Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we had a special visitor, Scott. We all helped make dinner and then enjoyed watching movies and playing games. On Saturday, we ventured up to San Fransisco and got stuck on the trolley. The chain that pulls the trolley came undone and they had to call a truck to come and push us on the track. We enjoyed visiting Union Square. It was decorated for Christmas with a big tree and an outdoor skating rink. I think California is the only place I know that people skate outside during the winter in short sleeves. We also saw China town and the wharf. I can't wait to come home for Christmas, although, I think I will miss the 65 degree weather.

October Book Club

We enjoyed discussing the book Wicked at a coffee shop. We decided it was easier just to meet at a coffee shop then to host at someone's house, so this will probably be our new meeting place. After book club we walked to the used book store and picked out November's book together.

Halloween Parade

Halloween Carnival

Every year our school host a Halloween Carnival to raise money for our expenses. Each grade is in charge of making a booth. I also brought some cookies to sell at the bake sale. I have included a picture of my team and the fish pond our grade made.

Pumpkin Carving

David and I enjoyed carving our pumpkin this year. He was in charge of carving and I roasted the pumpkin seeds.

Golden Gate Bridge.

I finally crossed the Golden Gate Bridge! Since I moved to California, I have probably been to the bridge about 10 times; however, I have never actually walked across it. So my friend Katie and I decided to bike from Fisherman's Wharf to the Golden Gate Bridge and cross the bridge into Marin County. San Fransisco is normally freezing, but Saturday it was really perfect. The weather was even warmer then some of my trips to San Fransisco in July. I didn't even have to put on my jacket. Here are some picture of our adventure.

Red Hat Society

This post is for my mom. She loves the Red Hat Society, and I spotted the lovely ladies in San Fransisco at Peer 39. I thought she might enjoy this picture.

California Weather

I know I already commented on the California weather, but I had to share this. Everyday my students and I add a picture of the weather to our weather graph. Then we count how many sunny, rainy, windy, and snowy days the month has had and talk about the graph. This is a great activity, but not in California. First of all I had to completely throw out the snow picture because we don't get snow. Secondly, everyday we have been in school for the month of October has been sunny, so now student can't compare weather, and finally I am running out of pictures of the sun and space on the chart for sunny days. It is so difficult to teach math when every day is a sunny, breezy 78 degrees.

Pumpkin Festival

It was our third annual trip to the Pumpkin Festival at Half Moon Bay( a little city by the coast.) The best part of the festival is always the food here is a list of the pumpkin items we tried this year, pumpkin cheese cake, pumpkin muffin, pumpkin ice cream, pretzel with pumpkin dipping sauce, and a pumpkin roll. Yummy!

Our First Tomato

We finally got our first tomato to grow to adulthood. We are so excited to eat it.

Stanford Homecoming Game

Rain

It rained today for the first time in about 90 days. It was actually a nice change from the breezy 78 degree weather we have for about six months of the year. I love California.

First Grade

After teaching 3rd grade for four years, I decided it was time for a change. I am now teaching 1st grade and I love it!!! The kids are so fun and they love to learn. I think I have found my calling.

Book Club

I decided to start a book club and we had the first meeting at my apartment. It was fun to share the book. I can't wait for next month's book

The Squirrel Ate the Tomato

The case of the missing tomato is solved. . . the squirrels did it.

Blog Background

I'm just learning how to blog, so I'm really excited about my new background. I've wanted to update it, but didn't know how. So here's a link to a site to help jazz up your blog if you're still using the boring google template. The instructions were easy to follow and there are a lot of backgrounds to choose from. It took me about five minutes to decorate my page. http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/

Mom and Michelle's Visit

The Case of the Missing Tomato

David and I planted a tomato plant this year. The plant grew like crazy, but only produced one tomato. Although we hoped for more tomatoes, we excitedly watched the tomato grow and anticipated eating it on a sandwich or taco. Finally the tomato was ripe and ready for the picking. I contemplated if I should pick the tomato on Sunday, but I decided to wait one more day to let it become extra ripe. On Monday I went to pick the tomato and it was gone. Someone snatched it from our front porch. David and I were so upset. Not only had we watched the tomato grow for the last 6 weeks, but it was also an expensive tomato because I had to buy a new pot and soil. Disappointed over our tomato we morned its loss over a donut and slurpee.

Note: This picture is not our tomato. We were going to take a picture before we picked it, but then it was gone.

A's Game

David and I went to our first major league baseball game. The A's lost, but we had a fun time.

Uncle Jerry's Party

I downed lots of Claritin and left the beach behind.
I was going to Jerry’s Jubilee to have a great time.
I won a pink quilt tied with tiny blue stitches
And left with a leg full of mosquito bite itches

Trisa went on bike rides and made taco dinner
However this year she was not a quilt winner
Saturday Keith and Steve arrived there in style
Just in time for pictures and to joke for a while

Jon water skied. He’s the true iron man
He rode on his bike And he ran and he ran
Larissa was creative with our tee shirts’ design
She calmed crying babies and kids that would whine

Michelle saved the day with ten pizza pies
That soon disappeared right before our eyes.
Danny made a rocket that really did fly
It shot up pop bottle. Everyone wanted a try

Austin jumped and jumped and jumped some more
The trampoline he found was never a bore
Sophie and Aurianna loved the little kiddie pool
One night they had a sleepover because it was cool

Kalli was so sweet in her ladybug suit
She pet all the dogs. She thought they were cute
Madelynn rode horses, jumped, and swam
She also got a stuffed horse from her great gram.

Joe and Biannca are always lots of fun
They skied on the lake and soaked up the sun
There were horses and bikes and fun all around
Who would have thought Blackfoot was a happenin’ town

Mount Timpanogos

While on my vacation to Utah I was able to go on a hike to Mount Timpanogos with my brother Jon and his family. I haven't been to the cave forever so it was fun.

Tomato Plant

Our first tomato is growing. It is so exciting.

Fruit Snack Miracle

I have a funny miracle to share. I think it is especially funny because it happened at church. Anyway I teach 6 year olds in primary and I bought a box of fruit snacks for a treat. The box said that is contained 10 fruit snacks which is normally the perfect amount for my class. I debated at the store if I should buy another box, but I was feeling cheap and decided that there would probably be some students on summer vacation so this box would be sufficient and if I was lucky there would be one left for me. Today; however, there ended up being 11 students because I had a visitor. I told my students that they would each have to give the visitor one fruit snack. I began to pass out the fruit snacks and skipped the visitor, but then I got to the bottom of the box and there was still one left over. It was as if the fruit snack appeared from no where. I gave the extra fruit snack to the visitor and then started to count the students again and again. 11 student and 11 fruit snacks from a 10 fruit snack box. It was a fruit snack miracle. It reminded me of the story of Jesus feeding 5000; however, on a much smaller scale.

X-Files

Every summer David and I pick a TV series to order through Netflix because summer T.V. is boring. Last summer we watched all three seasons of House. We normally watch a few episodes a night. It is great to get TV series on DVD because you don't have to wait a week to watch the next episode, there are no commercials, and you can watch it when ever you want. This summer we are watching the X-Files. I hope we will be able to make it through all nine seasons.

Book Reviews

I'm now officially on summer break. So I have been doing some serious reading. I thought I would give you a run down of the books I've been reading just in case you are trying to find a good book for the summer.Pope Joan is an historical fiction about a woman pope in medieval times. I was a little skeptical about this book because it is normally not my type of story, but I have to say that I really got into it. I especially liked how the author wove in historical facts. I learned a lot about the church and life at that time. I highly recommend this book.


Deception Point is a fast paced adventure and mystery. It was a fun read and I flew through it. This would be a great book for a vacation. This book; however, was not very thought provoking and if you're looking for a book to give you new insight on life this is not the one. It is pure entertainment in value.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a realistic fiction about a doctor who gives up his baby because she has down syndrome. I really enjoyed this story. It was very touching and definitely thought provoking. It was pretty intense and I wouldn't suggest this book if you are trying to escape. This has probably been my favorite one so far.


The Other Boleyn Girl is a historical fiction about Anne Boleyn's sister. I really enjoyed this book too and I learned a lot about British history. I thought at times the characters were a bit unbelievable and it is hard to tell what is fact and what is fiction. This book is also very long 660 pages. It has taken me a good week to plow through it.

Family history is about family relationships during tragedy. This story was well written and I had a hard time putting it down. It was sad and in the end not much is resolved, but I enjoyed that it was a very honest glimpse of a family.

David's Graduation

David graduated with his master degree in computer science this weekend. He enjoys school so much that we'll be here for another four years while he gets his PhD. Life's busy, but we're enjoying ourselves in California.

Exploritorium

Today we had our annual field trip. We visited a science museum in San Francisco at the Palace of Fine Arts. The Palace of Fine Art is a fancy landmark built in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. I have included some picture of our trip and the museum.