girls camp

This week I have been to school and been to girls camp everyday. On the first day of camp, I helped drive the youth camp leaders and all their stuff. On the second day of camp, I helped drive up the rest of the campers and their stuff. When we arrived three of the girls from the ward were near the turnoff, which was a little ways from camp. You would have thought the girls in my car hadn't seen theses girls in months--they were so excited. And then, I found out that the girls on the road had walked up there hoping to meet us! It was so cool that everyone was that excited!!!

This is a scene from their skit last night. Yeah for Eustis YW.

garden update

What did I do on Friday after my last three blitzkrieg days of school? Worked in my garden, of course!

Thanks to Chezzie for the great idea...GARDEN MARKERS

Thanks to Tricia for making it happen...HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Thanks to Doug who makes it all possible.

last day of school

na na na-na, na na na-na...hey, hey, hey...

go-o-o-d bye

what we did in va

We celebrated with the graduates:

CONGRATULATIONS!

what we did in nc

Besides relaxing...

Doug planted:













I decorated:








And we had a great time hanging out with these guys:

photo op

We've been meaning to get formal pictures taken of Brianna for a few years now. While we were exchanging some items at the Southpark Mall, I noticed that a photographer whose work would compliment what we already have would be there the next day. Here are my five favorites:






Which do you like best?

happy mother's day to me!

I want to write about my mother's day gifts. Because I want to remember that this is the mother's day that I received them and I want to remember how extraordinary my family is in thinking of me.

Doug:

Well, in spite of the fact that I am NOT his mother...a fact that he reminds me of every mother's day...

Dan and Doug and I went on a Saturday night shopping trip to mall with a gift idea for Tricia for Mother's Day. We spent most of our time in Anthropologie and in addition to Dan's gifts for Tricia, Doug bought me two tops to be worn together. They were NOT in sale room, which is against my Anthropologie shopping rules, but they are adorable and he is wonderful!


Tricia:

She ordered a present for me that didn't show up, and instead gave me an early birthday present that she and her dad had conspired on. This GPS system is the coolest thing ever! It is almost like stress-free driving when you don't have to worry about how to get places. I had a blast with it in North Carolina. It got us everywhere we needed and wanted to go in Virgina. On our trip home we used it find gas stations and places to eat. It is almost inconceivable to me that I can go places now and not get lost!

Melanie:

On the Friday we left for NC the children in my class brought flowers to school with notes. It was a beautiful gesture to thank me for being their teacher. I was very sad to leave the flowers behind. Also sad, was thinking about the lilies in my garden just ready to bloom and knowing that I would miss the best of them. I mentioned it to Melanie and then on Mother's Day she had a beautiful bouquet of lilies delivered to me via Tricia. I enjoyed them every day! Tonight I saw this great lily watercolor that reminds me of my beautiful flowers...maybe I will even try to paint it this summer! Cherylyn:

She remembered that I have wanted this great kitchen item for ages! Yeah, no more fretting when I run out of parchment paper.Brianna:

Brought me breakfast in bed and a cute picture that they had taken of her in primary.

THANK YOU DEAR FAMILY!

dinner guests

On Friday night our lake neighbors, the Reed's came to dinner. They just could not get over the house. Having only seen it when the Peterson's lived here and noting the well-used condition of our jet skis, the rennovation of the house was quite astounding.

They told us that the ducks on the lake sometimes come to their house for dinner. Late Saturday afternoon Doug was down at the dock and when the ducks saw him, they must have thought he would also be good for a meal. He came back to the house and Brianna and I joined him feeding the ducks crackers.

We enjoyed all our company this weekend very much!

DARE

National D.A.R.E. Day Proclamation
Every year the President of the United States declares a National D.A.R.E. Day.


NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 12, 2007, as National D.A.R.E. Day.

I urge all young people to make good decisions and call upon all Americans to recognize our collective responsibility to combat every form of drug abuse and to support all those who work to help our children avoid drug use and violence.

GEORGE W. BUSH

This year DARE has special significance for our family as Brianna wrote a speech that was chosen by the police officer who taught her class to be the most outstanding. Way to go B!

my balancing act

In case you are wondering what I did today...

I went out on the Carter Cruiser with my husband, who had a humming chain saw in one hand and was steering with the other. He decided that it was time to cut some of the dead wood off of a tree that had fallen in the lake during the hurricanes a couple of years ago. Since the lake is very low right now many branches are exposed, so it is a good opportunity.

While Doug wields the chain saw, I sit and try to protect myself from the flying sawdust. I am not there for moral support, nor necessarily for help, although at times I can be quite helpful. I am really there just to help balance the Carter Cruiser while he works.

Since the brances are many pronged, we then work together to try to negotiate our way out of the fallen treetops with the newly cut branch in hand. This is often tricky. At one point Doug said to me, "Careful."
"Careful?" I questioned.
He then replied, "What I guess I really mean is watch out."

I don't have many options for watching out since I am sitting in a molded seat. Only once today did a branch actually fall on my head. But, it was a little one.

This tree that has basically been submerged for the better part of the past few years smells really horrific and it weighs substantially more than it would had it not been soaking up water all that time. It is quite an undertaking and I sometimes feel like I am in one of those adventure movies hacking my way through a jungle...

...surely there must be a hidden treasure somewhere.

my artist

You can't spend much time around our house without figuring out that Brianna loves to create. Tonight we went to the Art Awards at school where Brianna won the third place award. She received it for a project called Measurement. She drew a bottle in which was a beach scene with two palm trees and a hammock, a monkey was climbing one of the palms and another monkey was surfing on a tidal wave.