Thanksgiving is approaching!

I love Thanksgiving and everything it represents; family, love, security, safety and the prosperity represented by the bounty we enjoy. Daily I am thankful. I am thankful for Doug who loves me though I am not all that love able. I am thankful for our children: Quinn, Megan, Shane, Erin, Shannon, Caitilin, Sean and Conn. I am thankful for Kurt, Sharon and Ryan, our precious in-law children. I am thankful for Darlene and her Kiwi heritage. I am thankful for grandchildren: Kalin, Kai, Gavin, Ryan, Owen and Aidan. I am thankful for siblings: Jack, Tom, Kathleen and Eileen. I am thankful for in-laws: Dave, Catherine, Dick, Carol, Jerry and Peggy, Mike and Osa. I am thankful for my dearest friend, Susan who is just 10 months older than I am. I am thankful for frequent phone calls to and from each of my family. I am thankful for the "nosey, nosey, kiss" I receive in person or on the phone from my grandsons.

Each day as I leave our home to drive the 27 miles to Riverton to teach at Riverton High School, I close the front door, and as I do it, I say a prayer of thanks for the comfort of our home and the blessing of even having a home. As I drive the freeway to school in the very early dawn, I give thanks for each of my students, for my job, my health, the opportunity to teach and be influenced by the humble qualities of of my students, each of whom has a severe intellectual disability. I am blessed because I associate with these students. I am blessed to enjoy a life of freedom where I can pray and attend church and the temple.

The incredible pumpkin pie that Sharon makes (and no she won't share the recipe ), the sweet potato casserole that Shannon makes, the side dishes that Megan creates, the Kiwi dessert Darlene makes, the pecan pie Erin makes and the gathering with family to share in a feast of love...this is Thanksgiving. Caitilin, Kurt, Gavin and Ryan create and share Thanksgiving with friends and missionaries in Charlotte, N.C. We are thankful for the goodness of the Summerhays family.

Fall

Halloween has come and gone and along with it, all of our leaves have dropped to cover not only our yard, but the side yard of our neighbor's as well. We are certain our leaves cause stress to our neighbor. As soon as the leaves begin to drop into his yard, he starts up his leaf blower and send those unwanted, crispy, colorful beautiful leaves back to our property. As the days of falling leaves pass, the pile of leaves blown from his side yard becomes increasingly deep.

Our grandchildren love falling into the leaves just as I did when I was a child. I clearly remember raking the leaves into a floor plan of a home. The outer walls of the rooms would be about a foot wide and about five inches deep. My friends and I would take blankets and pillows to our newly created bedrooms. We would neatly place the blankets and pillows into a position to resemble a freshly made bed. In the "kitchen" we would arrange a little table and chairs. Imagination was fun; leaves are fun...so why are we in such a rush to clear them from our yards?

Back in School

Summer is officially over for me; school has begun. This year I have a new teaching assignment. I am teaching students with a variety of syndromes from Autism to Prader Willey, William Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy (with Intellectual Handicaps), Down Syndrome, Traumatic Brain Injury and a variety of other conditions that caused Intellectual Handicaps. I am responsible for 15 students who are at Riverton High School. I am able to use a lot of music therapy in my classroom. I feel fortunate and blessed to associate with these very special young people.

Before school started I took a quick trip to see Caitilin, Kurt, Gavin and Ryan Summerhays. Gavin and Ryan are beyond darling as are each of my grandchildren. Caitilin and Kurt amaze me. They are fantastic parents. It is hard having them so far from the rest of the family, but they are making valuable contributions in their community.

End of another year of school

My 18th year of teaching will be completed on June 4. How well I remember my first teaching assignment which was at St. Thomas Moore in Omaha, Nebraska. I would hate the measurement of my teaching skills to be described by that first novice year. I was teaching by day and singing at the Swinging Door Saloon by night with my partner Dave Webber. We were Dave and Colleen. We had a good deal of success in that adventure and continued singing for two years.

Marrying Doug, my sweetheart, ended the Dave and Colleen era, but opened a new and wonderful phase of my life. After bearing 8 incredible children, teaching voice at BYU Hawaii and then in Orem, Utah, I entered the public education system as a teacher as a Special Education teacher working with students with very mild learning disabilities in math, reading and/or writing. I taught at Canyon View JHS in Orem for 2 years and Oak Canyon JHS in Lindon, Ut. for 15 years. Now, for the past two years, I've been teaching Sp. Ed.(Resource) at Riverton High School in Riverton, Ut..

Next year I'll embark on another phase of my teaching career. I will be teaching the Intellectually Handicapped students at Riverton HS. I look forward to this new adventure. I am so thankful for the preparation, through education, that led to this new opportunity.

Currently I am working on a teaching endorsement (through BYU) in reading, which is still another adventure. I'll finish this preparation in another year and a half. Education is very important to me. It is good to know that we take with us into the eternities those things we have learned here in mortality.

Anniversary Time

Doug and I will have been married 39 years on May 24th. Good years, good love, not much money, but a lot of joy.

Birthday News

Quinn Curran will be turning 38 on May 14, 2008. It is hard to imagine this guy has gone ahead and aged while I sit by. I can take being a mother of a teenager, a 20 year old and even a 30 year old, but this nearly 40 year old stuff is wayyyyyyyyyyyy too much. I've told Quinn that when he turns 40 I am dis-owning him. All the Fitzsimmons Family can remember the floppy-haired first grand child, Quinn. Can we too be aging?

Mother's Day May 2008

I was overwhelmed by the love I felt from my family yesterday. Uncle Dick Curran was in town and so he joined in the fun of the Curran Clan overwhelming me with their musical abilities. Conn, Erin, Shane and also Owen and Aidan, recorded for me (they did the singing) my favorite song, "Christopher Robin." I collapsed into an emotional, joyful puddle of tears as I listened. Conn recorded several other songs and Erin gave me a CD of her singing several Spanish favorites. Sean did all the recording and mixing in his studio. Shane presented me with a cd full of Super Flow recordings. I loved it.

Not to leave out Sean, I play his CD daily in my classroom. My math kids work harder when they listen to "Definit." Quinn gave me a gift certificate for Dad and me to go to dinner at La Cai (sp). We'll really have to dress up for that one. Shannon, the darling girl, was out taking photos (earning some bucks) and couldn't be in on the recording session. Our Sharon and her sweet boys completed the day. Have I mentioned that I love this daughter-in-law of mine. Shannon's Ryan was missed; he was home sick. Ryan is incredible! Caitilin, Kurt, Gavin and Ryan were in Hawaii. Caitilin spent Mother's Day suffering with a horrible sun burn. What a nice guy Kurt is; he took Caitilin and the boys to Hawaii to have a real family vacation. Love that guy. Megan, Kalin and Kai were in Houston and they too were missed. My sweetheart, Doug, gave me a wonderful book by Gordon B. Hinckley. Darlene learned three guitar chords and spent part of the evening singing her Maori songs and playing the guitar.

One more wonderful thing. Doug and I were out on Saturday for our regular late Saturday breakfast at noon. While we were out, Shannon and Erin came over and cleaned the upstairs so things would be spotless for our Sunday gathering. Such a thoughtful gift! It is such a joy to be a mother.

Aidan's Birthday

What a dolly-boy; Aidan had his 2nd birthday on the 11th of April. Note the video of Aidan on his birthday; the reluctant 2-year old. Go to the youtube post below:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=egcLX56Ofjc

St. Patrick's Day Gathering

The traditional gathering of the Curran Clan on St. Patrick's Day was casual and fun. Ruebens, made with dark rye bread, filled with, sour kraut, Swiss cheese then grilled, created our version of the corned beef and cabbage traditional dinner. We did have potato salad and potato chips which completed the ingredients of a fine feast. A yummy chocolate cake topped with green mint-flavored whipped topping and chocolate mint candies, satisfied at least my sweet tooth. Sharon Curran was observed eating more than her share of the mint candies; I was watching and counting.

Kalin and Kai were in town for the celebration since they are on Spring Break from their Tomball, TX home (Tomball is a suburb of Houston). Owen and Aidan loved wrestling with Kai while Kalin continued to "school" his Uncles Sean and Conn at basketball. They taught him so much while he was growing up that now they can't keep up with him. Oh the humility of these two lads.

Erin, in her beautiful emerald green shirt and Shannon, with her crazy Leprechaun earrings dangling, giggled as they reminisced about the many antics they pulled-off when they were young - all without Doug or me ever knowing, of course. Ryan the ever-patient son-in-law, completes these gatherings. His dry wit catches us off guard frequently. We are so lucky to have Sharon, Ryan and Kurt for in-law children. When talking about Sharon, Ryan and Kurt (I like to call him Kurtella), the expression "in-law" seems cold. We love these kids as our own. We are blessed by the choices our children have made for mates.

The evening would have been complete, but Megan, Quinn, Caitilin, Kurt (Gavin and Ryan) were not with us. Megan couldn't get on a Continental fight as a standby, Quinn was in New Zealand and Caitilin and Family are living in Charlotte, NC. We know the Summerhays' love their home and friends in Charlotte, but they are greatly missed here.

Journal

It is February 21, 2008 which makes me think about all of the Fitzsimmons birthdays that are on the 21st of different months. Dad's birthday was March 21, Mother's birthday was June 21 and Jack's birthday is July 21. I miss Mother and Dad and think of them often. I miss the phone calls from Dad and the newsy letters from Mother.

For those who would like to know, Susan Kirwan McGuire's birthday is approaching. April 6th is the exciting day when Susan will turn 65! It sounds old, doesn't it? I'll always be glad that I was born 10 months later than dear Susan. Eileen Fitzsimmons Heitman's 53rd birthday will be on April 12. Kathleen Fitzsimmons 59th birthday will be on March 10.

I have a bouquet of beautiful flowers that were sent to me on my birthday which was the 16th of February. Susan called, Kathleen called and Tom e-mailed wishes for a happy birthday. Thanks to all. Sharon and Shane Curran (Owen and Aidan also) hosted a fun Karaoke birthday gathering at their home. Erin and I were to celebrate our birthdays together, but Erin got sick and so spent the day with stomach problems that I won't mention. Erin Curran's birthday was on February 7.

Journal

What a great way to begin a day; create a blog! I have no idea what I am doing, but my family insists it is possible for me to construct a blog. What is a blog? I have no idea. Since I am Gramma Colleen, Irish Gramma, I guess in the future I'll be talking a lot about my darling grandchildren.

Already I see I have made mistakes. Somehow the first journal I wrote was posted twice. Where the heck do I go to download some photos or to add shamrocks or other stuff? Help!

Notice the video bar. I've downloaded Conn Curran's singing of, SAVE THE LAST DANCE. Conn is a fantastic singer. I also want to try to download Shane and Sean performing. When you click on the video that is supposed to be Shane and Sean, you'll see that I wasn't able to delete the videos that somehow attached to the one of Sean and Shane. Sean and Shane's video is the one of them doing a show in Provo, Utah. Shane is on base and Sean is the tall guy in the hat.

Journal

What a great way to begin a day; create a blog! I have no idea what I am doing, but my family insists it is possible for me to construct a blog. What is a blog? I have no idea. Since I am Gramma Colleen, Irish Gramma, I guess in the future I'll be talking a lot about my darling grandchildren.