La Jolla Dive

Mike and I were lucky enough to go to La Jolla for a weekend get-away. The weather was chilly! I was in a sweatshirt the entire time! "May Gray" was in full-force down there. On the way down there, we even drove by a RV engulfed in flames. We even drove by before the fire dept. got there!

Also, in La Jolla they had what they call "Red Tide" invade the ocean. Apparently it is a small organism that makes the water appear red and/or murky. We checked our the Cove on Friday, preparing for a dive on Saturday. The visibility was very low, but we saw a ton of triathletes out for a practice swim, so we figured the water couldn't be too dangerous, at least. Determined to dive, we went for it on Saturday. Donned with wet-suits, and 50 lbs of gear, we walked the 30+ stairs down to the beach. Without too much trouble, we made it in and started swimming out. The view right around the shore was great; gharibaldi and sea grass were abundant. Getting about 75 yards out, we decided to go down. That's when we realized that Mike didn't quite have enough weight on him. Face down, swimming at a steep angle, Mike was trying as best he could to sink! Every time he would get close to the bottom (which at this point was only about 25 ft.), the surge would pull him right back up towards the surface. Poor guy! After getting thoroughly exhausted just trying to get down, we called it a day and swam back to shore. The surge was so strong, it was very slow going. Once back to shore, it was a VERY LOOONNNGGG and slow walk back up those 30+ stairs! But, we made it and happily rinsed us and gear and headed for the yogurt shop.

Although it was difficult, especially for Mike, I consider it a success. I had my own goals for the day (scuba-stuff, like, not kicking when I'm trying to drop down. You can imagine why this is important to remember, but subconsciously hard to do. Also, just practicing my buoyancy. Not bouncing off the bottom of the ocean - an important thing not to do!)

Here are some pictures I took of our trip....

Auto Collage

Just came across the coolest new product.... Ok, well it's not new, but it's new to me. ;-) It's a Microsoft product called, AutoCollage 2008. The downloadable software uses pictures from your computer (that you choose to use) and creates a professional-looking collage. There are options for different paper sizes, and number of pictures used. After it creates the collage, you can email it, save it as desktop background or to a file. What would take many hours (for me at least) in blending, stacking, and cropping in a different program, now can take literally seconds.

The 30-day demo is free, then it is $19.95 (for Windows users). IF YOU ARE AN EDUCATOR, you can sign up for Microsoft's Partners In Learning network (free), and you can then download Auto Collage for FREE!

For a demo of the product, click here.

Magical Forest

We went with our friends to the Magical Forest here in Vegas a few days ago. It's a really cool place, with lots of Christmas lights, a train, giant slide, and yummy elephant ears (or funnel cakes for West Coast people). Don't do what we did and go on a Friday night! It was BUSY with LOTS of people everywhere. Except for the lines, we had a great time. The kids, Claire and Aedan, did great, even with the lines. It's always fun to hang out with friends!

More Magical Forest Pictures

Apparently, it was only go to let me upload 4 pictures a post, so here are a few more...

Kathy, Claire and Aedan on the slide


Claire and Aedan competing in a Big-Wheel Race


Claire with the cute snowman


Daddy and Claire!

Hot Air Balloon Experiment

Claire decided she wanted to make a hot air balloon. Well, Yaya (my mom, Ellen) was staying for the weekend at the time. When Yaya's here, projects are a major business. Claire and Yaya got to work, made sketches, and started to make a working prototype. Here is the final project. It turned out really good! You could put a blow dryer in the hole on the top piece and it would actually blow up the "balloon" part! I have a movie of it I will attach. Claire couldn't just make the hot air balloon, she also made crash helmets, safety-first, of course. Claire and Yaya modeled the helmets for me so you could see how neat they are. If you can't tell, they are lined for comfort too. In the one picture, she's holding her travel box. It has emergency supplies, snacks, water, note paper and pencil, map, along with many other essential items while flying in a hot air balloon. (It's still packed in her room, if you need it the next time you're flying in a hot air balloon.)


Claire amazes me with the things she thinks of..... Right now we are making a catalog of all the Nevada license plates we see as we drive around time, just because it should be done. (It doesn't matter the DMV has these records already, Claire thought they needed to be written out, just in case.)

Wild Animal Park

For Claire's birthday, we went on a world-wind trip to Disneyland and Wild Animal Park. Here are a couple of pictures from our day at San Diego's Wild Animal Park. I think it was her favorite part of the trip. She got to be outside, look at cool animals, and take LOTS of pictures. What could be better? Not much, according to Claire. (Plus, it was PERFECT weather!)

I can see!

For those of you that don't know, 2 1/2 years ago I had LASEK surgery back in Michigan. It turned out great and I had 20/20 vision!! But, a few weeks ago, I started noticing my vision changing slightly....I couldn't quite see the billboards and road signs like I thought I should. Headed to the eye doctor, and yup, my eye-sight had changed FOR THE WORSE! Ugh! So glasses it is, at least for night driving and playing tennis. (It is helpful to see the little green ball coming at you!) While we were at the eye doctors, I had Claire sit in my lap to read the eye chart while we waited. And, yup, she couldn't read the chart either! So, another appointment was made and us two girls got glasses the same day! Everyone calls us twins all the time, and now we both added glasses....on the same day......and we have the SAME prescription! So funny. Luckily, Claire LOVES her glasses and wears them all the time (I guess it is helpful to be able to see!)

Merry Christmas!

I am glad to say I was able to get Christmas cards out, but couldn’t quite get myself together to get a Christmas letter out this year. So, I thought I would utilize this wonderful blog space and send out my Christmas wishes and updates to you this way.

This year has been busy for us, as I’m sure it is for everyone. The most amazing thing is that we are at the same address as we were last Christmas! Wow! We still like living in Las Vegas too! We have all just jumped right into things here….

Claire is almost 8 years old! Her big news this year is getting her hair chopped off. All on her own, she decided she wanted to donate her hair to Locks for Love. It needs to be 10 inches in order to donate, so she patiently waited for the length to come. Well, in November she decided it was time. We went to Josh at Euphoria (I love him) and he did the big deed. It was 11 inches when it was finally cut! Such a BIG difference! Claire wasn’t so sure she liked it for a while, but after EVERYONE told her how cute it looked, she started to come around. ☺ Claire is doing very well in school, math especially. She started in Girl Scouts this year! She really enjoys it and loves earning her badges and patches. Her vest is already filling up. They do lots of fun activities and it’s always very positive. She’s even got me involved – I’m the newest leader for her troop.

Mike is always on the go this year. He’s working for the Department of Energy doing Systems Engineering (computer-work for you non-IT people). It is a good job and he likes the people he works with there. On the weekends, he’s also working at Front Sight, a gun training facility in Pahrump. When he’s not working at Front Sight, he’s volunteering on the Las Vegas Ski Patrol on Mt. Charleston. On weeknights (and some weekends) he volunteers for CAP (Civil Air Patrol). He’s a Captain on Wing Staff (for non-CAP people: he’s on the state level for Civil Air Patrol. They do Search and Rescue, Homeland Security and work with Cadets.) Even though he is very busy, he still finds time to hang out with the girls at home, which we really enjoy. ☺

I’m still teaching fourth grade at Rhodes in the NW. I love my job and the especially the people I work with. Last year was a big challenge (student-wise), but this year is just flying by and going very well. I’m also still playing tennis on a league here. My team is great and I love being able to play with them. We play about three days a week. We aren’t the best in our division, but we have so much fun, and that’s what counts. I finally committed to getting my Master’s degree after many years of just talking about it. I’m going to UNLV to get my degree in Educational Technology. (It has a really long title, but the short version works just as well.) ☺

Although we are always going somewhere, it’s nice to able to visit with friends and family. Please give us a call if you’re in the area! We’d love to get together. Drop us a line and let us know how you’re doing. It’s always good to hear from you!

Have a WONDERFUL Christmas and a VERY happy New Year!

Snow Day!!

We had snow in Las Vegas today!! It snowed from about 8:15am until 3:15pm today! The kids at school were ecstatic. We even went outside and had snow ball fights! The weather man said the last time it snowed like this was in 2003. The funny thing was about a mile in either direction it just rained all day. I guess we were really lucky we got to see the snow. Some of my students had never been in snow before!

Claire really was missing Michigan and New Hampshire as we drove home this afternoon looking at the snow covered bushes and palm trees. After we played in it at home, her hands were freezing (I haven't got the snow clothes out yet) and she thought maybe Vegas wasn't so bad after all. :-) The dog loved it. He ran and ran and together he and Claire had a grand time in the snow (for the whole 15 mintues we were out there!).

Claire's Haircut

Claire decided she was going to donate her hair to Locks for Love, all on her own. Finally, she (well, all of us) were tired of washing, conditioning, and altogether dealing with her hair, so today was the big day! She had 10 inches cut off! Wow! Now, I hardly recognize her; she looks so grown up....

Hiking

Mike and I took advantage of a beautiful Friday we both had off and drove up to Mt. Charleston with our dog, Sam. We found a trail up by the ski resort and started off. We saw a few people at the beginning of the trail but then we were by ourselves. Sam loved it because he could be off-leash and roam free, chasing after chipmunks and birds. We didn't hike too far, but it was still great to be out on trail. We hiked to the snow line, and then decided to turn back. Mike threw a snow ball at me for good-measure. :) Here's a few pictures of our excursion. (Remember, this is only 30 minutes from our house in Las Vegas! Can you believe that!)

Mark's Plane

This is about my brother, Mark...



AL-ASAD, Iraq (Aug. 21, 2008) – An F/A-18 Hornet, (left) flown by Brig. Gen. Randolph Alles, the commanding general of 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) and an AV-8B Harrier, (right) flown by Capt. Mark Ferguson, a pilot with Marine Attack Squadron 311, taxi the runway prior to lift off. While participating in a mixed section flight, Alles and Ferguson provided overwatch to ground troops patrolling an al Anbar city. “This is a great way for the CG to come down, fly with us, motivate our Marines and it shows that he is interested in our squadron,” said Lt. Col. John H. Cane, commanding officer of VMA-311.

Our Crazy Dog, Sam

Our dog is slightly obsessive. He hurt his foot about a month ago. Now it is healed completely, but in his crazy mind, he thought it would be easier to go up the stairs backwards! Of course, he didn't even start this until his foot was already healed! Now that we got it on video, we will try to fix his issue. You may notice the scratching at the end...also an obsession with him. (Caesar - the dog whisperer- would need to spend at least a week with us!)

Claire and Fred

My class was given a ball python in June of this year. We have been getting used to Fred (the snake), how to hold him, take care of him, etc. He is about 1 1/2 to 2 feet long now. (He doesn't easily stay straight to measure him.)

Last night, Claire and I went back to school to feed him. Before he ate, we took the opportunity to hold him and snap a few photos. Claire got a Reptile Book recently which lists all of the various reptiles, and how easy they are to care for. The ball python page states that ball pythons should be cared for by experts. At this point she turns to me and says, "But Mom, you're not an expert!" I know!! Like I said, we are still learning. :) As a funny side note, a day after we got Fred in our classroom, we were also given another class pet: a hamster! Her name is Cupcake. Fred and Cupcake have to be kept on opposite sides of the room, just in case. :) We tend to like Fred much better than Cupcake; Cupcake keeps biting us!

(To see pictures of Fred eating, check out Claire's blog: cmizner.blogspot.com)

Here is Claire holding Fred. When Claire was taking some of the photos, she didn't want me in them, so that is my hand in the one. She would take a picture of him, then one of my face. :)