2011 Highlights

JANUARY 2011: PATRIOT CUP X

It's hard to believe how long I have been teaching 5th grade. One of the most enjoyable parts of my job is organizing our intramural sports program. Every year from September to January we play Noon League Football and the winning team gets their team name engraved on the majestic Patriot Cup. This year's game was no exception. The Steelers were crowned champions this year in a thrilling final against the Colts. In addition to setting up the schedules and teams I also post recaps of each game on our Office window, referee the games, and I usually submit pictures and an article to the local paper (CV Forum) after our big game. 

FEBRUARY 2011: KEEFERS FAREWELL 

In February, Keefers was deployed with his National Guard unit to Iraq for a mission scheduled to last throughout the rest of the year. We gathered at La Piñata in Fremont to enjoy a farewell dinner with Keefers before he left and as luck would have it, we were blessed to have Keefers return home for good shortly before Christmas! We're thrilled you are back with us. Great things lie ahead, Keefers!

MARCH 2011: WARD FAMILY BULLETIN BOARD

As Membership Clerk of the Ward one of my special assignments this year was to organize a bulletin board featuring pictures of all the members in our ward. In 2010, Brother Shaffer (outgoing Membership Clerk) took many of the pictures that you see on the wall in this picture. He ordered those pictures for me, and I took several others, and basically, I typed up name tags to go under each individual or family. It helped me to get to know many members of the ward who I never personally met and was an effective way to magnify my calling. I've moved on from being Membership Clerk and am now serving as Executive Secretary, but this is one job that I will always remember.

APRIL 2011: ASCD CONFERENCE

In April, the Assistant Superintendent invited me to take our district superintendent's tickets to this administrative conference in San Francisco. I jumped at the chance to attend and was able to visit with my principal while there, as well as a few other special surprises along the way. One unique meeting involved bumping into my older brother, Casey, who was there with the site staff from the high school where he's an Assistant Principal. I learned a lot about collaboration and being an effective school leader. As I set my sights on becoming a principal, this is definitely an important experience that will have helped on that journey.

MAY 2011: TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK

It is nice to be appreciated and every May we have a special Teacher Appreciation Week at school that is such a blessing. The school community puts together a special luncheon at which I first saw this poster. The class put together a special gift card to Best Buy for me to purchase our new camera. I have a reputation at school for being a huge Jeff Gordon fan which inspired this design. I have to set: thumbs up!

JUNE 2011: WILL'S 5th BIRTHDAY

The start of summer is always a busy time, but we have enjoyed a new tradition to kick off our summer with Will's birthday on June 20. This year Will turned 5 and we celebrated with his Primary friend at Parsons Park with a special party. Both my family and Kari's family came over on Saturday and Sunday of his birthday weekend for parties, and on the first Monday off from school, we had a picnic lunch at Kennedy Park where we rode the train, and then went bowling with Chuck and Courtney. We really celebrated the heck out of Will's 5th birthday this year and it was a lot of fun. In turning 5, Will had a fun summer to enjoy before starting his first big year of school in kindergarten!

JULY 2011: CHEVY SWEET SEATS CONTEST WINNER!

That's right. I won some sweet seats to the A's game on July 28 against Tampa Bay. I couldn't believe it. First of all, I got an admin job as Special Ed Coordinator and one morning, while in between site visits, I got a call on my phone from a Chevy representative that I'd won their contest for these A's tickets. I was a bit skeptical at first, but the tickets arrived, and so after celebrating Grace's birthday with family and friends at Parsons Park, I took off with a couple of friends to the Coliseum. Once inside, I could hardly believe my eyes. The seats don't get much better than this! We were literally on the field, down the 3rd baseline, and we had a picture perfect day. The A's were ahead 6-0 before their bullpen decided to hand the game over to the Rays who rallied for a victory. Either way, the real winner that day was me with those sweet seats! Now if I could just get Ed McMahon to come knock on my door with my Publisher's Clearinghouse check.

AUGUST 2011: TWAIN HARTE VACATION

Kari's co-worker owns a cabin in Twain Harte and we worked out a deal to vacation there for a week after summer school ended. We're so glad we did. The private beach, mini-golf course, fun little shops and restaurants, and especially the Snack Shack made this week one we won't soon forget. Amy and Laina joined us for a few days and then it was Kari, the kids and I finishing out the week. This was a LOT of fun!

SEPTEMBER 2011: OLD TOWN SACRAMENTO

Kari and I have made a tradition out of going to Sacramento for Labor Day weekend for the past 6 years. We went to Sacramento, and even a little further out to Reno for Hot August Nights, in past summers. But we've found a nice little Hyatt in Rancho Cordova that we like to visit and the kids enjoy, and we're able to make a day out of going into Old Town to see the sights, visit the museums, do some shopping, and even squeeze in a visit to the Sacramento Temple, before coming home via the Jelly Belly Factory. This year's trip was fun because we bumped into my family in Old Town near the Railroad Museum, had dinner with Grand Ma Mary, and we even recognized a long lost less-active member of our ward performing with a singing group called Brass Farthing. There is always so much to do in Old Town!

OCTOBER 2011: PUMAS SOCCER

Will's first  year of organized soccer was a lot of fun. Coach Victor was a great leader for the children. Will learned so much about the game and got his foot on the ball plenty of times this season. We played several games in October and our final record was 8-2. The team scored 69 goals and gave up 43. Our star player, Flavio, probably scored 63 of the 69 goals for the Pumas. Here I'm pictured with his dad (my right) and Galilea's dad (my left). We won this game - Game #6 of 10 - by a score of 4-3. 

NOVEMBER 2011: THANKSGIVING

Grand Pop and Omi relocated to a new home this year and we were excited to visit them for Thanksgiving dinner. Grand Omi was in town from Virginia and so it was a happy reunion. The kids had a lot of fun with their cousin Laina and after dinner we enjoyed looking at some fun Mustang videos on the iPad. Right, Kari?

DECEMBER 2011: CHRISTMAS

"I can't wait another 10 hours for Christmas!" Will lamented the other day. I had to break it to him that it would not merely be another 10 hours. He has entire Leap Year between now and Christmas. We have the 2012 London Olympics between now and the next Christmas. But there is simply no greater feeling than seeing our three beautiful children at the top of the stairs, bursting at the seams waiting to enjoy Christmas morning. We spent the month preparing for Christmas with Sunday night sing-a-longs we call Advent, a special Christmas Eve breakfast and sign-waving activity at a nearby busy intersection, the Nativity play in El Cerrito with our Cousins, and of course, Christmas Day at home and with Kari's family. Her brother, Kenny, brought his family out from Utah to help celebrate the season and wrap up the new year. 

All in all, 2011 was a very special year for many reasons. Have a very happy new year in 2012!