School Days...

Well, summer is officially over. The last week we spent Monday-Wednesday preparing our classrooms and lesson plans, and on Thursday school began. Even though I have been doing this for a couple of years, I still get nervous on the first day. I wasn't sure how I would feel but I am rejuvenated seeing how the students have matured and are ready for this new change. We have very capable teachers on our staff so we will be a nicely functioning group. Our principal is a great example for the students and she is present- she is always in our classrooms, in the hall, etc. Knowing that, the students behave much better than they would normally.
During the summer I asked to be released from my responsibility as cheerleading advisor and asked to be the student council advisor. I have been stressed about how I would be able to be a mom (since we have no idea when that will happen) and take care of my school responsibilities. As much as I enjoy the whole idea of cheerleading building school spirit, I struggle with the fight of keeping the program growing with girls who have a desire to be the representatives that they need to be. I am sad to let the program go, but I can see how it is a good decision for us and our family that we will hopefully become.
I love being the student council advisor and it won't take so much time outside of school. I have great SBOs with great ideas and I think that they will be really great at building school spirit as they are super examples and well liked by the student body. I am excited for this new year. I feel that everything is falling into place-I hope that it is because we will be parents soon, but maybe it is because of the church responsibility that I have just accepted. We will see. God will take care of us- we have seen how He already has and have faith that He always will.

Delaware

Who knew such a tiny state would be so important to this Utah girl? We had the opportunity to visit with Shawn's family during the first week of August. We started off in Bethany where Grandma and Grandpa rented a beach house. We were able to spend time with all of Shawn's mom's family. It was so nice to be together and to get to know his aunts and grandparents better.

We had perfect weather at the beach and we swam and played all day long. We also took grandpa on a pontoon boat ride on the Little Assawoman bay. He drove for half of the trip and had a constant smile on his face. It was so nice to see him happy.


This picture is the whole crew. We had so much fun together!












Shawn took me to the Rehoboth boardwalk where he spent many summers playing boardwalk games, eating boardwalk fries, and funnel cake. His favorite game is the horse racey game (he likes it so much that I already knew all about it before we ever went to Delaware) and -let's just say -we blew a few dollars in that little space!
When we left the beach house, we were able to go and visit some aunts, uncles and cousins on Shawn's dad's side. We went out for Maryland Blue Crabs with Shawn's other grandparents. I hope they have crab in heaven. I sure love it! We had a good long discussion about Shawn's geneology and hopefully we can find more of his ancestors as we take advantage of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. I also saw some of Shawn's baby pictures for the first time. Boy he was cute-still is-but he was really cute as a baby.
The last day of our trip we visited our great grandma who has recently moved to a masonic home in Pennsylvania. She is 99 years old and you would never guess it! She showed us all of the neat features of her new home and she seems very happy. She is an amazing woman who has experienced so much in her life but still is very optimistic and full of faith. We will go back to Delaware in May for her 100th birthday-can't wait!

Thanks to everyone for such a great vacation!

Summer Sleepover

Oh...I wish I had the pictures! While I was in high school I did annual tea parties and sleepovers with my nieces and nephews. We had a great time! Since we've gotten married, we have been taking school or teaching school during the summer. We decided we didn't want to let another summer pass without our party, so we had a sleepover. We started off with some take-n-bake pizza, we projected Penelope on the side of the house (a true theater experience;) and ate candy until we were sick. We all slept on the floor at my brother's house-slept? I don't know that we all slept that well-but we had a wonderful time laughing and giggling. In the morning we woke up to a yummy breakfast and then went home. I cherish the times when I can be a kid with my nieces and nephews- except when I get them in trouble for some misbehavior that I started. Shawn just rolls his eyes and shakes his head, but, secretly, I think he likes that about me!

Denver

I have been super slacking as a blogger but I will try and redeem myself! We spent ten days in Denver with Shawn's parents over the 4th of July holiday (see -16 post). It was so nice to be with his parents and just have those moments to listen to their wisdom and advice- as well as play with them!

Shawn and I went to the Air Force Academy and Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. There is a beautiful chapel on post with stained glass windows that cast their beautiful colors inside the room. We were also able to see some of the academy students march by us- we were hoping that one of our seniors from last year would pass us but it was impossible to pick her out because they all look the same. Hopefully she could feel our support from the sidelines :)



I am trying to learn how to golf, but I am finding that the bigger challenge is to learn to be patient and love to golf. I don't know if I can do it. We golfed at a par 3 which was much better than our par 9 million on base, but I'm not sure that the fire has been sparked within. I will give it another shot before I completely cast it off.





We, of course, went to a Rockies game and had a wonderful time. Shawn's parents bought season tickets and have some super sweet seats. Shawn was in heaven! Shawn also went to a game just with his dad and I got to go shopping with his mom. It was lovely.

We had a great time in Denver. Thanks Mom and Dad!

We are on Adoption.com!

We have listed our adoption profile on a site called parentprofiles.com that is affiliated with adoption.com. If you want to visit our profile, go to www.parentprofiles.com and type in our ID# which is 22974.

-16 Years

The last week or so we have been in Colorado visiting Shawn's parents. It is always fun to go to Colorado because Shawn is very happy when he is home and his inner child comes out. I have been surprised this time by my inner child who has come out like a crazy monster. For example, I have a gold medal in my favorite Wii game--the shooting one--on Wii Play. Yes, that means that I have been spending my free time shooting balloons, pop cans, targets, etc. I take some sneaky pride in breaking my father-in-law's records on the Wii but have really only been successful in that one game...he he he.

We then went to Waterworld, a water park, and I could not stop smiling and laughing. Shawn and I rode down a particular slide in a two man tube three times in a row and we just giggled and screamed the whole way down. I was having a fabulous time and I was with my very best friend-who wouldn't love that? The point is, I laughed like I was ten. No barriers. No guarded emotional outlet. Nothing holding me back...pure fun. I LOVED IT! (I think that is why we repeated the ride so many times!!! )

To top it all off, we went to see fireworks. We were actually sitting in the parking lot of a Coldstone Creamery, and being the ice cream connoisseur that I am, my mother-in-law bought us ice cream and we watched a 30 minute display of fireworks. Can life get any better than watching fireworks while sharing an ice cream with my hubby? I have let my inner child release havoc on my life the past few days and I have had a wonderful time! I wish I could be ten again!

The Shining...er...The Shiner

So...we play on a community softball team. I was nervous because I haven't played softball outside of PE but I do love the sport. I am certainly the handicap but I sure am trying hard. On Monday, Shawn and I were warming up when the ball bounced off my glove and hit my cheekbone. This is probably one of my proudest moments...my "trophy for bravery" if you will. I am not proud that I can't catch...just proud that I got hurt trying something new!