I must be getting aged!

I must be getting aged, like old cheese or wine (not that I know what aged wine tastes like but I do know that it is more pricey when it is older). Tessa is now officially a Senior. She received information on her Senior Portraits in the mail today. And she reminded me in the car that she is now officially a Senior. I am feeling a little sad at the fact. I remember when she was a Freshman and I was thinking how soon the four years would go and now I am entering that last and final year of High School with her. I am not quite sure how I feel about that. Sad and happy all in the same blink of an eye.



I remember when she was about 2 when she loved to dance endless circles around the room. She made me dizzy with the amount of rotations she did. I remember when Josh was just learning to crawl, how she would lay down on the floor and pat her tummy and say "On me Joshy, On me!" wanting him to wrestle with her. Then preschool and the multiple hair barretts she would put in her hair, thinking more must be prettier. Her hair would stick out straight from all those barretts. And the many nick names she wanted to be called; Cinderella, Pocahontas, Odette was the three we would have to call her at once. She finally settled on Belle as her favorite Princess.

So, time has flown by. Many told me it would but I didn't believe them. And now here I am faced with her growing up for good. I usually don't have such sentimental feelings for my kids moving on and growing up, but this is something she is moving to that I can't watch too closely because I struggle with her not being a part of me anymore. I know that doesn't really make any sense but she is so much a part of me. All my kids are, but to have my oldest making these real strides to adulthood makes me feel left out. I can only imagine what next year at this time will bring. I will bawl my head and heart out because all of it won't be in the near future, it will be in the past.

I also am so proud of Tessa. She gets to walk in Graduation tonight as one of the top 12 Juniors. They lead the Seniors in to their seats for Graduation ceremony. I am not sure where she came from (because her parents certainly didn't have those kinds of grades or the determination that she has to get them). I am proud that she has put so much effort into her schooling.

Tessa isn't the only reason I am feeling this way. Next year this time, I will have the same feelings about my Josh. And three years from today I will feel the same about my Megan. And 6 years about my Seth. Yes that is right, I will have three kids in High School next year. A Freshman, Junior, and a Senior. And my youngest will be the oldest in Elementary School. What was I thinking to have them all so close.







I cannot live in the past and I most certainly should not live in the future. I should live for the day. But this day I will reflect on where I have been and where I will go. Apron strings will have to be cut, but perhaps I will use a very dull knife instead of a pair of scissors so I can hang on a little longer.

Road Trip to Vancouver

I feel like I have the travel bug lately. Bring it on. I love traveling to new places and taking pictures with my camera of the beautiful sights. I had the opportunity to travel with my sister to Seattle and there drive over the border to Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She had some work to do on some of the curtains in the LDS Temple there. I got to go with her. She is good company! The weather was fabulous! It threatened to rain every day but didn't. The flowers were all in bloom!



Here is one of the Temple with the Tulips.



And here is one that I took later from a different angle.



After we finished our work in the Temple, we followed the GPS to a couple of Gardens. This picture was taken at a Japanese Garden near the city. So beautiful. There were flowers blooming all over the place and little waterfalls all over.



Someday I will go back and take Alan with me. As for now (only a little while) I will still be in town and then Summer road trips will begin and I will have more pictures and blogging to do. :)

Spring Break 2010

There is a song in Barbra Striesand's movie "Yentle" that sums up how I feel about Spring Break this year. These are the words. "It all began, the day I found, that from my window I could only see a piece of sky. I stepped outside and looked around, I never dreamed it was so wide or even half as high...." I guess in my own little world, I knew that there was something "out there" I hadn't seen before but I never dreamed that it would touch me in the way that it did. I hoped that it would, but I didn't dare go with a preconceived idea.

We had the opportunity as a family to start our Spring Vacation in Philidelphia, Pa. When we got there we rented a car and drove out first to Hershey, Pa where they make all those yummy chocolate treats we all love. We spent only a short time there but enjoyed driving around and looking at all the fun street lights like this.





We drove on to Gettysburg. I had no idea how huge it really was. One of our favorite place was the National Cemetery. How grateful I am to those who fought for the freedoms I now enjoy. I pray that I never take the sacrifice of those men and women for granted.







We spent the next day in Philidelphia cruising the history sights. Independance Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the famous Philly Cheese steak sandwhich. (Although there are no pictures of the Philly Cheese steak, know that we ate one.)

Independance Hall



From there we rented a vehicle and drove the 5+ hours to Palmyra, NY. On the way we stopped in Harmony, Pa near the Susquehanna River where the Priesthood was restored to the earth to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdrey.



I love this photo of Seth. He will be getting the Aaronic Priesthood in a little less than a year.


This is the actual Susquehanna River. I didn't realize how very big and wide it was.

We got to Palmyra, NY late in the evening. Then next morning we went first to the Smith Farm. We took the tour with two wonderful sister missionaries. We enjoyed hearing the stories and seeing the items in the houses but even more evident was how we felt as we were there.

Smith farm house

Looking back on Smith farm house from the frame house (built later).

Frame house

We then got into the van and drove to Niagara falls. There was snow on the ground and so we got into a snowball fight after we took a picture over the falls. All the mist in the background is from the falls.








Wanting to see Lake Ontario, we drove north. The sun was setting when we finally found a place to stop and look at the lake. I had to use the colors in the sky for a back drop.




The next morning we went back to the Sacred Grove. My last piece of advice to the rest of the family was this, "I am not going to hurry anyone out of the grove. I want the same curteousy. Do not come and tell me you are hungry for we just ate breakfast. Do not tell me you need the bathroom for there are the restrooms right there. And do not come and tell me to hurry, or that you are bored or whatever. Take some time to find out for your self if God, the Father and Jesus Christ did show themselves to Joseph Smith. Because, I know that he did. And I want to experience the Sacred Grove without anybody bugging me and I think you should do the same." It was incredible. One by one they entered the grove. I chose to start my trek into the grove from the back door of the Smith farm house.




There was evidence in The Grove that it was early spring. The Crocuses were just starting to bloom.

I took 4 pictures, on a timer, of our family after spending 2 hours in The Grove. Every single one of them turned out great.

The next stop was the Hill Cumorah and then the Peter Whitmer Farm.



We drove back to Philidelphia and then took the train to Washington DC.



The girls and I went early to Arlington Cemetery to watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.


While in DC, Alan ran his first marathon coming in under 4 hours. We were extremely proud of him for finishing.


We ended our trip in Richmond, Va watching Tessa play soccer while the University Coaches watched the teams playing. We are hoping Tessa will be offered a scholarship to play and attend college.

This trip to the East coast is one that I want to remember the rest of my days. I enjoyed being with my family and spending time with them in Sacred places. I pray those feelings will last a long time.

Catching Up

Okay so I have been meaning to catch up on my blog for a couple of months and tonight I was chastened to write again. So here I am.

For a valentines present to Alan, I (with the help of some friends) surprised Alan for the very first time in a long time. We painted and decorated a room all in one day to house his Animal Trophies. We even painted the ceiling. It looked so good. I would post pictures of it, but the very next day, Alan tore it all apart because he wanted to put in recessed lighting. As soon as he finishes the lighting, I will post a picture. It was fun to surprise him. He had no idea.

I also wanted to post some fun pictures of the crazy thing Josh does when it rains here. Because Arizona has no beachfront property, and hardly any rain throughout the year, it is quite a novelty when it actually does rain. Josh (being 15 and loving adventure and being cold I guess) goes out with his friends and pretends to be on the beach, in 40 degree weather and a swim suit, to wave board. He did this for several days until the water was all soaked up. I am sure that he will be back out there when we have our monsoon weather come this summer.



Megan has just finished cross country in Junior High. Here are some of the photos taken of her in action.This is her at the beginning of the race...


And this is at the end of the race.


Tessa just finished out her High School Soccer season. She and her team did awesome. There were several write-ups with her mentioned in the paper and one week she was chosen as the AZ Central Athelete of the week. Here are some pictures taken during some of the games during the season.





Seth just graduated from Cub scouts and earned his Arrow of Light. He will now be attending scouts and looks forward to the overnighters with his friends.



When did my kiddos get so old? I will soon have two drivers and three in High school. It is difficult to think of them old enough to be in college and gone. It does happen and will soon, I am afraid.