Memorial Weekend Take 3

Lincoln and I have been having a debate over how many times we've attended this Memorial day concert in the past.  He says 3 times, I said once.  Maybe I'm combining all of them into one event.  Maybe he is dividing and separating each event . . . .the important thing is we DID go this year!!!  Last night.  It was an awesome experience.  What could be better than a concert on the Capitol lawn with friends?  Not much!  This was broadcast live on PBS last night and I think it will be broadcast again tonight.

Below - the Washington DC capitol and Ken (our soon to be released Stake President, He and his wife and a couple other couples used to go to a lot of concerts and plays together, soon the Pages are moving.  They are the last of our "cultural" group, darn!!)  in the foreground.

McKay and I, in our much coveted shade.  We went a few hours early and had a picnic before the concert. 

This is Ken, Lincoln and his co-worker, Tony

Lincoln's co-worker, Patrick and wife.

For some reason I like this picture of McKay.

The "Statue of Freedom"

The Capitol dome.

Lincoln, Ken and Joni.

Lincoln . . . . . being Lincoln!

Lionel Richie sang 2 songs.

Brad Paisley also sang two songs Brad was awesome!

. . . . there were other celebrities there. 

What a background!

Self explanatory . . . .

They played the military theme songs.  We had five members of the USAF in our group, Tony, Patrick and Lincoln. . . . . .

Ken and Jenny.

A very nice time!

Memorial Weekend Take 2

A photographer I am not . . . . but I wanted to get a few shots of the Washington Monument throughout the night. The color of the sky was really beautiful at different during the evening

Memorial Weekend Take 1

One of the exciting things about Memorial weekend is that the pool opens!  We have tried to make a tradition of swimming the day it opens, rain or shine.  This was a chilly day.  All I dipped in to the pool was my legs . . . . McKay passed his swim test and is ready to go for the summer!

My Yesterday

You know the saying TGIF???  Thank God It's Friday???  Well mine is TGIT, My week ends on Thursday. Why Thursday?  Because I teach 30 piano students from Mon-Thursday, and although I love teaching with a passion, Friday is a glorious day.  Here is what I did with mine . . . . .

~An hour of puttering about the yard, picking up yet MORE leaves and branches that had fallen from the trees!

~An hour of P90X (My 3rd week and I'm gaining weight, JOY!)

~Another humid day . . . . another day for me to wear my curls freely (the grays are coming in straight, ARGHHH)

~Delivery of a pool spool, my dad is a genius!

~Lunch with my mom and dad and McKay

~Christmas Tree Shop with my reluctant dad, excited mom and a "I'll do whatever grandpa does" McKay (what a place!, I didn't buy a single thing, woo hoo)

~McKay offering to play grandma and grandpa his piano recital songs (I didn't even prompt or bribe him, Holy cow!)

~A piano lesson (I know, I know, this is supposed to be my day off!  I was pressured!)

~An episode of "Hoarders"  (GROSS!  but I'm enthralled, is there a hoarder hiding in all of us?)

~Finishing a book called "The Enchanted April"  on my new ebook reader (thanks Georgia for the suggestion, I liked it!)

~Practicing the piano

~Reading blogs and e-mail

~A Netflix Movie . . . "Adam"  (pretty good chick-flick)

~Family prayer over speaker-phone with Lincoln (we do this every night at 10:00 p.m. sharp, no matter where Lincoln is . . . . at home . . . . or away)

A perfect day!

Unexpected Joys

The other day, McKay was excited because he finally was able to connect with one of his brothers and play x-box together.  This is extra cool for McKay because they are able to communicate with headsets and talk to one another.  (my boys don't have cell phones at the present time)  Sometimes I am kinda leery about what advice my older two boys will give to my still-at-home boy.  McKay reported that older brother told him not to spend all of his money buying games and such.  "Save at least half of your money" he told him.  Holey Moley!!!!  Did that just come from older son's mouth?????  Miracles do not cease!!!

My new toy . . . .

Lincoln called me one day and told me that there was a Sony e-Reader Touch on sale at Woot.com.  Woot sells stuff that is reconditioned at a lower price than you could get it new.  I got one just like the one below in a sassy red!  I LOVE IT!  (the word love will be used a lot in this post, the thesaurus words just won't do, sorry!)

I'm in the process of reading my 3rd book on it.  The only book I've had to purchase is the one for book club, but the rest of the stuff I've put on has been free.  It accepts PDF documents, and so ANYTHING PDF can be downloaded to it.  It accepts WORD documents also.  And then you have library books you can borrow . . . . and of course the Sony e-store!  I've been Googling books that I've wanted to read and found a few in PDF!!!!  (very cool!!)  Here is a little of what I've downloaded to it:

~ the latest edition of the Ensign (will this give me motivation to actually read it? :)

~ a couple of free books from Deseret Book  (again, wishful thinking!)

~ the Old Testament Teacher's Manual (YEAH!  I can read my manual away from home without packing it around!!!)

~ The scriptures (yes, I WILL read these)

~ Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (love philosophy!)

~ The Enchanted April (might be a good book-club book!)

~ other misc classics (which always have been a favorite of mine!)

I love being able to look up words I'm unfamiliar with as I'm reading with its built in dictionary, I love that I can turn the page with a flick of my finger, I love that when I turn it on it returns to the page of the book I'm reading (and any other book I may have started), I love the feel of it (the back has some kind of non-slip material that feels great!), I love that it isn't "back-lit" and is easy on the eyes, I love that it will fit in my purse, I love that I can read in any position and not have to worry about moving the book to see opposite pages and I can just see myself poolside with it . . . . reading face down through the lats of the pool lounge chair without having to find weights to hold the pages down, and I love the LONG battery life. . . . . may it stay that way.  I read two full books and more before it needed a re-charge. 

THANK YOU Lincoln!!!  I think we need two more of these babies!  One for you and one for McKay!!

A not so funny . . . funny

Did you ever think there would be a time when being a non-citizen was better than being one? These are CrAzY times . . . . . .

For the Love!

I do not can!  I do not put up food of any sort . . . . . except, for this.  And I do it for the love of my husband.  He adores strawberry freezer jam.  I don't know if it is just me . . . . . or has the store jam recently just gotten awful?  We can hardly stand it.  YUCK!  But homemade freezer jam is heavenly.  So once a year (I'm lying, it is less than once a year)  I put up this freezer jam for my family.  Since there are only 3 of us now, I don't have to put up as much!!!!! Yippeeee!

Here are the stages (minus the picking of the strawberries, which we DID do but I didn't have my camera!!)  For you who are local, the farm said the strawberries will be "done" at the end of this week . . . . . if you are interested . . . . . .

In the box . . . .

In the sink, getting ready for a wash . . . . .

De-stemmed goodness . . . . . . .

My helpers . . . . Marci . . . . . a sweet lady I'm getting to know better.  Can you believe she has NEVER had a driver's license . . . . . .unbelievable!!!

My son, who unlike the "little red hen" DID help me pick and prepare the strawberries and can now enjoy the "fruit" of our labors!

The finished product . . . . .  you jealous yet????

In the freezer . . . . . ..

And OH MY, how yummy this tastes liberally applied to a piece of bread gobbed with butter. . . . . . . .  Molly mormon, I may not be . . . . . but maybe I'm her sister Jane . . . . . . (Jane???) ha!

McKay's Birthday Party

McKay had to wait a week after his birthday to have his official birthday party. He had a "Minute to win it" party. He had fun planning the party, by watching the TV program, planning the games and pulling all the stuff together to play them. We had 14 games planned and didn't even get half way through them. I think the boys had a good time. I had a good time!, which is kind of weird because usually I can't wait for these kind of parties to be over!

Here are the boys trying to be the first to unroll a party crepe paper roll. 

The tire swing was a hit! 

And the trampoline . . . . . .

Each of them had to try the "twister."  They twisted the rope until the tire was above my husband's head and then let them go.  CrAzInEsS!!!!!!  My son gets blood blisters on his face when he does this because of the G-forces this causes!

Here is another game . . . . they had to drink their sodas until they could balance the can on its bottom tip.  Pretty cool huh?

This one was tic-tac-toe ping pong ball toss.  They needed to get three in a row to win!

Too cute!

Oooooo . . . . the concentration!

The intensity!!!  What a technic . . . . tongue out!

This one was pretty funny! They had to lick their gummy worm and then pick up a pretzel with it and eat it. The gummy worm was so sticky they kept picking up the entire cup that they were in!

The birthday boy eating his pretzel . . . . .

Shooting down cups with rubber bands!  It was quite funny seeing the boys flip themselves before they could get those rubber bands to fly  . . . . . .

Pretty soon it got dark and the boys retired to the family room to play a mega game of x-box.  2 x-boxes . . . . . one projection screen and the war was on!  I don't think any of them slumbered much at this slumber party!  My hubby made the boys crepes in the morning . . . .yummmmm . . . (I didn't get a one of them!!! darn!)

WOWZA!!

Yesterday was McKay's birthday.  14 on the 14th!  He had a friend over last night so that he and his friend could go to the airshow on the base early this morning. 

Last night, Lincoln and I decided that the boys were old enough to be alone for a little while and we took a  quick run to the store.  While we were at the stack-it-deep-and-sell-it-cheap-store we could hear a big storm passing through.  I tried to call McKay several times, because I know he gets freaked out sometimes at home when I'm not there.  I couldn't raise him. 

When we got out of the store there were a few hail stones laying about.  I wished I had my camera because they were huge.  I'd never seen hail so large.  As we drove home, we could tell that we hadn't seen anything yet!  When we arrived in our sub-division I was worried about the boys.  There were leaves and tree limbs everywhere and the whole place was covered in hail stones and mist.  Most of the neighbors were outside surveying the damage. 

This is what met us at our house:

This is the front of our house.  I've had at least a dozen people tell me this year how nice my yard is looking.  Not anymore . . . . . my hostas are toast.  You can't even see the sidewalk in this picture.

Oh!  Those hostas were so pretty!  One of my piano students parents, just this week informed me she was coming and getting a start from these, they are very unusual.  I told her I wouldn't even let my sister have a start.  Sorry Trude!!!!!  Pride does come before a fall, doesn't it????

McKay and his friend Kevin were happily playing outside when we came home.

Kevin, holding some hail.

Lincoln, holding some extra large pieces.

Yesterday, I raked up all the sticks and yard waste from the yard.  I wasted my time, I'd say.  I think half of our autumn raking is now on the ground!

Looking out the back yard over our garden.  I haven't inspected my poor little garden yet.  I'll bet nothing is left . . . . . .

Another shot of the back yard.

Our deck . . . . . My trees on the deck look sickly, and the flower pots I had planted are  . . . . yes, not doing well!

I really should have repaired the japanese maple.  Yikes!!!  More damage.

I think we are going to get new siding out of this storm.  The house is pock-marked, and look at the shutters!  The screens are torn up also. 

We hardly ever lose power.  We didn't even lose power during the 3-foot snow storm.  We lost power during this storm!  It was kind of nice.  The boys couldn't play x-box, and we played a nice game of "Clue" using headlamps and flashlights.  The power was back on by the time we finished the game, and we lost the boys to their cyber-world!

I imagine this was "tornado-like" weather.  We couldn't watch or listen to the news, so I don't know if there was a tornado watch.  We were lucky.  Some of the neighbors actually lost the windows in their cars.  Our truck does have hail damage . . . . but it is 12 years old!  Maybe we'll get a new paint job?  New siding?  New paint for the truck?  Maybe this wasn't so bad after all . . . . . . .   :)