college graduate classroom birthday

 Well, May around here was all about the college graduate. Rachel made her way through ASU and the teacher's college and her student teaching with flying colors.  Maroon and gold with a splash of turquoise anyway! We were a proud family watching her walk across the stage and receive her diploma!

And when all the pomp and circumstance was over...the skies opened to a mass of very large balloons!

So many balloons with the graduates donning complimentary sunglasses to celebrate their "bright future"! The balloons kept dropping making it impossible for this mom and her camera to spot her smiling daughter.  I just wanted a glimpse. A small little recognizable face. Rachel are you in there?

                                                                     Yep...there's my girl!!!
                                                            She never fails to make us smile!

The next day we had a nice celebration party at our house. 

I wrote a fitting quote on a chalkboard by one of her favorite scientists to set the mood for a science teacher graduation party. It was a fun evening!

And then summer came and went. She made the move to Tucson, where she had accepted her first teaching job. Seventh and eighth grade science!

I spent a couple of days doing a little cleaning in her classroom and helping with some final touches to get her ready for the first day of school, which happens pretty early in August here in Arizona.

She has a lot of great posters, her mineral collection and some books about all things science to educate
                                                       and inspire the young minds.

 Of course, paying tribute to Colorado, she hung her Broncos flag where it could be clearly seen.

Here is her desk area with a chair suitable for the queen of science! Oh...and do you see the basketball hoop? It is actually a trash can that, during an act of spontaneous humor, I hung on a big bolt that was just begging for something to hang. Yes, it is still there and she has had some "motivational fun" with the students trying to perfect their shots!

  She is pointing out the back of her t-shirt which we brought back from Hawaii for her.
It is Albert Einstein surfing the ocean waves. HA! HA!  A perfect and very sciencey shirt for her!

    And just when things were exciting enough with this girl...for her birthday, at the end of July,
                                                    she received her very own fiance'!
                                                                        Meet Troy...

                                                         A wedding is in their future.


                                      What a year for this beautiful and fun-loving girl of ours.

                             

                                                      Science on Rachel...you rock!