Christmas 2011

Christmas of 2011 has been just awesome! 

We are thankful for the Lord's blessing each and every day.  His goodness is far-reaching!

The weather has been unbelievable, no snow with temps in the 30-50 degree range.  Wow!  We even had a good rain on Dec. 29.  Crazy but nice! 

RJ has been home since mid-December but will fly back to sunny CA on Monday.  He has been redshirting on the Palomar College bball team and attending college.  He is finally settling in (what an adventure) and is looking forward to getting back to warmer temps. 

Ceci had a great Christmas and will turn 5 in less than 1 month.  We are planning a trip to California to see RJ in February.  I can't wait!  Hope everyone had a great Christmas and an even better 2012! 

Every year we are so blessed to have school on Veterans Day so that our whole student body can attend the program.  Since my dad was the commander of the VFW a few years ago, I have become the school liason for the program.  This year our speaker was Governor Daugaard! I was nervous, to say the least!  The program went very well and our student body was awesome!  The kindergartners always lead the Star Spangled Banner, which is what is happening in this picture.  It was a fun day.  The night before we celebrated the Marine Corp birthday at the VFW.  Thanks to all the vets who served, so we can live in a FREE country!!!  God Bless America!

STL CARDINALS WIN!!!!!

I am not much of a baseball follower, but I have to pull for the Cardinals, and what fun it was watching them win the world series yesterday!  It was an amazing series that will go down in history!  Go Cards!!

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/article_3aec789d-6d33-5997-a31b-360ace8bae63.html

STEVE JOBS STANFORD ADDRESS
http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=231871&title=Steve_Jobs_at_Stanford_in_2005

RIP

Sckerl Reunion

Over Labor Day we had the annual Sckerl Reunion.  It was a small crowd,  but fun as usual.  The night before was the Garbage Can Supper at my Aunt Maxine's so it was a family filled weekend!

Here we are!!!

Sckerl fam......Jerry, Max, Maxine, Rudy (dad), Rochelle, Mary (mom), Roy



Ceci and Alexis



The remaining Sckerl siblings!  What an awesome trio!

LUCKY!!!!!

Wendell really does like Lucky!

Best buds forever.....Lucky and Maggie Mae!

Lucky Boy.....thought his name was Lucky Girl but we were wrong!

Ceci loves Lucky!

At the beginning of July Wendell awoke me on the couch at 7:30 am with a surprise...a little orange kitty had had rescued from the middle of a busy hwy 10.  We think he fell out from under a car.  Hence, Lucky became part of the fam!!!!  I have been meaning to post about him, as we really enjoy him, although neither of us are thrilled at all aspects of having a housecat.  Yesterday he caught his first bird.  He is very sweet but feisty!

Sheila Anderson

Sheila Anderson

Tragedy at Sunset Colony

Thursday was a sad day at Sunset Colony as two young men were killed in an explosion.  One of them was one of the first graduates of Sunset Colony two years ago.  Both had been students of mine in the past.  I attended the wake last night along with 1,000 other people from Hutterite colonies in Canada and the surrounding area.  It was definitely a unique experience! 
Below is a link to the story about what happened, and a picture from our Homecoming Parade.  Please pray for these young men and their families!

http://www.aberdeennews.com/news/aan-2-dead-after-accident-near-britton-20110915,0,4354095.story

A tribute to the Sunset Colony men who were acting as vounteer firefighters when they were killed.

Soccer!

Ceci had a soccer game in Webster on Saturday. It was fun to watch and I think she had fun as well. She has also really enjoyed riding her "big girl" bike.

SEATTLE

I was lucky enough to go to the National American School Counselor conference in Seattle at the end of June.  And it was FREE!!!!  Londa Richter, the tech prep coordinator at LATI took me along for the ride!  It was really nice.  Seattle is cool and a very funky city.  Kind of modern but yet crunchy granola, get it?  Taking the ferry to Bainbridge Island was definitely my favorite part.  Here are the pics!  Loved ya Seattle, hope to see you again!

Patty Duke was a speaker at our conference

View from the space needle

Supper at Bainbridge Island....yummmmm!!!!!

Oh the things you see in Seattle!

Flowers were beautiful!!!

TRY-athlon

In July, Carrie James and I completed our first triathlon.  It was a sprint, or something like that, not the normal full distance, but challengin nonetheless!  We drove to Huron early on a HOT, humid day, not know what we were getting ourselves into!  We swam 3 times a week all summer long to prepare.  We were the last out of the water, but made up time biking and running.  We really had a good time and plan to return to Ravine Lake next year, hopefully with some more competitors in tow!

Storybook Land

Earlier this summer, (my blogging has gone to the wayside a bit!) my friend Cari's kids came to stay in Britton with their grandparents.  Sawyer and Olivia spent the afternoons with us and one day we went to Storybook Land, Ceci's favorite.  We even went on the hot air balloon ride and bumper boats.  It was HOT but really fun!

Flood detour adds time to drive on I-29 - KTIV NewsChannel 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and Sports

Flood detour adds time to drive on I-29 - KTIV NewsChannel 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and Sports

RJ recently went to St. Louis for the summer and had to take a detour on I-29 because of flooding. He went by this crew while they were filming this segment. What a year for weather! Water, water, water!!!!!

Goodbye!

RJ left for STL today. He plans to spend the summer with his day and then do who knows what?  It was hard to see him go, as it may be his last extended stay at home.  I really WISH HIM the BEST!!!  Remember, you can DO ANYTHING you put your mind to!!

DANCE!!!!!!!!!

Cecia had her dance recital a few weeks ago.  She had a great time and despite a little nose picking, she had a great time and was a great perfomer!   Tip toe through the tulips!!

Here is a pic we took for Mr. K's resignation party.....Ceci and he had special bond, and he always teased her with this lizard, miss you Mr. K!

RJ and Ceci after the recital

Ceci and her buds!