It's been a while...

I've been super busy this past semester with student teaching and finishing up my big master's degree project. We've had a great year so far and have had a lot of fun family time in between all the work that I'd like to document so I'll be playing catch up with the next posts.

It was really sweet to see how supportive and excited Jon's family was- everyone was there for his graduation- Kelby drove in from LA and Julie even flew in from Alaska!

Biggest news lately is that Jon has graduated summa cum laude with his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering! He's accepted a job with Honeywell working in their aerospace program with fiber-optic gyroscopes. He starts tomorrow. We're not exactly sure how things will play out for the next year. He was accepted last year into ASU's 4+1 program which allowed him to take four classes this past year that not only counted towards his undergraduate degree but also doubled up to count towards a masters degree. But in order to take advantage of the credits he'd have to continue full time at ASU this year in their master's program. All he needs is two semesters worth and he'd have his masters by this time next May. I feel like he should go for it. He's hesitant because he's accepted a really good job and would hate to give it up. He's also pretty worn out with school- he had some serious senior-itis this past semester (although he still managed to pull off straight A's without studying as much and missing some classes). As of now, he's registered for classes in the fall and we'll see how he feels at the end of the summer. We'll see how he likes Honeywell and if the break from school for a couple of months is enough to give him the extra push he needs to do school for another year. He says he doesn't feel the need to get a masters but he can definitely see the benefits and we'd hate to have all those free credits go to waste. He might kick himself in the future for not taking advantage of the opportunity. Plus, he's really proven to be such a good student- I know he can totally do it without much difficulty.

No matter if Jon goes to school next year or not I've decided to teach next year. It was a struggle to make the decision. I finished my student teaching in the beginning of April and immediately fell into a funk. I really enjoyed the routine and challenges/triumphs of teaching and being at home full time again was just not the same. I completely adore my girls and totally want what's best for them. Sally will be in all day kindergarten this coming fall and Sophie will miss her like crazy. I feel that Sophie is ready for preschool/daycare. But she may just go twice a week if Jon decides to go to school because he'll be able to watch her the three days he doesn't have classes. We'll see how it goes. The economy is not making it very easy to find a teaching position at the district that I'd like to work in (our neighborhood Kyrene district). But my brother-in-law has offered me a position at the charter school where he's become principal so I want to take advantage of that opportunity and get at least a year's experience there. It'll be a bit of a commute but I'm thinking the quiet time will probably be enjoyable- I really don't mind driving- I just hope I can avoid the rush hour traffic most days.

May has been amazing here in the weather department- which is really nice because I felt like we'd been cheated of some cooler weather last fall because it was still pretty darn hot all the way until November. We've been taking advantage by being outdoors as much as we can by going camping, riding bikes, hiking, going to the zoo, the park, on walks, and just playing/working in the backyard. All of those things that we'll have to avoid doing in the middle of the day in the hot Arizona summer sun. We have lots of fun planned for this summer but no more trips for a while because we'll be saving up all our vacation funds for a family trip to Alaska next summer when Julie gets married. We're very excited for her (and for us because we will finally be able to visit her and have some cool experiences in the Anchorage area)!

The kids are finishing their last week of school this week. Shule will be moving on to eighth grade in the fall (one more year till high school: YIKES!), Shazer is promoting to middle school, and Sally is graduating from Happy Apple Preschool. There will be lots going on so I may not be able to get to catching up the blog until later but here are some posts to look forward to: Christmas 2010, student teaching, Easter, Disneyland, and lots of other fun family stuff!