One cake, Three Children

May 29th was a big day in our family.  For Andrea is was her 1/2 birthday, which we celebrate with a cake--so she was the first to blow out the cake with 12 candles--being 12 1/2 years old.

Next, Julia got mileage on the cake and blew out the 12 candles to represent 12 years of high school that she had graduated from that day.

Lastly, Daniel was set apart that night as a full-time missionary for the church for a period of 12 Months Times Two. (2 years)  This was Daniel's last evening with us for 2 years.  The next morning he flew out to Salt Lake City with Dave to begin his mission training in Provo Utah for 2 months, and then to his mission area in Nevada and Arizona--speaking Spanish.

Julia Graduates from High School

Julia graduated from High School in May.  We had Daniel, Andrea, David and myself  attending.  It was great to see our fifth child graduate--though also a little sad to realize she won't be home much longer.  Julia got to wear tassels for being a member of the National Art Honors Society.  She also has an academic scholarship to her first school choice--Brigham Young Univeristy-Idaho.  Congratulations, Julia!

Julia's Senior Prom

Julia looked beautiful as she headed off to the Senior Prom. She met a group for pictures,


then went with her date and other friends to a restaurant, and then to a ballroom at the Raven's Stadium for the Prom. After that, the After Prom went from 12:30-5:00 am. It is sponsored by the school Boosters at the local theater for movies, more food and games.

Julia's Induction to NAHS

Julia was inducted last night into the National Art Honors Society. She has done some great art pieces this year, which will be good preparation for her studies in the Fall in Interior Design. She was relieved to find out that she has been accepted into the Interior Design program, and also won a partial tuition scholarship from BYU-Idaho. Yay!

Julia stands next to her piece in the middle-" Daddy-daughter dance". She's wearing the tassels she received from her induction, and will wear those tassels during her graduation ceremony.

Music Awards Night

Julia had her last two high school music performances last week. She performed with the Symphonic Band, Orchestra, Chorus and Women's Chorus.

She had the distinction of winning two special awards, the PRESIDENT'S awards, given by the Boosters president for the student who had helped the Boosters the most. She also won the DEDICATION award for Band. Mr. Dubbs polled the students who overwhelmingly voted her the winner, also.

Here are a couple band memories with some of her friends:

Rocktagon

Daniel came home from BYU a couple weeks ago. He was able to perform again with his band, the Rocktagon. They performed at the Laurel Festival to a large crowd of fans. :)

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware: April 5-7

Over Spring Break we had Julia and Andrea with us as well as James. He had just finished working at his job where he installed heating and air-conditioning systems, and was heading back to BYU-Idaho for school in Mechanical Engineering.


So we took some time at the beach, and were fortunate to have very warm weather for spring.


It was James idea to get up before dawn one morning to watch the sunrise.

It was spectacular, and very quiet at the beach.

We also went to Dewey Beach one day



and flew our kite

and flew a frisbee. We stayed 2 nights in a roomy suite, and swam in the indoor pool there. We played miniature golf, did a little shopping, went out to dinner, ate salt-water taffy, went for ice cream and had a nice relaxing time together.

Erika and Tyler are Engaged

Erika became engaged to Tyler Pickens of Gooding, Idaho on March 28th. Tyler visited our family over the Christmas holiday. It was fun getting to know him and showing him around our neck of the woods. They plan to be married in the temple in Twin Falls, Idaho in August. We are very happy for both of them!

Jacob turns 1

Happy Birthday, Jacob!
Here he is in his new backyard in Colorado last fall,
talking to us on the webcam with Kara,



and for his one-year portrait. Such a handsome guy!

Julia and Andrea

Andrea gathered together some pictures of Julia and herself, and made a slideshow for her ipod with a cute song. Here are some of the pictures of the two fun sisters.

Julia will be in college this fall!

(Andrea and Julia--Behind them is our little wall of high school graduates)

Julia has been accepted to BYU-Idaho. She will be there in the Fall--along with James who returns in April.

Julia has chosen to major in Interior Design. She has applied to that department, and is still waiting to see if she hs a spot in that major this year.

The Envelope, Please

Daniel received his mission call today, and read it to us tonight. (The letter actually arrived here last Thursday, but we resisted opening it, and sent it to him to open.) Our family was gathered on our web cam and conference calling, and he had 11 friends in his apartment when he opened and read his letter from the prophet and President of the church--giving him the time and place that he will serve for the next two years.

Las Vegas, Nevada Mission (which covers parts of Nevada, Arizona and California) --Spanish-speaking. Yay! Daniel. You will be a fantastic missionary! He reports to the Mission Training Center in Provo Utah (about a mile from where he is now a student at BYU) on June 2, 2010.

New Blogger

Andrea just started a new blog, and it's pretty cute. Now she'll be able to help me with technical questions I have on blogging!
Click on this title to see it.

Icicles

Icicles from our house. While beautiful, the dripping water has already made
its' way into three places in the house. We are getting a little nervous about the thaw.



view from our deck


The scale of the same icicles seems more impressive from the upper level.




drip, drip

Snowstorms!

This is the most snow we've seen in the 25 years we have been in Maryland. Over the weekend my husband David did 8 hours of shoveling, and James, Julia, Andrea and I did 10 hours combined--(which makes 18 People Hours of shoveling.)

James and Dave were at it again today. And, it's is still snowing right now.

Here's the view from our front door. I don't think anyone will try to ring our doorbell for awhile. The bump on the right is our bench --which sits 3 steps below the porch.

Here's our deck. The funny bumps are from a grid on our patio table.

How does snow balance that high on a deck rail?

Some people in this house are going stir crazy because they haven't seen their friends in days. Others feel like they are more behind because they still have their other obligations-- plus shoveling, etc.

I'm saying a prayer for those who are stuck, or are without shelter or electricity right now, but for myself, I'm happy to be relaxing at home with everyone safely inside today.