Dear Friends and Family,
Merry Christmas and a peaceful and happy New Year to all of you! I had every intention of sending out Christmas cards this year, but yet again, time has passed me by and left me too little time to get them all written and in the mail! So, thanks to the idea sent to me by my dear friends Katy and Justin Frederick, I am sending my Christmas wishes to you electronically. I hope you enjoy! Each year goes by faster than the year before! Here's a quick glimpse into my life this past year.

Rebecca's year in a flash:
January-
Waiting for Spring to come in cold Utah. Teaching first graders and taking technology classes on imovie and iphoto.

February-
We all got new Smartboards in our classrooms! They are like interactive whiteboards and they make teaching soooo much fun! The students love the Smartboard and so do I!

March- May-
Not much going on...just work and play! Our school district needed more teachers certified to teach second language learners so some of us were asked if we would take classes to get our ELL/ESL Endorsement (English Language Learner/English as a Second Language) by next school year. So, we all (10 of us from my school) began an intensive amount of classes on top of teaching full time.

June-
Instead of teaching summer school like I usually do, I took 4 weeks of ELL courses to finish my endorsement. It turned out to be a great experience not only because the classes were very informative, but spending four days a week in class from 8:00 until 3:00 with the teachers at my school made for lots of good laughs and bonding time with my collegues.

July-
Flew home to Illinois to see my family and old high school friends. Macomb is still the same in a comforting kind of way. I didn't make it back in time for my 20th high school reunion, but I was able to catch up with several friends that I hadn't seen or talked to in years and get in contact by email with some dear friends from grade school! I loved seeing my parents, my brother and sister and their children, along with all my step-brother and sisters and their children. Congratulations to my step-brother Toby Trimmer and his wife Mandy, on their first baby! I'm so glad I got to see baby Lucas when I was home!

August-
Can it really be my 14th year at Franklin Elementary?! With the new year comes new changes in class sizes. No longer are our first grade classes at 16 or 17 students. We now have 23 to 24 students and what a change it is! It was quite an adjustment for me that first month with all those little ones (most who are extremely below grade level)! But by the end of September we were humming along!

September-
At work, I started my Teaching Art Endorsement classes up in Park City, as well as my Three-Tierd Instruction/Dibles training. I went to Park City almost every weekend in September! I went down the Alpine Slide and took the ski lift up to the top of the mountain with friends. What a beautiful place to be in the fall!

October-
My sister Abigail and her husband John, had their third child, baby Kate! Yeah! I am so excited to have another neice!

November-
My friend Missy Hart, from Macomb, got married in Salt Lake City! Not only was I happy for her, but it was wonderful to see old friends from Macomb again like the Harts, the Schofields, the Smithsons, and the Hilmans. Some things don't change with time, and old friends are so dear!

Thanksgiving was double the fun this year! I went to my friend Jaclyn Phillips' for their family dinner at 2:00 and then to a dinner with my friend Kimmy Curtis' family at 5:00 that day! I was so stuffed! We had a great time at Kimmy's with her sisters! With Sheri the make-up artist, and Jen who does hair, we got our make-up and hair done and Kimmy took photos.

December-
I spent the first week of December ripping out my carpet and helping my friend put in laminate flooring on the first floor of my townhouse. It looks like a brand new place! With a black lab, a little mutt, and a long haired cat, getting rid of the carpet was a must!

After baking 23 gingerbread houses on Sunday for each of my students to decorate Monday, Christmas vacation is looking like a welcomed break!! School is out tomorrow (Dec. 20th) and then it's time to get some last minute shopping in before I fly home to Macomb on Friday for a nice long vacation with my family. I am looking forward to being with all my neices and nephews, brothers and sisters, and parents. With all of us healthy and safe this year, I have so much to be thankful for.

I hope you all have a safe and joyful holiday season. May we all slow down and treasure the time we have with the ones we love so dearly. Merry Christmas!

Love,
Becca
(Becky)