Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Christmas 2011

This was our first (Married) Christmas together and it was a ton of fun! The family gatherings all started on Christmas Eve and didn't end until New Year's!

Here was the Chilton Christmas...


Over the years "Ugly Sweaters" have been famous for parties, well the Chilton kids don't have to go buy one they just go to Nanny and Mark's closets.  They all decided to wear them on Christmas Eve in honor of Nanny and Mark.  It was pretty funny when Mark showed up in one and then realized that a few other people were wearing his clothes!


Our first (Married) Christmas together!


Aaron Dean got a life-size piano and Jade decided to bring back the
olden days and play "I'm an Indian Girl."
 She used to play that song over and over when we were little.


I love family pictures! We don't have very many!


Aaron Dean riding his tractor, which has a real radio!


Bekah and Aaron Dean opening a present from Matt-Matt


"Cutest Elf Ever" -North Pole, Alaska
Matty went to Alaska for a basketball tournament and
found the shirt-it fits Aaron Dean perfectly!



Aaron loves his Matt-Matt!


and his Diddy!


This year the Chilton crew decided not to buy each other gifts and instead put
the money towards two children that needed the gifts. We adopted two Christmas Angels from the elementary school. On Christmas Eve we played Dirty Santa. We made our own rules-one present per person, you cannot spend any money, and it has to come from your house or be something you want to get rid of! After Dirty Santa we played "Chilton Trivia," where everyone submitted questions throughout the year! It was halirious and way too competitive-but hey we are Chiltons!


Ken opened a camo hat and jacket (Dad's gift) and
everyone started singing "fat guy in a little coat"



Nanny's gift won the number one gift! It was so perfect that Mark was the one who opened it. It was a large framed photo of her! We all laughed so hard our sides hurt! Great job Nanny!


 

Gray and Gary's openings were an Egyptian head and decorative deer. Dirty Santa was a lot of fun and I cannot wait until next year!

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Our second family gathering was at Seth's parents
with his parents, grandparents, and the Gipson crew!


Jaden and Ava Reese got a ton of cool stuff-
one favorite present was their robes from Mawmaw and Pawpaw, they can now
 join Mawmaw in the mornings outside in the swing!

Pawpaw wanted pictures of the crew!


The new game-Headbandz! Which is pretty funny!



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Our last gathering was in San Francisco to see my other side, the Walton's.  We spent almost a week and it was so nice to get away!



Drew and Cool-Connor! Connor is at the stage where he repeats everything.  We taught him to say "Oh Yea Baby, I'm Cool Connor, Howdy Partner, etc."  Mostly southern terms!


Connor and Sunnie Skyping to Lee and Rhonda! We skyped through dinner and Chinese Christmas! Next Year we will be at Lee and Rhonda's in Denver! Can't wait-Tim Tebow here I come!


Every year we play Chinese Christmas- which is very similar to Dirty Santa...






We met up with one of Jenny's friends that she travelled to Fiji with this past summer.  Sarah, was in town for the holidays so she joined us for lunch and shopping around the pier!



Then the girls headed over to the Golden Gate theater to see the Grinch.  It was so cute! The man that played the Grinch was a perfect Grinch! 


The holidays were so much fun and sadly I cannot wait to get back to substituting!



Monday, December 26, 2011

The Reindeer Feed Store

I went back to my second grade class to visit during their Christmas party and set up a little "Reindeer Feed Store."  The inspiration, of course, was from Pinterest. The kids made reindeer food, decorated Gingerbread men, played Christmas Bingo, and had some awesome cupcakes!  It was so nice to see all the kids and their parents again!







 I am sure I will do this activity with my future students during the holidays! Here is the link where I downloaded the reindeer food labels: http://www.thetomkatstudio.com/free-printables-reindeer-food-tags/

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Graduation-Drury Class of 2011

It was a wonderful last day at Drury-COLLEGE GRADUATION! I completed my Bachelors of Art in Elementary Education with a minor in Global Perspectives. (A total of 143 hours in 3 years and-not too bad!)  I received a call last week from a principal and I will be filling a maternity leave for a teacher in 4th grade! I cannot wait! Hopefully it will lead to a full teaching job for next fall.  I want to thank my family and friends who supported me through this journey and now on to my masters!




Monday, December 5, 2011

Baby It's Cold Outside!

I listen to Christmas music constantly once Thanksgiving is over.  I listen to Pandora in my car and at home. I just heard the Christmas song "Baby It's Cold Outside" and it makes me want to go back to Cabo San Lucas for the warm weather! Seth and I went to Cabo San Lucas this summer for our honeymoon! Of all the places I have travelled Cabo is one of the top 5.  The weather was perfect.  We stayed at all all-inclusive resort and had a great, relaxing time. Our favorite part of the trip was Lover's Beach, where we snorkeled.   I cannot wait to go back for our 5 year anniversary!