We Wish You a Merry Christmas

because we certainly had one!

Reasons we loved our 2010 Christmas:

* Even thought Robert had to work all day, we still managed to spend a lot of time together
* We got to talk to our missionaries - Brett and Natalie.  They are both doing great!
* Lots of family time...including our family from out of town
* Christmas caroling at a nursing home with our cute little Cub Scouts, so fun!
* Temple Christmas lights (same as our first sort of date)
* This perfect necklace from my love: http://www.dogeared.com/whispers-heart-gold-dipped-necklace
* The start of a new tradition - a Christmas Eve Eve party with our friends
* Actually surprising Robert with the big gift he was hoping for (found it on sale at Costco 2 days before!)
* Our cute little puppy wearing a Christmas dress from my mom
* The gorgeous weather - and the SNOW!!!
* Finally taking that huge family picture that Gma has been wanting...can't wait to see it
* Christmas movies
* Eating way too much and lots of leftover food
* And of course, the incredible Spirit that we get to feel as we focus on our Savior

"As we seek Christ, as we find Him, as we follow Him, we shall have the Christmas spirit, not for one fleeting day each year, but as a companion always. We shall learn to forget ourselves. We shall turn our thoughts to the greater benefit of others" 

- Thomas S. Monson
 

Meet Lisbon

She is our completely adorable new puppy!

 Don't you love her?

We do...she is seriously awesome and must have come pre-trained or something.

Oh Grandmother, what big teeth you have!

Our first Halloween together (last year), we were both wishing we had a reason to dress up.  But the holiday came and went without any fun costumes.  This year we were definitely excited when our friends decided to have a Halloween party.

Normally, I get a little bit stressed trying to come up with an idea.  So we are lucky to have family who supplied most of the look!  Robert got to wear gma's duster and my mom's reading glasses!  (My mom even made a nightcap to complete the look!)  And my wonderful aunt loaned us the awesome red hood(?) and basket! 

We had so much fun at the party and even ended up winning the "Best Pair" award for our costumes!  And my big, bad wolf actually made two little kids cry! (The mask had to stay off for most of the night).

Hope you had a festive Halloween!  Don't you just love the holiday season?! 

Elder Skinner

Well, since it's my little brother's birthday and I cannot tell him in person, I need to say it somewhere!

Happy Birthday, Elder Skinner!

Thursday

Thursday was pretty much a perfect day!  Here's what happened (do you know what that phrase is from?):

• We woke up to the sound of rain
• My students were really productive
• School ended at 12:25
• That was followed by 8 hours of parent teacher conferences (I am one of the very few teacher who actually enjoys conferences)
• Conferences were interrupted by my incredibly thoughtful husband showing up to say hi and tell     me he loves me (the parent thought it was sweet...SO DID I!)
• Our wonderful PTSO brought us dinner.  And while I was so booked I did not have time to eat, I did have a chance to grab a roll...oh my stars!  I am now in LOVE with Texas Roadhouse Rolls!!!
• All of my parents were super great and really supportive.  Unfortunately, that is a rare occurrence nowadays.  Explains why my class is wonderful this year!
• The pumpkin chocolate chip cookies I made for the parents and kids were just about gone by the end of the night
• I talked and laughed with the other 4th grades teachers for a good hour after conferences.
• I came home to a very cool house with doors and windows open - I LOVE FALL!
• My previously mentioned thoughtful husband made us grilled cheese sandwiches with hot chocolate (what I always crave on cold, rainy days) to enjoy while we sat in bed and watched Seinfeld. 

 

LOVE

I feel like I have not had much to blog about lately.  So as I was looking at other blogs and enjoying the afternoon - school got out at 12:25, and I was thinking about how much I absolutely LOVE that we get a Fall Break!  (While I really do have a nice group of kids, the first quarter is always a little bit chaotic).  So then I decided that I could post about the things I love; pretty random train of thought, I know!

1 - the gospel

2 - my really incredible husband, and really just marriage in general

3 - familia

 

 4 - adorable nieces

5 - Nash

6 - fall break and fall weather

It was 73 degrees in our house this morning...with no AC!

7 -Target

8 - orange

9 - Murder, She Wrote

10 - Hannah Swensen Murder Mysteries

If you are looking for something to read, this is the first book of the series... 
they are so fun and full of tons of recipes!

11 - Mexican food

12 - Christmas music

some of my very favorites!

13 - the number, 13

I # Malibu

After ten years, we finally sold my car.  I got my car during senior year of high school, and it was the perfect, reliable little car.  However, over the past year it started having some problems, and so we decided to put it up for sale before it started costing a lot of money. It was kind of sad, but I was happy that we were able to sell it so quickly!  

After A LOT of looking, we finally found a car that we felt good about.  Even though it took much longer than I would have liked (and I was definitely not the most patient), we are so grateful that things worked out the way they did and that we ended up with this car:

So great to come home to this in the driveway...

thanks to my sweet husband getting everything taken care of!

Can you tell how happy I am to be part of a two car family again?

Definitely a luxury that I have learned to really appreciate!

I absolutely love it!  It is so fun to drive a new car (at least new to me).  And I am so excited about all of the little, random features...
* the cute little Chevy symbol in the middle of the taillight
* the blue background light on the door handle
* the feature that tells me how many miles left until I need to get gas
* the weight censored air bags
* etc

And this is just a cute commercial for the 2008 Malibu -

Gma

Today is my Grandma LeBaron's birthday; she is 77.  

I am so grateful for her and for the wonderful example she has been to me.

I always look forward to spending time with her and absolutely love our conversations together.

I hope to one day be the kind of woman, wife, and mother she is.

Donna Brinton LeBaron

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GMA!

(I remember when we were younger, we thought it would be pretty awesome, and slightly amusing, to start calling her Gma...the best part is, she liked it and it stuck!  That tells you how awesome she is, doesn't it?)

Mr. McKay

So as you know, there was been a Mrs. McKay for quite some time - a year and four months to be exact.  While some of my students still call me Miss Skinner, most of them like the idea of Mrs. McKay as much as I do (or they are finally in the habit of calling me that).

Well now there is a Mr. McKay!  

Robert had the chance to interview for a teaching position at ASU and they thought he was right for the job.  So now we have two teachers in this house!  How cool is that?  He is teaching WPC101, an introductory course to the business school, at ASU for the fall semester.  So far, so good!  He loves it!

I have to admit, it has been pretty great for me as well!  I have someone to grade papers with, and I think he even understands some of the frustrations in the life of a teacher.  haha

Meet Mr. McKay
(doesn't he look professional...aka handsome?)

Kayaking in the Rain

Have you ever played in the rain?

  What about kayaking in it? 

I came home from work last Monday to find two kayaks in the garage.  As soon as Robert got off work he took me to the retention basin to kayak!  It was so perfect...plus, what is better than a random, spontaneous date to start out the week?

 There was so much water in the basin (which was crazy considering it hadn't rained in two days).  Plus, the ducks loved it as much as we did - there must have been at least 50 of them swimming...away from us!

SO much fun!

Love him and his crazy ideas!

So next time it rains...see what incredibly awesome thing you can do with the people you love!

When a woman gets an orchid

...it's, well, she feels like she is floating on a cloud of infinite possibility.

(from the adorably cheesy movie, The Perfect Man)

It is the absolute best when you get to come home to the laundry done and this gorgeous flower sitting on the dining room table!  I am a lucky girl to have such a fantastic husband.  (Isn't it smart of Home Depot to sell  flowers?)

Back to School

Well, summer is officially over!

In fact, the first week of school is now complete! 

I am excited for the new year and to get to know all 31 of my kids.  My new class appears to be pretty nice and mellow...quite the change from last year.  So here's to a fresh start each year!

My new bulletin board - I love it!

(Notice some of the unique names?)

Inception

So on an almost perfect Wednesday afternoon (the rain only lasted a few minutes), I got to go on a date with my babe!  Dates are always fun, but for some reason when they come in the middle of the week it feels especially nice!  Any chance that we have to spend time together is seriously heaven to me. 

Today we did the cliche date - dinner and a movie.  Except for the fact that the movie we saw today was nothing short of AMAZING! 

Here's the trailer

The concept for this movie is just completely out there.  For the first part of the movie, I felt like I was not able to comprehend everything going on.  But somehow, but the end of the movie, they take this pretty crazy idea and it all comes together perfectly and is pretty brilliant!  Plus, it is kind of nice to go to a movie that actually requires some attention and thought!  Oh yeah...and then there's the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio is seriously amazing and I was pretty darn excited to see that he finally made a movie that is not rated R.  (I really enjoy Cillian Murphy as well...and JUNO!)

Long story short, go see the movie!  It will get you thinking and you will love it.  

I want to go again.

Schnoodles

So we have been talking about getting a dog!  I am not sure how soon this will happen, but needless to say I am extremely excited!  After looking at what seems like thousands of breeds, we are thinking of this:

Isn't he absolutely adorable and hilarious?  

I think so!

"My Heavenly Father Loves Me"

Whenever I hear the song of a bird
Or look at the blue, blue sky,
Whenever I feel the rain on my face
Or the wind as it rushes by,
Whenever I touch a velvet rose
Or walk by a lilac tree,
I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world
Heavenly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see
The color of butterfly wings.
He gave me my ears that I might hear
The magical sound of things.
He gave me my life, my mind, my heart:
I thank him reverently
For all his creations, of which I'm a part.
Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.

This past weekend I had the chance to drive up to the LeBaron Family Reunion alone.  With as busy as our life is, I rarely take the time to think...especially for 90 minutes with uninterrupted silence.  As I drove along the Beeline, I was blessed to be reminded of my Heavenly Father and His love for me.

Almost two years ago, my older brother Daniel was in Missouri doing some rotations for medical school.  Marie, his wife, had been staying in Utah with her family, but took a weekend to go back and visit Daniel. Just a day or two after she arrived to Missouri, Marie's dad and brother were killed in a plane crash.  She stayed with Daniel until the morning, and flew back to be with her family for the next few weeks.

For some reason, that weekend two years ago came to mind while I was driving.  As I thought about the way things happened then, it occurred to me what an incredible blessing Heavenly Father provided in allowing Daniel & Marie to be together when they learned of the crash.  Obviously, He was aware of what was going on in their life and what would strengthen and bless them at that specific time.

This provided me with a very powerful and important reminder that our Heavenly Father is very aware of each of us and our needs.  He knows what is best for us and He will always be there when we come to Him.  I love that this song shares a few simple things that illustrate His love.  I am especially grateful that He provided me with this experience so that I could be reminded and feel of His love for me. 

Home Depot

 

Does this make you happy?

A few years ago I had the chance to run to Home Depot to pick up something for my job.  As I walked through the store, every worker I passed stopped me to see if they could help.  As I left, I remember thinking that was some pretty awesome customer service.

Anyway, we had a chance to spend a very large part of our first few months of marriage/home-owning at Home Depot.  I absolutely LOVE this store!  And now that I have just a few weeks of summer left and I am trying to finish all of the little details on our house...I am back!  

I didn't realize how much I missed it until we pulled into the parking lot yesterday and I turned to Robert and started gushing over how much I loved last summer and all of the time we spent at Home Depot.  (It probably has something to do with the husband and house as well).  

I am sure it sounds pretty ridiculous that I would love a store like this, but this wonderful place has really helped us to make our beat down house and pretty nice little home.  So I guess I now have 3 stores - Target, Costco...and Home Depot! 

 

La casa de mis suenos

So quite some time ago, I came across this gorgeous picture -

 

La casa de mis sueños

(My dream home)

There are so many things that I absolutely love about this home: the porch, the incredible yard, the shutters, the picket fence, etc. 

I cannot wait for that point (years down the road) when we get to design a home! Or maybe just find an awesome one like this!  But for now, we are very happy with our first home...I have pictures to post soon.

3 Years

Today is a sad day...my two favorite girls have just moved across the country! 

Madi & Gracie

Is it too soon to start planning a trip to visit the Midwest?

Three years sounds like way too long!

First Lookout

Over Memorial Day Weekend we had the chance to head up to my  grandparents cabin in Strawberry for a couple of days.  It has always been fun to go up and spend time with family and relax.  However, now that I get to take Robert, it is even better!  It is fun to show him a place that has so many fun memories from my childhood. 

One of the things we used to do every summer when we spent time at the cabin was to climb the mountain up to First Lookout.  So we got up early on Memorial Day and hiked.  (The sad part is it was so much easier when I little...apparently I need to get a grip).  

Climbing.

We had a hard time trying to get a decent picture together once we got to First Lookout because the sun was so bright!  And of course we look awesome after climbing a mountain...

So we tried one in the shade.

And then one with the view...isn't it gorgeous?

This is my personal favorite! 

I hope that at some point in our lives we have a place like this to go with our children.  I have always dreamed of living in a small town, and since Robert grew up in one...maybe it will happen!  But for now, we have my grandparents' wonderful cabin in Strawberry!

The Gila Valley

We had the awesome chance to go on a little road trip to see the Gila Valley Temple.  Robert had just finished finals, and I really needed a break from my lovely students!  So I took some time off and we headed out to take a look at the newest temple in Arizona.

(I found this picture from www.ldschurchtemples.com)

It's beautiful, isn't it? And it was so much fun to get to spend some time together!  Plus, we had the chance to meet up with my brother and his family at the open house and then get some Mexican food after!  (If you ever visit Safford, eat at Casa Manana...they have some really good food!).  It was especially fun to be with the little girls as we went through the temple.  

 Aren't they the most adorable?

I feel so blessed to live so close to a temple.  It is so incredible to watch as the earth continues to be dotted with more temples to bless the lives of those nearby.  I especially love getting to go there with my husband!