FUNNY!

So yesterday...I was on my own. NOT because my husband was working...but because he was GOLFING! Not only was he golfing, but he was THREE HOURS away, golfing in a tournament. That means he was out of the house by 6am and didn't arrive home until 9:30pm - a whole day devoted to golf. Must be nice. Really, I'm okay with it except I was a little grumpy when he didn't make it home for Family Home Evening. (he forgot to share with me the little detail that it was down on the CAPE) Anywho...I survived. No big deal. Did my usual 5 loads of laundry, swept and washed my kitchen floors, made all three meals for the day, attended Kayla's track meet, brought Ben to his PT appointment, helped the kids with their homework, had FHE, and tucked all the kiddos into bed. After all was said and done, in rolls my husband. I was a little perplexed as to why his long face when he came into the bedroom. He proceeded to turn around and that's when I saw it. The back of his pants were ripped...to make things even funnier, he told me it happened when he slid out of the car upon arrival that morning. SO...that means he golfed a WHOLE day with the breeze a flappin' on his backside.

Made for good entertainment on the golf course...

GOLF, anyone?

RELEASED

Trip to Boston with the YW

It was a really sad day for me yesterday as I was released from the Young Women program at church. I have been with these girls for more than 6 years - I have even seen some of them get married and have children! My favorite part was being with Kayla. It's been great and I have enjoyed everything about them. I know that I'll be back again someday but until then, I'll really miss working with them.

Mom and Kayla
Sleepover at the Temple President's house

(dressed in their PJ best!)

Blankets for our YW!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

One cannot forget mother and remember God. One cannot remember mother and forget God. Why? Because these two sacred persons, God and mother, partners in creation, in love, in sacrifice, in service, are as one.

President Thomas S. Monson

MY MOTHER...

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

I couldn't ask for a better mom than you...

(now if you'd only come visit me more often)
wink, wink

Now I know where my kids get their cuteness from...
August 13, 1942...
In case you may not know...

I have the CRAZIEST mom in the world!

My dad took this picture...it's one of my favorites.

"Everything I am and hope to become I owe to my angel mother."

President James E. Faust

*****

I love you my beautiful mother...

MT WASHINGTON WEEKEND

We had a HUGE room - I was greatful for lots of space. Pardon the mess, I should have taken pictures of it before it was vandalized.:)
Stevie sprawling...
Poor Kayla was so good to sleep in the cot...
some views of our messy room...
another angle...

we ate lots of good food...
the fruit was the best part of breakfast...
Stevie had a hard time deciding what to eat...
Ben decided to sleep during breakfast...
my three kiddos...
The POOL! We spent lots of time here...
most of the time we had it to ourselves...
the kids jumped from pool to hot tub to pool...
playing games together...
my three amigos...

waiting for dinner...
huh?
this was during the moose hunt that we participated in. The hotel hid approximately 50 stuffed moose all over the hotel and only those that had hunting licenses could hunt for them. (there were about 11 teams) We could only find one at a time and had to bring it back to be tagged before hunting for more. It was slow going with Ben and his wheelchair. I think we found only two. The winner brought home a GINORMOUS stuffed bull moose.
no...not this one...
Ben!:)

BROWN BELT

Friday was the day. I tested for my brown belt! I still can't believe I have made it this far. It's been a tough, but really fun journey. I would have liked to have taken a video of some of the test but my husband had to work. Next comes 2nd degree brown, recommended black and then black belt. I still have a good year to go before I reach my goal.
Retiring the green belt...
Happy to have the test over...
Sharon and Becky

we are the first Thai Brown Belts of the school...

(it's a fairly new program to the school, so we are paving the way!)

Our instructor Sensei Carl, Sharon and I...

BLACK BELT HERE I COME!

CELEBRATION

(Kaleb picked the colors for his hearing aid)

Today was the day.

Kaleb, Ben and I traveled up to Dartmouth to get his hearing aid. It actually went a lot smoother than I anticipated. He was finally ready to accept that he was getting his hearing aid and even got a little excited! It was good. The audiologist spent about 45 minutes teaching Kaleb how to use his hearing aid. There was a lot of information and a TON of equipment to go along with such a tiny little device. The most wonderful part of the whole trip was when he put his hearing aid in for the first time, you should have seen the look on his face. He was amazed at the difference the hearing aid made.

**********

Here's to a successful trip and to the

wonderful advances of technology. Kaleb with his new friend that has hearing aids too... Checking out his new friend...
The $2,100 device up close...
One happy boy...

BREAKING GROUND

Happy early Mother's Day to me! Today my husband came home with a NEW tiller for our garden. Can I just tell you how EXCITED I am? I love to garden but I hated getting the garden ready because we have always done it by hand - very tedious, especially living here in the GRANITE STATE! Anyway, all the gardens from last year are tilled and ready to be planted, all in less than 30 minutes. Steve is even making me another garden towards the back of the yard ~ BRING IT ON! It's a great gift and even better is the man behind the machine. Zucchini, here we come...
my new machine...
garden number 1...
breaking ground for the new garden...

STYLIN' DO!

Here I am...in 2nd grade....can someone please tell me what kind of hairstyle I'm sporting? What was my mom thinking? She swears to me that my hair did not look like this when she sent me to school that day...I beg to differ.

(what's with the third bow on top of my head?)

Okay, so maybe I played a little hard during recess, but...HUH?

FIRST (professional) HAIRCUT

(posted today - April 24th)

Ben wasn't in the mood to smile - sorry.
It was no easy task cutting his wrinkly scalp!
The end result is fantastic!

A big THANK YOU to Laura Lewis for giving Ben his first professional haircut EVER! It was an exciting moment for me. I will post pictures tomorrow. Just wanted to give a shout out to the best stylist I know! Thank you again! (oh...and the playdate was a blast too, all around GREAT time!!!)