My Birthday

So I had the best birthday! My husband is just about the coolest guy. He arranged with my boss to get a sub for me and took me the night before my birthday up to Greer. We were able to stay at the Red Setter Inn through some pretty neat coincidences. Anyway we woke up early the day of my birthday and went for a long hike clear up the river in Greer which is incredibly beautiful this time of year, by the way. Then we came back for a delicious breakfast at the Inn. Then we headed over to Show Low to hang out for the rest of the day. He always treats me right and I am very spoiled. It has been more than once that I have wondered what I ever did to deserve him!
It was a perfect day!

These are pictures of Kale's 18th Birthday party and Homecoming.

September's Over!!!

The Queen

Does everyone realize that Christmas is ALMOST here?!!!! Does that cause panic to anyone else? Every year I swear that I am going to have my shopping done by September, and have I even started? NOOOOOO. Next year for sure :)
So Homecoming...Our good friend Cara was voted Homecoming Queen. For anyone who knows her doesn't that just make you have faith in teenagers...we will all be in good hands with this next generation, they are really remarkable. For those of you who don't know her, she is our special needs friend who has been friends with Kale since Kindergarten. She is the friendliest girl, doesn't know a stranger. Her Senior Class nominated her and the school voted and she won. How great is that! She was SO excited!
Last night I had about 15 girls and moms in my room getting each other ready for Homecoming and Tyra came over and helped Cara with her hair. She looked beautiful. What a fun time and good memories.
Kale went with Ben Ciminski and Cara asked Rex to go with her. They had a great night! What fun, good kids live here in this town. It is an honor to know them!

Anyway, September was filled with birthdays, school, football. It was a great month. Hope you are all doing well.

Kale

So Kale is 18 today. Crazy how time goes. When my kids were little I remember thinking that they would always be little and they would never get to this point and now here it is.
Kale was the sweetest little girl with the cutest smile I ever saw. She always went around singing and pretending that she was a princess. I always got a kick out of watching her.
She has always been feisty however, you don't pull one over on her, and if you try, watch out...
She is going to go on from here and be successful in what ever she decides to do. She is confident, happy and strong. She makes me proud every day and I am glad we were blessed to have her join our family.

Just a little funny that you have to see...I thought this was my first grade class at first and then I read the caption :)
Why We Can't Leave Iraq Yet

Beautiful Sunday

I just love Sunday's, feel bad for my poor husband on these days though, he is usually gone ALL day. I love relaxing and being with my kids, we have the best conversations sometimes. They are pretty good people and pretty fun to be around.

Sylvia left on a mission a couple of weeks ago and we sure do miss her. She went to Salt Lake on a Family History mission. She is doing very good and I think is enjoying her time there, at least she talks like she does. We are all selfishly hoping she is homesick and won't sign up for another mission :)

School is going great. I have the cutest class. They are really good and they make me laugh every day by the cute things they say and do. Check out my new class blog here. Pretty cute kids!
Mandy heads back up to Idaho in a week and we will miss her again. Kale is a big senior and is my intern in my class. I love having her come and help me. Rex is a Sophomore and playing JV and dressing for Varsity football games. He played the whole game last Thursday and did really well! Riann is finally in high school and loves being with Rex and Kale (and all the rest of her friends) all day. She has waited for this day since 4th grade! :) Raddon is a big 5th grader, the biggest kids in their school, and he has really good classes and loves all his teachers.
Steve and I celebrated our 23rd Anniversary last week. I still can't believe time goes as fast as it does. They have been 23 perfect years and I have loved everyone of them. I still thank Heavenly Father for blessing me as he has!
Okay, enough rambling, hope everyone out there is well and happy!

Family pics

So Heather McCall did a fantastic job on our family pictures. She is really good. Everyone is so photogenic, except of course their mother!

Today is the last day of summer for me and all my teacher friends. It has been the best summer and I have loved every minute of the time we were able to spend together. We had a blast!
So, to all my associates, happy last day of summer! Make it a good one.

Summer 09

We have had the best summer! We have spent time in Albuquerque with our friends, gone to an amusement park, celebrated the 4th of July (Eagar style), celebrated Rex's 16th birthday, and spent time at the Udall's pond. What could be better!
I can't remember a more relaxed, fun summer.
Mandy and Kale got a new car that they can drive back and forth to school in, which will be so nice. They are very excited about that, even though Kale won't be going for another year yet. But still...it's a new car!
We are looking forward to fall though, school, football, getting back to some sort of schedule. We are refreshed and ready to get going again!

Whoa!

Okay, so it's been a while since I've written. I have just been LOVING this summer!!!!! There is nothing better than sleeping in and not having an agenda for the day... I love being a teacher :)

So, we are gearing up for the 4th of July, AGAIN! Didn't we just have that like 3 days ago?! I can't believe how fast time goes. Anyway, Mandy and roommates will be here Thursday night, along with our sweet friend Julie. It will be Rex's 16th birthday that day so we will be having a big bon fire. Anyone want to stop by? You're welcome to...he needs his first kiss :)

Bill and Melinda will also be here that day. They are so good to always come for the 4th. We just love having them here, they are a lot of fun. I love talking to Bill and learning about him and the way he thinks, it is enlightening.

We will be doing all the usual 4th of July things, Flag Raising at 6:00 AM, followed by the Breakfast at Granny's, Parade at 10:00 (our float is going to kill this year by the way!), Rodeo at 1, BBQ after that, fireworks at 8:30 and Dance at 10:00 (Steve usually has to drag me out there, I'm soooooo tired by then). I feel bad for anyone who hasn't experienced a 4th of July here in Eagar. It is the best day of the year and I really think everyone should come and see it! You have a place to stay.

Anyway, that is the latest. We have been doing a lot of stuff around the house this summer, (paint, new flower beds, new dishwasher- woo, hoo, etc.) The place is looking pretty good.
Hope everyone out there is well. Love to you all!

BUSY!

Does life ever slow down? I'm starting to wonder. I miss the days when my kids were little and I would get bored because they would be in bed by 7:00 there would be nothing to do. Then I wonder if that really happened, or was it in my dreams :)

Life is really great though. I'm glad we are all involved and keeping busy. It's always better to have a story to tell, rather than sitting around watching someone else's on TV, right?

School ends Friday for Raddon and I, tomorrow for Rex, Tuesday for Kale, and Wednesday for Riann. Poor Steve and Mandy... Summer is the best. Just wish it would last longer.

So you might just have to head on over to my classroom blog and see the very cute pictures of my little students at www.hamblinsgang.blogspot.com, here. I am going to miss them next year, but I'm sure there will be a whole new bunch that I will be just as fond of.

Okay, hope everyone out there is doing well. We are grateful for good friends and family.

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone is enjoying Easter. It always make you think about things, doesn't it? I'm glad we are able to go to church and think about the Savior today.
So my brother Andrew called me last Sunday. He is still in the hospital and can't stand on his own, but he is improving and sounding A LOT better. We talked for about 20 minutes. He has a long road of recovery ahead of him, but he sounded positive and ready to get going on rehab. Thank you again for all your prayers, I'm sure he is a living miracle. He should not be here, but I'm so grateful he is.
We will take Mandy back up to school on Thursday. It has been so nice having her home with us. She will have a break in July and will be able to come home then, but she won't be home again for a nice long break until December. I don't like losing my kids like this! Darn them having to grow up and move away!
Have a nice Sunday.

Disneyland Girls Trip

Spring Break 09

We went to Albuquerque for Spring Break this year. We went swimming, shopping at the mall, (for small town kids this is a BIG deal!) and went to the Aquarium and Botanical gardens. It was really fun. I just love spending time with these guys. We laugh most of the time. It's great to get along with family. I would be so bummed if we didn't like each other. We were very sad that we didn't have Mandy with us though. She had to work :(.
This video is from the aquarium and I just thought the turtle was way to cute not to show, so that is the story on him. I also thought my kids at school would probably like to see him since we just finished a unit on the ocean.
I have a whole bunch of pictures that I am trying to get into a slideshow, but I am so not saavy to this blogging stuff and I can't figure out how to post it...maybe another few hours and I will get it! Sheez!
Anyway, Spring Break is the best, only it snowed about an inch this evening, right after we got home. Weird Spring weather! Sure is pretty though.

Ahhh, Sunday

Don't you just love Sundays?! I love how I'm not always in a hurry on Sunday, and how I can sit back and just visit with my kids or with the big family, or just with neighbors. Oh, if everyday were like Sunday.
The other day at about 5:00 AM the phone rang. We were having scriptures so we didn't answer it, but later that day when we listened to the messages we found out that it was my brother Andrew (he called at 4:00 AM his time!) I called my other brother Nathan to see if this was normal for him, and he said that since he got his phone back he had been doing that a lot. He was kind of drowsy sounding and said he was starving (he had another surgery scheduled for later that day), and that he almost died...yea, we know :). It did sound good to hear his voice. Grateful he is still with us!!!
Not much else has been happening. We are getting ready for Mandy to go back up to school (sad day!) And we are really looking forward to Spring Break! I don't think we are doing anything special, but looking forward to the sleep in days!
That's about it for now. We really are quite boring! Anyone been watching "24" or "Lost"? Good huh?!