And She's Off!

Julia enters the MTC in Provo today!

She will be serving in the Philippines Cauayan mission.

I got to be at her Farewell.  It was a surprise!

Took some family pictures:

She gave a wonderful talk in Sacrament meeting!

Two of my favorite things that she talked about were that while she has been preparing for her mission she has been particularly aware of her shortcomings.  But that she has also realized that this will keep her humble as she relies on the Lord and He will help her to develop strengths that will bless other people.

She also told the story of her ancestor, Christina Olson Wight, who came across the plains with a handcart company and how they had to trust in the Lord even in the face of trials.

She will be a great missionary!

More Bloomin' Grandkids!

The plants keep looking great and so do the grandkids!

Joshua participated in a stake Primary musical fireside:

Julia received her Endowment in the Bountiful temple:

Bethany made a float for Fiesta Days:

Jacob and Lily went to the Science Center:

Elizabeth has been running in track meets:

Hula Hoop at Fun in the Sun day:

Camille

Sarah

And here's Sarah at her band concert on the clarinet.  She's on the left and the end of the 2nd row.  She's 5th chair out of 24 from 3 elementary schools.

She was also the only one in her class to get 100% on the end of the year math test and she has been chosen to read a poem she wrote at the 5th grade promotion!

Elizabeth plays the flute in the 8th grade band and she sang a solo in her choir concert!

Amelia celebrated her 11th birthday with an ice skating party!

And trying out her new archery set.

Daniel painted this picture and won 3rd place in a district art contest for his grade.  He also earned his Bear in Cub Scouts.

Mother's Day Weekend: DIY!

I've learned if I want to have a good Birthday or a good Mother's Day, 

I can make it happen!

Strawberries from the farm:

Dan barbecues pork ribs on Saturday so I don't have to cook:

Make myself a bouquet:

Do a puzzle:

And buy myself something I need.

In this case, I am using these aprons as bibs.

My family knows why!

Thanks to my kids who all contacted me on Mother's Day!

Loved the video calls and cards I received so much!!

Nathaniel even signed the talk he gave in Primary for me:

Loved this card I got from him.  

The star is made with his fingertips:

And he even wrote this all my himself:

It was another good Mother's Day!

Mother's Day Weekend: Fun at the Perry's!

The Perrys invited us over for dinner on Mother's Day.

What a fun surprise to see these kids waiting for us out on the front lawn!

As we were visiting before dinner, I received a text from MaryAnn with the link to a movie she and Lily had made for me.  It was so adorable and well done with stop motion all through it.

Here are some photo highlights of the movie:

Representing the grandkids:

Grandkids make me happy!

And even a shout out to my giraffe-kissing days:

We had a yummy dinner with Brian preparing the main dish.

Hannah had made place cards using her great calligraphy:

The yummy dessert:

From Hannah with a special note on the back:

From Joshua--very artistic!

From David--a fun puzzle he personalized just for me!

Thanks to a great family!

Mother's Day Weekend: Cruise!

We've cruised the Mediterranean and quite a few other places, so we decided it was time to cruise locally: The Sacramento River!

We are just ready to board:

 But first a drawing of what the river front used to look like:

Lots of interesting buildings as part of the downtown:

 Where the American River coming down from the Sierras enters the Sacramento River:

 Natural scenery out one side:

And out the other side, some beautiful homes...

...interesting docks...

 ...water intake station...

...famous Tower Bridge...

Sacramentons voted to have it painted gold (in honor of the Gold Rush) in 2002 at cost of $3.5 million, more than triple the original price for the whole bridge, which was built in the mid-1930s for $994,000.

 ...and a fun ending...a group of sea lions barking.

They are more than 70  miles upstream from the ocean.

After the cruise, lunch overlooking the river:

We had a great afternoon!

 And we topped off our fun outing by attending this event:

50th Anniversary party of dear friends from Sacramento

It was fun vising with some people from when we lived in that area almost 25 years ago.

Great start to the weekend!