Honored

Emma was honored tonight with an induction into NJHS. We are very proud of her. It has been a hard fought for achievement. School has not been easy for her, but she has persevered to the point where I only read and help correct papers and nothing else. She was elected to Student Council Association this year and also is in her Beehive Presidency. Those positions helped on her application. All the volunteering they do in Young Women's certainly helped as well. Congratulations Ms. Em. You are certainly divine!

Graduation

Max did Preschool this year, just for something to do. He was bored with all his brothers and sister gone. Rob was not so happy about a whole year of "paying to play," but he liked it and it gave me an opportunity to volunteer in Joseph's class. I got to help out in the preschool every once in awhile, too. They were a fun bunch. After all my time in Primary, preschool was a piece of cake! Max loved Ms. McHenry. At the little graduation ceremony they gave everyone a bucket and shovel as a present. It wasn't long before Max was using his to dig for buried treasure!

Now I am This Many- a Whole Hand!

Max has turned 5! I can not believe it! We have had big parties for him several times, so this year we thought we would keep it low key and family oriented. He still talks about if we have another party he wants it to be a pajama party, though! We went to visit Rob in Norfolk this weekend and so Sunday we had this monster cake from Costco- I don't recommend it. Way to much icing!! We also gave the kids silly string and let them have at each other. We did presents on Sunday, too, because Monday we went to Busch Gardens. I thought it was going to be nuts for Memorial day, but apparently everyone thought that and stayed away. The park was relatively calm and we were able to go on almost everything we wanted to! Max got his wishes as well- bumper cars and the cable car. It was a fun day and not too much traffic coming home, either! I hope my little one had a fabulous time! I know I sure have enjoyed putting together his Lego Buzz Lightyear ship 2 times in a row. Oh no, better make that going on 3!

Pictures on a Carrier

So this time we brought our camera and took pictures. We had some friends who really wanted to see an air craft carrier with us and they had family that wanted to tag along with them. It was quite a group, but the man that did the tour was very patient with all the children and did a fabulous job. When I asked him to show us a normal enlisted guys bunk so we could compare with the Admiral's he did it for us, even though it wasn't part of what he generally showed people. Our camera was full by then, but let's just say that 18 people sleep and live in the space that is the Admiral's table. Crazy and claustrophobic like!!! Point taken- I will never become a Navy enlisted man! I'll just keep pretending to drive the ship!

Rob said I had to put this picture in because I looked so cute, but I don't know what was up with my hair!
The carrier we were on was the George H.W. Bush- the newest carrier and the only one to be named after someone still alive. The Lt. that gave us the tour told about one of the times that the former President came to see "his ship." He was down for other business and all the sudden just got up and started walking, reeking havoc in the secret service! When he was asked where he was going he just said, "I'm going to see my ship!" There was a lot of running around then, trying to get things ready. The tour guide showed us how Former President Bush shuffles along. When he got there, the Lt. saw he was crying and asked if everything was Ok. President Bush said, "yes, I just realized that this is the most amazing time of my whole life- to see this ship with my name on it and all these amazing men and women who are here to serve their country!" The statue we are in front of, is a replica of a photo taken when President Bush was rescued by a submarine after being shot down in World War 2. He had gotten onto the sub and was running across it when it was taken. He looks pretty happy to be alive! It was a great look at one of our President's.
The rest of the day we spent BBQing and playing outside in the beautiful weather. It was a great day! Thanks Rob for setting it up for us! P.S. The day before we got to see the Enterprise again. It had just come back from sea and all the services men were disembarking. We had to get a picture!