Life is about loving

Wow, I miss a week and there's so much to blog about that I will have to keep this post mainly to pictures.

The first big occasion was a week ago Friday night when we had a community celebration for the Special Olympians that were in town. For his Eagle Project, our good friend Devin planned and carried out the event. Part of the entertainment for the night was Josh and his friends singing the Star Spangled Banner, and an acapella number called "Breakfast at Tiffany's". The Show Choir from his High School also performed two numbers that were awesome. Jesse's Competition Clogging team also performed. At the end, they had the Special Olympics athletes come down on the floor and learn a line dance, along with anyone else who wanted to do it. There ended up being probably 200 to 250 people out on the gym floor doing line dances. The athletes were loving the dancing! One guy grabbed the microphone and started thanking everyone in Italian. I understood "magnifio America, and morte beni". It was awesome! There was so much energy out there and everyone was just grinning from ear to ear, laughing and having the greatest time!

A week ago Saturday, we spent the afternoon and evening with these dear people!
Bruce's brother Stephen and his wife Kendra decided to have a family gathering in honor of Devyn, our nephew, who was going to leave on a mission. Because of a weird schedule, he gave his talk in Church about a month ago, so during a family fireside on Saturday night, he gave his talk again. Other adults in the family also had the opportunity to give him advice for his mission. This was a marvelous meeting filled with the Spirit. I think there's no better setting than home for the bearing of testimonies.

Shawn and Janel drove all the way up from Utah to be here. And Michelle and Matthew flew in from Washington.I was about to take a picture of these guys from the other direction, and then decided the lighting was bad, so I walked around behind them.Michelle had to make a wise crack about getting their better half!The family got to meet Heidi, Sarah and Zach for the first time. We're so glad they came from Oregon to be there.This is what the cousins love to do at these gatherings. Hit the basement and hang out and play games!And here's the man of the hour! Devyn and Grandma,
and Devyn with his parents, Stephen and Kendra.
This is Devyn, now officially an Elder , going into the MTC. This Elder is the definition of what the bretheren want in a new missionary. He's intelligent, clean, humble, personable, well-versed in scripture and doctrine, filled with the Spirit and just an all-around wonderful person. What a good example he has set for our children. I'm so proud of him!

The day after this was Sunday, and Josh and Joseph sang "My Country Tis of Thee" with Connor and Drew for the special musical number in Church. It was really nice.


That evening we had Josh's Eagle Court of Honor.No broken bones this time!Our dear friends Todd, Fred and Larren spoke on the points of the Scout Law. Thank you so much for doing that!Jesse administered the oath.

This is the Eagle's Nest congratulating Josh.

Thank you to so many people who attended! We planned it so quickly that many people didn't hear about it in time. Please - if you didn't make it we me missed you, and apologize sincerely for the lack of better notice. It was one of those things where we knew we had to juts get it done.
All day the next day Bruce watched the slide show we had made of Josh, and then came in and said, "How come I'm so nostalgic for our chidren today?" We're both feeling like it's time to put the brakes on this train called "kids growing up".

On Monday evening we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's hotel and swam in their pool. Thank you for the invite, we really enjoyed it!

On Tuesday, I found out that Teresa, one of my best friends from high school, college and the many years in between, had to have some tumors removed from her leg. After finding out, I went in to Mary, who was home sick that day, and told her what I had just found out. She didn't say anything, she just reached over and gave me a hug. She sat and hugged me while I cried for a few minutes, and was a great comfort to me.

We were on pins and needles until yesterday, when she found out it was benign, not malignant. WHEW. What a relief. And it will save us a lot of money because I was headed out to Indiana for sure if she had received a bad diagnosis. When I told him the good news this afternoon, Josh said, "I have been praying for her. I said in my prayers, 'Please bless Teresa (I can't remember her last name, but You know who I'm talking about) that she will be a better person for the experience, no matter the outcome.'

On Wednesday, Buttercup, our cow, had her milk come in. Bruce thought the calf would be born within a couple of hours. Well, we're going on three 1/2 days, and still no calf! Hopefully it will be here soon...

On Thursday I got called in to sub at a local Middle School, and then Friday I also worked for my old team-teacher and taught her classes at the High School. I enjoyed teaching these two days, but it was baaaad, for the cleanliness of the house. What? If Mom's gone, it's a free-for-all? How does that happen? Easy enough, I guess.

Last night we went and played some games with our friends (The Way blog), and then went and saw Twilight (it finally arrived at the dollar theater). I thought it was a great adaption of the book!

This morning Jesse had a volleyball tournament. They lost the games in the morning but went on to win later in the afternoon. Bruce, Joshua, Joseph, and I all refereed a Futsal tournament. This was my first time to referee Futsal, and it was pretty fun! Futsal is basically soccer on a basketball court. I'm proud of myself for doing something new and just a bit scary.

After the morning events, I picked up Jesse and we drove the backroads to get to the local university to compete in her first official Clogging Competition this year.

They won a 1st place for this dance. Jesse is the one in the front with the number pinned onto her. Her hat was too low, so you can't see her face very well. That's something she'll have to fix for the next competition! It's so fun to watch her dance.

And, to bring us up to tonight, Josh went with Raigen to the Tip-Off Dance, and the theme was 70's!
I don't know where the guys came up with these outfits, but they were hilarious.Last week at his Court of Honor, I was SO disappointed that Josh didn't have his haircut. And now this week, I was glad he put it off, because it was totally 70's!Sorry, you gotta crank your neck on this one.
These girls are so beautiful, and they really did the 70's theme up right!
And the boys, well, bring on the disco!Peace, love and GQ looks.This was impromptu, but a lot of the parents showed up to take pictures over at the neighbors of all these great kids! That's why Josh has such good friends, because their parents are the salt of the earth, and we just love them all. (So how Josh came out so good is a mystery - he just CAME that way.) We ended up going over to chaperone at the dance, and boy, was there a difference between what these kids were wearing and what many others were wearing! Thank goodness for modest 70's prom dresses!

And amidst all this fun, inspiring, and wonderful activity, here is the comment I want to leave you with on this Valentine's Day:

Last week before school started, Bruce had Libby all wrapped up in his arms and playfully said to her, "Life is about eating Libby." Without missing a beat, she replied, "Life is about loving."

Now I swear that she said "Life is about loving Libby", but he swears that she said, "Life is about love." We simply can't agree on who was right! So we disagree agreeably, and choose to remember the gist of what she meant, that truly, life is about loving!

Happy Valentine's Day!