School Days

My mom is a third grade teacher in a one-school district way out in the desert 60 miles from home, and we had the pleasure to spend a morning with her class last week. The kids were super excited to meet us after hearing so much about us. When my brother came to visit us in October down in Manaus, he brought a bunch of colored fall leaves with notes written by her class on the back. I immediately put them on our wall  because the handwritten notes were so adorable - like "Dear Sarah, Sorry you have to be alone for Thanksgiving. Well, not alone, but just with Jay," or "How is Brazil? Is it fine? Your mom really misses you." As you can imagine, I was happy to meet the kids that I've heard so much about, too.
After a long and scenic drive, we waited in the back of the classroom to surprise the kids, and they knew who we were right away. They were very excited to see us there especially because we brought a trombone. My mom doesn't mess around, and the kids were very well-behaved, respectful, and polite the whole time despite their obvious excitement.
They had a few lessons to get through in the morning, and then they had a Q&A with us about our life in Brazil. They were curious about playing in the orchestra, the rain forest, and everything else - including our favorite color! Gotta love 8 year olds!!

As I opened the trombone case, the kids' faces all it up to see the shiny parts. It was quite amusing to me because they were just so elated to see it! I played a little bit for them and showed them how the trombone works. When my turn was over, Jay took over and taught them how to sing "When the Saints Go Marching In." While he played the melody and improvised on it, they sang the words with huge smiles on their faces. Once they had that down, they all lined up and marched around the room while singing to his playing. You can find the video on YouTube if you search for "Aguila School Saints."

When it was time to say our goodbyes to the kids, they all started asking when we could come back and even told us that they would miss us! It was great to meet and interact with them, and I'm happy to be able to picture the kids my mom talks about so much. 

Jay and I took a ride into town while my mom stayed and finished up the school day. It really is nothing but mountains, cacti, and desert out there, so we took the chance to take some typical Arizona photos. You would think we were two tourists stopping on the side of the road! 

25 weeks prego

Longhorn cattle 

As you can see, we had a lot of fun out there and are grateful to have seen my mom in action! She is the BEST!