful for a job that allows me to do that!

October

October was a very busy month. My parents were here for 8 days at the beginning of the month and we crammed in as many activities as we possibly could.

We went on a little hike to enjoy the fall colors as well as the first snow in the mountains.

We attended a session of General Conference. We were able to sit really close and Mitt and Ann Romney happened to be nearby. 

We had a ladies night and went to the Josh Groban concert.

We attended the BYU homecoming football game.

We also spent a lot of time with family, enjoyed eating out, and celebrated Sarah's and Grandpa Neilson's birthdays. It was fun but horribly exhausting at the same time. 

The next week I had fall break and was excited to have no set plans and looked forward to having some time to myself. The first day of break, I sprained my wrist in a boxing class which has been a bit of a challenge. It didn't stop me from doing what I wanted however, and I still went golfing on Thursday and Friday. I was also able to sleep in, hang out with friends, have a complete lazy day, and enjoy some time to myself. It was exactly what I needed. 

The rest of the month has been busy to say the least. I celebrated Fall to the fullest with corn mazes, haunted houses, movies, hot chocolate, football, and pumpkin spiced foods.

Work has continued to be busy as well. I am back to teaching full time after having a student teacher and I already forgot how tiring it is. The students are full of energy and a little crazy. I am so grateful for this time of year where we get quite a few breaks because I don't know how I would make it! The students do keep me entertained though. They say the funniest things and I am constantly amused with the stories they tell. They are very creative and I love watching them participate in our activities. I am thankful for their hugs and "thank you's" as they leave the gym as well, and feel that although very difficult at times, I have a pretty fantastic job.

September(ish) Wrap-Up

The past couple of months have been busy, busy, busy! I have had more work this school year than ever before but so far, school has been going well. I have a student teacher until the end of October and although it is awesome not having to teach all of the time, it is a challenge and a little stressful making sure she gets a good experience and knows everything she needs to. She is doing really well though and has great ideas to help me become a better teacher as well. I don't have any super exciting teaching stories yet except that my Ipod touch got stolen at one of my schools. It happened on my Birthday of all days as well. I'm pretty sure some students know exactly what happened to it but won't confess. I've just considered it a loss by now. Fortunately I was able to get a project funded through Donors Choose where I received an Ipad mini the very next day but I'm still disappointed that a student would take it.

Work has kept me extremely busy but I have been able to squeeze in a few fun things over the past month or so.

 I went to the State Fair with a few friends,

 squeezed in one more delicious shaved ice before the end of summer,

enjoyed a good birthday,

went to a Luke Bryan concert where Georgia Florida Line and Thompson Square opened,

and went up to snowbird to ride the tram and walk around Oktoberfest.

Now I am enjoying the glorious fall weather, watching General Conference, and getting ready for a week with my parents here. Should be fun!