Ruby Princess Cruise

Ready for adventure - waiting at the cruiseport in Fort Lauderdale before embarking the Ruby Princess.


The view from an upper lounge on the ship as we were leaving Ft. Lauderdale.


One beautiful sunset:)


Mother on the beach on St. Maarten. This is the famous beach at the airport where the jets and planes fly directly overhead - it feels like you could almost touch them they are so close!


This is a huge billboard for all to see!



I'm looking directly over my head on the beach! Rob wanted Dad to experience this since he is a former WWII pilot.


That is me (in the middle shading my eyes) waiting for a jet to take off. You really get blown by the engines!


You can see a few people turning back when the engines start blowing sand - it is quite a blast. I just covered my eyes.


Dad's lobster dinner on formal night.


This is a juggler who put on several shows the last half of the week. He chose Rob as his helper for his show on Rob's birthday. I put the youtube link at the end of this blog.


Not just one dessert, but a sampler!


A birthday cake and "Happy Birthday to You" by the waiters. They are usually off key like crazy, but this group actually sounded good:)


Yep, Rob turned 60 on the cruise! We also celebrated my retirement:)

This is the link to the juggler video with Rob.
http://youtu.be/RvXVRNQMZuQ

This is a link to a jet landing at the airport.
http://youtu.be/qvHzAmt9lqg

More pictures later - Dad took more than me!

My Name in Lights !

Yep, I was famous for a day - although I had to retire to get my name up there:)


This was the best perk of the award - a parking spot in front of the building for the month of February! It was very handy since my room is on the second floor in the front of the building.

So, let's see - 14 weeks until I "graduate" with the Seniors:)
Yippee!

New Years in Orem :)

New Year's Day after church. Happy 2012!


Claire in her Sunday dress with static electricity hair!


Jack and his playmate, Parley. Parley's a good sport even when he is upside down:)


Meet Mr. Bo-Jangles. He's hard to catch, but doesn't seem to mind sitting on Claire's lap in the high chair:)

Jack loves the train set. We spent a lot of time coupling cars and sending them around the track and through the tunnel!


Parley is so patient with being picked up and hauled around - not a finicky cat at all!



Jack is usually in a good mood, even in his car seat. Claire helps to entertain him.



See that look? "Who me?" We just finished a game of hop down the stairs.



Claire dressed up like Snow White. She has quite a few costumes and has fun dressing up. She is learning to count higher numbers as you can see on the wall. Megan does pre-school with her and she is reading little words and having fun.

It was a fun vacation week for me. I stopped thinking about all my duties back in Galesburg and just enjoyed Megan & Brian's company and playing with Claire and Jack.

OK, so back to work tomorrow:(
Hey, I'm half finished with the year:)

Michael is an orthodontist !

We enjoyed a wonderful graduation dinner with Michael and Lea at St. Louis University. After 4 years of BYU, 4 years of dental school, and 2 and a half years of orthodontic training, he is ready to practice his profession!

A Happy Thanksgiving

A fall picture of Mike, Lea, Mazy, and Evey. They hosted our Thanksgiving meal this year in St. Louis. They will be moving to Colorado the middle of December as Michael will graduate from Orthodontic School and begin practicing in Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs, CO.


Evey is 8 months old now and crawls just about everywhere - even up the steps if she gets the chance:) She is already pulling herself up to the furniture and getting her balance! She is a happy baby, always returning your smile.

Mazy is trying out Grandma's ipad - given to all SPED teachers in the school district this year. Mazy knows all about using touch screens!! Her ankle is bandaged up after spraining it over the weekend.




Evey talking and reaching for the ipad, which Mazy then protects:)

Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving.

Labor Day Visit

It's always fun to visit Mike, Lea, Mazy, and Evey:) Michael barbecued a superb steak on his grill the first night and we brought in Pappy's ribs another night. Yum, Yum!
We also visited a butterfly house and an historic settlement. I saw cotton growing on a plant which I'd never seen before.















Grandpa and Mazy watching together.



The butterflies seemed to like Rob's red shirt!






Lots of fun, then back to school and work:)

Pres. Obama Visits GHS Aug. 17, 2011

President Obama made an impromptu visit to Galesburg High School Wednesday! He was on his way to the little village of Alpha, just north of here, and decided to stop his bus right here. He went to the football field and watched practice for about 20 minutes, then spoke with the coach and the team. He then visited and shook hands with a group of student athletes who just happened to be on the field getting their pictures taken. Some administrators and teachers heard the "rumor" when someone saw his bus pull in and made it to the field. I was one of the "too late" ones. I got as far as the sidewalk by the band door and a Secret Service man said, "Sorry m'am, you can't go any further." So a group of us waited just to see if his bus would pull out in our direction, but no, they took the rear exit, so all we got was a grand view of his big black bus (and a big red one that accompanied it.)
So, GHS is becoming a Democratic President magnet - first Pres. Clinton, now Pres. Obama :) Hey, he is the sitting president!

Michael & Brian - if you want to see a few teachers shaking his hand, go to galesburg.com for more pictures. I saw Mrs. Eisemann and Mr. Wolfe whom you would know.