Summer is finally here!

Hi!

It has been a fun couple of weeks, with wrapping up school activities and final concerts, etc.  I know I have been driving a LOT, so that means the girls are keeping busy.

LIFE LESSONS.  David is 2 weeks into his internship, so he's not helping me drive anymore :(

His "life lessons learned" so far with the full-time job...
1) Your "gross" income does not equal your "net" income.  Ouch #1.

2) Taking public transportation (commuter train) in to work ...wait for it... costs money. Ouch #2.

3) It also takes time to get TO and FROM work.  To catch a 7a.m. train, then walk from the train station to the office ... He leaves here by 6:40a.m. and arrives home around 6:20p.m.  Many people get an hour for lunch, that they're not paid for... He is gone 11 1/2 hours, and only gets paid for 8 of them.  Ouch #3.

LAST DAY.  Monday was the kids' last day of school.  Kind of late this year, but what do you do, right?  I tutored for the last time this year on Monday, also.  I just work one year at a time.  The district does not guarantee the tutors jobs more than that.  But as far as I know, I will do the same job again in the fall.  No official notification yet, but they have "told" me my position will be the same.

NOT my toes, BTW!

TMI (Too Much Information) WARNING.  Just to give the story closure (I hope).  2 months ago we hiked the Grand Canyon, and both my big toenails got all bruised, I guess from hitting the end of the hiking boot for 9 hours straight.  I lost one!  Eeeewwww.  The new nail has grown in about 1/2 way.  So now, summer and sandals and toenail polish season is finally here, and I have to wear a band-aid instead.  :(


TREK.  Every summer, the church youth in the region go on a 3-day "Youth Conference." It can be 3 days at a local university,  where they stay in the dorms and attend devotionals, listen to motivational and spiritual speakers, as well as lots of social activities with each other.

Every 3 or 4 years, however, the youth conference takes the form of "Trek."  As in, "Pioneer Trek."  The pioneers moving west and settling the untamed territories there, are actually a big part of our church history.  Those people believed in something, and were often persecuted for their beliefs.  Many were chased from their homes and had to leave everything they owned, to follow their hearts and a prophet they believed in.

"Trek" puts the youth in a pioneer-type setting.  The youth are grouped into "pioneer families," and each "family" pushes handcarts, cooks and eats outdoors, and for 3 days lives the life of a pioneer.  We also have devotionals, and give them opportunities to study scriptures and discuss gospel principles.  The purpose is to help the youth think about what they, themselves, believe, and to give them a chance to think and pray, and strengthen their own testimonies of gospel principles.  We hope they can come closer to Christ through these discussions and experiences.

Frank and I were asked to be one of the "Ma and Pa" 's of a "pioneer family."  We will have 7 or 8 youth (14-18 yrs old) assigned to our "family."  We have pioneer clothing, and we'll load up a handcart with everybody's stuff!  Our trail meanders through the outskirts of a camp the church owns in New Hampshire.  We'll hike 21 miles over a 3-day period.

Trek is this Thursday through Saturday.  Since summer is "thunderstorm season" in New England, our prayers right now are focused on "good weather" for the trek.  I'll report on it when we get back.

Have a great rest of the week!  Kari

High School Graduate!

Well it has been a whirlwind couple of weeks!  End-of-year activities, AP tests, senior's last day, and final Senior outings have filled the end of high school for David.

SENIOR AWARDS CEREMONY.  That was a neat occasion last week.  David received 3 awards:


Honor Roll for 4 Years
National Merit Letter of Commendation and
Achievement in Business Law

PIE NIGHT.  Friday night we had some of David's friends and their parents over, for Graduation Pie Night!  I had hoped for good weather, so people could be outside and the kids could jump on the trampoline some...but no, it was not to be.  Pie Night was a torrential downpour--we stayed inside!  Ha.  It was fine.

It was a record-breaker for our little house, though.  51 people were here!  24 seniors came, and quite a few of their parents came too.  It was a nice chance to catch up, and get to know better some of the parents we didn't know so well.  What a nice group of people David hangs out with. :)

We put pies at the dining room table, pies in the family room, and pies downstairs.  Yum.  Of course, I was scrambling so much I didn't take photos while the people were here...just of some decorations.

Can't forget the Graduation Ducks...and ninjas.

GRADUATION CEREMONY.  After the downpour, we held our breath...it was supposed to clear up for Sunday's ceremony, but...would it?

walking into the stadium

diploma from Dr. Tutwiler, principal

Turns out that it did clear up for us, and it would not have been nicer if we had put in a special order.  Blue skies and sunshine for the afternoon, and temps right around 80.

There were 3 student speakers, 2 adult speakers, and the band played on...there were just 215 graduates.  We live in a small town.  In the case of a graduation ceremony, this is a good thing. :)

Here are some photos.  It was a happy, happy day for everybody there!  And it was held outside, so no restrictions on how many could be there.  If it had rained, the graduates only get limited tickets.

Congratulations, David!

Home Improvements and Cape Cod

Hola!

This is the season for my head to spin just a little.  Just because of the calendar and end-of-year activities.  Add to the mix this year, that David is graduating this coming Sunday (yippee, David!) -- and that has some extra activities going on for us, too.

And, add to that our "second wind" of home improvements (yes, it's been almost 5 years since we moved in and did the first round)!  We have a few messy projects going on at the moment.

So when I think "what should I put on the blog," too many things are in my head!  So here is my "something is better than nothing" mentality.  I chose 2 things: the fireplace, and Kara's 7th grade Cape Cod trip.

FIREPLACE.  We are having the super-old fireplace remodeled, if you will.  The house is from 1950, and that's the age of the fireplace!  We'll get marble tile placed on the front--it will be pretty.

Teresa helps with the cement coming out

But the first thing was to break out the hearth, and of course Frank said "I can do that!"  Always a quick job to destroy things, right?  ...Right?  ..........ok, well, not really.

Let me just tell you that our fireplace...was built to last.  That hearth tile was NOT coming out!  Pounding and chiseling away with every tool we could find and borrow, Frank worked on it 2 hours and only had 4 of the 40 tiles out.  UGH!

Home Depot to the rescue, he went and rented a mini-jack-hammer.  Still took some time, but for sure that was a lifesaver.  Here are some pictures.

It's a work in progress.  I'll post again when next steps are further along.

CAPE COD.  The 7th graders go to Cape Cod as a class trip each year.  They follow Rachel Carson's example of studying the coastal and ocean environment, and how we affect it and how we can protect it.  They go to the tide pools, the sand dunes, on boats, take walks through marshes on boardwalks, journal things...I'm telling you this is a very. cool. trip.  They pack more into 3 days and 2 nights than I can imagine.  And the most amazing thing?  Are you sitting down?

Every. Teacher. Goes.  No, really.  They have all the students and all the kids and it is a wonderful trip where they take BIG buses down, and stay in cabins at night and do all this cool stuff together!

Then they have the assignment to gather all of their notes and photos and journaling samples and memories, and compile a "Project." It can be a memory book or a 3D type project.

Since I do so many shutterfly books, that's what Kara wanted to do for her project and memory book.  You can look at hers!  It's really quite good.

I'll try this and see if it works: Click KARA's BOOK to see her Cape Cod project. Sorry it's too small to really read any captions or journaling.  But you can see the photos.  :)


Have a great week!  Kari

Perfect Small-Town Memorial Day

decked out in stars and stripes!

This year's Memorial Day (yesterday) was picture-perfect.  We live in a small town, and every Memorial Day there is a parade down Main Street.  There are flags waving, bands playing, uniformed officers marching and people clapping.  The parade marches about a mile and a half, so it is not too long, and it ends in a nice park and cemetery.  There people find places to rest in the shade, while keynote speakers talk about honoring Veterans and giving thanks for our troops.  Someone might recite the Gettysburg Address.

Sometimes the weather does not cooperate.  But yesterday it was perfect.

Kara plays the saxophone in the Middle School Band, so she participated last year and this year.  Here are some photos from the day.

Hopefully you had a chance to remember the reason for the day!  Amongst all the varied activities going on mostly to celebrate the "day off," it's good to remember why we GET the day off.

old-timey car

Last year our family toured Pennsylvania, and one of our stops was Gettysburg.  I was probably much more interested than anyone else in the family!  Abraham Lincoln is one of my very favorite presidents, taking on an impossible job in impossible circumstances, and holding our country together through the Civil War in spite of insurmountable odds.

Flag raising ceremony

I memorized Lincoln's Gettysburg Address for our trip.  Here it is, short but profound and heartfelt, still full of meaning after 148 years.

blue skies, little wispy cloud

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Thank you to all our troops!

Spring at last?

Hola!

Well we are finally into May, and I think we could possibly get a spring.  Up here in the Arctic North, Massachusets is slow to recognize the season.

It is easy for ME to recognize the season.  "Spring" means a full calendar!  Juggling transportation needs, who has what car for which appointment, and keeping track of everybody's events in a little box of the calendar  Yes, we still use a physical calendar on the countertop!  Then you can visualize the week, and anyone can see everybody else's commitments as the days progress.

But here is our weekly synopsis.  It's May.  Just to remind you. :)

PARENTS OF SENIORS.  I got a letter in the mail addressed to "Parents of Seniors," outlining the upcoming events and important dates for seniors for the rest of the school year.  I read through it and thought to myself, "Is this for REAL??"  I keet expecting Rod Serling to step out and announce, "In an alternate universe, your child will graduate.  But are you dreaming?  You may never know...unless you take a voyage into the Twilight Zone."

SCOUT CAMPOUT.  Frank is back in scouts again!  He leads a troop...takes a break from it...and then gets asked back in.  Right now he's with the 11-year-old scouts, and Friday he organized a campout for them.  People don't realize what goes into the preparation for those activities unless they have to be the leader.  All the planning and logistics can be pretty overwhelming!

KARA TRACK MEET.  Kara is trying track (as well as soccer) this spring. Last Tuesday she ran the 400 meter run and came in 3rd.  She was also the last leg of the 1600-meter relay team, so she ran another 400-meter as part of the relay team.

DAVID's FELLOWSHIP AWARD.  David found an internship to apply for.  It was pretty involved, just to apply--it was like applying for another university.  2 weeks ago, he got a phone call that the sponsoring companies had reviewed applications, and he was chosen for one of them!  It will be for 10 weeks this summer, at Draper Laboratory in Cambridge.  They arrange the internships to give the students exposure to multiple types of engineering and technology projects.  Thursday we went to the banquet where they presented the students with the awards, and we met representatives from the company.  We think it will be a great opportunity for him.

SAT SUBJECT TESTS.  Teresa is finishing up Chemistry this term, so Saturday she took the Chemistry subject test for the SAT.  Standardized tests are painful for this child!  Ugh.  (I hate to tell her that these tests are not going away.  One at a time, right!)

STOMP.  Then, as a culminating fun event to finish off the week, we went to "STOMP" at a theater in Worcester.  The whole show is amazing percussion, with the performers tapping and beating on anything from barrels to jugs to matchboxes to inner tubes.  They dance and make noise and act out skits...it's pretty funny, and they are all so talented.  You can't help but try to join in.

May sun shine on your patch of the world this week!
Love, Kari :)

April Break

(I wrote this one week ago.  But I just today downloaded photos from the camera!  So here it is, a little late.)

Well we have returned from our Arizona vacation!

It was so nice to catch up with my side of the family, and enjoy warm temperatures for a couple of days.  We started out in Phoenix and Tucson, and they are warm places.  We visited with Grandma ("Nana" to the kids), Mom ("Grandma Kay" to the kids), and my Aunt Joan, and my cousin Jessica and her family.  Kim came down with some of her family, too.

David and Nana :)

In the middle of the week we took a jaunt up to the Grand Canyon.  Amazing.  Stunning.  Surreal.  This is really a painting, isn't it?  I tried to imagine what it would be like to be an explorer, discovering the Grand Canyon for the first time.  What a fabulous place!

The Grand Canyon, however, located in northern Arizona, is NOT warm in the month of April!  Nope.  The south rim is still 7200 feet in elevation or therabouts, so in April it's cold and windy.  We lucked out on our BIG HIKE day, that the wind died down to almost nothing.

It's windy, and we squint into the sun, but here we are!

see our family, tiny in the corner?

We took hundreds of photos.  Of course the pictures cannot do it justice, but it's better than nothing.  I just couldn't believe it was so varied and majestic.  Just breath-taking.

Teresa is happy to drive her own ATV

ATVs.  The first day, we went on an ATV tour.  Lots of fun!  It was a 40-mile trek through desert trails and a box canyon with steep rocks up the sides.  The kind of setting where you think you're in a western movie and any minute there will be an ambush, with cowboys jumping out from behind the boulders up ahead to steal the money box from the stagecoach.

THE BIG HIKE.  We hiked the Grand Canyon on Wednesday, from Rim to River to Rim in one day.  Our timing was good (April) because it wasn't too hot.  I can imagine that July and August are pretty stifling with the heat.  Actually in the beginning of our hike, it was quite cold: we started at 5:25 a.m., and it was 27 degrees outside!  But there was almost no wind.  We layered, and that made a big difference.

We got to see the sunrise, very nice.

Of course at the Grand Canyon, you are hiking down first.  Signs everywhere said, "Down is optional.  Up is mandatory!"

In the beginning you are fresh, and of course you are going down.  We made it to the Colorado River by 9:00 a.m.  Cross the suspension bridge, walk along the river for a little while, cross another bridge and start your way up.  The way up is full of switchbacks.  More and more switchbacks!  The last mile and a half of switchbacks I thought I was going to die.  Frank and I got slower, and ... slower.  The kids felt it, but they weren't as slow as their parents.  Ugh!

But the kids finished by 2:30.  We (Frank and I) were about 15 minutes behind them.  9 hours of hiking!  I was so proud of David, Teresa and Kara.  They did great!

Kara and I stop to take in the view.  Still COLD at this point!

Mind you, NONE OF US COULD WALK the next day!  Ugh!  The park employees call the day-after-hiking-staggering the "Canyon Crawl."  After laying down for the night, you wake up and can't quite move like you know you should be able to!  Your muscles rebel and you step gingerly.

We drove out the east entrance as we left, to get some different views.  Still awe-inspiring.

Kara and her Uncle Ray

SMALL PLANE RIDE.  The last day, we didn't leave to fly home until the middle of the afternoon, so Kathi & Ray had come up in their 2-seater plane from Albuquerque.  Ray took all of us up, one at a time, to loop around and see Phoenix from a different perspective!  It was a treat.

Teresa climbing aboard

So all around, it was a great week for us.  We were saddened to hear of and watch the news about the Boston Marathon bombs and other events of the week back here.  But is is also heartening to hear of the good stories--how so many people stepped up to help people they didn't even know.

Have a good week!  Kari

April Events

I think Spring is officially here, even in New England!

Now remember I did not say it was warm yet, by any means.  But the fat robins in the front yard, and the annuals that are peeking through the ground think it's spring.  I also heard a woodpecker the other morning.

The calendar fills before I can even turn around, and that's another way I know it's spring.  Here is a summary of the last couple of weeks.

UNIVERSITY.  David has decided he's going to BYU in Provo this fall--this is so exciting!  Especially since Frank and I went there, and it holds so many good memories for us.  He went online and reserved a spot in housing last week, and has a meal plan.  Yesssssssss! :)


PANERA BREAD.  Our little tiny Wayland has finally completed the "Town Center," a complex in the middle of town with a big grocery store and restaurants.  Also condominiums, etc.--it's a pretty good deal for us -- we live about a mile from there.  So Panera Bread is big out here...it may be an "Eastern 1/2 of the U.S." kind of restaurant.  Kind of upscale fast food: panini sandwiches, soups, breads...actually here is a link where CBS News ranks it the Number One of Top 10 Healthiest Fast Food restaurants.

A brand new Panera is opening next week in the "Town Center," just a mile or so from our house.  David applied, and got a job there.  Nice place to work, with a nice commute.  Congratulations, David! :)

DESTINATION IMAGINATION.  Kara has been working hard for 6 months with her D.I. team.  Each team works on a challenge together, and presents first at a regional competition, then the top team in each age level/challenge goes on to state.  Kara's team took first in the region!  So they presented at state last Saturday.  Didn't win there, but they worked so well as a team the whole time.  It's a really great learning experience.

ROBOTICS.  David's High School Robotics team also did really well at their competition in Boston last weekend.  They all participate in qualifying rounds, and the top 8 teams are identified.  Those top 8 then choose 2 other teams to make up their team (it's 3 robots against 3 robots, on the court at one time).  So David's group was not in the top 8, but they were CHOSEN by one of the top 8, so they could compete.  Their combined team came in 3rd!  Very cool.

BIRTHDAYS.  Kara's birthday was 2 weeks ago: 13!! We officially have 3 teenagers now.  My birthday also came on Easter weekend this year.

EASTER.  What can you say about Easter?  It was a lovely weekend, with beautiful music and uplifting messages about the Atonement of our Savior.  He has given us the greatest gift.

And...LAST TEST THIS WEEK.  I took test #5 for the year on Wednesday!  If I passed them all, I won't have to take any more.  I just got the email yesterday giving me results on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th tests, that I took in March.  I passed them!  I should find out about the last one in 3 weeks or so.  (This is all to get an ELL certificate, to jog your memory.  I'm already tutoring ELL kids at the elementary level, I just don't have a certificate.  I won't change jobs, if it's up to me.  I just want the official certificate in case they require it of me later.)

It is a busy time of year, but that doesn't always make it meaningful.  I try every day to figure out and do the "important" things, and not just "keep busy."  It's an ongoing challenge :)

Have a great rest of the weekend!  Love, Kari