Christmas Presents on Christmas Eve

Since Amy & I have to somehow get to SEATAC and pray that Delta has enough de-icing agent left to get our plane in the air to SLC at 7am on Christmas Day (thanks for working airport/plane/parking people) Santa Claus came to our house today after a treacherous flight through the snow (yes it has snowed pretty much every day for a week - can I say it enough) since we won't have enough time to open presents in the morning. In my stocking was a gift card to the Nascar.com store, Charleston chews, a gift card to joanns and some m&m's. Amy got XBox points, lip gloss, ritz mix, milk duds, etc. I opened gifts sent by my friends & their families.
From the Fullers I got two books! (i'm going to read them when it snows again!):















From the Millers Amy & I each got Nascar mugs! And the Miller kids felt that I needed a "lovey" and found one that had my name:

I forgot how great "loveys" are they are much better to cuddle with than a pillow! I took a nap with mine today! (yes-that's snow outside the window behind the lovey)
Thank you!!!!

Hello - it rains in Seattle! It does not snow!

To whomever lied to me and said it rarely snows in Seattle and when it does it's only a day and everything shuts down. I've missed three days of work due to about 6 inches of snow (which means more days of school at the end of the year). Then after a 12 hour break - this is what we got on Sunday in about 4-5 hours. Church was cancelled. The streets are still covered. I will find you and hunt you down and bury you in the snow (if I can get there without sliding on the ice and into the lake!)

Is this yours?

Found: Red Old Navy T-Shirt left at our house sometime during Thanksgiving
Claim by January 5th or it goes to help someone who needs a shirt (though a tshirt in Seattle right now would not keep you very warm- maybe they can make it into a turban)

I did not sign up for this!!!!!!!

Seattle, the city of rain. I knew I was signing up for that. I also knew that snow fell, but it was rare and usually a little amount. I knew we had snow days built into the school year, but usually it was used for icy conditions. I did not sign up for 4 inches of it!

The first 2 photos were taken about noon, the second set at 9 am. It snowed hard until 4:30!

Hawaii Post #2 - Mel's pictures

Hawaii was not as great as I thought it should be. I had a good time, but it just didn't live up to what I'm assuming were unrealistic expectations. I know we went to Oahu, which everyone there told us wasn't the real Hawaii, but if this is where a majority of tourists visit - it should be cool. Everyone told me how amazing it would be on Oahu, and I was disappointed. I'm glad I've been to Hawaii, but I probably won't go back. The best part was Pearl Harbor, the really great Pineapple, and the Polynesian Culture Center (Amy is scared of the Maoris), and the great sunrise drive Amy took us on. Oh and driving around the island in a Sebring convertable. I also enjoyed siting on the sand while Amy went Snorkeling.

My pictures:

Snow Day #2

I will be posting pictures of Washington Snow (wet & icy - Utah does have excellent snow!) in the near future since it has finally started snowing at my house during the "December Storm". Several times during the night I got up to check and see if it was raining/snowing/hailing/sleeting yet. No - nothing. I got a call at 5:25am saying that school was giong to start 2 hours late due to ice. I looked outside at 6am and it had started raining. I checked the news it was snowing in Bellvue (halfway between my house and work). 20 minutes later the call came cancelling school. Fun!!! It will not be so cool at the end of the year when I lose my four day Memorial Day weekend and have to go to work an extra day at the end of the year - but a day to finish Christmas preparations, sleep a little, read, clean the house and maybe venture out for fake firewood aka duraflame(we can't seem to get real wood to burn completely or even halfway - we build a great fire, but the wood was cheap - so I don't think it's dry enough). I think Amy's going to play hooky today too!

Snow day

I know I should take pictures and put it up, but I bought a new computer and I haven't loaded my picture software. 2 weeks ago I was complaining because it was 82 and muggy in Hawaii. Now I'm complaining because it's been 18-20 when I leave for work and we had some snow this weekend. Monday school started 2 hours late due to snow/ice and today I've experienced my first snow day ever at school. Since I went to school and taught most of my career in Calfornia I've never had a snow day. I had a couple of days off last year due to a fire, but never snow. I may not even make it to work tomorrow. A second round of snow is due to fall in my district tonight. The ironic thing is this is the warmest day we've had in a week and there is no snow falling at my house and very little rain. The district I work in has 100 square miles and at a higher elevation that where I live - so I'm sure that there is plenty of snow there!

Tropical Paradise

We fly back from Hawaii today. Yep, I finally left the mainland and ventured out over the ocean to the great state of Hawaii. I thought I'd share a few things that I loved while I was here.

The above picture is of Hanauma Bay, where I went snorkling. The water is blue and clear and full of sea life. It was great!

One of the best days was the day we spent at Pearl Harbor. I cried through the whole day. This is a picture of the oil that still leaks to the surface from the USS Arizona. You can watch the black bubbles of oil make their way to the surface and then explode, making the black design in the center. I was so moved by the stories and experiences I learned about while there. We do live in the greatest land.

Mel and I went to the Dole Plantation and rode the Pineapple Express! The little train, similar to the Casey Jr train from Disneyland, takes you on a tour of the pineapple plantation and gives you a great history of farming on the island. We bought a freshly picked pineapple, the greatest pineapple I've ever had, and had pineapple ice cream! YUMMY!

The Polynesian Cultural Center was amazing! I dragged Melody there early so we could spend every minute there that we could and it was completely worth it. We had a great time and learned a lot. We went to our first Luau and ate fresh coconut bread. It was great!

We had a great time but are definitely glad to be going home. It just doesn't seem like Christmas in the warm tropic weather here. Plus I want to set up my Christmas tree!!

Thanksgiving

I think this Thanksgiving will go down in the history books for me. Not just because I cooked the whole thing from scratch, pie crust and all, but because of how much fun I had with my parents and sisters. It was so great to have my mom and dad in town. We drove around Seattle, spent some time watching Jeremy fly his amazing kites, and went out to Bainbridge island on a ferry and sat around and played Rock Band. Dad slept a good portion of the time, but even that was fun and nostalgic. I'm really grateful for my family. I'm grateful for everything they have given me and everything they have made me. You know, we are all really blessed when it comes to our family. Thank you all.

Gotta have turkey apples!

My apple pie made from SCRATCH!

Pirates. . . Argggg

In the beginning of November one of my students asked me if they were ever going to study Pirates in a history class. I told them no, but as I thought about it and in trying to come up with an activity to happen after they reported on current events, I decided that we'd learn about the modern day pirates. The best part was that the Pirates helped me by making news a few days later capturing an oil tanker. The Indian navy helped me tie it to my current unit South Asia. So now they are excited about the Pirates and I want to create a Pirate Central area where they can learn about the Pirates latest adventures. I need a catchy name for the pirate bulletin board. Anyone have any ideas? How about your pirate crazy kids?