The best kind of homework

As an AP Government teacher, it has been a real treat to spend a couple of days as a tourist in the Washington, DC area.

We took a "Monuments by Moonlight" tour of DC on Sunday night.

This picture is through the window of our tour trolley.

This is the Washington Monument from the FDR Monument across the tidal basin.

After Dan's promotion on Monday morning, Carolyn and I visited the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress. We even got to sit in the court for a tourist lecture.

It was raining as we walked around the Capitol building.

Today we visited Thomas Jefferson's home of Monticello. Very impressive.

For lunch we ate at Five Guys Hamburger, which is supposed to be the East Coast's version of In-n-Out, complete with red and white ceramic tile. Not!!!!! Can wait to get back to the real thing!

Tomorrow we plan to go visit the home of James Madison, that author of the Constitution. Now this is my kind of homework!

Major Daniel Hayden

On Monday, November 23, we got to attend the promotion ceremony of Dan to the rank of Major in the United States Army. It was a great ceremony. Dan was promoted along with one of his college-ROTC buddies, while a couple of others of his Army ROTC buddies, and most of his family were able to attend. To have it take place in Washington, DC was even an extra plus.

Congratulations, Dan!

Fall in the High Desert

I know it's not the real fall that people get in the North or on the East Coast, but it's what we get here. There's a little bit of color, and a little bit of cool. Our high temps have been in the 60's a lot, though we still get some 70s. Lots of sunshine. We haven't had any rain since the first week of June -- and that was unusual.

So today was spent raking up leaves, cleaning out old flower beds, and general yard work. Soon it will get too cold for that.

This coming week is the last game of our high school football season. Even though we lose, it is fun to go to the games. There's something special about a cool evening in a high school football stadium. So the seasons change here, too.

Soon we will be traveling to Washington DC and North Carolina during Thanksgiving week, then to Colorado between Christmas and New Years. A lot more weather variety coming up, that's for sure!

Daylight Losing Time

So it got dark in the afternoon. Not ready for that!

Last night we got all ready for the Trick or Treaters, but there weren't as many as before. Carolyn's class carved our pumpkin, and even made a scarecrow out of some of our clothes and newspapers.

So we sat them on the porch, and even sat out there ourselves. It was a pleasant evening, and we enjoyed the kids who did show up. Now we have a ton of chocolate left over. Poor us :)


We got a new bed for Coda, so she has one in the kitchen and one outside. She seems to like it a lot, if she would ever stay awake long enough to enjoy it.

Fall Festivities

School is in full swing. Carolyn is enjoying 1st grade, as much as she hoped. School also means Friday night football and Saturday activities -- in addition to grading papers.


My club called T.H.E. C.L.U.B. had a float in the Hesperia Days Parade. The kids built a little Ronald McDonald House, and we advertised that charity. We often cook meals there on Saturday nights.


We went to the Saturday NASCAR race on Oct. 10. One of my students gave us pit passes, so we were down there during practice. We got to see our favorite car up close. I also went down on Friday for qualifying, and got to see some of the drivers up close. I even shook hands with Jeff Gordon.

This weekend was our annual Missions Fest. We had several ministry partners with displays at church, and I preached a missions message titled, "Turning the World Upside Down" based on Acts 17.1-15. (I was assigned the passage based on our preaching rotation, so I turned it into a missions message.)

We were sitting on the patio at night listening to Harry Potter books, but now with school work and cooler weather, we are getting behind. Of course, I think the NFL on TV has a little bit to do with that, too.

Family Reunion

Carolyn got to travel to Illinois for the Hulvey family reunion. She had a good time catching up with aunts, uncles & cousins that she hadn't seen in a long time. She was able to meet up with relatives from both her Mom's family and her Dad's family.

Carolyn and her Dad show off how high the corn is ("as high as an elephant's eye" -- and they were in Illinois not Oklahoma).

Shortly after she returned, she got a phone call that her mom was gravely ill. Carolyn was able to spend 3 days with her mother before she passed away on August 20. It was a sad relief! No more suffering.

But life goes on. We are now both in full swing of teaching . . . weekends are sure nice!

Southwest Road Trip

2000 miles with Harry Potter



The last two weeks of July we traveled to Tucson to see Carolyn's mother and brother, then to Colorado to visit Mike, Kallie & Jack. While driving we listened to two Harry Potter books. Well, we didn't finish book #4, so we listened to it while sitting out in our back yard at nights after we got back.


Dale and Barb own a limo business. They drove us around Tucson in this "mouse" limo. We hadn't seen Carolyn's Mom since she moved into a nursing home near Dale.


It was fun spending time with Jack. We took him on walks with his Jeep stroller.





We rode a train through the Royal Gorge in Colorado.


Jack is already becoming "electronic." Though he thought the iPod was a cell phone.

More Wedding Pictures

The following links will take you to two different sets of pictures taken during Holly's wedding.

Dan's uncle's pics

Our pics

Bells, Bells & Bells

Wedding Bells


Holly & Dan were married on June 20 at Edwards Mansion in Redlands. It was a great day! It culminated a week of various kinds of dinners and get-togethers; many of them at our house.

Church Bells

Three days after the wedding we took a group of 4 high school students to Europe. We went to London Paris & Rome. The pictures above are from Florence and Rome, Italy.

We even heard the bells of Notre Dame.


Liberty Bells

We didn't actually hear any bells on the 4th of July, but Carolyn and I went with Tim & Stef to a Mavericks baseball game and saw fireworks afterwards. That was after a BBQ and swimming at our house.

Springing Forward

Ever felt like someone changed the laws of nature? It doesn't seem like 3 months since I updated this site, but the calendar says so. Maybe someone is stealing some hours from my day. If so, I hope that person gave them to you.

January.

Holly & Dan joined us for a weekend of wedding planning. I'd like to say wedding planning is fun, but you've all seen "Father of the Bride." 'Nuff said. But the fun thing was an "open house" on Sunday afternoon. Several of Holly's friends, and folks from church stopped by to see Dan & Holly. It was a good time.


February.
Carolyn and I went to a NASCAR race again. It's not as much fun as it used to be. Too bad. Carolyn and I also went with some kids from my high school to cook dinner for the residents at the Loma Linda Ronald McDonald House.


March.
After spending a month at nearby Ft. Irwin, Holly got away for a couple of hours to see us on Sunday afternoon, March 1. That was a good way to start the month. Now with Spring about to spring on us, we have been working in the yard, waking it (and the pool) up, so that we can enjoy our great outdoors.