Paddy Cake!

I was looking through our cameras this morning and I found some I forgot to post about a while ago.....

Our little Miss Daley is playing paddy cake now! Here is a cute video...

Updates on Life and Student Teaching!

Here is a little update of my experience student teaching...I have had a blast! I knew I liked teaching but I'm beginning to love it. I am now teaching all the 7th grade math classes! I am having a blast getting to know the students and helping them find a love for math. The more I teach math the more I love it! Weird huh? I have gotten a couple of little notes and some food from my students....haha I don't know why they give me food, do I look skinny starving? Haha in my dreams! My students are so sweet and nice. I especially love the notes....I had just gotten done teaching my 1st hour a lesson for the first time and I was telling the class to clean up....well I look on my overhead a piece of paper folded up....I feel bad but I yelled "Who put trash on my overhead?" (You wouldn't believe all of the places the 7th graders can find to put trash in....) then one of my favorite students quietly says, "it's a note for you!" With a sweet smile...my heart broke....I apoligized to her and told her how sorry I was.... Here is what it said...

Mrs. Finch,

I thought you did a great job on your 1st lesson! Good luck on the rest of the day!

Love,

(Student's Name) with a heart next to it.

PS. I like your shirt.

Here is another one that was given to me the day before....This one is from a student that I taught swim lessons to a while back when I was a sophomore in high school....she was a brave little swimmer,

Mrs. Finch!

Thank you so much for helping me with my math! You and Ms. Ping are both GREAT teachers! Because of you and her, I enjoy math...HA! It's weird, I know. So thanks again for everything and I like to swim also!!! Ha Ha.

Love ya Mrs. Finch ;)

Love,

(Student's Name)

Teaching has its great days and its tiring days....Last Friday I thought to myself...can I make it for another 11 weeks? The students were so ready for the weekend that I could hardly do anything to keep there attention...I kinda gave up the last two hours (which made matters worse) but I talked to Denver and my Auntie Carol and they pumped me back up with some great suggestions! Thank you so much, and your suggestions have worked beautifully! The main point they both gave me was don't ever give up or let your guard down! You can do it! Teaching is so demanding....You honestly have to be everything....a teacher, a scientist, a comedian, someone creative, a mom, a counselor, a psyciatrist, a pep speaker, etc. etc. etc..... I constantly find myself telling students different tips on how to be happy everyday, random interesting facts to ease their fear of math, that everyone can go to college, you can learn anything if you have the desire and will to do it, and what respect really means. I could go on and on and on. I'm so glad I get to go through this challenging experience it has really helped me realize how important education really is. I love teaching. The more I do it the more I feel this is what I'm suppose to do. I think the hardest part about it is that I slack on my mommy and wife duties....and I miss Daley and Denver soooooooo much! But it's worth it...only 10 or 11 more weeks left!

Denver and I bought a truck this week! Denver and I really like it....it is a green '96 GMC with dual exhaust....it is two door with a bench seat.....I'm loving going on drives with him and sitting in the middle again! It reminds me of the good ol days! Denver will be starting a new part time job here next week! We are excited! Denver has been such a support to me these past few weeks and he is the best Mr. Mom!!!!!!!! There are honestly no words to describe what an awesome Dad and Husband he is other than....PERFECT. I wish I could put it in words......Let's just say that I feel like I can do ANYTHING if I am with him.....

Denver and I have been working to lose some weight this year! I know I can't do it without him and he is such a good support! We have been trying to cut our proportions down and we are gearing up to start actually dieting....these past few weeks I haven't lost anything so we decided that cutting back isn't enough....we also got an eliptical for Christmas which is a great help so we don't have to go running in the cold weather....and we recently got some awesome workout videos to make exercising more fun! (I found the eliptical kinda boring....) So hopefully with a little more harder work, we can slim down! If you guys have any suggestions we would love it! Let us know!

Now a little update on Daley! She has been sick for about a week and a half with a bad cough! It is full of mucus and it sometimes makes her throw up! We have taken her to the doctor and she says she is okay..... :( But she is still her little cute self....when Denver and I took her to the doctor the nurse came in and was talking to her telling her how cute she is...and Daley gives the nurse the cutest smile and tilts her head like "coy" kinda like saying..."I'm so cute huh?" Haha then again when the doctor came in and doing the same thing...telling her how cute she is and she tilted her head again! Denver and I were laughing our heads off! She is such a little show off...

Lately sometimes, when we try to stick the bottle in her mouth she won't take it...SHE has to be the one to put it in her mouth!

She loves to go to high school and middle school basketball games.....she can sit and watch a few basketball games for 2 1/2 hours no problem....but she can barely make it through the sacrament in church....hummmmm Haha....she's a cutie though!

She loves to have spitting contests with Uncle Tanner! Let's just say she doesn't hold anything back.....She'll get you as wet as you will let her.

She is sitting up so good! She is starting to move around a little bit....not crawling yet just kicking her legs, rolling, and reaching for toys she sees.

She has been showing off in the saucer that Brook and Dallas let us borrow....sometimes when you talk to her she'll squeel, jump, and rock for you.

Christmas...

Wow.....where to start? Our little family had a blast for Christmas! We got tons of adorable pictures of Daley as you can see below..........Denver and I couldn't put the camera down. It started on Christmas Eve, My mom, Hayley, and I got together and made homemade cinnamon rolls for the extended family to bake Christmas morning like we do every year. Then we just hang out for the rest of the day. Pop was working on his saddle for a big trip down to Power's Garden and Daley came to help out a little bit. Well she sure made some cute pictures to help Pop out.

Denver and I love the pictures of Daley with Papa and Pop! We had to throw this one in there too to keep them together!

Pop teaching Daley the in's and out's of riding.....she even got to try on his cowboy hat!

Like mother like daughter.....

Daley surprisingly did great when she told Santa what she wanted for Christmas. We were so proud of her! After Santa came to Grandma and Grandpa Alder's house all of the kids got ready to perform the Christmas Nativity as we have been doing for over 40 years for the 1st Street neighborhood in Thatcher. We all had to bundle up!

Daley was sure spoiled by Santa and all of her grandparents this year! She is sitting in her new rocking chair cuddling her new dolly....haha well I guess she is checking out her new dolly!

This is Daley's new Sunday dress she got for Christmas. We just thought she looked like a dolly in it!

Here is a little update on our little fireball....she hasn't had her 6 month appointment yet but Denver and I have weighed her on a scale and we think she is at least 17 pounds now and has 2 bottom teeth! She is sitting up and laughing more and more! She loves, loves, loves it when the cousins come to visit Nana and Papa. She won't take her eyes off of them and she enjoys every second with them!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Party in Payson

Every year on the weekend before Christmas, we get to go and spend time with Papa and Nana Platt! We always look forward to the weekends we get to spend with Papa and Nana because they are filled with great food, relaxation, and religious discussion that always leave you feeling grateful for what you have. We sure missed the majority of the family! Most everyone couldn't make it this year and we really missed all of them! Hopefully everyone will make it next year! We didn't pull out the camera very often and when we did, they weren't the best pictures ever but I thought this one was adorable! Do you see the resemblence?

We were also blessed to get a gift! Daley got a new little lamb and she loves it! She also really enjoyed unwrapping the present and playing with the wrapping paper afterwards...

Denver and I got a new sign that we love! It seems like everyone we know made cute signs in relief society...whenever I was new to the ward, I'm pretty sure that ward had already made the "family signs" so I have never gotten the chance to do it. Denver and I were so excited to get our new family sign because we are getting ready to decorate a wall of family pictures and that was our missing item! And to tell you the truth...this format is my favorite out of all of them that I have seen! Thank you so much Papa and Nana! We love it!

School's Out!

Hurray! Now I only have my student teaching left and I will be done with school for a long time! Well until Denver's done with his schooling...then I'm going to start my Masters. It is such a relief to not have to do any bookwork from now on! I'm so glad to have my life back and to do all the things I love.

There has been a ton that has happened in the past couple of months. There has been a ton of traveling! It's loads of fun because Daley is such a great traveler. I put her in her car seat and she doesn't make a peep the whole way, even when I have the music blaring and singing at the top of my lungs. She still manages to sleep like a log. I'm so excited because now Denver, I, and Daley get to drive together which makes traveling even better.

We got to spend Thanksgiving at the Ranch with the Finch's! We had such a blast over Thanksgiving it was hard to come home. Daley especially loved it because she got to play with ALL of her cousins. She didn't want to take naps because she didn't want to miss anything, and we were okay with that because she was happy most of the time. We took a ton of family pictures and later went to the Rim and took more pictures!

Later we went to Cottonwood and Sedona to look at the Christmas Lights at Tlaquepaque which was fun! Then for the rest of the weekend we just sat and hung out for the rest of the weekend. Then it was time for Daley and I to go back to Thatcher and finish up my last two weeks of school. My last day of class was my birthday and lets just say it wasn't my favorite birthday. I had to be in class for one thing and Denver was three hours away for the other. I still did enjoy it because I got to talk to Denver for a couple of hours and my mom took me out to lunch and shopping, which was lots of fun! Thanks Mom!

When we got back up to Eagar, Denver took me out to Bear Wallow in Alpine. That was where we had our first official date way back in 2003! Denver and I had fun reminiscing of how it was 7 years ago and the good times we had falling in love. Thank you sweetheart for everything! You are perfect and I'm the luckiest girl EVER! ;)

Here is a little update on our sweet little one, Daley....she is 5 months old now and growing like crazy but not her hair! She still has no hair....:( Today she rolled over all by herself from her back to her tummy. She's done it a couple of times now but she gets frustrated when she can't roll back on her back. She hates tummy time haha! She is getting her little personality too. After I feed her, I'll put her up on my shoulder to burp her and she'll snuggle up to me and then lift up her head really fast and look at me. When she wakes up in the morning and sees that Denver and I are looking at her she smiles her biggest smile and curls up and giggles. It is the sweetest thing ever! She still loves baths more than ever but she hates the part where you have to get out and get dressed. Her least favorite part of the day is when she has to put her head through the neck hole and her arms into her sleeves. She cries everytime and I try to do it fast, then I'll try to do it slow and soft....nothing helps, she just doesn't like that part of getting dressed. She has a hard time falling asleep most of the time...she is a fighter! She sings sleepy songs sometimes and she spits when she gets excited! It's so cute, sometimes she'll have a war with you and she always wins. I know this is random, but it think it is kinda cool....I'm not sure how you spit at people but Denver and I do it different that each other. The air comes out beneth my tongue and the air comes out above Denver's tongue. I thought the way Denver did it was so WEIRD because I had never seen anyone do it like that. Well guess who spits like her dad? Yep! Little miss Daley! She has sooooo many mannerisms like her dad it is the cutest thing! She spits like her dad, she raises one eyebrow like her dad, she looks like her dad (mostly), ect... I could go on and on...

Well there is our little update! We will post more pictures and random stories for you because I'll have some time on my hands ;)

October...

Wow there has been a lot that has happened this month and it's not even over yet! Well to start things off at the end of September...Denver celebrated his 23rd birthday! On the day of his birthday, I had class that went till 9:30pm that I couldn't ditch. So we just did a whole week of partying! The night before his birthday we went out to eat at R&R and then watched a movie. We forgot the camera so we don't have any pictures other than the one you see below... Then on his birthday I surprised him with the kitchen decorated and made a big breakfast because I wouldn't see him till late that night and after I got home he opened his presents. Then we had the cake the following day at our friends, Kalob and Rachelle's house for dinner. Haha don't look too closely to the cake! It was a disaster!




We then went up to Payson to watch General Conference with my grandparents. The Platt's all got together and took family pics. These are a couple of my favorites of just us.

Denver just recently got a job up in Eagar and he works Monday thru Thursday. Last week I didn't have any class so Daley and I got to spend the week up in Eagar with the Finch's! We all had a blast! We got to Tanner's football game against Snowflake. Daley even wore her cute little Tutu to cheer for him!

This is our favorite time of year and as Daley and I were on our way back to Thatcher I couldn't help but stop and take a quick snap of the trees.