Giving thanks.....

Today is Thanksgiving!
I'm up early and the house is quiet (my rolls need some "raising" time).
My family is still sleeping soundly.
This gives me some time to reflect on things I'm thankful for:

My family
My religion
Friends
My job (I complain, but I really enjoy it and I'm thankful for the paycheck.)
My house (And our ability to host the family and friends who came by last night.)
Our health
Our freedom (Thank you, thank you, thank you to those who serve our country!)
Our heritage (One of my students was asked where his ancestors came from. He said he didn't think he had any ancestors!)
Food, clothing, and material blessings
Nature

I'm even thankful for some of those little things we often take for granted:

Rhodes rolls (My back up plan if the home made ones don't turn out)
The fireplace (Oh, the warmth it gives as I snuggle in front of it on a cold night!)
My cell phone (Yes, I was once stranded with a flat tire on the freeway- pre cell phones.)
My computer (How would I be doing this otherwise?)
My camera (Which I have a LOT to learn about.)
ETc.

I hope everyone has a great day today!
We will miss those who are far away!

♥
JoAnn

P.S. Don't you hate it when you get full too quickly and you can't eat all the delicious food you want? (That's kind of a mixed blessing!)

I'll soon be dancing.....

The carefree joys of childhood.....


In twenty-four hours I will be dancing and shouting for joy, too!
After another LONG night of parent conferences...
I have a five day weekend ahead.

And plenty of reasons to be thankful!
Yeah!

♥
JoAnn

P.S. Thanks for letting me borrow these pictures, Liz!

Multicultural Christmas trees....sneak peek

Disclaimer: I am not quite ready for Christmas to start yet.
(Not until we celebrate Thanksgiving.)
However....
We went to the West Valley City Cultural Center tonight and saw some pretty amazing Christmas trees representing a lot of different cultures.

(Click on the pictures to see them bigger.)

I think the display goes through the end of December.
It was free and well worth the visit.
(Their web page gives the hours as 9:00 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
They often have free concerts and other events at the Cultural Center. We like to go to the outdoor summer concerts and have enjoyed groups such as the Utah Symphony. If you are interested check it out.
Who doesn't like FREE entertainment?

Thanks, Candee, for inviting us to your jewelry show!
(Hope you sold a lot of jewelry.)
♥
JoAnn

P.S. Guess who's having a baby?
Yeah!

Beautiful sunrise....

Sunrise special.....

As I was driving to work a few days ago I almost ran off the road while admiring the sun coming up. Luckily, I had my camera with me. Too bad I couldn't quite capture the moment, although maybe you can imagine how pretty it was.

(Isn't it sad that some days we go to work as the sun is coming up
and return from work as it is going down?)

♥
JoAnn

Elementary arts.......I love them!

(All of the art on this page was created by students at our school.
Some of it was done last year.)

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
-Scott Adams

Our school has a wonderful arts program. The students get to spend time each week with an art, music, and dance teacher.
We recently had a Math/Art program for parents and it was quite amazing.
(Over 1800 pieces of art are now hanging in the halls at our school!)

The kids sang songs about gravity, fractions, and subtraction.
They did a rap about probability.
They told stories about the planets and other science concepts through dance.
It was impressive.

Many of our students have never had any artistic training. Most have never had any kind of private music lessons. Dance lessons are a real luxury. Some don't even have crayons in their home.

Beverly Taylor Sorenson has generously donated millions of dollars to give low income schools like ours, and others throughout the state of Utah, a wonderful exposure to the arts.
The grant only pays half of the cost and cutbacks may mean the end of the program. This could be our last year to have this opportunity.

If you have a chance, please let your local legislator know how important the arts are to our educational system!

Thanks,
JoAnn

(The Beverly Taylor Sorenson link is to an article in "The Salt Lake Tribune". It was written by Brian Maffly and Julie Checkoway. I hope I'm not violating copy right laws. It is a great article. Check it out.)

A Little Tale of Thanksgiving.....

Heroes.....don't forget their service

Today is Veterans' Day.
A day to remind us how much we appreciate all those who have served in our armed forces.

I love these quotes:
"The price of freedom is never free."
(I don't know who said it, sorry.)

"Courage is fear holding on for a minute longer."
-George s. Patton


Here are some of my heroes:

My dad served in the army near the end of World War II.

My grandfather served in the medical corps during World War I.

My nephew Shane served in Iraq.

and...
My father-in-law served in the navy.



Thank you to everyone who has served and sacrificed for our country!

♥
JoAnn