A perfect day at the zoo...

Our class spent the day at the Oakland Zoo today! 

It turned out to be a perfect field trip.

I know I say this EVERY time I do a post about my class...but the parents of my kids are incredible.

I thought they were awesome when I first started teaching and well now....we know each other very well and they just mean so much to me. 

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this time in their lives. 

They always make me feel so special and never stop thanking me and making me feel so appreciated.

It's really great.

The Oakland Zoo was so beautiful! It is so relaxing and pleasant to walk through. With each animal you feel like you are in their real habitats. It's incredible!

  

:) I didn't even realize the bear was doing that in the picture till I got home. Cute!

The giraffes were my favorite!! 

Julian came with us!! Isn't he sweet?! He really enjoyed the kids and got a little taste of what my everyday with them is like. Never a dull moment..would pretty much sum it up!!

Most importantly, the kids had a blast. :) 

They were totally into the maps!! :) 

All of us!! :) 

What a great day filled with great memories. 

These are the days when it really hits me how many amazing things God has given me. 

This group of 13 sweeties are my life. 

I am just humbled to have the opportunity to make a difference in their lives. 

God is good.

Our favorite little guy!

Today we celebrated Bryce's 2nd birthday with his family and friends!

Bryce is Julian and I's favorite little man. He is just the sweetest little boy you will ever meet!

Bryce's parents are J and I's closest friends as a couple! 

I grew up with Daniel (Bryce's Dad) and Julian grew up with Renee (Bryce's Mom) and we (as couples) have grown very close over the past year and a half since moving to CA. 

So naturally their little boy has us wrapped around his finger!! :)

Here are some pictures and a couple of videos from his party today!

When we got to the house today Renee had taught him say "Welcome to my party!"
It was adorable!

Bingo!

He is still learning the whole coloring thing! :)

Bryce and his friends!

He LOVES basketball!

PRESENTS!!! 

He was so sweet when he was opening. As soon as he would see what it was he would respond with a "GASP" and then "TANKSHU" (his version of "thank you") :)

I love this video!!! :) 

Oh yes, and his party was an airplane theme. Renee is so creative, everything was decorated so cute!!

It was a good day!! Best birthday party I have attended in a while!!

Seriously though, how cute is he??!! :) Melts my heart!

I'm so excited...I can BARELY stand it!!!!!

For those of you that know my family in real life... you are WELL aware of what sports team we root for!!!

Well, I' m here to tell you....

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS are going to the WORLD SERIES!!!!

My father spent the first 18 years of my brother's and my life turning us into St. Louis Cardinal fans...and let me tell you...it WORKED!!!!

We are the REAL deal. Not the ban-wagon fans that you usually run into during this time of year...

we are the ALL year round...EVERY day....REAL fans!

If you aren't convinced yet...maybe this will convince you....

My parents have a bedroom in their home that is decorated with Cardinals stuff! All Cardinals!!!

The walls are red and blue...the bed is Cardinals...the pictures and decorations...all Cardinals!

ONLY a REAL Cardinal family would do that!!!! 

(this is the cake I had made for my parents 50th birthday party) 

You convinced about how big of fans we are yet?? ;) 

So you can imagine how EXCITED we are that we get another chance at the World Series!

After just having won it back in 2006!!!!

So tune in folks..it all starts Wednesday night. 

Who knows what will happen but so far we are VERY proud!!! 

GO CARDS!!!!

By the way, if you would like to join the ban-wagon and be a fan for the next week or so we will gladly take you!!! But I must warn you...Cardinal fans are very devoted...you may just be a fan for life afterwards! :) 

It's kind of addicting..because they are so AWESOME!!! :) 

It's me. I'm back!!

Hi everyone!! :) 

I am sorry that I have been MIA in the blog world for...what has it been??...almost 3 months!! 

I have been feeling a little guilty lately for not giving any attention to my blog AND the ones I follow. 

I'm not even going to make excuses for this behavior, so instead I will just update you on some main happenings in our life the past few months!!

The last thing I posted on was my cousin coming to visit. She did, and it was wonderful! 

She is a total sweetheart and we had the BEST time! 

One week after she left, my younger brother David came out for a visit! 

We had a wonderful time with him. I'm so proud of David. He has grown up so much in the last year and I am seeing the man he is becoming. I love him so much and we loved being able to spend this quality time together. He started his senior year of college this fall, I am so excited to see all the things God is doing in his life and can't wait for him to take these next exciting steps!!

Ok ok...just because I said he was growing up doesn't mean he has some not so mature moments! ;) 

Reppin David's camp he worked in all summer! 

Old Town Sacramento

The day after David left us, Julian and I took off on a road trip to Salt Lake City.

We wanted to do one last fun thing for the summer and we enjoyed SLC so much when we went in the spring so we went again. It kinda helps that my bestie Courtney lives there! :) 

We, once again, had THE best time. I love that place. It's such a beautiful area.

I'm sure it won't be our last visit! 

We enjoyed a night at the SLC Bees baseball game! :) 

We love each other and we love cotton candy!! :) 

Every time we are together people ask or just assume we are twins. 

It is pretty amazing how much we look alike. 

We also went on a hike in the mountains to a beautiful waterfall! 

My sweet man! :) Handsome too, if I might add! 

You see those rocks behind us?? Yes, we climbed ALL the way to the top! It took us forever..but we made some great memories!

We got back from Utah and I jumped right back in to school! Spent the next two weeks getting everything ready, having teacher orientation and enjoying my last few moments of Summer Vacation!

We started school the day after Labor Day. 

It's been six weeks since then! I can't believe that. Time goes so fast! 

Our school went thru some changes this past summer for several different reasons, but resulted in an amazing change for me! Last year, I taught 1st and 2nd grade and over the summer I found out that we were doing some rearranging and I would be teaching 2nd and 3rd grades this year! 

If you do the math....this would give me the SAME exact kids that I had last year!

I was SO happy to hear this news. My kids and I became so close last year and I was sad that I had to say goodbye to half of them this year...but that didn't happen!! We get to stay together for this year too!

We are mature 2nd-3rd graders now!! This was the first day of school! 

:) Love them so much!

This is my classroom this year! :)

I went with a zoo animal theme!!

Oh yes, and I saved the best news for last! Do you remember the post I did HERE about my little man Bosa?? Well, if you remember I said that he would not be returning this year because of the family moving away. Well, some things changed and they ended up NOT moving! So, my little guy, is with me again! 

:) This is us on school picture day! He was so dressed up and handsome!

He has already given me several funny moments and crazy moments. So thankful the Lord has allowed me to have another year with him! 

Alrighty, that's about it! You will hopefully be hearing from me again...VERY soon!! :)