The Great Texas Road Trip!

Damon thought I was crazy when I said I wanted to drive to Texas for our family vacation this summer.  Yes, I was crazy, but we had an amazing vacation that was well worth all the craziness and miles in the car.  I'll have to break the vacation up into sections because it would be a Texas sized blog if I didn't.

First stop- we took off Friday June 7th around 5pm.  We drove to Cortez, Colorado.  We drove through Moab and right past Arches National Park (we decided to save that for a fall field trip).  We were headed into uncharted territory for all of us so it was a bit fun.

After breakfast the next morning we headed into Mesa Verde National Park.  We always joke about how many foreigners we meet at national parks.  The first we met here were from Italy.

 We started at the visitors center and then headed to Spruce Treehouse and the museum.

We then went on a guided tour of Cliff Palace.  It's one of the bigger cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde.  It was amazing!  Noah got to be a pueblo Indian.  After our hike out we stopped for some ice cream.  It seems to be our tradition to get ice cream at the national parks.  It's always so good!

 We saw some interesting landscaping on our drive to Four Corners National Monument and then on to Farmington, New Mexico.  We stayed with our old friends, The Larson's, who used to live near us in San Diego.  There is nothing like seeing friends.  I forgot how much I laugh when I am around them.  The kids enjoyed seeing each other again.  Didn't get any pictures of them though.  Melissa was one of the first people I met when we moved to Scripps Ranch and she befriended me and made me feel so welcome. 

A catch all of sorts

Bits and pieces of our lives the past few weeks that I keep forgetting about.  We've been so busy.  I think I may have mentioned the school activities.  Only 5 more days and I swear they are the longest 5 days ever.

Memorial 5k- I did a 5k race with Adam, Lily and my nephew Ethan.  It was a fun run with the kids.  They had a good time.

Adam's play- Adam was Mr. Banks in his after school drama club's production of Mary Poppins.  He did a great job!  He was also star student in his class.  It was a busy week for him.

Puppet presentation- Adam had to make a puppet and then do some fractured fairy tales with some classmates.  It was pretty silly, but they had a good time doing it.

Swim meet-another swim meet for the kids.  I got to stressed about it so this is the only picture I took the whole day.  I think Damon took some too. 

Lily's Recital-Lily loves to dance.  She was so happy when we found her a jazz class to join after we moved here.  She did great in her new class and is learning lots of new things.  We miss our old friends from our old ballet studio, but she is making new friends here.

She's still baking away.  Her favorite show is still cupcake wars and she invented her own cupcake here.  It was a chocolate marshmallow cream with chocolate frosting.

Memorial Day!

 What is Memorial Day?  Is it the day we officially kick of summer?  Is it a day we get off from school and work?  No.  It is a day to remember.

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday which occurs every year on the final Monday of May.^[1] Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.^[2] Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service. (from wikipedia)

It's a day that I remember those who sacrificed their life for a greater good.  It's a day where the words honor, integrity, sacrifice, service, loyalty, bravery and patriotism mean just that much more and can evoke emotions that normally don't get evoked.  It's a day for us to remember to say thank you to those who aren't around to hear it any more.

I loved driving around my neighborhood today and seeing hundreds of flags flying high and proud.  I loved seeing my daughter come downstairs covered in red, white and blue.  I loved looking at all the pictures friends posted online reminding us what the day is for.  I loved reading the poem by John McCrae, written May 1915;

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Now after all that remembering I'm also ready to kick off the summer, which is my absolute most favorite time of the year.  We had family over, Played games,  BBQd and had an all out good time.  Nothing says summer like the kids running around through the neighborhood playing tag or basketball until it's almost to dark to see.

School Activties

It seems as of late we have had a ton of extra activities to go to through the school.  We had an art show, a 5th grade program, a band concert, a play performance (that's next week), a retirement party, and a DARE graduation (at the same time as an eye appt).

I do try to support all extra activities that the kids do and watch all of them.  This week it was compounded because I have been sick.  I finally accepted the fact that I couldn't do it all even though I like to support the kids.  I don't think I am a bad parent for choosing not to go to the DARE graduation.  I have just accepted that I have limitations and sometimes I just can't do it all.

I guess the kids can just explain that to their shrinks when they are older.  I do love them though.  I think they know that. (no pictures from Noah's band concert.  Just did video there.)

Next week: Adam's Play- He's playing Mr. Banks in Mary Poppins and a swim meet on Friday and Saturday for Lily and Noah.  One more thing, a ballet recital for Lily oh and a pool party for Adam for the 5th graders.  (It's almost summer!!)

Funeral and family

Funerals are never at a convenient time.  One can never plan around one.  So when a death occurs plans need to be changed at a moment's notice.

That's what happened to us last weekend.  Damon's Aunt Siva passed away on Wednesday May 15th.  The next day we found out that the funeral would be on Saturday the 18th.  Damon and I made the call that it was important to attend and for our kids to be there too.

After we made that decision I spent the next hour on the phone with a whole lot of people.  I talked to Damon's mom, my sister, the eye Dr., the school, and the movie theater (we just bought tickets online for a Friday showing and were trying to get our tickets changed).  We packed, cleaned and did laundry.

Friday morning we were in the car and heading down to Mortensen Manor.  After we got in the kids wasted no time getting in the pool and hanging out with their cousins.

Damon also helped Reed set up a volleyball net in the back yard.  The kids managed to play a couple games of volleyball as well.

 On the 18th we went to the funeral.  The nice thing about funerals is that you get to see a lot of family.  The service was nice.  At the end when the coffin was being taken away all the Samoans sang a song acapella.  They do that at every funeral.  It was really neat to hear.

 We drove back to Salt Lake on Sunday.  It was a very short trip, but a nice one.  We are glad we made it.  Family is more important than any other obligation one may have.