Lots of New Things... Kinda

So, I just realized I haven't updated the blog for a month. Oops. For thanksgiving we went to Spokane to visit Scott's family. While there, Scott and his dad took some family pictures for Christmas cards that will be sent out soon. Scott took this awesome picture as well of us girls. It was great to see everyone; we hung out and played lots of games, stuffed ourselves to the rafters with turkey and went shopping on Black Friday at 6 in the morning. In addition, we got to spend some time with Scott's uncle David, who is now living with them. He is 50 years old and has down syndrome. I've never really been around anyone like that before, but it was so neat! He has such a sweet spirit. Sometimes he would just start laughing and laughing and no one would know why. He put on a wonderful "Elvis concert" for us all as well. All in all, it was just really awesome to be with someone so innocent, and child-like.

Guess what!! I'm DONE with college. Yes, that is right I am completely finished! (This picture is from graduation during the summer) Yay! My last day student teaching was Friday and it was very bittersweet. I will really miss those kids! First graders are so much fun and they are so excited to learn. Teaching can be hard and I think many people don't realize how much there is to it. Day to day can be so monotonous and sometimes you just want to scream. But these past four months I have had a handful of those little moments that remind me why I became a teacher. Allow me to share... One little girl in the class really struggles with reading. But a few weeks ago she came up to me and you could just see the excitement in her eyes spilling out. She was holding a book and said, "Mrs. Winn! I read this whole page by myself and I read it fast!" It probably doesn't seem like much but oh my goodness, it literally made me tear up!

On the last day, the kids gave me a book filled with letters they had each written to me. Sooooo precious! One little boy also gave me a gift and card he made on his own. The gift: one of his favorite Pokemon cards. But, as great as that was, the best part was the message inside the attached card. It said: "Bats are cool but the pritieiest thing in the hl wrld is ms. win." Priceless.

This month there are some great things to look forward to! Scott's family is coming out in a week for his graduation. Then, Scott and I are going to visit Canada as a graduation gift to ourselves. We are going to Victoria BC (as seen in the picture). I've never been so I can't wait. We will get to visit both my family and Scott's before the month is through, and finally move down to our new home in Mapleton, Utah.

Also, this is a picture Scott took a few days ago. These are three members of the Academy of Comedy group on campus. Sweet jumping skills. Fast photo taking reflexes.