Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wow, I cannot believe it is 2010. Weren't we all just barely panicking about Y2K? A decade goes a lot faster these days.

Christmas was fun this year. We went to Utah to spend the holiday with Jeff's parents. As usual, we were fed way too well and had a great time! We saw the movie the Blind Side...loved it and I had doctor appointments....gotta squeeze them in whenever we're down there!

For New Year's we will probably be in bed by 9...we really are getting old and staying up is nearly impossible! I have a feeling it will still be 2010 when we wake up. Jeff gets the day off so I am looking forward to a three day weekend with him.

School starts on Monday, January 4. The time went WAY too fast. I feel like I was just sending the kids out the door with their sugar high. My student teacher will be there full time and slowly taking over the class. That will be a different experience, but I am hoping to learn a lot from her. She will be with me until May.

Not much else is new...Jeff is still loving his job, we haven't done any major house projects this year, but we are planning on gutting the bathroom this spring. I can't wait. I start getting antsy to get to work, I love house projects and can't believe how much we have done in the short time we have lived here. It is starting to feel more like home.

Crazy Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving Jeff was on call for work. We weren't thrilled with this, but when we found out my parents would be in Idaho right before Thanksgiving we thought maybe they would like to come to our house. Finally they decided they would come. We were excited that we wouldn't be alone for Turkey Day and busily began preparing...buying loads of food, making pies, salads, etc.

My parents got here Wednesday afternoon, about the time school got out. They stopped at my school because my dad and sister wanted to see my classroom. That night when Jeff got home we went to dinner and hung out.

Thursday morning I got up early to start getting the dinner underway. Jeff chopped some wood and then we went for a five mile run. When we came back my dad was sitting in the living room and he did not look very good. He thought he had indigestion but was describing heart attack symptoms. So we went and got him some aspirin and Jeff gave him a blessing. He started to feel a little better and while we tried to convince him to go to the hospital, he kept resisting saying it was probably nothing and he didn't want to ruin the dinner.

Well, anyway, long story short, we finally took him to the emergency room where they did a chest x-ray and determined he was having a mild heart attack. They put him on a life flight to Salt Lake--U of U Medical Center. When he got there they realized they were dealing with something far worse. He went into emergency surgery because his arteries were so blocked. They discoved that he has heart disease and his arteries harden or something. The doctors have no idea how he survived and said that most people die when they are to that point. I am so grateful that he made it through surgery. I am so grateful to the doctors that saved his life. I am so grateful to have such a sweet, caring husband who was able to give my dad a blessing and comforted me during the whole ordeal. I realized that while I have loads of food I don't know what to do with, and even though I didn't really even get to spend any time with my family, I really have a lot to be grateful for. I can't imagine not having my dad.

Poor Tommy

My poor little nephew in Kentucky broke his femur and is now in a full body cast for six weeks. He is in kindergarten and now has an at-home tutor until the cast is off. I enjoy talking to him on the phone because after about two minutes he screams into the phone "DAD!!! I NEED YOU!!!" That has happened at three times. He is so active it is hard for him to sit still I think. I wish we lived closer so I could help out a little more.

Trick-or-Treat Day

Happy Halloween! I really don't think Halloween can get any better unless you work in an elementary school. I love the whole thing. Some people think I'm crazy, but I actually think the day BEFORE Halloween is the bad day. The day of Halloween is just fun. I love the costumes, the parade, the parties, and of course, I love when it is all over.

This year my team decided to be chefs. It was really fun and the best part was hearing ALL day long, "Mrs. Hunziker, can you make me a hamburger?" I love my class. They looked cute in their costumes and I love the excitement that comes with the day. Too fun. I can't wait until I have my own kids to dress up.

F.U.N.N.Y.

The joys of living in a small town.....

Here is a conversation that happened with one of my students yesterday.

"Johnny": (out of nowhere in his kind of high pitched adorable voice) Hey Hunziker...do you live like at the bottom of 'Apple Circle'?

Me: Yeah, I guess kind of.

"Johnny": Is your house like kind of blue/gray?

Me: Yeah, I guess you could say that.

"Johnny": Oh, well you are my neighbor! I live on 'Apple Circle!' Did you see me wave at you in the green truck?

Me: (hesitantly) ...I don't recall...

I kind of chuckle to myself not really knowing if he really even knew what he was talking about. I tell the incident to my coworkers and we all agree that even if this student knows where I live, surely he isn't the type to just head on over.

Later that night I am emptying the trailer of wood and wheeling it over to Jeff to stack in our little covered area. I see from the corner of the trailer a little red bike riding back and forth, back and forth in front of my house. Then I see the little red bike right next to the trailer where I am busily working.

"Johnny": Oh, hey Hunziker!

Me: Well, hello "Johnny"...I guess you do know which house I live in...

"Johnny then starts talking NON-STOP telling me story after story while I empty the wood. I am kind of laughing to myself thinking, "this isn't really happening".

Then, after about 3 minutes:

"Johnny": Oh, hey Hunziker....do you want me to help? I can help.

Me: Well, do your parents know where you are? I don't want you to get in trouble.

"Johnny": Oh, they won't mind.

Me: Well, I don't want you to get scratched up.

"Johnny": Don't worry, I'm really good at this sort of thing.

Then he proceeds to help me unload the entire trailer...talking NON-STOP. It was quite funny and actually really helpful. The whole time I am asking him questions about things like "Have you done your homework?" "Did you read for 20 minutes?" "What book did you read?" He of course kept changing the subject.

Anywho, this goes on until the trailer is done. Then comes my favorite part:

Me: Thank you so much "Johnny!" You are so helpful!

"Johnny": Hey, Hunziker,maybe you can go ask and see if you can come over to my house to play.

I seriously couldn't stop laughing. In 7 years of teaching I have never once been asked to come over to someone's house. I'm not quite sure it's such a great thing my students are learning where I live, but hey, third graders are harmless, right??

Back 2 School

Yes, I know all the kids and teachers in Utah have been back at it for awhile, but here in the small town we just started school on Monday. The first week is always exhausting, but exciting nonetheless.

The first day went much smoother here than last year since I was more familiar with the school and routine. I am glad I decided to stay at my school. I really lucked out with my class this year also. They are ADORABLE. I have a little girl that moved here from England and she just makes the whole day that much better. I was really hoping we would have a baby at this point and that I wouldn't even be teaching anymore, but now that school has started I am glad I am still at it. My class has character with a capital C and I love those kind of years.

Anyway, what else have we been up to??? Well, let's see. We have done a lot of canning. We bottled over 40 bottles of beans and we just finished over 60 bottles of crabapple jam. Oh my. We have also had fun with our other veggies...zucchini, carrots, and onions. Our garden did quite well for the first year, and especially for being in WY. It must be the horse manure we stole from the horse corrals.

This month we also let Jeff's truck rest in peace. Yes, it really was time. Jeff was sad to let it go, but it just wouldn't pull the trailer when went to get wood. With my dad's help, we now have a beautiful new F-15o which we absolutely love and feel so grateful for. I am so proud that I have officially converted Jeff to join the FORD family.

I have also been busy with setting up our bedroom upstairs, hanging the beautiful shelf my sister-in-law made me and little decorating projects.

Now that the weather is cooling (we hope it sticks) we will go get wood one more time and then things should settle down a little for the winter. We will probably do a little more painting in the house, but we hope the winter will be somewhat quiet and uneventful. Is that a weird thing to hope for?

School

These little boys acting like pigs in the smokehouse have both started school! I cannot believe my little nephews are old enough to be in school. Tommy started Kindergarten and Jackson is in pre-school. Tommy called me after his first day. This is our conversation:

Me: Hello?
Tommy: Hello.
Me: Hi Tommy! How was school!
Tommy: I got to the ride the bus two times.
Me: Wow! How is your teacher?
Tommy: Guess what I am eating?
Me: Crackers. How is your teacher?
Tommy: How did you know I was eating crackers.
Me: Because I can hear you crunching. How is your teacher?
Tommy: But what kind of crackers am I eating?
Me: I don't know. Tell me about how school was.
Tommy: Guess what kind of crackers I am eating.

And so it went. Either way, he is adorable and I can't believe he is in kindergarten! Jackson started pre-school and is doing great. I wish we lived closer to family. I miss the days when we rented my brother's basement and I could see the boys whenever I wanted!

Five Years

Today Jeff and I celebrate our fifth year anniversary. That seems like a long time, but it really doesn't feel that long.

The first five years have been better than I could have ever hoped for. I married such a sweet, hard working man. I feel so blessed.

I can't wait to see what the next five years will bring!

Ready for Fall...Not ready for Summer to end

Is it just me or has this summer literally flown by??? I cannot believe it is the end of July. We have been so incredibly busy and Jeff is freaking out because summer is almost over and we have only been four wheeling once and camping ZERO times. What?? He has informed me that we can still go camping through the end of September. Good, I was worried. :)

Anyway, I hate summer weather! I really do. It's cooler where we live than Utah, but I still hate it. I just hate that you have to time and plan when you will do everything. These are often the thoughts I have, "Better get up and run before 6 so it won't be too hot by mile 8" or "Better go weed now before it's too hot to haul the trashcan around" or "Better start cooking now before the house gets too hot" or "I sure would like to go for a walk, but I won't get around the block without turning 4 shades of red and have sweat pouring from every pour" ...etc etc. I just love fall weather. You can go and do anything you want outside at about any time of day and be comfortable. Why can't we just have two season--fall and spring. Yet they seem to be the shortest. Annoying!!

However, even though I hate the weather, I am not ready for summer to end. I love having the freedom to work when I want to and get things that have been neglected done. Here is a taste of what we have been up to since our big vacation:

*I have been making Christmas cards with my friend so that I will actually send them out this year! Christmas time is just too crazy.
*We installed new carpet in our entire house. This ended up being a two week project of moving furniture, ripping out old carpets and pads, scraping old pads, moving furniture back, having strange people in my home, having my home smell like smoke, etc etc etc!
*We put more sod on one side of our back lawn. We ripped out...okay, Jeff ripped out, an overgrown side of plants that at one time must have been pretty but were so weed infested, we decided we would just rather have more yard.
*Watering, watering, watering the sod in spite of the heat. Can't wait for our next water bill...it will probably be like having another house payment. Water up here is expensive.
*Cleaning. I feel like I clean the house every day in the summer.
*Scrapbooking. Catching up on last year. I still have to develop and scrapbook our most recent vacation.
*Cleaning up a mini-flood. The hose on the toliet in the master bedroom decided to break and send water all over the place and start pouring down in the basement in a matter of five minutes. I am sooooo grateful I was home! Luckily we really didn't have too much damage and it happened the week before we got new carpet. That really was a blessing!
*Doctors. We have been going back and forth to Utah more than we would like to try and fix our problems. I've been grateful to have a summer where I don't have to worry about getting time off and am worried for how things will work when I am back working. I found a really great doctor. Sorry I never call or tell anyone when we come down. A lot of times it is unknown until the day before and then we are rushing back so Jeff can get back to work.
*Getting ready for a new school year. Not as much as I should be, but I have done my fair share of cutting, coloring, and glueing!
*Getting Jeff ready for a four day back packing adventure with his buddies.
*Young Womens...it takes a lot of time!
*Training for a half marathon.
*Jeff being ON CALL. So annoying!!! Some weekends we are just stuck home because Jeff is on call. Why are engineers on call? Seriously. I thought that's something doctors did. He's on call at Thanksgiving too so that really stinks.
*Gardening. We put manure in our garden and we now have a freakishly large garden. I hope the vegetables are also freakishly large when it comes time to harvest.

The rest of the summer is going to spent mostly getting ready for school and we have a few camping trips planned that hopefully won't have to postponed. I really hope fall weather comes early this year, but fall itself can wait a little longer. I have a lot to do!

Stay in your lane, please

On our trip Jeff and I would take turns driving. He hated all the construction through Nebraska so on the way home he decided it was my turn to suffer through while he slept. Fair enough....I do tend to have more patience with that sort of thing. Anywho, so while he was snoozing and I drove from one construction zone to the next I couldn't help chuckling every time I would get to a new construction area and big orange signs everywhere about every single 15 feet said:

"STAY IN YOUR LANE"

Really? Do I really need to be reminded to stay in my lane?? Usually these signs came when it went down to only two lanes anyway...one going east the other going west, so really, do you need to tell me to stay in my own lane?? Do they really have trouble with people "picking lanes"? I mean, for a split second I thought "Hmmm...I wonder what it feels like to drive on the wrong side of the road. " This was the only picture I could find of what these orange signs looked like and the picture reminded me somehow of what I was thinking every time the orange signs reminded me to STAY IN MY LANE! It's a good thing they were there otherwise I might have been confused. I have more question: IS THIS WHAT THE STIMULUS MONEY IS BEING USED FOR WHEN WE TALK ABOUT FIXING ROADS???? What's next--"STOP AT RED LIGHT" "GREEN MEANS GO" "STAY IN YOUR VEHICAL WHILE DRIVING"...you get the point.

Summer Started with a BANG!

I know I have been out of blog world for awhile and I have a lot of blogs to catch up on. School got out on June 5th at 3:30pm and Jeff and I headed out for our two week vacation at 4:30pm. It was a whirlwind!!! Now we are back and I am trying to adjust to being back home and trying to catch up on all the housework....weeds, garden, laundry, toliets, laundry, spring cleaning, laundry...you get the point!

Anyway, this summer has already been so crazy and I feel like it is going way too fast. This year Jeff had some comp. time and vacation time and since it will be our 5 year anniversary, we decided to take a vacation. We had so much fun!! We started by going to Kentucky to visit my brother. My nephews have gotten so big since I last saw them and there I got to meet my new little nephew, Hugh. My nephews were so funny and adorable. I wish they lived closer. We took them to a place called "Land Between the Lakes" where they had an old settlement thing with a bunch of animals.

On the way to my brother's house we stopped at the St. Louis arch which was really cool. You can ride up in the arch and there are windows at the top that show a view of St. Louis.

We stayed at my brother's a few days and then our next stop was Nashville. Nashville was awesome. We went to the Grand Ole Opry, which was the highlight. We got to see Carrie Underwood, Trace Adkins, Litttle Big Town, and a bunch of older people that I didn't really know, but Jeff was crazy about.

On the way to Nashville we stopped at the Mammoth caves. They were cool, but we actually liked the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico a little better. We went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and we also stopped at the Parthenon replica they have in Nashville.

On our way out of Nashville we stopped at The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's home. It was so cool and I learned a lot of history. Jeff is a history buff so we stopped at quite a few historic sites and battlefields. The Hermitage was really cool because we saw old slave houses and learned a lot about life on a cotton plantation.

Our next stop was South Carolina. We stayed the night with Jeff's aunt and uncle in Columbia. They were so sweet to let us stay and we had so much fun with them! After a great night sleep we headed to Charleston. We had a blast in spite of the nasty HOT, HUMID weather!!! I will spare you all the millions of pictures, but we went to Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie (again, I learned a lot of history), we went on a ghost walk at night and learned about haunted Charleston, we walked around the town, went to the Boone Plantation and on a swamp walk at the Magnolia Plantation where we were lucky enough to see an alligator! We really had a blast.

After seeing as much as we could in Charleston while we were there, we started our journey back towards to my brother's in Kentucky. We stayed another night at Jeff's aunt and uncle's house and had a great time! We went on an alligator hike, but unfortunately didn't see any gators. Then we went on a firefly walk when it was dark. It was so fun! The next we headed back to Kentucky, making a pit stop to the place we had both been dying to see: The Smokey Mountains!! I'm glad we did this last because it really was a highlight of the whole trip.

We hiked over over 25 miles while we were there! If we had been there longer we could have hiked 25 more and still not seen everything! We mostly went on hikes that led to waterfalls. Everything was so beautiful and I was so glad we had the opportunity to see such a beautiful part of our country.

I have hundreds more beautiful pictures of the Smokey Mountains and our hiking adventures, but this post has already gotten way too long. These pictures do not even do justice to what we experienced. I feel so blessed to have been able to go on this trip and see all of the things we saw. It was fun to see so many historical sites that were critical to shaping our country. I gained a greater appreciation for everything our ancestors went through to make our country a land of freedom. There are many other things we saw and other battlefields I didn't post about, but I didn't want to bore you too much! I hope everyone is doing well and having a great summer. I look forward to catching up on blogs!

Lawn Chair Drill Team

Congrats to all the Utah kids and teachers who are done with another year!! I am jealous you are out! We don't get out until this Friday...of course we didn't start until after Labor Day, so I guess it's fair! I always have mixed feelings at the end of the end of the year. In one way, I am thrilled to have a break and get things done that desperately need to be done. I get excited because Jeff is always so excited to go camping. But at the same time, it is always a little sad, no matter how hard the year has been. I always get sad to see my little ones move on. I worry that I haven't done enough for them and then I think about not seeing them everyday and it makes me sad. Even though I have had some hard days this year, I am really going to miss my group!! I had some of the sweetest kids and some of them I won't get to see next year since our school is splitting. So sad. I am glad that I had the chance to have them though and that we could learn together. I always think it's funny though because it seems like the kids have the same mixed feelings I do. I had about 12 of my 18 kids tell me on Friday, "I just need to hug you extra long today because I am going to miss you so much!!" I kept telling them, "It's okay! I am going to see you on MONDAY just like I always do!" They are so cute.

This summer is already packed and I think it is going to go way too fast. We are putting in some sod on the side of our backyard, growing a garden--which so far is doing great!, going to Kentucky to visit my bro. and we are also going to Nashville, Charleston, and the Smokey Mountains, we will no doubt be camping, hiking, and backpacking, and I have a couple of doctor appointments which may turn out to be more than I have scheduled, and of course, there is the going to school and getting ready for the next year.

Anyway, back to my post. On Friday our school had a talent show. It was so cute! A lot of the kids sang or danced or jumproped. A group of teachers also put on a little act for the kids. It was a lawn chair drill team and we did a dance with our lawn chair to YMCA. It was hilarious!!! I had a great time and it reminded me of the variety shows back in the Pony Express days.

The Wax Museum

One of my favorite things we did was go to the wax museum. It was so much fun!! We decided to do it last minute on the last day we were in D.C. The best part was that you could get right next to them for perfect photos!

I have to say though, that the funniest part was that all of the figures looked SO REAL!!! My friend Jaime couldn't stop laughing at me because I kept asking all the wax figures to take a picture for us!

There were historical figures as well as celebrities.

They had the press conference podium and also the presidential desk. Right now I am lecturing the country on saving their money and to stop asking for bail outs! On a side note, my favorite protester sign this year: "Honk if I'm paying your mortgage."

I was also able to help Martin Luther King Jr. with his "I have a dream" speech. and sit with Abraham Lincoln.

And in case you're wondering how the country will ever back the trillions dollars of debt in the deficit, we can just run a few trillion of these babies!

The White House

While in Washington DC, we had the amazing opportunity to take a personal tour of the West Wing of the White house. A former student of one of the other math teachers is in the Navy. He is currently on duty at the White House and was able to get us in for a tour. So awesome! We got to wear these sweet tags, but of course couldn't take them home.

We were unable to take pictures of a lot, but it was so cool! I could go on and on about all of the different areas and rooms, but I will spare you too many of the details. This is one of the dining rooms.

Apparently Brad Pitt has eaten in this dining room. I am pretty sure he sat in the exact chair I am sitting...ha ha. All of the plates had the presidential seal on them. I kept telling one of the ladies we were with to stick the silverware in her purse, but she didn't seem to think that was a good idea.

We also got to taste the most delicious dessert in the whole wide world! The cute little Navy cooks made us what is known as Chocolate Freedom. It was to die for!!!!

We learned loads of interesting facts about the White House. We had fun watching the snipers on the roof and learning about all of the crazy security.

The press room was really interesting. The names of the newspapers were on the chairs, which I didn't know. The room was also a lot smaller than I thought it would be.

We went into the building directly behind the White House as well. It was really neat and historical. Most of the rooms are used as offices now. This room we were in was called the Indian Treaty Room. While we were in this room, we looked out the window and saw the snipers move to a different part of the roof of the White House. Then we saw one of the Obama girls playing with the dog out on the lawn. We couldn't see them really closely, but it was really cool. I was lucky that I went with such a fun group of people! We had a blast!

The Museums

I realized that I am really going to be posting about Washington DC for a really long time. I have so many pictures and so many things to write about! I am trying to weed through the pictures and just put up the most interesting things, but it is really hard.

We had a lot of fun going to museums. The best part is that all of the Smithsonian museums are free. We didn't have a whole lot of time to sit and spend in every museum, but we tried to see as much as we could. We went to Museum of American History and saw Abraham Lincoln's hat, the ruby slippers, artifacts from all of the wars, etc.

We also went to the portrait museum. It was really funny because at the portrait museum we had to carry out backpacks on our fronts. I don't know why, but we could not stop laughing because we looked ridiculous.
The Air and Space museum was really cool. We went there on our last day so we really had to hurry. The last day we were there was really hot! It was 100 degrees when we left, which was a huge difference compared to when we got there and it was cold and rainy. I'm glad it was cooler most of the time!

It was also fun to see the National Archive museum. I loved looking at the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The signatures are getting really difficult to see.

Arlington Cemetery

Okay, Okay, I know I have been a posting machine! I'm sure you are all sick of hearing and seeing my trip, but since my blog is like my journal, I'm just going to keep posting.

At least I finally have something to post! On Wednesday we went to Arlington Cemetery. It was really touching.

The cherry blossom trees were beautiful at the cemetery! We saw the Kennedy Grave site with the eternal flame and my favorite: The tomb of the Unknown soldier.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is where they do the changing of the guard. That was a really cool ceremony to watch and like everything else in DC, it just made me feel even more patriotic than I already am. I am so grateful to all the men and women who have given their lives so that I can live in a free country.



My old teaching buddy, Whitney, came and met me at the cemetery since she lives an hour a way. I was soooo happy she took the time to come out, even though it was a school night! I had a great time catching up with her and trying to find a parking spot! :) She is the sweetest and I am glad I got to see her, even if it wasn't for as long as I had hoped!

The Monuments

Okay, so here are a million or so pictures in no particular order of the monuments. Seeing the monuments was probably my favorite thing. I don't know how anyone can go to Washington DC and see the monuments, learn the symbolism, read the quotes, and not feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude and respect for our great country. Unfortunately, these pictures do not do any of these sights justice. We took a night tour to see the monuments at night, but then my friend and I walked down to all of them again at night and we were sooo glad we did, even if it was a little scary! :) We have plenty of funny memories to remember from our night walk around the monuments. I have so many pictures so I figure I will just update a little big at a time.

This (to the left) is at the FDR memorial. It is fairly new and totally awesome. Each section of the memorial portrays a term of FDR's presidency.

To the right is the Jefferson Memorial and I think it was my very favorite. It looked incredible lit up and I loved the quotes. The statues are so incredibly huge!

Monuments at night. So beautiful!! Wish the pictures did them a little more justice.

I loved the World War II memorial. The Vietnam wall was really touching. It was neat that you could see your own reflection on the wall.

So I know these pictures are all really messed up on the blog. I'm not quite sure how to do so many multiples. This is part of the WWII memorial. There is a pillar for each state.

The Washington Monument was cool because you could see it from pretty much everywhere in the city. The reflection of this monument looked really cool on the Tidal Basin as well.

The time in DC went by so quickly and I really wish I could go back and see a little more.