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....