Here is the promised picture update. 
Brad came to visit a few weeks ago. After working a family picnic at my school, we went hiking on Pyramid Rock by moonlight. It was FREEZING that night so this is a picture of us all bundled up. I was wearing three layers on bottom and four on top--in the end it proved to be too much! 
On Saturday we went to the flea market. Brad had his first taste of fry bread and Navajo tea (yummy!). The flea market was much busier this time than it was the first time we went. And Brad and I found a lot of great gifts--including an Acoma Wedding Vase. 
After the flea market we went to Window Rock--you can see why it is named that. It's just this huge hole in the middle of some red rock, but it was pretty cool. 
We also went to Hubble Trading Post where we were able to see a hogan. Hogans are the traditional homes of Navajos--many still live in hogans. We've seen a lot of them, but this is the closest we've actually come to one. 
This is me at Canyon de Chelly, our hike for the day. It was gorgeous. I think I liked this better than the Grand Canyon...mostly because we could hike all the way to the bottom. People actually still live at the bottom of the canyon, it was really cool. We even ran into a lady selling some jewelry. 
These are the ruins at the bottom of the canyon. Just gorgeous to see them there amidst the rock. 
Me and Brad at the bottom of Canyon de Chelly. It was a great hike, and I'm so glad that I was able to share it with the love of my life. :) 
One more picture of the canyon. 
The following Friday we had spirit day at my school. This is my class in their Rehoboth colors--I was so proud of them all for getting into it! 
Last weekend we went to Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Santa Fe was mostly shopping so I don't really have any pictures from that. But the people whose house we stayed at in Albuquerque treated us to dinner Saturday night. Then, they gave us each $2 to spend at the casino. So, here I am gambling for the first time ever! I had no idea how to play the slot machines, but I picked it up quickly. Fortunately, we got this picture taken before we got in trouble--apparently you're not supposed to take pictures at a casino. 
Here we all are at the end of the night--Jena's the only one that won anything! 
Yesterday we went on a hike to Crevice Rock. It was really fun. We left around 3:30 and it was pretty nice out, but it took us a while to actually start hiking... 
Because first we had to get across this arroyo, which actually proved to be quite deeper than we expected. After several different attempts and about a half hour I pretty much ran across, tossed in an old tire so one more person could get across, then we put two more tires in the water so that everyone else coudl walk across on a tire bridge. It was a great way to start the hike--we loved it!  We literally had to scale up the rock wall. It was a little bit scary, but very exciting. 
Then, there was the crevice. You may not be able to see in this picture, but for the most part the crevice was no wider than about the width of my hips--you really had to walk sideways, or... 
Slide across with your feet on one wall and your back leaning on the other wall. It was actually quite cool. At the end the crevice opens up and you have nowhere to go but out of the crevice. But at the bottom was this little pool. Usually it is pretty shallow and you can jump over it, but yesterday it was about waist deep and there was no way to avoid it. Right before I "jumped" into the pool I was literally suspended in the air because I was trapped between the two rocks (don't worry it was on purpose). It was so cool, but I don't have any pictures of that. 
I do, however, have a before and after picture of us climing the rock. The one above is on the way to the hike and the one below is coming back from the hike...notice a difference in our attitudes? 
This is us when all was said and done. See the mud caked on my clothes? Remember that arroyo we had to cross at the beginnign of the hike? We all decided that since we were already soaking wet it didn't matter if we just walked through it. Well, I tried to run through it...and it was a bit deeper than I expected. So, instead, I fell and I didn't land in the water, but I did land in the muddy banks at the edge of the water and ended up rolling in the mud. It was quite the experience. Well, that's pretty much everything that has happened since I last updated with pictures. Hope you all enjoy these. There probably won't be another picture post...since I'll be home in four days!! | 
I started full time teaching last week. It has been great, but really exhausting. I had no idea how tired teachers are! The kids are so good, though, they really make it very easy. The thing I love the most is watching them pick up on the things that I do differently. For example, I always have a writing topic on the board for them to write about as soon as they come in the room in the morning. With Mr. VanderHoven they usually just walk around or whatever. And after lunch we have SSR (Sustained Silent Reading). The kids used to come in and it would take about 10 minutes to get them settled down with a book and finally reading. Now, they come right into the room, sit down and start reading. It is seriously a beautiful thing. 
But it didn't snow for too long. However, we had a SNOW DAY on Wednesday! I loved it. I didn't really want to have a snow day because I was all prepared for the day, but it was a really good opportunity to catch up on everything and get ahead on other things. So I tried my best to use the day for work. And I succeeded. For the most part.
