May

The highlight in May was our last skype call to Brazil.  

Our connection was a bit slow and choppy

 but we could still get our "Cole fix" until we have him home August 2.

I appreciated the thoughts he shared 

with us on the importance of having gratitude for everything and

 that a strong family unit is everything.   

May weather means pool time.  

Soaking up time with these people  is one of my favorite things to do.

Finished our 7th year of Azbrainfood.  

We packed and delivered 94, 508 bags of food to

school children that do not get enough to eat over the weekends.

I was able to attend my brother Chad's graduation from medical school in Kansas City, Missouri.

Elle was in awe of her dad.

We had time to take in some of the sights.

The World War I museum and monument was my favorite.

It is so well done.  In one exhibit they transport you back to the line

with the sounds and sights of bombings and the all 

encompassing mud that was everywhere.

  It was very powerful.

One line that was quoted - 

"Hell is not fire, Hell is Mud"

I was in awe of the sacrifice made.  

The beautiful Union Railroad Station.

A couple of church historic sites.
The liberty jail and Independence 

The basement jail with only a 6 foot tall ceiling where

Joseph Smith was imprisoned from December 1, 1838 to April 6, 1839-

the very coldest time of the year.  

Miserable conditions to endure.

Indepence, Missouri temple site

This hard working 12 year old is heading off to make and sale churros.

Our high school choir has a great spring tradition called Broadway Review. 

Each of the 8 choirs select a Broadway musical and then choreograph and costume design it themselves.  Summer was selected to be her choir's choreographer.  

I was blown away by how well she arranged "Into the Woods."  

She was later awarded the choreography award by the choir directors.  

Meg's choir picked The Adams Family to perform.  

Meg helped cast the characters, direct and choreograph hers as well.

Meg has a real eye for staging and loves the action "behind the scenes" the best.

Between the choir acts, Summer and Meg performed a duet from Little Women called

"Some Things Are Meant To Be."  

This was a tender moment for me.

 While they would rehearse, 

Meg would get emotional thinking 

about saying goodbye to her sister in a few months.  Change is hard.

Despite Summer's microphone not working, they carried on

without the slightest hint of a problem.  

Luckily the sound director brought her out a microphone mid-song.  

 Here is a link to their duet

Another big surprise for Tom and I was hearing Ike play the bass in the school orchestra concert.

We had no idea he knew how to play like that.  

Obviously he isn't practicing at home and is learning

everything at school.  

The end of May marked the end of Summer's high school days.

All these cousins (except Joanna Gurr who is a year older) 

are graduating together in 2016.  

I has been pretty incredible to watch all these girls grow up together.

I am grateful for the good influence they have had on one another. 

Back row left to right  Summer, Joanna Gurr, Cosette Shill, Sophie Collins, Nicole Tingey

front row:  Elizabeth Wood, Anita, Janie Geigle. 

These are the cousins that will graduate from Mountain View.

Seminary Graduation

When I showed Tom this I thought he would ask me to delete it but instead he

was just proud of how much air he could still get.  

Our ward has a tradition of recognizing the graduating seniors.

 This is the front of the program that is handed out the Sunday before graduation.

Graduation Open House

For decor, my sister-in-law had these balloon sculptures made of each girl.  

They each have their different hair color.  

They could go on the road as balloon ventriloquists.

The Shills hosted the open house for all the family 

to stop in so they wouldn't need to attend graduation.  

Ike worked the churro truck during the open house.  

He and Chase (at the frier) made sure the guests enjoyed hot a fresh churros.

After filling up on chimichangas and churros, we headed to the graduation.

It was a beautiful night.  

I am going to miss having this smile around.

The gangs all here with many of the boys showing off their future mission flags.

This has been such a great group of friends.  The future is bright.