Mr. & Mrs. Devin Montgomery

WOOOO HOOOO!!!! On 9-10-11, we got a new sister in the Montgomery clan! We are so excited to have Katie in our family now. Their wedding was beautiful, and full of little surprises. It was so neat to see so much of our family come together, and to see my baby brother with a WIFE! We both were attendants in the wedding, which made it extra special. I can tell Katie worked so hard on all of the details, and the whole day was PERFECT! Congrats, Devin & Katie! 

Sisters!

Mr. & Mrs. Devin Montgomery

New Classroom

This year, I left Knox County to begin teaching in Hamblen County. The job change was inspired by the marriage & move and to avoid the 2-hr round trip commute every day. However, changing to Hamblen County has been an awesome choice for SO MANY reasons. I wasn't super thrilled with my job in Knox County. While I loved the people I worked with, and all of my students, I just didn't stay busy enough to keep from being bored much of the day, plus I was the only ELL teacher in my building and was often cooped up in my little corner of the building with not much adult contact! Hamblen county has been a big change!! At West Elementary, we have more than 120 students on our daily case-load. I share a classroom full time with a good friend, Mary Beth, who also happens to be a friend from church AND in my weekly small group. And in addition, Katie Hudson is with us half day! For those of you who don't know Katie, you SHOULD. She has played a very important role in my life. Not only was she a college roommate, and introduced me to Hamblen county & the current position I'm in, AND was one of the best bridesmaids ever... she is ALSO responsible for my new last name! Katie introduced me to Brian a few years ago.. and the rest is history. So it's been SO fabulous working with these two girls every day.

The pictures here are from a our celebration at the end of our Around the World unit. Katie represented Mexico & we ate tamales & atole. Mary Beth represented China & we had rice. And I was Africa :) We ate Chapati (which Katie and I learned to make during our trip to Africa two summers ago). We have 29 1st graders and 31 kindergarteners! They had a BLAST.

Denise showing children Chapati

Ms. Hudson (Katie) introducing
today's itinerary to first grade.

Mary Beth (Miss Zink) reviewing Asia

RALLY!

B & D with Premier parents,
David & Vickie Gleason

Next stop this summer: Dallas, TX. Every year, Premier Designs has a huge Rally. All of the jewelers in the country are invited to gather in Dallas, TX! This was a first rally for both Brian and Brittany (my wonderful sister in law and Premier daughter). Brian jumped right in the supportive husband role and Brittany even got to walk the stage for her first award recognition at rally. GO Bs!

Emily (PD Sis), Denise, & Brittany

We had so much fun and were so inspired by the wonderful leadership there. It was awesome to be able to stay with Devin & Katie, who now live in the Dallas area... This is also where we first suspected that we should be expecting a new baby! No... not ours.. poor Brittany was SO sick the whole time. It wasn't long before we learned that Avaya was the cause! Woo Hoo!

Vegas, Baby!

Recently, Brian's company started a tradition of an annual company trip. Their first trip, two years ago, was to Miami, Florida. I didn't get to go for several reasons... but this year, I wasn't missing out! This July was my first ever visit to Las Vegas, NV! It was awesome. We spent most of our time sightseeing. I was amazed at how much there is to see and do (outside of gambling & drinking) in Vegas! We saw The Lion King, visited different hotels (where I met Dick Butkus), took a trip to the Grand Canyon, rented a cabana by an AWESOME pool/club combination, and had an absolute blast getting to know Brian's co-workers. Even better, we had friends and family come visit from California! Orleatha and Chris flew in to hang out for a few days, which was absolutely phenomenal. I also arranged with Tamara a surprise visit from her, Steph, and Gram! Brian was definitely surprised.

Tam, Steph, Brian, Chris, Me, & Orleatha!

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting....

The LEP gang

Mr. & Mrs. Josh Hutson!

Less than a week after we returned from our honeymoon, we got busy preparing for yet another wedding! My roommate of four years, and one of my fabulous bridesmaids, Rachel Jett, married Josh Hutson! Woo Hoo! It was so exciting to see Rachel get married. It was especially neat to room with her throughout the entire crushing/courting/engagemetn process... from the very first fall... And we got to go through it all together! Our relationships were almost parallel in timing. Rachel & Josh's wedding was incredibly sweet, inundated with personal touches. We had so much fun and are incredibly happy for Rachel and Josh. He's one lucky guy! 

Rachel & Josh Hutson

Honeymoon to Antigua

Our Marriage started our with the most amazing honeymoon ever.. to the breathtaking island of Antigua! Brian planned the entire trip, leaving me completely surprised. I didn't know our honeymoon destination until we arrived at our layover in Miami. He did FABULOUS. We stayed at the beautiful Sandals Grand and had the time of our lives! We were completely pampered and stayed very busy the whole time... 9 days, 4 excursions, 3 trips into town, and 2 spa visits... exquisite!

Overlooking Antigua from Shirley Heights

Visiting sister island, Barbuda