Graduation #3!!!

Whew! School's out and all the graduations are in the history books. After Seminary graduation and High School graduation, that only left graduation from Spokane Community College for Lexi. Last Thursday she again walked across the stage to receive her Associate of Arts Degree from SCC. I love the running start program. It allows a junior and senior in high school to take classes at the local college and earn their AA degree while still in high school. And the best part? The school district picks up the tab (except for books) so it's two free years of college! I think it was a great transition for Kaylyn between high school and Whitworth and I think it will be for Lexi between high school and BYU.

"I made it!!!"

Lexi enjoyed taking classes at the college and learned that college courses require a little more study time! :) Her favorite classes were Springboard Diving, Advanced Volleyball and Pre-Calculus. She did really well in most of her classes and graduated with honors. Way to go Lexi - We're proud of you!

It was a beautiful night in downtown Spokane for a graduation!

2009 East Valley High School Graduate

Wow, where does the time go? If anyone can figure that out, will you let me know? It seems like almost yesterday when Lexi decided to enter this world two weeks early and caused her dad to get pulled over by a policeman while he was trying to rush home to get mom to the hospital in time. See? She started giving her parents fits before she even entered this world!

Graduation was nice, even though a monsoonal thunderstorm decided to come through town right before it started. Thank goodness for umbrellas, even though there was still enough moisture and electricity in the air to leave everyone looking like they had stuck their finger in a light socket! East Valley graduated 305 students, including a 62 yr old veteran who fulfilled a life long dream to receive his diploma. He had enlisted in the military just a few weeks before he would've graduated from EV. He said he wanted to get his diploma, not only for himself, but for those soldiers who didn't have the opportunity to come back and get theirs. Needless to say, he received a couple of standing ovations. It was really touching and the other students were very supportive of him and welcomed him with lots of high fives!

After graduation, there was an all-nighter party for the grads at Players & Spectators in the Valley. Rob and I, bordering somewhat on insanity, volunteered to be chaperones. You'd think we would've learned after Kaylyn's. The older you get, the harder it is to stay up for 24 hours - it seemed like such a piece of cake in college, didn't it? Anyway, Lexi had a great time and came home with some nice gifts and a little cash. Now she has to put her nose to the grindstone and complete her finals for graduation from Spokane Community College on Thursday. What a week for Lexi!

Now she's all grown up and ready to leave the nest. While a little nervous, and a little sad at the thought of missing out on things at home, Lexi is very excited about attending BYU Provo in the fall. Although we will miss her a ton, we know that she is ready to spread her wings and continue to grow. We're very proud of you Lexi and all of your accomplishments. We know you will continue to set your sights high and that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. Thanks for the memories!!!

Grand Coulee Dam

Well, it was bitter sweet - my fourth and final 4th grade field trip to Grand Coulee Dam. McKenna and I had a long but fun-filled day yesterday along with 80 4th grade students from East Farms Elementary and about 30 chaperones. The weather was perfect and even though they call most of the middle of our "evergreen" state the Scablands, there is some beauty to behold there.

McKenna & her friend Shayla

At 8:00am we departed the school on two comfy charter buses (do you think I'd go if they were school buses?) and headed for Dry Falls. We took the long route through Davenport, Creston, Odessa, Stratford, etc. and the kids had to look for certain landmarks or landscapes along the way. Did you know that Harrington is located on a loess-covered island? Well, not the kind of island I was thinking of (tropical, wind-kissed, white sand oasis in the middle of the scablands would've been nice :)) but anyway...apparently rich soil instead of rock so great for farming. And those small, small towns...my friend and I determined that we could not live in such a small town!!! What if you needed a hospital? or how far do you have to drive for a loaf of bread? chocolate? Not to mention shopping?! Kudos to those that do. Dry Falls is always amazing - once the largest falls in the world (not sure how they know that because it was hundreds of thousands of years ago). But it had to be impressive. They said it would make Niagara Falls look very insignificant.

Dry Falls

Dry Falls


Steamboat Rock

Then it was on to the great Grand Coulee Dam. The kids were very disappointed that the glass elevator that takes tourists down to the innards of the dam was not working. It really is a cool tour but we were able to walk on top of the dam and learn many interesting facts from our tour guide and see the very large crane they use to work on it. We also explored the visitor's center and watched a short film on how the dam provided irrigation for the whole center of our state to become one of the top agricultural meccas of the Northwest. It truly is an amazing sight to behold if you haven't seen Grand Coulee Dam. Now, I would just like to catch the laser light show they hold there in the summer!

Elevator track going down inside the dam - steep!

Large crane used to lift flood gates and heavy equipment

On the way back we got to watch none other than "Ice Age 2" on the bus. After stopping for Italian sodas at Grinders, we pulled into the school at 6:00pm, just in time for me to rush home, get Aleah and head to the middle school for her band concert. Whew, all in a day's work!

2009 Seminary Graduate

Last night was Lexi's Seminary Graduation. It was a really nice program and the music was amazing! There was a choir of about 75 youth and they sang one of my favorite songs, "Come Thou Fount". I had never heard this arrangement before and it was POWERFUL! Absolutely beautiful. Good job Lexi! Way to go - we're proud of you!



Lexi and her Grandma

Family Bike Ride

On Saturday, the weather cooled down a bit and it was a perfect day for a bike ride. There's a beautiful ride around Hauser Lake and the best thing is we don't have to load the bikes up on the suburban to do it! We can start right from our house - it's about an 18 mile round trip ride.

I love this old barn that looks like it would fall over if you blew on it.

What's a bike ride without food? Cherries - YUM!

THE RULES OF CHOCOLATE

Like we need any rules - ha!

~ If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly.

~ Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices, and strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.

~ The problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car.

The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.

~ Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It'll take the edge off your appetite and you'll eat less.

~ If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge. Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves.

~ If I eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is that a balanced diet? Don't they actually counteract each other?

~ Question: Why is there no such organization as Chocoholics Anonymous?

Answer: Because no one wants to quit.

~ Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

~ A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Isn't that handy?

~ If you can't eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But if you can't eat all your chocolate, what's wrong with you?