The fun never stops!!

Recently we treated the kids to a dinner out. They chose I-Hop....

Baby Hazel

Today was Devyn's baby shower! It is always super fun to be there when one of our nieces gets to open her baby quilt. (I make one of these babies for each little great niece or nephew.) This was such a fun quilt to make-- mostly because this blue is my current favorite shade of blue!!

We are thrilled that Devyn loved Hazel's quilt and we loved being able to be there for the wonderful shower. We can't wait to meet you Hazel!!

Baby Hazel

Happy Thanksgiving

mmmm. mmmmm. mmmmm.

gotta love thanksgiving dinner!

we were so lucky to get to have thanksgiving in napa at grandma & grandpa wagner's house. it is the yummiest place to go. everyone pitches in and thankfully aunt susan came through with her orange rolls. those are the best ever!

 i neglected to get any pictures at the adult table...

but here are the kids:

kevin, riley, and andrea

 paige, marissa, and jacquie

 dessert was served at mike & cathy's a little later... 

okay, after naps!

jim loves whip cream ;)

perhaps you noticed kevin's arm brace....  the turkey bowl. need i say more?  a little separated shoulder for him.  poor, poor, kevin. jim came up with this ingenious way to ice it. who knew that a target bag could be so useful, right?

thanksgiving was lovely.

being with family is the best.

i am so grateful for each and everyone of them. even the ones who weren't with us.  

even the people who aren't really family. but feel just like family.

TOSA

A few of you have heard and others are asking, so... I am now called a T.O.S.A. at work. I am officially a Teacher on Special Assignment. Starting last Tuesday I work at the District Office!! This is a temporary position-- so technically I'm a T.T.O.S.A. ;)

My new job will only last a month. I will return to my classroom-- and my awesome 3rd graders just before the Christmas Break.

So, what am I doing??  Well... I recently went to some specialized training. It is called Explicit Direct Instruction-- which basically means great first teaching. It's a lot of 'teacher language' but it is great teaching in a nutshell.  Myself and 2 other teachers are all preparing (like mad!) to organize a presentation that we will present to every teacher in our school district.  In simple terms I will be teaching adults instead of 3rd graders!!  That is no simple task-- sometimes teachers can be a tough crowd. But, hopefully they will listen and try to apply these good teaching practices-- and really a lot of them already do it :)

The perks?? A long lunch every day and I can use the bathroom whenever I want!! (You have no idea how wonderful that privilege is!! I do miss my little kiddos-- but they currently have the best substitute you could ask for, so I know they are in good hands.

Have a great Thanksgiving. I'm so excited to see all my college kids and have some pumpkin pie! I am sure lots of posts are headed this way.

Great book, great movie, great quote!

In August I went to see 'The Help'-- which I loved! I loved the book too! Not very often do I love a movie as much as the book-- but in this case I did!!

This quote is my favorite! It's a beautiful thing that we should all say to ourselves every day :)

Sweet 16

 Riley is 16!!

It's hard to believe he is that old already!  He chose to go out to BJ's Brewhouse for his birthday dinner. He ordered the Brewhouse Double Cheeseburger. Seriously that thing was HUGE.  It was mighty delicious says Riles.  Think he could eat it all??

He even got a free pazookie for his birthday :)

And yes... he ate the WHOLE burger along with all the wedge fries.  I couldn't believe he ate the whole thing. He didn't even struggle.  I couldn't help but look at these pictures and not remember back to the time when I had to beg him to eat an eggo waffle. (If you don't remember.... look back at this POST.)

He ordered his favorite chocolate champagne cake....

And he ate a big slice of it too!!

(along with that free pazookie!)

He got a great BYU keychain...

We hope that driving test goes well :)

Also a new BYU hoodie...

Since he's already outgrown last year's. Can you guess where he wants to go to college?

And what 16 year old boy wouldn't want a fancy new knife?? How great is that?? He got some other cool gifts too....  a fancy plaid shirt, new headphones, new golf glove, new shorts, a rockin' paperweight, some gift cards, and a soon to be treasured book of brotherly advice.  16 is turning out to be pretty good!

We all adore kid number 4 (great rhyme, ya?)  We had a real scare a few years back-- so we are always especially grateful that Riley is with us and incredibly healthy. He is a wonderful boy. He is an amazing student, a great friend, a worthy priesthood holder, and very obedient.

Happy Birthday Riley!

We hope this is a sweet year :)

Hello driving.  Hello dating.

:)