Class of 2010- Cousins to the End

These 3 cousins are all graduating seniors- class of 2010. Ever since they were little kids, their grandma has been stressing that their graduations would conflict... luckily it could not have worked out more perfectly. Jess graduated in California last Monday, and came out to Utah to see her other 2 cousins graduate. Erik graduated from Lone Peak last Friday, and Steph will graduate this Friday. I'm sure Grandma will be pretty sick of graduations by the end of this week, but I'm sure she wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else!

We thought it'd be fun to get a picture of the 3 grads in their caps. Notice poor Steph's tassel is on the other side since she hasn't graduated yet!

To celebrate their graduations, they went to Lagoon today and had a great time. In the fall, Jess will be off to BYU Idaho, Steph to Univ. of Utah, and Erik to... well, he has no idea until he gets his mission call. I really hate to see everyone growing up and going in different directions, but I'm sure they'll always stay close.

Seminary Graduation

Miracles do happen... Stephenie graduated from seminary!! (Just teasin' Steph!) Her graduation was last Thursday, she was asked to speak and she did an excellent job.

It worked out great that her grandparents arrived in town earlier that day and were able to come to the graduation.

Her cousin Jessilyn who just graduated from high school last Monday in Sacramento drove out with Grandma and Grandpa to spend time with cousins for a week.

Since Steph went to a different high school than all her good junior high friends, it was nice to have seminary graduation done on a stake level because she was able to be with some of her old buddies. This is her good friend Colton.

Although there was some teeth pulling to get her to seminary some days, she said in her talk that she was glad she went and really noticed a difference in her day when she was there... music to a mother's ears!

SENIOR BALL!

As a Senior Class Officer, Steph has been involved in the planning of the Senior Ball for the past year. After a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears the night finally arrived last Saturday. And... (big sigh of relief)... she had a wonderful time. Wouldn't you know, the LAST dance of Steph's high school career, we found out about a lady who runs a business from home renting formals, and she'll alter it for you, add straps, etc. We were able to rent this exquisite dress and jewelry for a total of $70! I think that's great, especially considering that you'd pay at least $300 for a dress like this.

When I ordered Justin' boutenierre I asked for a white rose with purple accents, but I really love this purple orchid.

I love this picture... it's like the two are mirror images of one another, but with a 15 year age difference. I think I'm ok with taking a break from high school dances for the next 13 years! Ok, so maybe a little part of me is sad that it's over. At least with Alex one day, it'll be much easier shopping for tuxes than dresses!

Ball of Confusion

Senior Ball is coming up in a few weeks, and Steph's boyfriend Justin officially asked her to the dance in one of the cutest, and messiest ways I've ever seen! When we got home from a family outing this afternoon, this was waiting for Steph on the front steps. Four buckets (in school colors... nice touch!) with what appeared to be filled with shaving cream.

Indeed, it was shaving cream, but it was masking all the other stuff found beneath... huge mounds of mashed potatoes and gravy, and some other substance we're not quite sure about, it looked like root beer floats, with tons of gumballs in it.

Steph had to fish out all these balls from each basket. There were some bigger balls, and tons of tiny ping pong balls, some with pictures drawn on them, some with words written. We washed the goop off all the balls and thought for sure one of them would say something about the Senior Ball.... Nothing. Soooo, we rinsed out all the buckets assuming that they probably had a message written on the bottom. Again, nothing.

Then we figured, maybe there's some special code on these ping pong balls that we have to piece together. Seriously, Steph and I sat there for a good half hour trying to figure it out. She kept texting Justin begging for clues but he refused. We both finally just had to walk away because it was hurting our brains trying to figure this out. A short while later, we hear a loud knock on the door and when we answered it this is what we found...

Pretty cute, huh?! (Justin plays football and Steph plays softball) Apparently all the pictures and words on the ball were just to throw Steph off. I'd say his plan worked more than perfectly.

The End of an Era

Last week marked the end of Stephenie's high school softball career. She's been playing since she was about 8 years old, so naturally I'm sad to see it end. However, with the end of the season comes a sense of relief, because this season was H-E-L-L!!!! I could go on and on about the details, but that would take forever, and I'm trying (and sometimes not succeeding) to be a more Christlike person and just... let it go.

I do, however, have to give a shout out to Steph, for enduring and sticking with it. I also give her props for the way she really came through for her team. The girl who typically started at first base was suspended for several games (bet you're wondering why she was suspended... but remember, I'm trying to be more Christlike, so I shall not gossip!) Anyways, Steph stepped it up and played 1st base, a position she'd never played before, and she did a dang good job at it. This is on Varsity, and their region has some of the best teams in the state.

Steve felt bad that he wasn't there to coach her for her senior year. (He was the coach the past two years but now works at a different school) Especially with all the crap that went down. But... now it's over and when it's all said and done, I hope that one day when Steph looks back she will have fond memories of these times.

So what do I do with myself now for the next few years till Alex is old enough to start playing tee ball?!!

The Hippest Grandma on Facebook

"Dear Gramma, I miss you so dearly. I can't wait till you come here! Tell Grampa I love him too."

As I was looking at Facebook the other day, this was a post I came across that Steph had written on my mom's wall. How do you know that you basically rock as a grandma? Your 17 year old granddaughter proclaims her love and adoration for you on Facebook! It tugged at my heartstrings when I read this. I adored my grandmothers and I love that my kids adore their grandma. Happy Mother's Day to my mom, my greatest example!

LeBron Lilly

The other night, Steve was watching one of the NBA Playoff games, the Cavaliers were playing and I'm thinking Alex must have been really paying attention to LeBron James because.... The next day Alex was shooting hoops, but stopped all of a sudden and said, "Oh wait... headband!" So he went to the bathroom to find one of Steph's headbands.

The tan suede headband may not have been LeBron James first choice of attire, but at least Alex has the right idea!

Future NBA star perhaps? Hope he buys his mama her dream house when he's a big star someday!

Sister Sistah

Last fall, when Steve had been meeting with the missionaries, the elders asked us if they could set up an appointment for us to go tour Temple Square. Honestly, I was thinking to myself, "oh my gosh, I've been to Temple Square a million times, why do we need a tour?". I'm sure Steve was thinking the same thing, but being the polite Southern bred man that he is, he accepted, and we ended up making it a family affair, as even Steph decided to go along.

When we walked in and met the sister missionaries who would be giving us a tour, I thought to myself, "Wow, they couldn't have paired Steve up with a more ideal set of sisters... or should I say sistahs.

Sister Barnes is Black and Polynesian and Sister Seve is Polynesian from Australia. Sister Barnes told us about her father's (who is black) conversion story and a lot of the things she said really hit home for Steve.

They did a presentation for us with a movie that emphasized forever families, and as we were watching it I know we were all thinking about Steve's mom who passed away 2 years ago. We all ended up in tears at the end, the spirit was very powerful.

In the short time we spent with them, we really bonded with them, and so after Steve got baptized we really wanted to share the news with them, we knew they'd be so excited. As luck would have it, the first two times we went back to Temple Square to find them, they had both been sent "stateside". (Temple Square missionaries get a chance to serve 3 months somewhere in the country and then come back to Salt Lake for the remainder of their mission.)

Finally, a few weeks ago, Steve, Alex and I stopped by Temple Square and wandered around for a while but didn't see them. Feeling defeated once again, we were about to head out when from a distance Sister Barnes and I caught a glimpse of each other and she remembered us. Sister Seve was there also and they were so excited to see us and hear about Steve's baptism. Most of the time, the missionaries on Temple Square don't get a chance to see the results of the "fruits of their labors", so I know it meant a lot to them that we came to find them.

These ladies even remembered Stephenie by name and asked how her softball season was going... talk about impressive! We were able to exchange email addresses and plan on keeping in touch.

Alex reflecting by the reflection pool on Temple Square. Perhaps he's contemplating the meaning of life. (Actually, he's probably thinking about Thomas the Tank Engine... or goldfish crackers.)

Happy B-Day Jordan Gordon George

A few weeks ago we went to Jordan's 19th birthday party. That's right, I said 19. And yes, that makes me feel old. Alex affectionately calls Jordan "George" or sometimes "Gordon", it cracks me up.

We're not all together very often, so of course I was hoping to get a nice family picture. I guess I should have had it taken before Jordan ate his cake and consequently had blue lips from his frosting. Note to self: (next time I'm in a picture, have someone else hold Alex. I'm flexing my arms and they look huge. Not in a "I'm so ripped" good kind of huge, more of a "you're getting old and have relief society arms kind of a huge.)