I See The Light.....

I ADORE this song....from the movie Tangled. Beautiful and a must see movie!!

~ I See the Light ~

All those days watching in the windows
All those years outside looking in
All that time never even knowing
Just how blind I've been
Now I'm here blinking in the starlight
Now I'm here suddenly I see
Standing here it's all so clear
I'm where I'm meant to be

And at last I see the light
And it's like the fog has lifted
And at last I see the light
And it's like the sky is new
And it's warm and real and bright
And the world has somehow shifted
All at once everything looks different
Now that I see you

All those days chasing down a daydream
All those years living in the blur
All that time never truly seeing
Things, the way they were
Now she's here shining in the starlight
Now she's here suddenly I know
If she's here it's crystal clear
I'm where I'm meant to go

And at last I see the light
And it's like the fog has lifted
And at last I see the light
And it's like the sky is new
And it's warm and real and bright
And the world has somehow shifted
All at once everything looks different
Now that I see you

Memorial Day...part 2

I was searching every where for the picture of Denver's dad's headstone to no avail. I only had the picture of the cemetary which I posted in the first Memorial Day post. But, the family (Stacy) took new pictures today of his headstone all decked out in UK blue....(University of Kentucky if you couldnt figure it out). He was definitely a fan! It looks great guys! Wish we could have been there to remember Don in person.....

Memorial Day....

The other day, Ian announced that he had some homework in which I was expected to participate. He was supposed to write a short paragraph on Memorial Day and it's history, meaning, etc. My part was to then "discuss" the day with him interview style. Ian asks me a question, I answer, he writes its down. I'm not sure if it's because I am getting old and sappy or if it is because I served in the military but it seems that I cant speak about anything military related without getting a big lump in my throat. It means something...serving the country that you live in. Even if you are fortunate enough, as I was, to avoid actually going to war it still means something. It certainly left an impression on me. Even though the tradition of Memorial Day has grown to incorporate remembering all of our friends and family who have passed on, honoring those that passed during service to our country is the reason this holiday exists. My Grandpa served in WWII, in the Air Force (Army Air Corp) and just recently passed away. He is buried in Arizona so I can't take him any flowers but I am sure thinking about him today....

(thanks Aunt Chrissy for sending pictures)

I have been fortunate not to have lost very many loved ones in my life. I only recently lost 3 of my Grandparents, both of my mom's parents and my dad's father. Also, my father-in-law Don passed 2 years ago. All of them are buried in other states so I can't visit their grave sites but they are definitely in my thoughts today.

Randomness....

This week we learned about a new virus called Fifths Disease. Or, Slapped Cheek Disease whichever you prefer. Anyone heard of this one before? Well I have 3 kids, one of which is 10 years old and I have never heard of it. I mentioned in an earlier post about Ian's tooth that was hurting him and I think I mentioned that his cheeks had gotten all red and puffy. We thought his tooth was infected or something, causing his face to react. Nope. Fifth's Disease. It starts with a fever usually...which is often so low grade it isn't even detected or noticed. Once the fever breaks a rash appears on the face giving the appearance of "slapped cheeks"....

Then the rash moves down to the torso and arms/legs.

Once the rash appears they are no longer contagious which makes it hard to control because most of the time the kids rarely feel sick. Once you catch it, you are immune to it. So, there you go. That is why Ian's cheeks were so red that weekend.This week Evan has had it along with 3 or 4 kids in his class. It's going around the school. It is pretty common to catch in the early Spring. Adults don't usually get it because they more than likely had it when they were kids...but if they do catch it I hear it causes intense pain in the joints. Yuck. Im hoping I already had it.

We went to Evan's school the other night for the Bonneville Bash. It is a yearly carnival that the school puts on to raise money for its art and music programs. It is usually a lot of fun. This year, because of the darn rain they had to move it inside which made it not as enjoyable. But I think the kids still had a great time! Ian took a turn in the dunk tank and was proud of himself for remembering to take his shoes off....

Unfortunately he forgot to take his socks off. Silly kid. Addie enjoyed the face painting and the nail painting stations.

Of course there were a lot of yummy things to eat too! I tried an Asian Taco. Interesting, but not something I would eat again.

I just got this picture from a friend of mine who's daughter sang in the choir with my boys. I thought it was so cute and a perfect moment to capture. When Evan finished his little acting part during their performance (he played Prince Eric from the Little Mermaid during the song, Kiss the Girl....where he had to actually kiss the girl playing Ariel) the choir director got on the microphone and said "everyone give a big hand to Evan for being such a great sport"..... This picture shows him just as she was saying that. You can see that he is embarrassed but I love that all the girls are grinning and looking at him and his friend Carson to the right of the picture looks like he is embarrassed for him. Too cute.

Im so sad I didnt get that part recorded. Stupid camera. I have to wait for the actual DVD of the concert to finally get his performance posted :(

Yesterday I took Evan to the dentist. Afterward we went grocery shopping to let the numbness wear off before we ate lunch. We decided to hit Costa Vida for some yummy pork tacos. After we ordered our food and were getting ready to sit down, look who walked in the door!

It made for a fun little impromptu family lunch....and we got to see cute little Jude which is always a treat.

Well, it's Memorial Day weekend....anyone doing anything fun? We are just going to stick around and eat good food. It is supposed to rain....again....all weekend so no big outings planned. Hope you all enjoy the holiday!!

Another Week Gone By....and the World Did Not End!

This week has been pretty busy....as if that is anything new. Tuesday I started my Summer Semester classes. Im just taking 2 classes though so it should be a fairly calm one. I needed it after the last one! But, I was happy that my hard (stressful) work paid off as I finished last semester with a 3.9 gpa... Yay!!

Spring 2011
	ENGL 3310 Intro English Grammar 3.00 3.00 A
	ENGL 3510 Writing Fiction 3.00 3.00 A
	ENGL 3600 Intr Critical Theory 3.00 3.00 A
	Upper Division Comm/Wrtg
	ENGL 5880 Children's Lit 3.00 3.00 A-

Wednesday was the Pinewood Derby for the Cub Scouts. When Denver was in town last month he took their cars back to South Carolina with him to carve the shapes that the boys chose for their cars.

Then, he mailed them back to us and they got painted and put together.

I felt bad because I couldnt get the wheels attached on Evan's car and I think it went pretty slow because of it. He was a good sport though and didnt get upset over it. It was bittersweet too because it is Ian's last Pinewood Derby.

Next year he will be in the Boy Scouts :( He has been so lucky to have the same den leaders from the very beginning. They have been such fabulous leaders and have really helped Ian (a lot more than me...) obtain all his awards and badges.

Thursday Ian had his annual school piano recital. He did a great job as usual but I'm not allowed to post the video because he thinks he messed up too much....I am going to respect that request even though I thought he did just fine.

After the recital I took him to the dentist. He has had a tooth that has been hurting him for a week or so. Over last weekend his cheeks got really red and swollen and he couldnt even eat cereal! We knew he had a couple of small cavities and were scheduled to have those filled in a couple of weeks but I guess they got really bad, really fast and he ended up having both of them pulled. Ive never heard Ian cry out like he did during the shots. It was horrible and hurt him so badly....Poor thing.

Friday the boys had one more concert with their choir. They performed for the students at the McGillis School to thank them for allowing the choir to use their school for rehearsals.

And finally, today Ian played in his last soccer game at eight o'clock in the morning. I think whoever chose to have 8:00 am soccer games is just plain mean. Ugh. But on a good note, after 3-4 days of straight rain....it was a beautiful 70 degrees and sunny today. Here is Evan enjoying the weather at the game.

After the game, me and Ian and Addison went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Evan was at an all day birthday party, also seeing the same movie. We had a great time and now we are all decompressing from our busy week.

The end. (but thankfully not THE end...as in the Rapture...haha....)

Family BBQ...

I guess this post is a little out of order...oops. Sandwiched between the boys' concert and the Red Butte Gardens visit we had a BBQ at Nate and Alisa's house. Good food, good company.... Love my family! Especially this sweet munchkin:

Red Butte Gardens....

My mom stayed with us for a week and we had a lot of fun. While the kids were in school during the day we went to movies. We watched more movies at night after the kids went to bed and just spent lots of time chatting and eating. I loved every minute of it.

On the weekend we decided to go on a drive but didn't get very far. She wanted to see where Red Butte Gardens was since we hear so much about the concerts they have up there. It is literally a block from my apartments, right above campus. The saddest part is that I get free admission as a student but have never actually been. It is a flower lovers paradise.

Acres and acres of plants, flowers, shrubs, and trees. They also have a really fun Children's Garden that the kids enjoyed.

It was absolutely beautiful! Im so glad we decided to go inside and take a look. It was a beautiful day and we ended up getting a little sunburn! Not to worry though...it snowed the next day. Gotta love the weather here.

After our 2 hour walk around the grounds, we were starving and hit Smashburger for a fabulous lunch and then continued the day wandering through graveyards.

We went to Mt. Olivet cemetery which is really old and really cool...I wish I would have taken pictures. I did take a picture of a cute family of geese. It was a fun day....Thanks mom!

Concert Time....

The boys' concert was so much fun. Granted, I am a biased mother speaking here...but I think they all did so well. I was getting nervous the last couple of rehearsals before the concert because it just didn't seem like they were ready. They proved me wrong. The choir was fabulous....cutest songs by the cutest kids. They had to show up that morning to get staged and rehearse. It was only supposed to last 2 hours but they ended up standing and rehearsing for 3 hours! They were starving by the time I picked them up for the break. We ate at Big Ed's.

Ian wasn't too thrilled about the place...it was a bit of a dive. But, it was the closest place on campus and I heard the food was good. It turned out to be a tasty treat and they were happy we stopped there.

The concert started at 2pm. My mom flew into town and stayed the week with me so she could see the concert and my aunt Debbie drove all the way from Eagle Mountain to watch. I love my family... I took a lot of video but I am only posting the one of Ian singing his solo. Sadly, Evan's solo part in the performance did not get recorded somehow. I pushed record but all that actually got recorded was him bowing at the end. I cried all night over it.... thankfully the performance was professionally recorded so I will be able to buy a DVD of the concert and then I will post Evan's part. In the meantime, enjoy "Heart" from the musical "Damn Yankees".... with Ian singing a solo :)

Quick Update with random iPhone pictures....

Last Saturday, this is what we woke up to. Snow. It made for a really cold, and really muddy soccer game.

Then we had the Cub Scout cake auction. This is the gem that Evan won for a whole $9. It was pretty good too...even though it was store bought. The kids didn't care for it...German Chocolate...so guess who got to eat it?

Addison had her 5 year Kindergarten check-up at the doctor. This is the excited, almost Kindergartener before she found out she would be getting 3 shots. She did great though and did not shed one single tear! I was shocked....Maybe she was afraid if she cried she wouldn't get to go to Kindergarten?

Our court had a Cinco de Mayo celebration and the kids got to hit a pinata. I love the look of all the kids faces in these pictures. Oh the anticipation for that candy!! I didnt actually take these pictures. My sweet neighbors did because I was inside taking a final exam. Yay for me.

A week later and this is the weather we got today! Yippee! Now if would only stay. I have a feeling we will see at least one more snow storm though. Gotta love Utah spring.

And a final note....This horrible semester is finally OVER!!!!!! I have never been so relieved to finish a semester before. It was a very challenging 4 months. Summer semester should be much more relaxed... The University of Utah had their commencement exercises yesterday. I felt a little down looking out the window at all the people leaving in their caps and gowns...wishing it was me. One more year to go. Next Spring it will be ME in a cap and gown. I can hardy wait. Happy Spring Everybody!