New Family Members!

This weekend, we drove to San Antonio and adopted two pets from the San Antonio Humane Society shelter.  They are just about the cutest things you have ever seen, and they are going to be quite a handful! :-)  We gave them Spanish names, since we got them while we were living in Del Rio.  We are pretty excited about having them!

This is Rio, and she is a two month old labrador/retriever mix.  She was abandoned at the shelter, and they don't really know where she came from.  Her mix and age are estimates.  She is really cute and playful, and we have found that she loves to chew.  We are keeping her entertained with lots of chew toys, and she has a crate to sleep in so we don't have to worry about her at night.  She is a fast learner and is pretty responsive to our voices.  She runs like a puppy, all wobbly and kangaroo-like, and it's hilarious to watch her slide across the wood and tile floors!!

And, this is Mijo.  His name comes from the name that all the parents call their kids around here - "mi hijo".  Most of the time the words are slurred together and sound like "mijo" so that is what we picked for the kitty!  He is about six months old and was abandoned at the shelter by an owner who had too many cats and was not allowed to keep them all in the apartment.  (And, by too many cats, I think that meant he had over five...Mijo was in a cage with five other cats, and they all apparently came in together!)  He is the most cuddly and sweet cat I have ever met.  He crawls up in our laps and flops over on his back to get his belly rubbed.  He has fallen off the couch twice after trying to roll around on us too much.  He's a little shy around the dog, but they appear to be getting used to each other!!  He's been exploring the house and is slowly getting more comfortable here.

Rio loves to play!!

They are playing pretty nicely together!!  They both looooove their toys! :-)

Del Rio Homecoming

Del Rio's homecoming week was pretty fun.  We dressed up in different outfits every day at school, had a big parade on Wednesday, and then the big game on Friday night!  Here are some pictures:

During the pep rally on Wednesday, our school salsa band performed.  I didn't even know we had a school salsa band, and they were pretty amazing!!

The seniors had also built a giant bonfire, which was lit during the pep rally.  It was HUGE!

And, the cheerleaders and the football players performed a dance together.  They were pretty good!  There were also several other skits and performances by the dance team, student council, and the band.  It was a pretty amazing show!  The band waited until dark, strapped flashlights to their legs and put glowing bands around their bodies and instruments, and they performed in the dark stadium.  It looked so awesome!

And then, the homecoming game on Friday night.  Here is the football team running out of the inflatable ram, through the cheerleaders' sign, and onto the field for the game.  I still can't get over how many kids there are!  The game was a blowout...when I left at third quarter, the score was 25-0.  I'm pretty sure we won!!

The RAMS flags that run back and forth across the stadium everytime we score a touchdown!

The homecoming ceremony was pretty cool too.  The band and the Belles team were out on the field.  The Air Force ROTC did a saber arch for each couple in the homecoming court as they walked across the field, took their pictures, and lined up, waiting for the announcement of the winners!  It was pretty neat.

A few days in Austin...

I went to Austin on Thursday and Friday to see some friends and also to watch my volleyball team play at the high school!  The team was made up of girls that I had coached for two years in middle school, and it was awesome to watch them play now!  Almost of them are taller than me now, and they have all become much better players!  They played some great games against the other team and made me proud!  It was great to see all of them again...I miss them!!

Here's some video I took of some amazing rallies.  I couldn't believe how well they were playing!!

The twins are here!!

On September 29, Carson Alan and Avery Elizabeth were born!  Avery weighed six pounds, and Carson was 5 pounds, 10 ounces.  The babies are precious, and we can't wait to go visit our new niece and nephew in Dallas!

House Updates

We've been doing a lot of work on our house, and it finally doesn't look like a storage center anymore!  All the boxes are unpacked and put away, and almost everything is in its place.  All that is left now is decorating.  Here are some pictures:

This is the new furniture we put in our entry hall, replacing the huge couch that was being stored there temporarily!

The finished roof that Travis replaced and painted, along with the brand new ceiling fan.

No more holes in the ceiling!

And, continuing to be the handyman, Travis put together the table, chairs, and the new grill we still had in boxes in our garage from the wedding!  They look great, and Travis loved using the new grill at our party last weekend!

My contribution to the landscaping in the front yard: two little cacti from Home Depot.  I planted them in the bed by the mailbox, and they look so cute!

And, yes, they have names.  The one on the left is called Tex, and the one on the right is named Little Red. :-)

Our next project:

We are planning to build a new patio to replace all this dead grass and make a larger area for the table and grill.  It's going to look really great when it is finished!!

Nice Neighbors and Classroom in Del Rio

While we were away on our honeymoon, our neighbors across the street took care of our house and got the mail.  We came home on Sunday morning at 2am with a big trailer full of my stuff.  We parked in the driveway and went straight to bed!  After flying and driving all day, we were exhausted!!  When we woke up the next morning to unload the trailer, we found that our neighbors had put a fun sign on the trailer to welcome us back:

Our house and my classroom were a mess for several weeks after the honeymoon (it's only been five...), and we are finally finishing up and getting things clean!

The weekend before school started, I finally got my classroom ready for my students!  We started school a week ago, so it is not quite as clean as it was in all these pictures... The piles on my desk have grown to immense proportions, and the desks aren't in straight rows anymore, but it still looks pretty good! :-)

Here are some pictures (click on the collage to make it bigger)...

My classes are packed to the brim, so I have had to add 8 extra chairs so all the kids in my geometry class don't have to sit on the floor!  Luckily, the school likes to freeze us out in the mornings, so it doesn't get hot and stuffy until about the end of 7th period.

School is going pretty well, although it is quite an adjustment to go from 75 students to 175!! (Actually, I haven't done official class counts in a few days, and they are changing almost every day, so I'm not really sure how many kids I have....)  I have learned all the names of the kids in 5th period, though, and know all of them by sight (almost).  I'm still working on the other classes, but I feel like I am making good progress!!  The papers everyday, though, are a little staggering, but I think I can get used to it.

The kids make me laugh everyday, and some of them drive me to the edge of frustration every day.  They are just your typical 15 and 16 year olds!  I actually received a hug from a kid the other day...one of the freshman boys in my class.  I was a little shocked, but it felt nice to know that I was accepted by at least one person!  Another kid wanted me to pound fists with him the other day...I'm still learning those moves. :-)  I've had a great time getting to know the kids and the teachers, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the year.  Busy, busy, busy!!

And, on top of this, I have started a master's program at the university in Del Rio.  The school district is paying for the math and science teachers to get their master's degrees as part of their school improvement plan, so of course, I had to jump on board.  Who would turn down that kind of opportunity?!?!  So, I'm going to classes on Wednesday night and working on an online math class as well.  It's all very exciting, and I am glad to be doing it!

Now, off to grade papers and finish planning for tomorrow...

Wedding and Honeymoon!

The wedding was amazing and beautiful and was everything we hoped that it would be!!  We have so many pictures to look at from all of my friends, family, and professional photographer!!  If you want to see the professional photos, here's the link to the website: www.blackburnstudios.com.  Click on the "more photos" icon in the bottom left, and scroll down until you see the "Kinley-Daniels wedding".  Then, you can click on the photos to see them bigger than thumbnail size!!  My cousin also took some amazing pictures, and I have a great assortment to look at from my friends!!

Here are a couple of my own pictures:

My bridesmaid and house party at the Chocolate Bar in Houston!

Left side: My sister and I

Top right: House party girls - Sarah, Jen, Sperry, and Niestradt

Bottom left: my bridesmaids - Kelly, Katie, Jen, and Catherine (my friend Laura showed up later, on the day before the wedding!)

Getting our hair done and getting moral support from my bridesmaids!

Getting dressed before the wedding!

Why I love my friends :-)  (We were all laughing so hard over this...)

My dear friends Brad and Jen Ragan and my new husband! :-)

Our honeymoon was amazing.  Costa Rica is a beautiful place, and we absolutely loved it.  We arrived there the Sunday night after the wedding and had private transportation to our beautiful hotel in San Jose.  The next morning, we had another private van to take us to the Tabacon Springs in La Fortuna.  The trip out there was beautiful, and we had a very talkative guide who told us many things about the country!  I practiced my Spanish a little bit and was so glad he was so patient!  We stayed at the hot springs for two nights, enjoying a horseback riding trip by the famous volcano which led us to a beautiful waterfall!  Travis was also really excited about eating a banana straight off a tree.  We couldn't find the perfect one, though, until we made it to our next stop!  Here are some pictures (you can click on the collages to make them bigger)...

After our two day stay at the hot springs, we had (yet another) private transportation to our next stop.  We were heading to the river for a rafting trip which would take us to Pacuare Lodge, a "hotel" out in the middle of the jungle!  We met another couple from North Carolina, and they joined us on the river for the six mile raft into the jungles.  We stopped at the lodge, where we stayed for two nights in our own, private honeymoon suite.  It was quite a hike to get up to our lofty residence, but the view was stunning, and we enjoyed the seclusion.  We were waited on, hand and foot, by really nice people the entire time.  They cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday for us, and the food was amazing.  We took a canopy tour on the ropes course they had on the property, and we hiked to a waterfall (twice!).  It only rained once while we were there, and it was the most relaxing morning I have ever had.  We sat in our room and watched the rain come down.  There wasn't any electricity, so at night, we saw by candlelight.  The dinners were candlelit, and the rooms were also full of candles.  It was amazing!!  Here are pictures...

Along the way, our driver stopped to show us this really cool tree full of iguanas!  The man who owned the "Restaurante Las Iguanas" apparently feeds the iguanas so they will stick around, and has about 45 - 50 giant ones hanging out in the tree outside the restaurant!

This was our private honeymoon suite! :-)

After our two day stay at Pacuare, we got back in the rafts with two other couples and a family and started out on the 13 mile rafting trip back out of the jungles.  We stopped at a beautiful waterfall along the way and also had a stop for lunch.  The guides, again, made an amazing lunch and treated us like royalty.  Our rafting guide, Jose, was so awesome and made the trip really exciting.  Even when I lost my paddle, he still had a good attitude! (It floated downstream later, all bent and gimpy...)  He ran us straight into a rock at one point, and almost all of us fell out of the boat.  We almost lost him in one of the rapids, but we finally all made it out together.  A kayaking guide was also there, and he would speed ahead of us and take pictures as we were coming down the rapids.  This is why we have so many amazing pictures to share!!

This was the beautiful waterfall where we stopped along the river...

And, some of our fun river pictures!!

Once we got off the river, we had a four hour ride back to San Jose.  We dropped the other couples off at their hotels, got stuck in traffic, and FINALLY made it to our hotel by the airport.  After all our beautiful lodgings that week, the Holiday Inn wasn't really that exciting. :-)  We were so tired, though, that it didn't matter.  We laid out all our damp clothes from the rafting trip (which smelled awesome, by the way), had some dinner, and went to sleep.  We didn't really want to leave, but we drug ourselves to the airport the next morning to catch our flight.

The trip was absolutely amazing, and we both really enjoyed it!  We are looking forward to the chance to do something like this again.  Pura vida!