Another local favorite we had to try!

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While she was down, Mom also got the chance to visit her dear friend, Yvonne.

Mom and John came down to Texas for a visit. We all went to Grapevine to the aquarium with our friends Scott and Connie, and her brother, David.  It was a blast!

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Getting ready for an Orff Workshop.

Orff is the style of teaching I use in my classroom. Music teachers get together to listen and participate (as the students would) to a guest teacher. We talk and collaborate to get ideas, share stuff, and bounce ideas off other people who think the way we do. We, Orff teachers, are very different than any other teachers in an elementary school. This setting gives us the chance to feel a part of a group, because there is typically only one of us per school and that can feel like us vs. the world a lot of the time.

The Orff organization here in Texas is still very small. Choir is king as far as elementary music is concerned, but there is a movement to reach beyond just singing. To add instruments, dance, and dramatics to the elementary music room to produce performances that are more engaging to the performers as well as the audience. I am proud to be a part of this.

Colorado provided many more Orff opportunities throughout the year than Texas does, but I am encouraged that we have at least this here. 

Now that we live in Texas, we keep bumping into THIS guy! My Uncle Randy has been making regular trips to Texas to see his dad (obviously, my granddad) and that means I get to see a lot more of him!

After enjoying our tacos and burger, we found this place across the street. Ver tasty!

​There has been an explosion of handmade, rolled ice cream shops popping up around the DFW metro. 

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We attempt to try out a small, local restaurant about once a month. We happened upon this one with no outside sign in Rockwall, TX. Excellent!

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A beautiful show! It is kind of like ballet meets martial arts. Each year's show is different. Can hardly wait to see another one!

Celebrating with our sparkling juice from our little apartment in Garland, Texas! Happy New Year everyone!