Nathan and Emily at Grandpa and Grandma Rich's home, Spring 1994.
Having little Miss Em back home is a treat. There are many things she still does, or says, or looks she gives that remind me of her from many years ago. Our little Em is still inside our more mature, college Em.
Yesterday there was something that she did that is just SO her.
For my procedures, I cannot eat for a couple of days (and do some other lovely stuff that I won't mention here).
She was making a sandwich in the kitchen and I thought she would join me and eat it. But then she went missing.
I wondered what had happened to her and why she would leave.
Looking out the window, I saw no sign of her and Larry was still parked in his usual spot.
It seemed strange to me.
Where would she go? Especially with her sandwich in her hands?
I decided to check out the front door, as I opened it, there she sat on the concrete steps.
Sandwich, that she was trying to conceal under a napkin, in one hand and a book in the other.
She was acting so funny with that sandwich!
So, I asked her, "Are you trying to not let me see you eat that sandwich?"
Her reply, a sheepish "Yes."
She is such a funny little gal. I love that she is that thoughtful; she doesn't need to be (for me) but it is a wonderful trait of hers. (Next time Em, I can handle it...I'd rather enjoy your company, sandwich and all.)
It was a beautiful day! I thought that she had had a brilliant idea in going outside.
I mentioned to her that she could get the picnic blanket out of the back of Larry if she wanted to really relax for a while.
She declined and said she was fine on the steps.
Then she said, "This is where I sat and waited for Smash and Megan to be born."
"You did?"
"Yep, either here (pointing to the last step, the one she was on) or up there dangling off my legs, even though there wasn't much to dangle." Ha, ha!
It's true, she and Nathan waited here at this home, with Jeanne, for me to have the younger two.
It was such a sweet thought and memory.
I'm glad she has those wonderful memories of this place where we have returned.
Another memory followed just after. Jeanne's fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, I think she makes the best in the land! She would bring the kids to meet their new sibling and a plate of her specialty for me to eat. (After not being able to hold anything down for 9 months and then giving birth, it was the absolute best meal ever!)
She and Nathan were older than the picture I put at the top of this post when the other two came along but it's such a cute one, I wanted to put it on.
Speaking of Nathan, he had a little accident and I am worried about how hurt he might be.
He hit a parked car while riding his bike. He must have been flying because we are getting word back that it's a $1600.00 repair.
So, in order to cause that much damage to a vehicle, I really wonder what he looks like!
Last night I received a text from Emily's friend, Mary.
When I saw it, I wondered what that was in the sky and then it dawned on me - lanterns! Beautiful lanterns in the dark, night sky.
I thought it was so cool of Mary to send me a text of what she was seeing:
And then she sent me this next photo:
(Mary and Emily with a purple lantern).
They weren't just seeing the lanterns, they were releasing them!
How cool is that?!
150 lanterns!
Emily has been a little stressed over finals week this week. She has a lot to take care of as well: packing, cleaning, checking the girls out of the dorms, readying the dorms for Women's Conference - all during finals week. Poor girl.
Isn't that a wonderful distraction?
Sending lanterns into the night sky?
What a great release!
A beautiful release!
This is something I would LOVE to do one day. Or at least see in person. Hey, Em, want to do it again?
Thank you, Mary, for the photos. More importantly, thank you for being such a great friend to our Bemmer-Bo!
I'm very grateful that Emily has good friends like you in her life - you are a wonderful person.
Words cannot express how thankful I am that Emily is surrounded by a great support system while she is at college. Fabulous friends and her big brother - who could ask for more?
AND
SHE comes back to US in 5 DAYS! I am so EXCITED!
Beautiful!
(Thanks again, Mary! We love you!)
Just as I was getting ready to post this, Emi sent me a few more photos of the lanterns:
Just awesome.
While we were visiting "the kids" a couple of weeks ago, Nathan needed a ride to Spanish Fork because he and some friends were helping prepare the color bags for the upcoming "Festival of Color."
This display of color takes place at the Lotus temple in Spanish Fork; home to the largest Holi celebration in the Western Hemisphere.
The Holi fest is a Hindu tradition celebrating the arrival of spring and bidding farewell to winter.
"It commemorates an array of events in Hindu mythology, but in short, the festival is a celebration of life and color." ~UVU newspaper.
When we arrived at the Lotus temple, I was a little mesmerized by all of the color! Jon and the kids got worried that I wouldn't want to leave, that I would want to stay and prepare the bags.
They were right.
We had to check out of our hotel though, so I had no choice in the matter. But the kids and I did take a few minutes to put together some color bags before we left.
Each bag contained 6 different, very vibrant colors and a color medium. The woman in charge wanted pink in every bag we put together. Pink must be important in the final display of color!
Em is holding up a color packet:
The Lotus temple is in a BEAUTIFUL spot! I wish I would have taken out my camera and gotten some nice pics of the area...but again, there was no time.
What an interesting and fun (although messy) way to welcome Spring!
Here are a couple of my former Institute students after the color launch:
BY Natasha Bedingfield
Download 02 Pocketful of Sunshine
Because she is pure sunshine to me!
I've got a 'pocketful of sunshine' and her name is Emily. :)
She is so very kind and happy!!
When we visited her dorm, I noticed lots of little things (beyond the "stuff") that made me feel so thankful for the kind of person our daughter has become and who she is - even while she is away from us.
Several notes around her room from students she has helped. Girls who were thankful for her treating them kindly when they needed her help as an RA. Thank you's from roommates for something she had done to help them or lift them up.
People light up when they see her!
Little Miss Em sent this card to me in the mail - which means she had to purchase the card on her very fixed income and then pay for a stamp too! Such a thoughtful thing to do for me! And I needed a little pick me up right when I got it!
And it SINGS! "Simply the Best" by Tina Turner!
Makes me feel like dancing!
An impromptu visit -
(and oo-wee, is it ever hard to get a photo of them together).
Happy St. Patty's Day!
These goofy kids really love each other.
They tease and joke and get crazy (sometimes until it hurts!) but there is definitely a lot of love between them!
We had hoped to go see "the kids" (meaning the big kids) during spring break but Smash became really sick after his track meet. He had a sinus infection and I believe he also had heat stroke. He was one sick kid for nearly the whole break.
As soon as he was well enough to get out of the house, and after he and Meg went skiing with their dad, (and I of course fit in my two physical therapy sessions) we decided to head out for a quick road trip.
I had several things I wanted to deliver and other things I hoped to take care of for them.
All things were accomplished, yay!
What a nice couple of days!
They (the big kids) are busy in their lives at school, which is great to see. They seem to love life right now; what a blessing.
Meg went to classes with Em, and Smash went to a 4 hour art class with Nathan. Cool, huh?
So, why do we call them "the kids?" Well, it all began way back when...
Meg was a baby and Smash a little tot.
When the school day was nearly over and it was time to pick up Nathan and Emily from school, I would let the 'littles' know it was time to prepare to leave.
One day they started asking me if it was time to pick up "the kids" and then they would refer to "the kids" throughout the day while they were away from us.
We would visit "the kids" during lunch and often see "the kids" while volunteering at their school.
It was so sweet that these two littlest of ours were calling their older siblings 'the kids' that it stuck!
I sure do love those kids, all of them!
HOORAY for the number one R.A.!
Emily has had some really wonderful feedback lately and I want to share it!
Not sure what is happening in the photo I stole from found on FB but it appears to be a birthday party for Justin Bieber. Emily is in her RA uniform (shirt and badge) so that is why I chose to post this photo. Well, that, and she looks cute. :)
Back to her news!
With the upcoming transitions, i. e. spring and summer terms and the fall semester just around the corner, Emily has had to make some decisions.
She decided to return to us during the spring term (yay for us!), isn't quite sure where to be during summer term yet (neither are we, ha!) and she decided she definitely wants to continue working as an RA during fall and winter semesters.
Recently during the middle of the night, she called to tell me how excited she was because she had gotten some really happy news. (Why is it that college kids are always so eager to chat in the middle of the night?! Ha, ha!).
She had met with her boss and found out that the hall advisers were asked to fill out some feedback forms or surveys. One of the questions on that form asked if they could choose from any of the returning RA's, which one would they want to have as their RA?
Emily was told that she had been doing a wonderful job and that she was voted as the top RA!
She was so surprised and thankful!
A week or so later, she called to let me know that she had gotten her hall assignment for the fall semester and she was super-duper excited about it.
She has been assigned to the NEW Heritage Halls that have recently opened. We have seen them and they are gorgeous! Really nice! They resemble a hotel!
I said to her, "Well, I guess that's what you get for being the top RA!"
She then told me some more exciting news.
Originally she was placed somewhere else but the Hall Adviser for these beautiful new apartments really wanted Emily for her RA, so she traded RA's around, begged, pleaded and fought tooth and nail for Emily.
Emi was thrilled and very surprised!
When she found out this news, she was told that building assignments are subject to change but that since her hall adviser had fought so hard for her, she should feel pretty confident that her assignment will remain the same.
Isn't that the best?!
It's so great when there are little (and big) rewards for doing your best at your job.
Now I am thinking of putting her RA skills to good use while she is at home, let's see if Emily can get the lights out here on time! :)
to Dinosaur Land!
Last weekend Nathan and Emily took some of their friends out to visit my parents and see the dinosaur fossils. There were ten of them in their group, two car loads.
It sounds like they all had a great time. There were several girls in the group who are from Ecuador, Nathan's friend, Alejo, from Colombia and others.
Emily brought her friend, Mary, who is from my favorite state, WA. :)
(I think my folks were glad that Mary speaks English, ha, ha!)
My folks were very impressed with this group of kids! They said they were a really great young people.
One girl told my mom that she had learned about the dinosaur quarry and fossils from a textbook at school in Ecuador and she was so excited to get to see it all in person. She never thought she would have such an opportunity. As my mom described how thrilled this young lady was to see the dinosaur bones, etc., I couldn't help but think back to when I would bring my foreign friends to visit my parents. They were always very excited to visit my folks and see Dinosaur Land.
It also reminded me of how thrilled I have been when I have had the opportunity to read and study about another country and then see it in person.
It's so great that they could all go out there together. It makes me feel really happy that the kids would want to go visit their grandparents and take a big group of friends with them. I really love that!
My nieces, Aliya and Breanna, were able to spend the day with them also. How fun for them to get to hang out with a college crowd and their (older) cousins!
I have had to steal some of the photos from Mary's blog (thanks Mary!) and FB. I wish someone had a photo of the group with my parents...maybe there is one out there somewhere...I hope...
about my "comments" post.
This message was sent to me by Bemmer-Bo. (Our Emily)
Sent at 1:04 AM.
"Comments! :) haha... when I first read the title, I thought you were either going to say something about how you wish your children (specifically those not living at home) would comment more, or something about the time of day my most recent comments have been made :) haha...
I am trying to make more comments!! :) even if they are made in the middle of the night... :/I love you Mom!!-Emi"
Think someone is a little worried that I may have noticed her comments left on the blog at 2, 2:30 or 3 in the morning?
I did notice.
I thought about teasing her and planned to mention to her that I did see that she (and her cute friends) are on the blog awfully late at night - or rather early in the morning!
But I wouldn't have 'called her out' here on the blog - that is, until I got her funny e-mail.
Oh Bemmer! You are a doll! (Now..., go to bed! Ha, ha!)
(She does know I plan to post her email - we talked and laughed about it on the phone, so please don't worry about her response). :)
when I found these photos that the kids had taken while we were on our trip to Alaska back in June and July of 2008!
The other day I needed another SD card for my camera. My favorite one is full and I don't want to erase it - still have the jitters about my computer and I don't want to lose the photos. I know, I know, trust issues...
So, I grabbed an old card that I don't ever use and when I put it into the computer to upload the photos, these precious photos were there! Taken from the kids point of views; mostly Meg and Smash as the photographers.
I was so excited to see these and to see the changes in the kids in the last few years. 2008 doesn't seem all that long ago and yet a lot has happened and changed since then; many of those changes are evident in their faces alone.
The photo below is of Meg and I on a bus in Denali National Park. Look at Nathan and Emily just behind us.
Here we are with the girls. Emily had long hair then and had it in braids.
And here we are with the boys. Smash smiled in photos back then!
Not the best photo of us but I had to show just how much Smash and Nathan have changed since then:
Although the moose photo is a little blurry, it's fun to remember all of the moose we saw - as well as other wonderful animals and scenery.
The blond in the photo below is me.
Just kidding, it's not a Mar-bear, it's a real bear.
The kids zoomed in on him, or her:
Kids are great, aren't they? There were a lot of photos taken of this next creature! Ha, ha!
They did make friends with him, he followed them all over while we were stopped at this little picnic area.
But they took a lot more photos of him than they did of the moose or bear, or anything else. I love kids!
I think Meg took the photo below of Smash; it's so cute.
The kids caught whales too - - on camera.
And the photo below is a really great capture. Not sure who took it but he/she managed to capture the sea lions on the rocks and a whale in the water next to them. Really cool!
There are many more photos but that's all I will share for now. It's a lot, I know.
What a very fun find for me, I'm kind of happy that they were tucked away until now because it makes them seem even more special.
Great job at capturing these photos!
Kids, do you remember taking them?
for Nathan and Emily in 2012!
Emi is now an RA (for 60 girls) at Heritage Halls, which meant she made the move BACK to Heritage during the break. (She began there this Summer and then moved to Helaman in the Fall). She is excited and thrilled with her new opportunities and we are thrilled for her!
We traveled New Year's Day in order to get her to her dorm in time to begin her new job. Meg, Emi and I wore those Happy New Year headbands all day. Goofy, I know but we had fun...
When we stopped for a few minutes at a truck stop, I got out of the car and a little girl spotted me right away. She looked up at me and said, "Well, YOU look cute!" Made me giggle.
Later in the day, Emily got out of the car and a little girl said to her, "I like your headband!" Little girls notice everything! So cute!
Emily quickly put her "essentials" away in a drawer; check out her candy essentials drawer! :)
Actually, the ring pops were for the girls in her dorm. As their new RA, she wanted them to be able to reach her if they needed or wanted to so she attached a cute little note to the ring pops along with her cell number and let them know they could "give her a RING" any time!
The extra-large bag of tootsie rolls and the candy jar were a Christmas gift. I thought it might be nice for her to have a little treat for any of the girls who will come to talk with her (or cry on her shoulder). Tootsie rolls happen to be one of Emily's favorite treats - so she can enjoy some, if needed.
The thought just occurred to me - Emi, if you want to go through that warehouse bag of treats more quickly, you could start offering treats to the boys when you have to kick them out of the dorms...might soften the blow...
you could be known as the "sweetest" RA, ha, ha. (You are probably already known as that though).
Emi, let me know when you need more treats for your jar! :)
And it was also time for Nathan to begin a new chapter in his life story.
Back to school. After 2 1/2 years of being away from the books and all that goes with it.
He was so excited and ready to start this new chapter! (He loves us but he'd rather be at school than hanging out with the folks...can't blame him for that!)
Traveling with our Thule and bike on top of Larry made me feel like a real Coloradoan.
With Nathan and Emily moving in to new places, just after Christmas, and all 6 of us traveling together, we were pretty much filled to the brim...and beyond! (Family bonding time!)
Nathan moved into the foreign language housing - such a great place for him! There are many languages represented in the apartment complex; each house is assigned a different language. They must speak in their house language at all times while they are in the apt. Several apartments make up the house and in each apartment there are 6 people. Nathan is in the Spanish house. They get together to eat dinner 5 nights a week (the entire house - 60 or so people!). Each week they rotate through who is in charge (the chef) of dinner and who will assist in the prep for the dinner. It's a great system! It works out that each person will be the chef about once a month and will assist with dinner prep once a week.
The apartments are so nice! The kitchen and bathroom are huge. The bedrooms are a fairly nice size and the living room is really large. He really got in to a great apartment!
Here he is with one of his new roommates, Alejandro. Alejandro is from Colombia.
While helping Nathan move in, the kids were speaking a little Spanish. Jon and I didn't really say much because we don't speak Spanish and we were trying to be as respectful as possible to the Spanish rule. I started speaking a little in Italian - mainly because I felt the need to say something and Alejandro answered me in Italian. What a shock and surprise! He had spent 4 years working in Italia, so he is fluent in the language. Really cool.
Isn't that kitchen great?
Nathan in his new bedroom.
And the kids all together just before we left Nathan and Emily.
There is something about having two of my children at college together that makes it easier for me. That may sound strange coming from the mom that does not like letting go...but I know that they will watch out for each other. They are good friends! That makes me so, so, so, so very happy!
And Emily has found other great friends, like this one, Greta. She came to see us off also and as we left, I looked back to see them as they walked off together I was so happy that Emily has such great people in her life.
EVER!!
For this cute girl!
Our one and only Bemmer-BO!
(At 8 years old)
We pulled off the biggest and best birthday surprise!
I contacted a few of Emily's friends via text and FB and asked them to help me give her a MEGA surprise for her "golden" birthday.
Her friends are the best! They were absolutely wonderful! They were more than happy to help.
And not one spilled the beans.
We drove halfway to Provo on Friday night, then the rest of the way on Saturday morning. (We had to leave to return to CO on Sunday morning; a fast and furious trip... well, not too furious, no one was angry, ha, ha!).
When we arrived in Provo, we picked up all of the necessary party items and then went to the Cougareat at BYU to set it all up and make it feel festive!
Her friends were to arrive at 1 PM, which they did, and then Mary would bring her after that for the surprise.
Emily had NO IDEA that we were in Provo. Not even an inkling.
Now for full disclosure: Emily loves the color red (me too!) and so in thinking of Emily and NOT thinking of THE DAY we were having this shindig...well, not thinking through it fully...I decorated with RED. Mm-hmm. RED in the Cougareat, in the heart of BYU blue, on GAME DAY! And not ANY game day, the big rivalry game day between the Y and the U!
Yes, we had looks and even a few comments and although I felt silly for setting it all up in red, I loved every bit of it. I was so excited to do this for Emily.
This birthday was special! We had not seen Emily since she went away to college in June.
My oh my, did that ever feel like a l o o o n n n n g g g time!
Once her friends had arrived and we had chatted with them for a few minutes, the kids, Jonathan and I went to hide around the corner.
Waiting for her to get there seemed like an eternity. It wasn't. But it felt that way because we were so very excited!
When she came in to the Cougareat with her friend (Mary), the rest of the gang began to sing "Happy Birthday" to her. That is when we came out. She was facing away from us so as we approached her, we sang along. As soon as she heard us singing, she whipped around and BURST into tears! So did I. Tears, tears, tears. And lots of hugs!
It was the sweetest reunion, ever.
Mary is the one in the blue-stripe shirt next to Emily. Greta is on the other side of her. Those three gals are planning on rooming together as soon as their contracts are up and they can move in together. I really love those girls!
Unfortunately, I did not get photos of all who were there (I was busy!) but I did try to get photos of many of those who attended.
Ha ppy birthday, Emily! I love you!
So, I love hearing from Emily.
Any text, email, or phone call is more than welcome. She is always busy doing something! It's great! I love the photos she has sent. They really crack me up!
She's doing well in her classes and loves them. Her current grade in Biology is 100. (Yes!)
She has been working on service opportunities for everyone in her church congregation.
She has been taking advantage of every fun opportunity also.
She is getting to know her roommates and having a BLAST with them. While bonding(?) as roommates, they have been doing some funny (goofy) things, such as:
Sending me a photo of their ceiling... (ha, ha, ha!)
Because they calculated how many holes/dots are in it!
And the answer is...
Baking late at night. I got a text from Emily at about 10:30 one night asking for a recipe to use up ripe bananas...I sent along a banana bar recipe, which they made and then shared with many other students. Emily told me they were a big hit. In fact, she made them again for a surprise birthday party for her roommate, Summer.
They also made cupcakes and frosting. They needed to store the frosting but didn't have plastic wrap, so they cut up sandwich bags and taped them together and then taped the bags to the bowl. So funny!
And here is a look at her door:
The note from Emily explains a little more:
"Hey Mom!! Here are some pics of random stuff we have done so far :)
We put random notes around our dorm on sticky notes... we put quite a few on our door... reminders and cute and nice sayings! :)
Some of the things written on the notes:
"Be yourself... everyone else is taken :)''
Smile!!
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those that matter dont mind!" -Dr. Seuss
Smile!!
Don't forget your keys!
Meet someone new today!
Have fun today!!
Have fun in class!
You are awesome!
Somebody loves you!
"Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive that is youer than you!" :) -Dr. Seuss
We calculated the number of dots/holes on our kitchen ceiling.
We made banana bars! :) and then delivered them around the neighborhood! They were absolutely delicious! Thanks for the recipe! Everyone loved them and they were all gone (except one that we saved for zoya- she is out of town for the weekend) in a flash!
Kaytee and Zoya decorated the outside of our door with pics of Jimmer... I'll send you pics as soon as I take them :)
I love you Mom!!! :)"
I miss her. But I am so happy that she is LOVING life right now!
Getting her new home ready.
Well, at least the bed is made, ha, ha!
As you can see, Emily is feeling VERY comfortable and happy! (Pictured here with Holly (Nathan's friend, well, she is our friend too) and Summer, her roommate for the summer. I like to refer to her as Summer in the Summer! We had such fun with these girls over the weekend that Emily was moving into her dorm.
Out at a favorite Italian restaraunt.
If she looks comfortable...it's because she is... perfectly at home, on that campus.
TX to NM + NM to CO + CO to UT= great fun. fabulous road trip!
For years now as we have driven to our beloved Colorado, we have laughed at the plain brown, "colorful Colorado" sign. But, hey, when the rest of the state is so gorgeous, a plain brown sign is perfectly fine.
Life Elevated. I like that for a motto.
SUNSET.
One of the (many) things I love about road-tripping is the beauty along the way.
This sunset on the TX-NM border was unreal!
The display of light and color was magnificent and continually changing. I wish we could have stopped the vehicle and watched the entire sunset (but if I were to stop every time I thought something was beautiful we wouldn't ever get anywhere). :)
The girls and I are enjoying a fun road trip together while the boys are at home working. (No worries, they got in their play time too!).
Unfortunately I believe the breathtaking colors of this sunset (red/orange haze) were courtesy of the AZ wildfires. I do hope those fires will be contained soon.
Goodness! How we love this girl!
Graduating with honors and a smile.
Recipient of the NTHS, Jon H. Poteat national scholarship.
What a happy day for Bemmer-Bo! Her grandparents (Jonathan's folks), Marilyn and Adam, and her family were there to cheer her on (along with some friends).
Emily will always remember that these special people in her life were able to share this day with her. We are so very blessed.
Emily will really be missed at home. She is a joy!
Many things have brought tears to my eyes recently. Knowing that she is leaving for college has made me a little extra emotional.
While doing the laundry, I picked up her BYU t-shirt and began to cry. I can't explain just how quickly the tears well up in my eyes - and when they 'well' they have no where to go but out! I have cried at her awards nights, band banquet, and all of the graduation hoopla (and more).
One very sweet thing for Emily was a delivery from a family she babysits. They brought over some handmade gifts and cards that the kids had made for her. In the card from the parents, they told Emily that they had asked their oldest daughter if she had any heroes. Without any hesitation, she named Emily. They asked her why she felt that Emily was her hero and she responded that Emily is helpful, kind, happy, fun and always smiles.
When Emily takes care of children she engages with them. They play together, she reads to them, she feeds them, she brings new and fun activities for them to enjoy while she is there, she helps them clean up whatever mess they might have made while playing and she loves them! She genuinely enjoys children.
Emily has had a sweet influence on quite a few children already in her young life.
(Another reason to cry). The mind is a wonderfully, crazy thing...
the strangest thing happened as I dropped her off at the high school to be transported with the rest of her class of 540 kids to their graduation at the Dr. Pepper Stars Center.
She exited the vehicle as Emily the graduate, but as she walked toward the rest of her classmates (and the very long line-up of buses), I saw in my mind's eye a very, little Emi, the girl I dropped off at Kindergarten. I watched that sweet girl walk away from me and toward a fabulously exciting time in her life.
Oh, so happy for her, so sad for me.
And yet, I know she will continue to bring happiness home with every phone call, email, text and visit.
She will make the most of the years to come.
All that the future holds for her awaits her now and that's exciting!
= Smiles all around!
We love our Sunday family time in the park (weather permitting!).
The last Sunday that we were able to go to the park, we saw a green corvette in the parking lot and knew immediately who happened to be the owner. Our old neighbor and good friend. (A Friendly, Friend's friend...who has the last name of Friend.) :)
(Meg's nonchalant look).
That is when the treasure hunt began. We didn't find him until we had given up and were on our way out of the park. But once he was spotted, the kids went crazy! They were so excited!
Smash sprinted straight for him and you can see what happened next. I think our friendly "Friend" was just as excited as we were.
Yes, that is Meg in her jammies...no matter how much we tease her about wearing those out in public, it doesn't bother her. She feels that she needs to be extra comfy on Sundays after church so if she wants to wear pj's, she does. :)
21 May, 2011
Update:
I started this post probably around a month or so ago and have not been able to publish it, crazy, I know. We haven't enjoyed this type of Sunday afternoon since. But I have high hopes for more. And I hope an afternoon such as this will happen again before Emily leaves home.
We have been enjoying other outings with the kids though: awards ceremonies, banquets, concerts, etc. Our days are packed and our weeks are flying by. Great things are happening and I hope to share some of that with you when I can grab a few minutes from somewhere. (It appears that I will have time since the world didn't end today as predicted by a preacher in CA.).
Here are some recordings from the UIL contest.
These pieces are lengthy but well worth listening to (while you go about other business on your computer).
I listened to them on my phone until I fell asleep last night, at some point, perhaps an hour or so after falling asleep, I awoke with my hand still clutching my phone up next to my face.
The director asked the band to listen to the recordings and take note of changes and improvements they need to make.
All that I hear when I listen is beautiful music but I am too much a fan to be a good judge.
The first selection, Children's March, is a fun piece to hear.
The second piece, Masquerade, is not your typically beautiful piece but it is cool. It's moody and contradictory in parts. If it's not your cup o' tea, skip over it and go to #3.
The third piece, Polovetsian Dances has several movements, so there is some pausing between them. You should recognize at least some of this piece. Each time I listen to them playing the very last movement of the Polovestian Dances (after already playing the other songs) I'm amazed that they can hang in there and play at that tempo! Incredible!
And just because I really like her (and becuase there is not yet enough BLUE on this page of the blog yet) here is another photo of Em...
and they didn't even have to use a broom.
A lot of brass was used, however.... :)
Here is a note from the WHS band director describing the 'sweep' a little more:
I was able to travel with the band as a chaperone, so I got to go 'behind the scenes' and watch them get ready for the judges, etc. Really cool!
In the practice room at the school where they held the competition. (Emily's band director would never have hearts and notes on his whiteboard.)
It was fun to have a view of the band and director that I don't usually see. I didn't want to disrupt their practice time (or make any one nervous - more nervous than they already might have been) before the judging so I didn't dare take too many photos.
Practice room warm-up.
On stage for judging:
In the photo below they just learned that the judges thought their horn section (as in french horn) "was the best they had heard in a long time!" If you look closely, you can see Emily is really happy with that feedback.
The Wind Symphony listening intently to results and the notes from the judges.
is THIS girl?
When did she grow into this young lady?
She is absolutely wonderful in (nearly) every way. :)
(Emi, when you protest about the "nearly every way" in that last statement, think room, as in - yours).
I have to say, I go from feeling super excited for her
to terribly sad for us.
And sometimes one feeling is within seconds of the next.
But we truly are so happy for her! (I will keep saying that until I really feel it!)
Classes for her begin in...
73 days,
11 hours
and 38 minutes.
Ya, I know, not much time...
(June 20th at 9 AM!)
Disclaimer:
No bluebonnets were trampled by us; we only smushed where they had been smushed before.
Just wanted to make sure I didn't offend any other bluebonnet purists out there...I promise, we were very careful. :)
Our Bemmer Bo.
She hasn't known which way to go.
With too (especially two) many good choices, she has been on the fence in vacillation mode. (Can that BE a mode?)
But now....
it appears that she has made up her mind...tis true, tis true...
Here is a clue...
Do you see it?!
You might if you are TRUE BLUE!
It's a "Y" for BYU!
Congratulations, Emi!
(You have just made some family members very happy!)
She will knit for a chance at scholarship money! (And for fun!)
The other day Emily was researching random scholarships on-line when she came upon a scholarship from a wool co.
They will offer a good amount of money to the college of choice for an outstanding student who can knit. She loves to knit! But the deadline for the scholarship application with photo of knitting project attached is due this Friday.
A few days to make it happen did not detour her in the least. After finding an idea/pattern on-line, Emily took a little trip to Hobby Lobby, loaded up on yarn and other necessary materials and in just a couple of days has completed a project.
She chose an interesting project. She learned a lot while working on this project; I had to help her with some of the terms and stitches, etc., but she picked up on it quickly and finished her project in record time. She took her knitting with her to her early morning scripture study class and to school. She worked on it whenever she had a minute to spare.
Here she is beautifully modeling her new...
Slippers! (They look a lot like espadrilles, for those of you who remember those).
They do have a hard sole, they are sown onto the bottoms of old flip-flops. Really clever!
Now she can sit back, relax and wait for all that scholarship money to come through...ha, ha!
I think she is awesome for trying to do this and attempting a new project at the last minute. I'm also really grateful that she is still looking for and applying for scholarships that may be available to her. She is such a great gal!
Last Sunday evening was gorgeous! Actually, right now every day has been gorgeous; warm, Spring weather has come to north TX, hooray!
I love that this season of the year comes earlier here than other places we have lived. The winter months aren't around long enough to get tired of them. This year, the spring blossoms have seemed even more beautiful than in other years. It could be that I have just forgotten or perhaps the cold snaps we had in February attributed to a glorious March?
When I left the beginning of March for the wedding, the buds and blossoms were just beginning to show and when I came home a few days later, everything was in full bloom! Spring is breathtaking.
Back to our Sunday walk. Emily had just returned from Indianapolis, Smash had come home from climbing in OK the day before and Meg had returned the night before from Girl's Camp - just in time to make it to some of the wedding reception - which was gorgeous, by the way. So, Sunday afternoon/evening brought on some tired and weary-from-traveling personalities. I'm sure we are not the only family to experience this but sometimes after the kids have been away from each other (and indulged somehow by friends or other sources) there is a warming up period upon reentry. They have to get acquainted with each other again. There are times when they can do this in a happy manner and other times when they are cranky with each other. Sometimes these reacquainting periods remind me a little of the first week of Kindergarten; after school they are tired, cranky and clingy. They have spent all of their good energy elsewhere and come home depleted. As happy as they were last Sunday to reunite, and believe me we were all SO happy to be home together again, we were all tired and not at our best. But the Sunday walk and a frisbee did the trick.
The park was in bloom, the weather perfect for enjoying a stroll, trees were begging to be climbed and with each step we were getting back to us. Ahh.
I didn't bring my camera so I snapped a few with my cell but a few days later I returned for time alone in the park and more photos.
iPhone pic, Em
iPhone pic, Smash
Day 5 (and most likely our last) of our wintry weather.
The beauty:
Morning sun and snow.
The reality:
Yesterday while sledding with the kids, I fell. Hard. I slipped and fell onto about 4 inches of snow which was covering 2 inches of ice (in a parking lot). Not a glorious way to go down if one is going to get hurt while sledding. On my tail bone. Ouch. It hurt a lot, as you can imagine. I wish I could say I was sledding with the kids and got hurt while nearly landing a "Shaun White - Double Mc Twist 1260 or Tomahawk." But no, this adventurous girl was merely walking along (gingerly at that) to position myself for a better photo op. (Sigh)
Years ago when Jon and I were water-skiing, I had a really nasty crash and hurt my back; you know the kind of hurt that leaves the lower half of your body numb for a little while. On the ice yesterday, I felt that old injury rejoin my body like an un-welcomed guest. The only thing I could do was stay on the ice and let it numb me as much as possible; getting up was rather difficult. Once I did get up and walk around, half numb, I did just fine...until I came home and sat down for a minute. Ha, ha!
This morning, I couldn't take laying in bed even a minute longer. I needed to get up and walk and get my body moving. So, just before sunrise, I put on my scarf, hat, heavy coat and boots (over my pj's, of course) and headed out to numb the pain check out what was left of our beautiful snowfall from yesterday.
The walk and the bright yellow sunlight did not disappoint.
The beauty:
Lovely winter light on snow, well, there is just nothing quite like it.
Peaceful.
The reality:
Lots and lots of clothes, coats, layers, socks, scarves, hats, undies, shorts, and more clothes worn and soiled to be washed and dried (and sometimes just dried) in order to be worn again! Add to my own 3 children's clothes those of the neighbor kids (I only dry those). Rarely do these sopping wet clothes make it into the laundry room immediately. They typically land on the floor in piles by whichever door was a port of entry.
The beauty:
Soft snow scapes.
The reality:
The constant search through storage for more coats, warmer coats, gloves for all, and where is my scarf?! Ha, ha! And of course, more heavy clothes to be laundered. (Boy does outerwear fill up a washer fast)!
The beauty:
Even the littlest of God's work (and/or art) is magnificent.
The reality:
Boots, boots, everywhere! Tall boots, short boots, wet boots (and shoes). All of which bring in puddles and mud and more.
The beauty:
Long, lovely shadows! (Self-portrait, not bad, eh? ha!).
The reality:
The reality is the beauty.
All of those layers of clothing, coats and boots, hats and gloves, climb up and sled down a snow-packed hill for hours of fun with friends. They provide warmth while go-carting on ice and snow. In Texas, they are rarely needed or used...but on the occasion that they are brought out, it usually means F.U.N!
And that's the beauty and reality of it!
make that THRICE.
Three days of ice before we welcomed snow! (Boy, did we ever welcome that snow)!
With the snow came a bit of a warm-up and some thawing.
The day before our ice (and sleet) storm, I received a weather update on my phone. Miss Meg has become somewhat of a weather bug (comes by it naturally) so I was reading her the storm warning issued for North Texas. While I was reading out loud, Megan interrupted me and scoffed, "Ha! I really don't think that is going to happen!"
It happened! (The picture of our driveway appears harmless but that is actually a thick sheet of ice that didn't melt all week! Every surface was covered with a sheet of ice, fun, haha!).
Here is a video clip of a girl who went to the elementary school where I worked (she is now in high school) until a few years ago:
Tuesday was the first day of school cancellations. Since we typically have school cancelled for one day (if even that!) due to weather here in TX, I asked the kids to make good use of their time on Tuesday morning. They cleaned out backpacks, got caught up on homework and instrument practicing, worked to get ahead in their studies and checked their teacher's blogs to see if anything new had been assigned while they were out of school. They even cleaned their rooms.
By the afternoon, they were 'done with that' and on to better things...(all involving me...which I love...).
Games. This is one of our favorites - Ticket to Ride.
Hot cocoa floats! The kids love them.
I usually just have my cocoa straight up but the kids love to float ice cream in theirs. Jonathan and I experienced this for the very first time as a young married couple living in Vermont. At their winter festivals, they sell huge cups of cocoa with a scoop of Ben and Jerry's. (My favorite is New York Super Fudge Chunk)! They also always offer cups of fresh snow with maple syrup!
Dipped some yummy strawberries.
We had lots of food before the weather event. I had planned on bad weather and was prepared. We also had some extra items on hand for a really fun activity that Emily had planned for her youth group. The activity was cancelled so we made the most of it. :)
Fireplace time.
If I was sitting down at all this week, it was by the fireplace. While we were experiencing rolling blackouts, we played games by the fire. I was especially thankful for our fireplace this week; we could keep warm, no matter what. I was also very thankful for our gas cooktop...NO electricity required to cook a hot meal!
Megan is now hoping for snow (or ice) on her birthday, which is on Wednesday, the 9th. She has been watching the weather and there is a chance that her wish could come true; so watch out North Texas, we could be hit again!
As tradition has it in our home, the children (young and old) generally find rockets (and engines) in their stockings on Christmas morning. Sometimes the rockets need to be assembled and painted, etc., which provides hours of artistic fun; other times assembly is all that is required.
I believe the favorite part of receiving rockets in our stockings is the actual blast-off outing.
This year, Karen and Tyler, Brent, Tracey, Fallon and Amber joined us for our annual blast.
Fallon's new nickname - "Cousin It." As she made her way around the football field, we had to laugh...if you remember Cousin It, then you'll know just what I mean.
It was a little chilly that day, everyone bundled up as much as possible.
Oh, and did I mention that Karen has put her pen down and picked up firearms instead? Just kidding, the coat is a loaner from her dad.Fingers on the trigger! (Ha!)
I believe that Karen must feel very serene most of the time; her eyes are closed in a lot of the photos I took of her. Tyler's taking great care of her. :)
I love watching the kids run for the rockets!
For some reason our launch pad was missing. So Jonathan made a temporary pad out of aluminum foil. With our first launch, the pad looked like Jiffy Pop! We pieced it together and flipped it from side to side until there was nothing left! It did, however, make it through quite a few launchings. Couple of things to note (for next time):
Buy a new launch pad.
Buy another launch pad
and set up two launch sites.
Since the kids are older, shooting the rockets off one right after the other would be a real blast!
A funny little story from our Christmas this year.
This story began back in November, perhaps October even.
It first came to my attention in November just as we were leaving for our Thanksgiving trip that Smash had borrowed Emily's iPod (shuffle).
He had borrowed it and lost it.
Needless to say, Emily was not very happy about it and really wanted to have it returned so she could put it to good use on our road trip.
Smash had also lost his wallet, around the same time. He wanted to bring his wallet on the trip as well. He had been checking his account to make certain that no one was using his debit card. There had not been any activity on the card so he felt that the wallet and Emily's shuffle were both here at home.
We teased Smash (constantly) about how much he must want to be like Nathan. You see, Nathan also has a difficult time keeping track of things.
Although Emily was handling the situation quite nicely, she really did want to find her shuffle. We were all curious as to where it might be and worried about finding the missing wallet as well.
The two of them tore up the house looking for the lost items. Smash continued to maintain that the missing items were in the house. We all looked. We searched. But neither item turned up.
We left for our trip without the shuffle or the wallet.
Upon our return home, the search began again.
And a debit card was canceled with another issued to Smash.
As December rolled around and the children were deciding what they would give to each other, Smash felt that he should give Emily a new shuffle. He carefully considered the color and everything. Her other one had been a gift from us and it had been engraved. So he had the new one engraved as well. He was so excited to give the new shuffle to her.
Emily decided to buy Smash a new wallet. She picked out just the right one. She did her homework before going shopping and knew what color and type he wanted as well as what he liked and disliked about his old wallet. She found the perfect wallet for him. She was thrilled.
Christmas day we were waiting for Nathan's phone call. Em and Smash decided to open each other's gifts. They were both really happy and surprised at what they had received.
We had a good laugh though, when Smash opened his gift from Nathan while we were chatting with him on the phone and it was a beautiful, Argentine wallet.
After the phone call it was time for each of the children to look for their hidden gift from Santa. Every year they receive a note (a personal poem from Santa about their past year) in their stocking with a clue in the note as to where their Santa gift is hidden. The Santa gift is usually the one thing they would really like or need.
With their clues in hand, off they went...
This year the clues were not really clues at all. The notes were difficult for them to decipher. So they spent quite a bit of time searching.
While they were in the middle of their great Christmas hunt, Emily found a plastic bag (I believe in the mud room) and upon opening it she saw her shuffle and Ashton's wallet. HA!
When she came into the family room with her face lit up like a Christmas tree, I thought she had found her gift. She quickly showed us what was in the bag...
we erupted! Laughs all around.
Emily is now the proud owner of a red and a blue (both engraved) iPod shuffles.
Smash has 3 wallets; he went from 0 to 3 overnight.
Funny stuff!
In case you are wondering, all 3 kids did eventually find their Santa gifts.
Happy, happy day!
BEGAN AT 4 AM for me.
That is when I jumped (flying reindeer style) out of bed and into the kitchen to begin our traditional Christmas morning cinnamon rolls.
Though I am not typically what you would call a morning person...it takes me a while to warm up to the day ahead...I really love Christmas morning and waking before the rest of the family.
It gives me the opportunity to reflect on the year, quiet moments to think about all of the people we love, and it offers me plenty of time to get REALLY excited about the day ahead!
This year as I was rolling out the dough, I was looking at my red tree (truth be told it was a green tree decorated with red lights) and the ONE stocking left hanging on the fireplace - Nathan's.
Such bitter-sweet feelings came over me as I thought of our son in a distant land; serving and loving the people there. He is learning of and becoming a better disciple of the One we are celebrating this day. That is such a comforting feeling for me as his mother. This is such a unique time for him, I hope he is embracing each moment. Before we know it, Christmas will come around once again and he will be home. When that happens, Christmas day will be bitter-sweet for him as he misses Argentina and all that he loves there (and must leave behind), and as he celebrates once again at home with us. I wrote a note for him and left it in his stocking. It will be there for him next Christmas (when he is home!).
About 100 rolls later...the kids were up, actually, Meg was up first and going crazy trying to force her siblings out of bed. Eventually (when they smelled the aroma of fresh cinnamon rolls) they were all in the kitchen. They emptied the contents of their stockings and then helped me wrap, tag and ready the rolls for delivery. They all said that delivering cinnamon rolls is their favorite part of our Christmas traditions.
We delivered.
Some folks were ready and waiting for us this year with hot chocolate waiting (in to-go cups!) and homemade salsa to bring home with us! Yum. At the home pictured above, we also got to hear the news that their number four child (to be born in June) will be a boy! That makes two and two for them also, yay!
Smash said that he loves it when people ask what they got for Christmas and the kids tell them they haven't opened gifts yet. He said they always tell them, "You'd better hurry home then!" The kids all say that they love opening their gifts later in the day after they have delivered the cinnamon rolls. This is the one part of our tradition that I thought they might dislike, but they love it! That makes me so happy!
We did NOT get all delivered in the morning though. I became very worried that Nathan may try to call the home phone while we were out. So we went home and finished up deliveries after our AWESOME phone call with our missionary son.We were able to talk for an hour, never long enough but fabulous! We opened the package he sent to us. He had asked me to keep it a secret from the rest of the family when it arrived, and boy, was that ever hard! But I did and they were so excited to get to open it while he was on the phone with us.
Everything in the package was so personal. He had a special little gift for each of us. He also included a very personal, handwritten letter to everyone and an outline for a special family night. (If you look closely at the photo you will see the letters, notice the little bow he put on the paper, cute!). We each had parts to say, and he had specified what we would sing together, who would pray, in what order we would do everything and then he left time for each of us to share how we felt at the end. It was the most thoughtful thing; he is such a sweet person. I am in awe that the Lord chose to send him to us and so very grateful.
I really loved the package. Even the stamps were so very beautiful to me.
Our Christmas day couldn't have been any sweeter. I loved every minute of it! We all did.
SERIOUSLY.
Really. Seriously. We want to wish you a very, merry Christmas...
Smash touched Em's collar bone...yep, it landed her on the floor. If you see her, give it a try, it works E V E R Y time. :)
Alright-y then, back to business.
Our Christmas Eve:
We kept with tradition and had our nice (Italian) dinner on Christmas Eve.
Following dinner we read from Luke 2 (and acted out the Nativity story, of course!). This year Jonathan veered from his typical role as the very important donkey and played the part of Joseph (Smash did not want to take on this role since Nathan usually plays him). Emily was Mary again; Meg was the angel once again - she secured that role as soon as Thanksgiving was over! Smash played the donkey and shepherds.
The donkey looked a little nervous at first, ha, ha.
The donkey had a little trouble channeling his inner shepherd. He sure can get his sisters to crack up though.
Eventually we were able to get back to the reenactment...
which was fabulous! (As well as entertaining). Thanks everybody!
We missed the folks who had hoped to join us and couldn't. We missed our usual Joseph, Nathan, most of all!
(If you want to see our last Christmas Eve with Nathan (Marilyn and Karen were here too) click here).
We did, however, have a wonderful evening - with really good food, a great feeling while remembering the birth of our Savior and lots of fun together!
Before bed, the kids opened their Christmas pj's and presents* from each other. They are always so excited to give to each other. I think they look forward to giving each other gifts more than anything! We have a tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve (which is usually pj's) but these kids wear me down...how can we NOT let them open each others gifts when they are so excited to give?!
*Each year they draw names, to give secretly to a sibling. I'm not sure exactly why we do this every year...they always give to all of their siblings any way. But they love it and want to keep doing it, so we do!
So, this year they opened gifts from their secret giver on Christmas Eve and then on Christmas day, they opened the gifts from each other.
I love our crazy little bunch!
The sounds of Christmas have filled our home all through the season (and a little beyond!).
I could not wait for the Christmas music to be played this year; there is so much of it that I love! (I will admit to getting it out a wee bit early).
We had several wonderful opportunities to enjoy beautiful Christmas music outside the home (and car) as well.
Concerts:
This year the middle school band had the choir join them at their concert. Some of their tunes were played separately and others together. It was a really nice evening and both the band and the choir sounded great!
One thing I LOVE about the Christmas band concerts is the amount of percussion in Christmas music. Since Smash is a percussionist, it makes it twice the fun!
Very poor photo of Emily next but that girl does not stop moving her head! She was laughing and talking and moving quickly, etc., as soon as the concert was over. I don't have the type of flash needed for that venue. And I could not see her through the other musicians during the concert, she is too little! But the sound bite below more than makes up for the poor photo.
Be sure to listen to the French horns, they are lovely! The sound clip is several sound bites from the songs they performed for us. It is worth listening to, they really are quite good. The recording was taken on my phone from the middle of a packed auditorium, so keep that in mind.
Download WHS Christmas Concert (only a few minutes - snippets of some of their songs)
Meg's piano recital was held in our home. It was super fun to host all of the students and their families for the night.
Such concentration!
Here is a cute photo of Meg with her teacher:
We also went out caroling a few times; such a fun family activity!
Below are a few (not good) photos taken with my cell phone on one night of caroling with friends to an Assisted Living Center. In one of the photos (not easily seen) is an elderly lady who stood as we sang to her. When we were leaving she thanked me and told me that no one had ever done that for her. I'm guessing she probably suffers from a little memory loss. But she was so excited, it was kind of fun that she thought this was her first experience.
I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our Christmas music this year!
THE NEIGHBORS, teachers, and friends with lots of sugary goodness.
Lots of fudge, caramels, cookies, truffles and tiger butter were delivered just before Christmas. Thanks (mostly) to Emily for driving all over making deliveries...and loving every minute of it! Thanks to Meg and Smash for going on deliveries with her. (Having teens that love to get out and go together is a good thing!). I was really happy with all of the cute boxes I found for packaging the goodies.
VISITS TO THE DENTIST.
The kids had their 6 month check-ups and they LOVE their dentist.
I'm thankful their dental experience has always been positive! (I recognize that is not always the case for everyone).
We have a very special relationship with our current dentist. We were some of her first patients (straight out of dental school), Emily worked with her and was mentored by this dentist during her independent study and mentorship program. The kids were asked (years ago) to be photographed for her business brochure - wow, have they changed since then!
A few months ago, she mentioned how cold the children are if/when they come out of sedation. She only has to fully sedate one or two kids per week but mentioned how hard it was to keep the sedation room warm enough for them. I asked if she had a washer and dryer there, she does. We decided then that we would bring her some fleece blankets. Meg wanted to do this service for her and make the blankets. We watched for the material to go on sale and then Emily and I helped Megan put them together (Smash supervised, ha, ha!). Meg presented the blankets to Dr. CC today.
The blankets were darling and both Meg and Dr. CC were very happy!
Oh, and no cavities, great check-ups all around.
Could this be one of the last times I get to see Emily march in a band? It very well could be.
Meg and I went a little paparazzi on the band and ran along the route to make sure that Emily knew, really knew, that we were with her 100%!
Oh, how I have loved watching her perform throughout the years.
Look, she's glancing our way; we got her to break her concentration for a second. :)
MMeg and I left the parade route and waited here for her to make her way here (the end of the route) with the band. What a beautiful day!
Here she comes! And my favorite part - when lil' sis runs to catch-up and walk with big sis!
Here is a photo of Brittany. She is one of the WHS drum majors and one of Emily's best friends!
A SENIOR MOMENT!
A really good senior moment, in fact.
Tonight was senior night at the WHS football game.
I am thankful that Jonathan and I were able to stand on the 24 yard line during half-time with our senior...Bemmer-Bo!
Standing with her on the field as they read her name and then ours as her parents gave me a surge of gratitude and joy. The announcer said a few other things about her but I couldn't hear any of that while we were down on the field. However, I felt certain that anything that could be said of Emily would be positive. :)
This week has really been all about Emily. We traveled to San Antonio over the (last) weekend to watch her perform with the band. She was awesome and the band was fantastic as usual. This time the tears (my tears) began as they took the field, not as they finished performing. Watching her take to the field for what is probably her last time in marching competition really got to me.
Also this week, Emily's name was mentioned in a local paper regarding her role in the band...really cool.
And then...as if all of that is not enough, this week she ordered her cap and gown and all of that!
It really is senior week for her (and it's only November!).
We are so very blessed to have been entrusted with this beautiful daughter.
Emily has been a blessing in our home. 18 years of blessings from heaven with this daughter of ours.
She still hasn't ever yelled at me...I do know she can get feisty though...if you want to know more about that, ask Smash!
Here is a little pic of Emi just after one of her competitions...she has to pin her hair up so that none of it is exposed - all of it has to be under her hat. But just after competition, I noticed the cute (and blingy) flower in her hair. She said she thinks she looks like a boy with her hair all pinned up...ha.ha.ha! So she put the flower in it. Does that look like a boy to you? (Even if she didn't have the flower?)
Sent from my iPhone
Mar~
A few photos from Saturday's competition.
"A SHOW WITHIN A SHOW."
These are during the part of the show where Emily is playing the clumsy, young marcher who keeps making mistakes during practice and is thinking of quiting. She is wearing a mic and speaking to the audience. They are not yet in full uniform because it is the practice portion of the show...they put on full uniform during the show...tricky, eh?
I loved these photos with the feet all lined up and the arms and instruments of the marchers forming lovely shadow circles on the grass behind her.
But this next one...so cool! There is Em talking into her mic with the color guard leaping (in air!) around her.
Mom, Meg and I were able to go to Arlington and watch the band perform. They never disappoint. Mom loved seeing Emily do her thing!
Emily does so well with her part. This is an especially fun year to watch her since we not only get to see her march and play but we also get to hear her speak and watch her act. What a wonderful opportunity in her senior year.
The band did great! They are such an awesome group of people.
There was a bit of drama with some judging...I may, or may not, go into that at a later date.
***I began writing this and meant to post it on 11 August, 2010. (Been busy, I'm trying to do my best...).
Just so we're clear, this is a true story and it is all about memory and not about who was right. :)
On our way home from a trip to UT and CO 8 or so years ago, we had an unfortunate occurrence. (Possibly avoidable...but...)
Actually, let me begin this story from the present:
A few weeks ago the kids and I were getting onto the freeway from an access road when we saw a van on fire. Really on fire; as in the entire front of the van was flaming! It was scary, and sad. It was an old work van and the owner of the van was feverishly pulling equipment off the van before it completely blew up! I didn't know what to do, I had the whole crew with me and some kids who weren't my own. My kids were as worried about the situation as I was and they kept telling me how horrible it would be if that was their grandpa Rich with his work van. My first impulse was to stop and assist, my mother impulse was to not put the children in danger. I was in a complete quandary! Instead of pulling onto the freeway, I pulled up into a parking lot just ahead of the van and had Smash look for our extinguisher...
which we did NOT find,
which means Nathan must have done something with it before he left?
(I recall putting one in the expedition while he was the primary driver).
Hmm...
Anyway, I pulled around again to see if he was getting all of his things out, if he had help yet, etc. The fire department was there but not rushing at all and by this time, our extinguisher would not have helped anyway. The entire front of his van was gone. Flames were everywhere. But the professionals were there so we went on our way.
This incident really stuck with the kids, they were worried and saddened by the scene and couldn't stop talking about it.
It also reminded them of our unfortunate occurrence many years ago. They each began to tell their memory of that experience quite a few years ago.
Let me first tell you what I remember:
We had been traveling (driving) for weeks. While in UT, we had been pulling a trailer, so we had a ball and hitch still attached to the bumper of our vehicle. You are probably wondering why we still had it attached...ya, me too...not sure... :)
We had left CO early that morning and had been on the road probably 14 hours. We were tired and we wanted to be home. The kids were around the ages of 11, 9, 5 and 3 1/2.
Nearly home, we were traveling through Denton, TX. I had a feeling that Jonathan should change lanes and I asked him to a couple of times if he would, he didn't.
Again, a feeling of warning came over me and I told him I thought he should change lanes immediately. Within 30 seconds to a minute after I spoke those words, we were hit. Rear-ended. The car that hit us was a sedan and it became locked onto our vehicle by the ball that was still attached to our bumper.
The sedan tried to back up and off of us and couldn't. As we pulled over and tried to get to the side of the road, the sedan came with us. We drove for a bit dragging the car behind us. When it wouldn't come off, we went up and over a curb into a nearby parking lot and it was still attached and all of a sudden, on fire!
During our entire trip, we had trouble getting the kids to respond in a timely manner. When we needed to stop and get out of the car, they would doddle, lose shoes, feign sleep, etc. But when I yelled, "Everybody out, we're on fire!" they moved fast! Emily only had one shoe with her but she was out like a shot! Nathan had never moved faster in his life and the two youngest had quickly shed their car seats. I'm sure it only took 2 seconds to unload all 6 of us. The kids were running as fast as their little legs would carry them; away from danger.
Even though many attempts were made to unhitch the sedan from the rear of our vehicle, it wouldn't budge. We were completely hooked, joined, attached (and not in a happy way...).
We sat across the parking lot on the curb as the flames licked the back of our expedition. The intensity of the fire was right on our gas tank. We knew it was only a matter of minutes before the whole thing would ignite.
All we could do is huddle together and watch in disbelief. The scene was paralyzing. We held each other and prayed silently. The only words spoken were of favorite things left inside that would likely not be seen or enjoyed again and words of gratitude that we were all out of our vehicles.
Of course there were many emotions and thoughts left unspoken.
As the flames were rising, the heat intensifying and the minutes ticking by in slow motion...from across the way came a man running toward us. I remember his sandals, and the tan line that began just above the ankle. A golfer, I thought. He was quite a large man who appeared to be in his 50's. As he came closer, he yelled, "Has anyone tried to pry these cars apart?" Yes, we shouted back, but with no luck! "Can I try?" And with that he jumped up and onto the running board, the key was still in the ignition, and with the door open and his body half in and half out, (in a seamless fashion), he started the vehicle and popped it off.
We cheered!
We were relieved, elated, grateful and exhausted.
Our mystery man, our hero, drove the expedition a safe distance from the fire for us.
Just then, we saw the fire trucks rounding the corner. All eyes were on them as they hurriedly entered the parking lot and began readying hoses, etc. One of the fire fighters, perhaps the chief, came to speak to us and make sure everyone was okay.
As the fire fighter spoke to us I looked around for our hero, I wanted to find him and thank him. But he was nowhere to be found. After saving our expedition, he just left.
I was still looking for him after the fire was out and the fire fighters had left. We walked and searched all over for him then decided he must have come upon the scene in a vehicle, stopped to aid and then left...(possibly to rejoin his golf game?).
Now, back to the other day...as we were reliving our car fire experience and retelling the story to the kid's friends who were riding along with us that day (in that same expedition!), I found that although each of us still retains a very vivid memory from that incident, our memories are based on our own perspective.
We really had not ever talked of that day once we were all at home safe and sound and the trauma was over, so their viewpoints were all the more interesting to me (all these years later).
Emily vividly remembers that she was wearing only one shoe. She sat and watched the fire, worried that she would be walking home with only one shoe. (Poor girl really thought we would have to walk the rest of the way if our vehicle blew up!) Her other strong memory is of me telling Jonathan to change lanes just before we were hit.
I'm not sure what Nathan would remember from this incident, it would be fun to ask him though.
Smash remembers how worried I was about the fire, the things we had in the car (such as my hairspray which was flammable) and the close proximity of the fire to the gas tank.
As we talked through the memories and events from that day, Meg said, "That's how you remember that?" "That's not how I remember it."
When I asked her to tell us what she remembered from that day - this is what she recalled:
I think I was 2 or something. I remember sitting in my car seat holding Bitty Baby when mom told us to get out of the car. The car behind us was a silver, really sparkly van that caught on fire. I remember it was really shiny and sparkly (not because it was on fire). I remember sitting on the curb, watching. I was scared.
Then out of the bushes (the bushes were big and a very pretty green) came an angel guy with white robes and Jesus shoes. He was big and bright. He looked super nice! He ran to our car and he used his hands and unlatched the van and our car and then he disappeared, walking back through the bushes. The man was smiling, he had brown, curly hair (like Ian's but brown and more hair), he wore a white robe that would sparkle when the sun hit it and he was wearing gold Jesus shoes.
I remember you looking for him but he had disappeared. He probably went back to heaven.
Her version has some definite memories that I too recall and others that I didn't see at all.
When I first told Jonathan of Meg's memory, we laughed and joked at the memory of a child. But then we did wonder, what exactly DID she see? What would her innocent child eyes be capable of viewing that ours may not have been able to see?
What do you think?
Could she have seen more than the rest of us?
I love her memory of that day.
HA! Check out those rolls!
Does it get any cuter than that?
10 years ago! Baptism day.
Favorite candy, tootsie rolls!
Happy 18th birthday, Bemmer Bo!
What a beautiful and sweet gift you have been to our family and home.
We love you!
Smile #1: My dad sent me this photo - via text! He and my mom were out and about for a drive. This really made me smile (and wish I were there!). This is HUGE, people! My dad doesn't do 'tech-y' things. Truly. He has my mom do anything computer/tech related for him. He has the most amazing mind, especially when it comes to anything mechanical but he won't bother with the tech stuff of today. So when I saw that HE had sent me a text and then realized he had attached a photo, I was in shock! And ecstatic! Way to go, dad!
I have been thinking of this photo ever since I received it and I do really want to go visit mom and dad now.
Smile #2: The other evening, we had a cool front (can't say cold front quite yet) come through our area. It cooled off to somewhere in the 90's and my kids were giddy with excitement. They were running and jumping every where; the cool air really gave them a boost! Immediately their legs were up and down the street, jumping on the trampoline and riding bikes, all within a matter of minutes from when the cool front came through. It cracked me up. Later that night, another cool front came through, and this one brought some really nice temperatures and much needed rain, in the dark, early morning hours. When I awoke to the sound of rain, I couldn't have been happier! Mmm, rain during the overnight hours, doesn't get better than that.
Smile #3: Recently I was feeling a little down. A very good friend of mine from Italia, Beatrice (pronounced Bay-ah-tree-chay), was visiting the US; I had hoped to meet up with her during her travels but our schedules would not align and it just wasn't possible for me to meet her. While I was feeling sad, I turned to Facebook...I know, shocker! (I rarely go there). Not a likely place to find happiness and peace, ha, ha! The reason I went to Facebook was to hopefully see photos of Beatrice (and wherever she happened to be in the US). As the home page came up, I noticed a funny status update from a girl who Nathan was dating before he left on his mission. It stated, "_______ (Insert cute girl's name) is always shocked when she gets texts from phone numbers of people who are on their mission haha :) ." Strange, I thought. What missionary would be sending her texts? As I read through the comments, I learned it was just his old number/phone and it was his siblings who were sending notes to her...
and that is when it hit me...I just knew...the siblings she had referred to were MINE! Not my siblings, my kids! Nathan's siblings. She didn't even have to state their names, I knew. I left her update, went to Bice's photos, and then back to the update. I had to know. So, I gathered all of my courage, "Do I even dare ask...was it one of mine?" I typed.
Her answer? "Ha, ha, ya it was. :)" Talk about LOL! I was laughing so hard. In the morning I found out it was Smash! He just wanted to see how she was doing, etc. He remarked that it had been a while... Funny guy!
Smile #4: Meg announced to me that her Spanish teacher said "Um" thirty times before half of their period was over, she decided to stop counting after 30. I don't think she heard me, or maybe she ignored me when I asked "Um..., you do know it's Spanish class, not math class, right?"
In all fairness to her teacher, I feel that I should send her a note and let her know it would be okay for her to count the number of times Meg says "like" during class...
Smile #5: A chocolate fountain took center stage at a recent celebration for the engagement of my niece, Marilyn, and her fiance, Adam. Upon seeing it (the fountain) for the first time, my niece, Fallon inquired, "What is that?"
"A chocolate fountain."
With eyes as big as saucers, she replied, "Oh, this could get dangerous!"
Ha! Ha!
Smile #6: This week, Meg asked, "Is Dad on vacation again?"
I answered that he was in CO working.
"Ya. So he is on vacation."
"Well, actually Meg, he really is working in CO."
To which she replied, "Well, he's out of town, right?"
"Mm, hmm."
"That's what I call it when he's out of town, vacation!"
I called Jonathan and told him to make the most of his job, really live it up at work and have a blast! It wouldn't be right for him to come home from a 'work vacation' and not have fully enjoyed it!
Smile #7: These make me smile. So colorful, bright and cheerful!
7 is good. I'll stop at 7. Great number. :)
Our first official reports are in!
They were due immediately upon arrival home from their first (and second) day of school.
And so far, the reports have been positive
or pretty much what I expected.
Megaroo had the most to say. In fact, she had so much to talk about that breathing between sentences was no longer important.
One of the first reports was that her Spanish teacher says "Um" every other sentence and that she uses "Um" even more than Emily...and that she is sure that if her teacher had to give a quarter for every "Um"...
Her last teacher of the day is already her favorite! She is her math teacher and has taught both Emi and Smash in previous years. When she saw Megaroo walk into class, she exclaimed, "Another little ______!" (Insert last name). "You look just like your big sister!" Then she said, "Come here and give me a hug!" Meg said she thought to herself, "Uh..., I don't know you yet but okay..." and walked over to give her a hug. Her teacher then told Meg, "Emily was always soooo sweet...Smash was okay, ha, ha!" Megaroo loved her instantly.
Meg has not returned to the gym yet. She has had a couple of trial days where she has gone in for conditioning but it looks like she will not likely be returning to gymnastics. We have set up her schedule with that in mind, so she does not have early release for her PE credit this year. (That extra hour makes the day feel very long to me!) She is enrolled in tennis. Her other electives are theatre arts and Spanish. Her back is still bothering her but it does seem to be getting better.
Emi has had quite a few of her teachers before so no real big surprise there. On her B days, she will have early release and be out by 2! So I will be able to spend some extra time with her...possibly. I believe the big surprise for her thus far is how interesting she has found her Economics class to be. Granted, it is still early in the year, but it would be great if it continued to be a fun and interesting class for her. Miss Em has 7 AP classes this year, crazy girl!
Smash, oh, Smash... his first report was that he didn't care for his PAP ILA teacher. As far as specifics on why, he couldn't give me any. He really never likes his ILA teachers...not sure why. He doesn't like to write, at all. As far as spelling goes, he is much more comfortable in Spanish than English. But he loves, loves, loves reading! (So, not liking his ILA class is a bit of a mystery to me). His favorite class of the day (Robotics) with his favorite teacher is his last period, so he is super happy that he gets to end his day, every day, on a positive note! Me too!
Backpacks!
Drop off.
And they're off. Off to greater heights of understanding...
(I can use the word heights when referring to our kids, right? Speaking of that, Meg made it onto the growth chart, finally...it was a thrilling moment for all: Meg, me and her doctor!)
Surely this will be a year full of growth for them.
And on the home front, I am anxiously awaiting many more positive, fun, challenging and interesting reports each afternoon.
Emily's break is officially over.
Leadership camp began this week, next week she is on to full-time marching band, which here in TX means all day long Monday through Friday.
This morning Emi left for her first official day back at school (albeit far too early in the summer). From now until the first day of school, she will be at the school all day, every day. She drove away, happy and excited at the opportunities awaiting her this year, her senior year.
Her senior year.
Oh, I know it all too well.
I know how quickly it rushes by, just as the children do...
they rush in and out of our door all year until one day the door closes behind them as another, more exciting, door opens.
So, you can understand why this morning, as I stood on our front porch and happily waved and smiled my biggest and best smile as I watched her go,
I felt a twinge of sadness pluck at the strings of my heart.
The words echoed in my mind and heart...there she goes.
Happy, happy, happy Senior Year!
(I'm going to keep repeating that to myself until I actually believe it, ha, ha!)
Everyone has been FLIPping out over these flip-flops!
The girls and I have been making these for their friends; worry-free flip-flops for the pool.
Meg and Emily needed some fun ideas for gifts for a couple of girls at camp (secret sister exchange).
I reached back into the cobweb-filled archives of my brain and remembered making these once upon a time ago...
looks like some ideas are worth revisiting, dusting off and reusing. Many cute girls have expressed interest in having a pair of these, so we have been teaching and making lots and lots (and lots) of colorful, happy footwear.
(The tulle isn't actually a part of the flip-flop decor, it is how we wrap the pair together for gift-giving).
Meg has decided to go into the biz... :)
Let her know your size and color preference and she'll make sure you have a pair of your own.
Or just come over and we'll have another flip-flop party and help you make some!
