Braces

So here are the before and after pictures. She is very excited to have this process started. She chose purple to adorn her mouth this first time around. Some of what needs correcting should only take a few months and things will look very different. But the big thing that needs correcting will take up to two years. No gum and she is bummed! 




Hopefully, this will eventually relieve the pain she had endured physically and the hurt it has been the source of mentally and emotionally.

Connor's birthday party

How nice is it when you can have a birthday party at a park in March? I love it!! It was an army themed party with a "grenade" water balloon fight. Even being wet wasn't uncomfortable in the warm temps!

Mandy had this tank pinata that everyone got a turn with and that Tersa got to finish off.

There was a sand volleyball pit too that the kids busied themselves in for most of the party. Some of them got buried in the sand and they built tunnels and towns.

At the end of the party, Tersa got hold of some bubbles and she and Peyton had a good time with them.

Moon

I like the moon. Particularly a full moon that is bright enough to play out in the dark in. A couple of weeks ago, as we were preparing to go to Utah, the moon decided to come out a little early. I took this picture at about 4:00 in the afternoon.
I took this one soon after we'd gotten back from Utah. I'd gone to run an errand and it was just coming up. It was huge and orange. I didn't get home soon enough to capture the color.  And I need to practice with my camera more I guess because this picture just doesn't do it.

Roses

Roses are my favorite. Joel went to Smith's on Fri. and  brought these home with his other purchases. I love this yellow-orange combination. My two favorite colors in one flower! I put them in a vase and started taking pictures. I am still experimenting with my new camera. This was one of my favorite pictures.

We were at school when this group started. Our friend Bob Ahlander was in the original group and still works with them from time to time. We loved it then and it was so fun for me to be able to see my baby brother perform with them now. I'm happy for him that he had the opportunity to do this. 
The beginning of "Inspector Gadget."

This guy was incredible. (Middle of the two groups.) He's the high tenor. Mardi and Tersa were rather impressed with him and the Russian song was beautiful. Man he hit some high notes and belted them out! Shinara refers to him as the guy that screams like a girl.
The end of Micah's solo "Thriller."

This is the percussion guy. He did a "solo" that Shinara was thoroughly impressed with. Some time ago she heard a song in which the background sounds caught her ear and she started imitating it. I introduced myself to Grant and then introduced Shinara. He asked if she would demonstrate for him AND SHE DID! He was so sweet and told her that she was good for a child her age and he was impressed. She thought that was so cool.

Here are my girls and the whole crew. In this picture they were actually singing their THX "song". The girls had a great time. I'm glad we got to go to one of Micah's concerts since he won't be doing this next year.

Quick Utah Trip

Not a great picture but you can see just about everyone that came to dinner before Micah's Vocal Point concert. Caleb and Marci and my oldest girls were too close to me to be in the other pictures.

Makayla was a favorite with my girls! As was Katy and Micah's baby. But they didn't get a chance to do anything but touch her hand Sat. night.

Shinara sat next to Pops and they played all through dinner. While we were running errands yesterday Shinara said she missed him "'cause he was fun!" I'm glad she got to spend time with him.

Flooding

For those of you who have seen or seen pictures of our kitchen, you'll wonder at the lack of wood flooring in this picture. (Accept for the sliver by the oven.) Well, last week I changed the tub spout on the tub in our bathroom...again. (Evidently the cheap Wal-mart ones only last about two years.) Wed. morning I went down to get the girls breakfast and discovered that tons of water had run down from Joel's shower and through a vent into the laundry room. The floor was squishing. It is laminate wood flooring and we still hadn't put in baseboards. So, I lost it and began trying to mop up water and remove flooring. Joel came down from his shower and had to call his associate to cover a depo for him. Then he called our home owners insurance and we got someone here to bring these four fans in to dry out the walls and cabinets. The plumber and insurance adjustor came the next morning. Unfortunately, when the men came to check everything on Fri.  morning, it wasn't completely dry and they wanted to come back Sat. Since we were leaving town  Fri. afternoon, our neighbor said he would help us out by letting them in. Besides our $1,000 deductible and the fact that our rates will go up, I think we will be able to make the repairs we need with the money they gave us for the damage. The plumber didn't think that I put the spout in wrong, so he said we may have gotten a bum spout.

Billy

Had some fun taking pictures of the neighbors dog the other day. I was trying out the continuous shoot feature on my new camera. These were taken in the sport mode. I wish I'd had my zoom lens on. Tersa was throwing his ball toward me so I could get these.

President's Day

It was cloudy again on President's Day and Joel had taken the day off. We had wanted to do something fun and different. But we ended up at a park we don't go to often instead. For all of 8 min. Then it began to sprinkle. So we went home and ended up going to see Inkheart. (Not terrible.)

Remember doing this?