Monterey

I've been spending time with Johns Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins in Gilroy California. It's awesome. Playing games, eating good food, playing at the beach, and best of all shopping!!! I'm having so much fun, On Saturday I went to San Francisco and saw the Golden Gate Bridge, and the whole time I was thinking about that scene at the beginning of Full House where they're riding in the covertible with Uncle Jessie and Joey and baby Michelle in the back seat...ahh the memories! Remember ...

What ever happened to predictibility?

The milkman, the paperboy, evening TV.

Everywhere you look , everywhere you go (there's a heart).
There's a heart
A hand to hold onto.

Everywhere you look , everywhere you go.
There's a face
Of somebody who needs you.

Everywhere you look,
When you're lost out there and you're all alone,
A light is waiting to carry you home,
Everywhere you look.
Everywhere you look.

Oh man, I love it. And you'll never believe what I saw there! DOLPHINS!!! Yeah, real wild Dolphins! And Jelly fish! It was so amazing! And we went to Ghiradelli square and bought jewelry from some street vendors. We also went to China Town where we learned some cool oragami from a little chinese girl. It was pretty cool!

We also went to Monterey where we played on the beach, explored all the shops on the wharf, had some seafood, and among other things we found a brittish looking telephone booth and tried to see how many people we could fit into it!!! We fit 8 adults...I think we could have fit a few little kids in too if they were around. Also we took a tour of the bay in a glass bottom boat...it sounded pretty cool, but it the glass bottom part was LAME, we did get really close to some playful sea otters and seals though, it was pretty cool.

The thingt about being here with John's family is that I just miss John more! He's doing pretty good though, he's finally venturing out with his team on some missions. He says that the landscape is similar to Utah, and parts of Oregon, he says west of Jalalabad is heavily wooded, and east of Jalalabad is like southern Utah, minus the red rock...but ti is really rocky and dusty. He says it's getting up to 110 degrees, and will only get hotter....yuck! It's also pretty humid! But he says thanks for everyone's prayers!

That's all for now, I've got more adventures tomorrow...













These funny sea lions were basking on a rock, but when the tide came in, the didn't want to get wet, pretty funny!

Picture This...

Okay so today at first recess my Principal comes into my room and asks if she can speak with
me...and I think oh crap, what did I do...I have a great relationship with my principal, but it was a funny feeling and I really felt like I was in trouble! So I follow her into her office, she shuts the doors, and asks "So tell me about your life, how are you?" Okay not a weird question, but weird if she brought me to her office just for this. SO I'm getting more and more nervous because she's not getting to the point, seriously we talked for like 20 minutes, and in the meantime the recess bell rings and I try to get away to pick up my class but she keeps talking! About nothing! But she's the principal, so I talk too. Finally she says lets go back into your room...we walk back and I am feeling as awkward as all get out...The door is closed and the room is dark, I open the door, and find all of my students and all of their parents screaming SURPRISE! Now, you know me, I start to cry right away as I look around, and see a huge sign saying "Mrs. Lance Thank You We Love you, We will miss you, Good luck, love your 2008 students and parents!"
Then my little Nathan takes my arm, and escorts me down a red carpet (Okay it was red butcher paper, but it was scattered with rose petals and it might as well have been the red carpet to the grammies or oscars or something!) and at the end is my big office chair with balloons. Then one of the dads gets everyone's attention and 2 girls come up and give me a sash that says "worlds greatest teacher"...you know just like the Prom Queen or Miss America! Then a little girl comes and crowns me with a real princess crown, super fancy cute. And you know I'm still crying...and then one by one, each student walks down the red carpet, and hands me a red rose, and gives me a huge hug...I'm absolutely weeping, and so are most of my students and all of the parents. Then the Dad that was there said some amazing things to me, and he was crying, and then he said if anyone wants to say anything go ahead...so parents were saying the kindest things, through lots of tears and smiles, and then my students started saying the sweetest kindest things that just melt my heart and make me proud to be a teacher. Then I said some things like what a blessing this class has been for me because they were there with me to celebrate my marriage to John, and then I told them that even though having John gone is the hardest thing in my life, that I knew I would be okay because I had them to come to everyday. They love me unconditionally, and of course I love them without limits or reservations. I am so blessed. So then there were treats of course, the best gluten free cookies I've had since being diagnosed with celiacs. SO so sweet, then there were gifts! It was like Christmas only more emotional, and unexpected! They gave me a beautiful leather journal, an address book, a big jewelry box, some pampered chef stuff, and the best gift of all, a scrapbook that they made with each of their pictures with a letter from each of them inside. I just barely read all the letters and there are still tears rolling down my cheeks and dropping onto the keyboard. I am so blessed! Lots of crying lots of hugs, it's so touching to see 8 year olds show so much emotion. I just feel so so blessed. Now picture me sitting at my desk at school in a very lonely empty and naked classroom, I'm wearing a black dress with a green sweater, and of course I haven't taken off my sash all day or my crown! I have mascara all over my face I can tell, and I have a crying headache, but I'm smiling because I am so blessed and grateful to be alive.

I just feel so blessed! I'll share pictures of the actual event when I get them....
Anyway, an emotional and wonderful day!







I wore the crown and Tiara all day, my kids were so proud, especially when we were in line or something, and another teacher complimented me on the sash or the crown, my kids just beamed!

"Super Fancy Jewelry Box" "with a spinney thingy for your necklaces!!!" (Shaylie was SO excited about that detail!

beautiful leather journal, to write down all of my adventures!

This scrapbook was so adorable, a page for each child, with a pocket behind for a letter to me from each of them, their messages were so tender and sweet!An exerpt from Bree's letter "Mrs. Lance, I hope some day they will find a cure for silly acts disease. And I hope you have fun scoop a diving in Jordan" (okay so my silly acts disease (really its celiacs) must be the reason I am such a nut case right? and I just know I am going to have a blast scoop a diving in Jordan, this makes me laugh out loud! Ever wonder what those kids are thinking? I guess it makes sense though right? So cute!

ALSO

I think I must be REALLY crazy, I had my students make puppets, write fairy tale scripts, and put on a puppet show for younger grades! It was so cool, they could choose any fairy tale story, and give it an original twist, for example we had one group do "Beauty and the Beanstalk" and another do "Snow White and the Seven Dorks" Another group did "Alice and the cheer-pigs in football land" (my my what imaginations and creativity we have!) Anyway I wish I had a shot of the puppet theater I made , it is so grand. It was a ball, the kids were so so proud! And the puppets turned out a trillion times cuter than I expected! This is Shrek and Fiona, yep they're frogs, and the villian was Malifasnake (instead of Malificent) :)The wicked witch and the big bad wolfA Dwarf and Prince Charming :)Here are Alice and the cheer-pigs...again, so creative!