Memorial Day!

 

Happy Memorial Day!  We had a wonderful day today.  Brian came over for the weekend.  Chelsea had a chance to go visit her family in Elko this week, so Brian is baching it at home this week.  We talked him in to coming over here for the long weekend.  It was nice for all of us to have him here, but it was probably especially nice for Susan.  I think being with just Dad and I sometimes gets...  well, actually, it's probably a laugh a minute!

We went to the second annnual 5k Run/Walk to benefit the Manuelito Children's Home.  We went last year, but Amy and Chelsea were with us then.  It was fun!

Susan and Brian walked together the whole way talking about superheroes  in movies, cartoons and comic books.

We put a rack of ribs in the solar cooker to braise.

Here we are playing competative "Sorry."  Susan whomped us!

Radishes from the garden.  (I look old in this picture.)

Here are our seedlings ready to get transplanted in the garden.

Salad made from lettuce and radishes FROM OUR OWN GARDEN!!!

We were going to have a tasty and delicious picnic out on the back porch, but it was too cold, so we brought it in and had a tasty and delicious picnic in the kitchen.

Mmmmmmmmm!

The Last Week of School is Always Busy, Busy, Busy!

Well, the kids had their last day of school on Friday.  Was I ever ready!  I had some great kids in my class this year, but I had a couple of kiddos that really made this year hard.  Let's just say that I'm ready for a change.

A sure sign summer is here!  Dad is hooking up the swamp cooler.

This week, we went to Lance's 8th grade graduation at Rehoboth.  Kyle had his 5th grade graduation from Red Rock.

This is Susan's last regular piano recital.  She wants to keep taking piano lessons next year, but she doubts she'll want to participate in the recitals and group lessons.

This is a salad made from lettuce and radishes from our own garden.

Our flowers are starting to bloom!

The Dutch irises are in bloom.

Chelsea got to go visit her family this week.  Since it's the Memorial Day weekend, Brian came over to help us celebrate.  Scooping poop is certainly a celebration!

Our garden is starting to grow.  Tomato plants are underneath the milk jugs.

The beauty treatment!

On Sunday, we went out to Window Rock for Cassie and Jordan's baby's blessing.  His name is Corbin Michael Reed.  I think he looks just like Kaedence looked as a baby.

Brian and Corbin

Sonia, Kae, and one of the Reeds' friends.

Cassie and Corbin

Will and Susan

Doug, Sonia and Bill.  Bill and Sonia are taking Kae and Will back to Missouri to live with them for the next 14 months until Cassie and Jordan finish up their committment at the hospital in Window Rock.

We stopped by Window Rock on the way home!

My Baby Done Gradiated!

Well, it's official!  My baby girl has graduated from high school.  Wow!  How is it that those years have flown by so quickly.  People always told me how fast the time flies, and those people were right.

Susan's graduation was different from my other kids'.  She's the only one who went to Miyamura (pronounced Mee-u-mur'-u).  Instead of wearing the same black cap and gown that all the other kids wore from Gallup High, she wore a white robe.  The boys wore purple ones.  Her graduation was at Public School Stadium instead of out at Red Rock Park.  I really liked that.  She's also the first one who went to a four-year high school instead of Junior High.

We've never know exactly how to pronounce Miyamura.  There are about four ways we've heard it pronounced through the years--most commonly with a long i.  Hershey was there at the graduation ceremony, and afterwards, as the dad and I were walking through the back of the stadium, we ran into him as he was getting ready to leave.  We asked him how to pronounce his name, so now we have the final word.  The "i" is pronounced as a long e.  Mystery solved.

Susan didn't have lots of family here like the other kids.  Her graduation was in the middle of the week, which made it rough.  Carol and Mark came over, thank heavens.  That was it.  The McMullins came to dinner before, and then came to watch her graduate.  That was kind of them.  They are great friends, and they've always been wonderful to our family.

The other kids got cameras for graduation gifts.  Susan is getting a bike (if we can find a pink one).

Susan as she was getting ready to leave for the Commencement exercises.

The graduates coming onto the field.

I can see Susan in this picture because I knew where she was!

On the field after graduation.  The red cords are because she donated blood three times in her senior year.

The Flannerys were there to watch their niece, Jessica, graduate.  They snapped this picture.

Isn't she cute!?!

It's official!  My baby done gradiated!


 

Hooray for Mother's Day!

So we've been celebrating Mother's Day all weekend!  What a wonderful weekend!  I loved spending time thinking about our moms.  I was blessed with just the right mother for me, and so was Doug.  It's amazing how things like that work out.  I'm eternally grateful for the gift of our mothers.

We spent much of the day Saturday working outside getting the soil ready for the garden, planting seeds, and planting flowers.  I don't think I could ever plant a flower without thinking of my mother.  Everything I know and love about flowers came from her!

So, I saw this infomercial for a leaf blower that you can reverse and it will suck up the leaves and sticks into a bag AND IT MULCHES THEM UP!!!  Well, I couldn't pass that one up, so I ordered it, and the dad mulched up all the leaves.  You wouldn't believe the amazing mulch we added into the gardens this year!  (Every once in awhile, my informercial obsession pays off.  It's too bad no one will let me watch them anymore.)  I hauled mulch and manure, and Dad tilled it in.

The most exciting part of Mother's Day, for me, is getting to talk with my babies.  I got to talk to ALL of them.  Now that make's for a great Mother's Day. 

Mother's Day, when you're the mother of a missionary, takes on new meaning.  We got "THE CALL" yesterday!  It was great to hear Amy's voice!  She's still Amy, which I knew she would be.  But she's a more confident, more powerful, stronger version of herself!  I love what missions help the missionaries become!

This is me talking on the phone to Amy.  (I'm not sure how Susan actually took a picture at that angle.)

This is Susan talking to Amy.

Now for some other things that happened this week.  It's been a whirlwind week.  The end of the school year is like that.

This is Susan at her CCTE graduation.  (That's the UNM Culinary class.)  She's sitting by Dennis D'Orazio.  Do you remember him, Amy?  He's Kathleen's little brother.

This is Susan serving refreshemts AFTER the graduation ceremony.

It's time for the old Ward Talent Show again!  Susan sang "Happily, Happily, Happily Ever After" from "Once Upon a Matress."  She really shines when she's in front of an audience singing.

So as not to disappoint our fans, our family performed "Sandwiches" accompanied on the nose flutes.

The music, singing and choreography left the crowd in tears.  It was touching... believe me.

Last week!

School is quickly winding down, and with it comes the whirlwind of things that need to be finished up, so we've had a busy week, but don't have much that is interesting to blog about.  We'll give it a try.

Susan had her last band concert of her high school career this past week.  She's in the middle of the back row.  The thing I liked about my kids playing clarinet was that they got to sit in the front row.

Susan loves changing around the "pretties" in her room.  I like it, because it gets her to clean her room.

Our little plant babies are doing well.  In three weeks, we should be good and past our last freeze, so we'll plant them outside.

The heat mat and light get-up that dad made are giving us great plantlets this year!