Wednesday, May 29, 2013

May for the Rest of the Family

Nathan turned 13 on May 22nd.  He has grown an inch since Christmas - look how close he is to my height!



 
 Lauren came home on the 20th for all the festivities. 
 

I just put Rachel on the plane this morning for a 6 week trip to Utah.  She is heading there to help take care of Jeff, Carly and family (see below).  Little Zachary is still in intensive care and Sammy has a unique set of challenges.


 Meanwhile, Megan has posed for all the pictures, attended all the grad parties, smiled for all the birthday celebrations and stayed up studying for finals while everyone else has begun their summer.  She also prepared a beautiful clarinet piece for church last Sunday!
 Rachel's last day of school was the last day I picked Megan up from school too.  She is now back on the bus and even drives herself to physical therapy.  What a good sport!

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Finishing High School

Hello everyone, this is Rachel! It's been quite a busy few weeks I've had finishing high school.
 
My last day of high school next to my first day of kindergarten

 I went to prom with my friend Bobby!

 Seminary graduation
 I turned 18!!! And Mom gave me the best present ever :)
 My very last band banquet. It was fun but very sad.
 Jeremy is my trumpet buddy, and I am going to miss him so much next year!
 My friends and I all wore a tshirt from the college we will be attending, and we took pictures together at a park. I will miss them all next year!
 GRADUATION DAY!!!!!!!!

 This is how excited I am to be done!

 My Hawaiian friend, Kia'i- the only other member of the Church in my graduating class
I love them all so much!

Friday, May 10, 2013

Early May

Megan's progress - The 2nd week in April, she got the okay to start putting weight on her foot.  Then she quickly graduated to only needing one crutch.  This was one of the first days she could carry anything herself.  We were all soooooo excited!!
 
 Look Mom - 2 free hands
 
 Now, she struts her stuff without even needing the brace.  She works hard in physical therapy and is making great progress - she even has permission to use the vacuum now.
 
 Nathan earned his First Class Scout award - he and his dad are quite the hams!

Here goes the first of the lasts...... It was sad to listen to Rachel's final band concert.  But it was such a delight to see her enjoying the music and her fellow trumpet-players and know how much this has shaped her life.  Here she is receiving the John Philips Sousa award - for the outstanding musician, and, as her director said, a shining star!  My favorite part of this picture is that all those boy trumpeters are standing up in her honor.
 Mr. Thompson - Band Director extraordinaire.
 Megan did a fabulous job at the concert as well.  She plays clarinet in the Symphonic Band and the piano for Wind Ensemble.  Everyone says that these 2 look alike - What do you think?
 Finally, things are blooming in Chicagoland, so I took Rachel on an outing to the Botanic Garden.  She wasn't missing much with only 4 days of school left.