New Years in Texas!

Well I finally made to Wichita Falls.  Despite a cancelled flight on the 29th, a 1/2 night sleep in a hotel with a taxi drive to the airport costing $10, I was on my way.  I actually could have walked the short distance from the hotel to the airport, but that probably would have been asking for trouble.
Before and during both of the flights, I was very vigilant.  This means I stared and listened into as many conversations as possible, making sure there were no terrorists thinking of boarding my plane.  There were a couple of interesting guys waiting for the Dallas flight, but after I gave them the hairy eyeball, they quickly lost all thought of any bad behavior.
I'm taking a lot of pictures, but I don't know if they'll get on this blog because I forgot my USB cable. Maybe Jesse and Erin can find something for me.
They still had a bit of snow in Wichita Falls, so Jacob and Lauryn went outside to show me.

Merry Christmas!!!

I think this blog is going to be a two or three parter.  I don't have all the pictures, yet, and I'm hoping for some from Erin, Becca and Jenny.  Ben, if you can take a picture of yourself somewhere near a Christmas tree, or just you with some thing Christmas-y near you, I'd love for you to send it to me so I can put it in one of the blogs.

This first part should speak for itself...yep, Adam with his new blankie, and a for real gun (ya gotta love the guys!)  I guess if you're living in one of highest ranked cities for crime, or kidnapping, or one of those ugly things, you've got to be able to protect yourself.

Just got a family pic from Jenny and Adam.  I hope it's ok to blog their Christmas picture.  So far both Jenny and Adam's home in New Hampshire,  Erin and Jesse's in Texas,  Summer and Tyler's in Northern Utah, and Mariah and Jeremy's in Cedar City have snow!  Where's ours?

Here's a couple from Texas.

Here's Mandy and Mariah with Kevin and Katie.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Just got up, took my shower, now I'm off to do my last minute shopping.  Bill wanted to go over to the club to swim and sit in the hot tub, but I didn't think I'd have enough time for that; maybe on Saturday, just to relieve the tension/stress.  I think I'll take my camera with me today, and shoot some pictures.  I'm not sure what of, but I'll find something.
Well, I'm back, and hopefully for good.  I ran to WalMart to get the chili and chips for our traditional tamale Christmas Eve dinner.  Kind of weird, though, since it's only going to be Bill, Mandy and I.
Here's a few pictures of our walk to Sister Fletcher's house to deliver her gift.


 



As per the custom in our neighborhood, everyone gives gifts of food, hot chocolate, etc.  This was an interesting gift of what I like to call "the brain" (food).  Doesn't it look like a brain?

Visiting my Mother

Well, school ended for Christmas break, and Bill drove me right down to the Las Vegas airport to have a quick visit with my mom, Becca and Noah, Ben, and my brothers.  I've been here almost two days and don't tell Bill this, but it's been raining every minute!
Rebeccah's house (new) is very pretty, and she decorated it well.  I stayed Friday night with Becca and it was fun with her and Noah; I just wish we had more time.  Ben drove me over to mom's Saturday morning and stayed a while.  I think he's coming over today, not sure, though.  I also think Kathy is coming today (I didn't rent a car this time), and mom and I are going over to Bill and Lois' tonight (I think).  Boy, there's a lot to do, but not a lot of time.  For some reason I feel like I was "beamed up" and out of my life as I knew it, and will be returning so soon; it just feels kind of weird.  Nothing to be too concerned about, though.
I'm trying to get mom to use the computer, again, but as we all know, the computer is so dang daunting.  We'll see...

Christmas Break!

Oh boy, it is here at last. The last day before Christmas Break. It's also my long morning (two preps back to back) which to those of you who don't know, I don't teach until after lunch!  The classroom across from me is having and all day Wassail Party (Hot cider, reminiscent of jolly ol' England).  I got my cup of spiced hot cidar, and combine that with the pepsi and fudge I have on my desk, I don't think I'll even be teaching my afternoon classes. 
It's kind of funny how things are really realaxed this time of year:  you don't really hate all the kids, you may or may not be willing to pass that one annoying, slacker kid (just think, a D-, instead of an F), and the continual loop of the Christmas movie you're showing so you can  get those wonderful English essays graded, doesn't seem all that bad after all.  "It's snowing, Bert, It's snowing!"

Finals!

It's that time of year when students are fasting, praying, and doing pretty much anything they can to get through this dreaded week of finals.  Even my high school students are having finals.  Oh, I do love giving them (obviously not taking them :).  This is the time I sit at my desk and reflect upon those things that I need to this time of year.  I hope the kids do well (I'm not really all that bad), since I worry whether or not they "got" the material well enough to actually pass.  I've already scored a few tests, and some did quite well, while some did poorly.  This is when I wonder whether I taught them well enough, but I know there are many students who don't read the novel, and try to just get by. I love books, so I don't get it when they don't read!!!
My college class finals are really a bear.  They have four parts to it.  Grammar, vocabulary, comprehensive, and that dreaded essay that they have to write in class next Monday.  Oh, fun.

Our lights are up!

I think this is the first year we have had our lights up so soon after Thanksgiving.  My goal was to put them up over Thanksgiving weekend, but that didn't happen.  I came home from school yesterday, and found Mandy and Bill putting up the lights on the roof!  I was soooo happy.  I went inside and immediately put the lights on the tree and Mandy helped me with the rest of the decorations that needed to be put up in the house.  Thank you Mandy and Bill!  I'm going to try to get some pictures of the house and put them on the blog Saturday.
Things always go fast this time of the year.  I still have gifts to wrap and send off, three birthdays to take care of, and the most enjoyable of all, grade my 10th grader's persuasive essays.  Ho-hum.

I'm full!

Well we all had enough to eat, as usual.  Bill used the bar-b-que to cook both of the turkeys and they were really quite tasty.  I think I talked to all of you through the course of the day, and it sounded like your Thanksgiving went well also.  Just to let you know that I miss you all, and hope we can all get together soon.

Bill and I were trying to get some pictures taken so we can order our Christmas cards, but I don't think I like the ones taken so far.  Just to let everyone know, it wasn't the photographer (Mandy), it was 1/2 of the subject (me).  I didn't realize I looked so old!  Some times I feel like a teenage trapped in an old lady's body.  I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with what I've got, or get a face-lift (or a transplant).  Here's an example of what I have to work with.  By the way, Bill looked just fine.

Grandparents, again

Well, everyone, in case you didn't know it Bill and I are going to be grandparents, again.  As you already know, Adam and Ashley had little Katie last month, and now, Jesse and Erin are having little Landon tomorrow (Tuesday).  I wish I could be in Texas with them, especially since they don't have any family in Wichita Falls.  Thankfully, the Relief Society President is helping out with Jacob and Lauryn during the day, but it's not really the same as having your "mommy" there to lend a helping hand.
I'm going to go to help out a bit in January, so that will be fun.  I was just watching a medical drama, and they had a pretty horrific plane crash scene, so that made me a bit nervous to fly.  Oh well, I'll bite the bullet and do my part.

                                                 Jesse and Landon

Great movie!!!

Bill, Mandy and I just came back from a movie that was one of the best we've seen (and that's including "The Core").   It's called  "Blind Side" with Sandra Bullock.  It's a true story about a homeless high school kid.   For you country music fans, Tim McGraw is in it, too, as well as one of the cutest little actors who plays one of Sandra's children.  Go see it...right now!

Time to Change my Background...

I'm getting into the Christmas spirit, even though we just finished Halloween. I'm trying to keep up with the stores. I'm actually trying to decide what our Christmas card will look like this year. That means what to wear for our picture, take the picture and most importantly, this year, where to take the picture. Last year was our first photo Christmas card, and we just sat on the couch (real creative). I'm thinking something like the top of Angel's Landing, out on the airport runway, or maybe in front of WalMart. If anyone has any suggestions, just give me a call, or let me know through this blog. You will all be happy to know that my Christmas shopping is well under way. I want to really enjoy the season more this year, so doing things a bit earlier sounds good to me. Commercialism has really gotten a strangle hold on the world, and I hope I can keep in mind the true meaning of Christmas, and whose birth we are celebrating. One of my favorite stories this time of the year is The Three Trees. We usually have our own "three trees" in our front yard, but Bill had the middle one cut down, because it was being deprived of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (see earlier blog). It was humanely cut down, and now we only have two trees. Back to my favorite story...if you get a chance and haven't read it, do that this season.

Night class

I only have about 2 1/2 weeks left of the night class I teach at Dixie State College, and the end can't come any too soon. Tonight I was working with my students on writing a thesis statement. As I took their topics and wrote them on the white board to help them write a decent thesis statement, one of their topics was: "Drinking at a young age has had a negative impact on my life." (As if I have any background knowledge to draw from, to help them) Another student chose the topic: "Decisions I made in my life have had disastrous results." This topic came from a female student who dropped out of high school a couple of years ago because she was pregnant. (She is now raising her little girl on her own) These kids are actually really neat young people. They're in school, getting an education, and attempting to learn from their mistakes. I guess I had it pretty good, just thinking. Thanksgiving is just around the door, figuratively speaking, and I'm starting to get in the mood to bake, and shop. (well, if you know me, I really don't have to have a season to get me in the shopping mood :) How many of you watch "The Biggest Loser"? Last night they voted off the largest, ever, female contestant (Shay). She came on the show 9 weeks ago weighing 400+ pounds. I think she should have stayed. Instead, they kept that crying Amanda chick! Oh well, what can you do? Can you tell I've run out of things to blog...I can. See you later with some pictures, I hope.

The Last of The Halloween Pictures!

Becca sent Noah's Halloween picture yesterday, and Ashley and Adam sent Kevin and Katie's today. At last, I have them all, I think. Just so everyone gets in the blog with their amazing costumes, here goes. Aren't they all amazingly adorable..a just a bit scary?

Home Sick

I truly hope no one at school reads my blogs, because when I woke up this morning, I didn't really feel sick. Oh, I had my usual aches and pains (my knee was actually killing me), but I could have gone to school. Just call it my contribution to the employment segment. Just think, one more sub was able to work because of me! The way it works is, you need to go online and request a sub before 6:00 am of the day you need one. Well, last night at Parent Teacher Conferences, I was starting to feel yucky, I was on my second day of a nagging headache, my throat was feeling scratchy, and I was starting to ache all over. I decided to write some sub plans, in case I continued to feel that way as the night wore on. I went into the website for subs, and did all that I needed to do there, but I got a bit ambitious and clicked on the "request" tab. OOOPS! In all fairness to me, I really wasn't feeling well, anyway, and when I got home last night Bill and Mandy agreed that I looked terrible. Me, look terrible? What an insult...but I took the compliment and went to bed. I also took some NyQuill (actually quite a bit of NyQuill) and didn't wake up until Bill's alarm went off this morning. What is with alarm clocks, anyway? If it's mine, that's fine, but when you're not getting up? For Pete's sake!

Just a quick note

I seriously don't know why, after all these years of teaching, I still arrive at school way before most of the rest of the building. I think I feel like I need to "plan" (interpretation: sit in front of my computer). If I get to school only 15 minutes before the bell, which is what we are required to do by contract, I get a bit panicky. OK, I'm here, now what? Last night we had our first of two nights of Parent Teacher Conferences, and I'm a bit pooped. Can anyone say, "Week-end?" I've got to stop this rambling, but before I go, I'd like to wish everyone "good health" and please take care of yourselves. Forget this whole H1N1 flu thing. Drink a lot of water, get plenty of sleep (yeah, like I do), and take care of your loved ones.

Parent-Teacher conferences

Oh, how I love these nights! I'm sitting at my desk, waiting for more parents to arrive, so I can share insights about their child, or maybe just miraculous ways for them to pass my class. Not sure, just a thought. Do I sound bored? Right now I am. My cold pizza is sitting next to me, and I'm trying to decide whether to finish it or not. Once again, where's Logan when you need him?

I can't seem to delete this picture of Bryce, so I'll just call them our identical twins!

Jenny and Summer emailed their Halloween pics, so now I only need Adam/Ashley and Becca. I have Summer's on my computer here at school, so I'll put up one of hers, and get Jenny's when I get home and add it to this blog. Thanks, everyone. Yay! More pictures!!!

Where are the rest of the pictures?

OK, everyone (except Erin and Jesse). Where are your Halloween photos? Just to entice you slackers out there, here's one of Jacob and Lauryn. I'm serious about making my very first Halloween collage, so I can frame it and put it up on a wall here at the homestead.

Happy Halloween 2009!

It was a quiet, and not a very scary Halloween night here at the Endsley's. We had a total of 3 door ringers...all from our ward. Cute little kids, a few of them in my Primary class. Again, I over bought Halloween candy, but since Logan and Vicky are coming for dinner today, I'm sure Logan will take care of that! I'm expecting pictures of all of our grandchildren in their Halloween costumes, so "come on, everyone, send those photos!" Here's the only ones I could get, since snapping pictures of the little trick-or-treaters, as they came to our door, might be interpreted as a bit weird.

Happy Birthday everyone!

Well, I think we're finally getting down to the end of the October birthdays. I can't believe how many of them we have this month. I remember when Jenny was born. It was supposed to be October 15th (hi Kevin), but she was five days late, and arrived on her grandfather's birthday. At that time, my daughter and dad shared the only October birthdays, that I knew of. Little did I know... I had today off from school, so I decided to make some cupcakes to celebrate everyone's birthday. Bill had to teach at the college, and I was all alone; that can be dangerous sometimes. Here's a picture of my handiwork, and a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to everyone. That would be my dad, Jenny, Mandy, Jesse, Logan, Kevin, and now little Katie Arlene. (did I miss anyone?) By the way, I tasted one (yellow, pink sprinkles and German chocolate cake), and I just might go into the business :)

Fall Break

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Utah has what we call a Fall Break from school. Anyone who knows the "real" story about Fall Break won't find this tidbit that interesting, but for those of you who don't, here's the inside scoop. Fall Break is actually THE DEER HUNT. Don't tell anyone, especially PETA, since they wouldn't like it if we let school out for the massacring of four legged, antler bearing animals. I don't know about you, but all my life I've not been a fan of hunting, especially deer (Bambi). Then I moved to a farm in Corbett, Oregon, where we had cows, pigs, chickens, and horses. We raised the farm animals and had some of them slaughtered for our own use. Not the horses, of course. My, my, how I've changed. Now I need to tie all of this to my original conversation...Fall Break. Bill and I were really tired of teaching, and took full advantage of the couple of days off. We, of course, headed to Las Vegas, and did as much hunting as possible. That's supposed to be funny, since you all know there are no deer in Vegas. We did eat, sleep, and walk as much as possible, so I guess you could consider that part of hunting...NOT. We stayed at The Excalibur, but visited Mandalay Bay and The Luxor, to name a couple. I must say, walking down the strip as we went to the mall at Planet Hollywood, was much like running the gauntlet. There were a bazillion low paid, shall we say delicately, not-really-legal aliens, attempting to hand us flyers and cards advertising nasty shows. They kept flipping the cards as if they were snapping their fingers (to get our attention, I suppose) all they while shoving the cards in our path. Bill (my hero) scowled at them, and barked "nasty!" All in all, we did enjoy our time, and the time spent not grading papers. On the way home, I attempted to take some pictures of the canyon. Here are a couple of pics of nature.

No More Tree!

We used to have three lovely, shade trees in our front yard, that would keep us cool in the summer months (actually, since we live in the desert, it keeps us comfortable throughout the year). I also liked the idea of having those three sturdy trees out in front of the house, since they seemed sort of protective. Well, now there are two trees. We found out that the middle one (middle child...get it, Adam?) was not getting its daily nourishment, thus it began to lose weight...not really sure a tree can lose weight, but that's the best way I can explain it. It was really funny how the trunk was markedly smaller than that of its brothers (kinda cute, huh, calling trees brothers). Anyway, the outer ones began to get stingy with the water and whatever else it is that trees need to grow, and abused their smaller, weaker brother. Is this beginning to sound curiously like a fantasy? Getting to the point, we chopped the dang thing down, so now the larger, stronger brother trees are happy and living off the fat of the land. Boy, it's is definitely time for a break from work. Oh, that's right, we do have a break...Fall Break. Yay! I'll take a picture of our handy work tomorrow morning and add it to this post.

Grandma and Grandpa x Three!

It's kind of interesting how I can get so caught up in my own trials and worries, that I forget how truly blessed Bill and I are. We are going to have three more little ones that we get to lay claim to being their grandma and grandpa. That makes 15 grandkiddies in all, and we are so thrilled to be a part of their lives (the last 3 are yet to arrive, but it's as soon as tomorrow, and as late as May 2010). It's really a different feeling than giving birth to your own (DUH), and quite frankly, a little easier! There is also one more grandchild, that I haven't seen in years, who is 13. Douglas hasn't been a part of my life for years, and it's a long story. Unfortunately, the story isn't very happy either, but there are times when I think of him and what his life is like, and how it could have been different had certain things not happened. I do wish the best for him, and of course his dad, Doug. I pray that Heavenly Father is watching out for both of you. It looks like Ashley and Adam are going to the hospital tonight to get things underway with the birth of little Katie. When we get pictures, I'll post them here...good luck Ashley! Kevin looks a little unsure of what to do about his new baby sister, Katie. In time, he will love her and be a very protective big brother! Adam caught a cold and decided to imitate the Chinese.

Upcoming Conference/Marathon

Hey Summer, I now know you think I'm cool because you have the same background I do! Whoopie, instead of "same brain" we have "same wallpaper." (and I know how you love wallpaper!) Nothing much going on here, which has me worried. There needs to be something going on, ANYTHING! Well, The Marathon is coming this weekend, so that's something. Go Runners! Also, and more importantly, is General Conference for our church. This will be a great weekend, and we are looking forward to the words from our Prophet and his counselors. I have been busy with both of my schools. I think I finally have the schedule worked out for getting all my papers graded and back to my students without pulling my hair out. Now, I have some peace of mind and a very long prep period at the high school every other day. Anyone wanting to come visit, feel free, but check with me first, so I can make sure it's on a "B" day here at Pine View. I can feel a change in the seasons (other than we are now officially Fall). It was actually chilly this morning when I left for work, and had to use my heater until I got to school. We're looking forward to Adam and Mandy coming up tomorrow, and the icing on the cake will be the arrival of little Katie Endsley, next week. Good luck Ashley! (Yeah, you too, Adam). Erin sent me a cell phone pic of Lauryn after she had a spider bite under her left eye. It looked like she ran into something very large. I'm going to try to upload a picture or two that Erin sent from Texas. If it doesn't work, I'll leave it with this....see you all soon. Oh, I have an update on my class from ______. The powers that be finally took my suggestion, and after much screaming and gnashing of teeth, they moved a few students out, that made a more balanced class. Whoever said yelling never works? psst...I didn't really yell.

Is There Anyone Out There?

How do you like my Billy-Boy? I'm going to start this blog with a complaint..."I'm so tired of listening to the President of the United States lie to us." I just heard him use an example of how a man died because his health insurance had run out. He had cancer, and he died. OK...here's the truth (and anyone with half a brain can google, etc. the real answers): the man had cancer, and yes, his insurance had run out, but here's the REAL story. His sister said that they were able to reinstate, or get new insurance, he had a procedure (stem cell, not sure), and he did die... FOUR YEARS LATER (when the cancer ultimately got him. I just can't stand it when politicians use us and their twisted versions just to work for their side. How is everyone? I'm at school trying to figure out how to use up three hours of prep time and not fall asleep. One thing I do get done is my college grading, so maybe it's not too bad. I have some pictures I took over Labor Day, but they're at home, so I'll post this and add the pictures later. Our weather is still amazing (still a bit too hot), but considering tomorrow is the beginning of Autumn, I shouldn't complain. Vicky, if you're reading this, I'm so sorry we didn't get up to Provo last weekend. We were so busy with our college stuff, and I figured you'd have so much family to get caught up on, we would just be in the way. See you next summer! Summer and Tyler and kids were down for Labor Day weekend, prior to Maggie breaking her little arm!