Rachel's Birthday

Rachel Celeste Holbrook - 14 years old on May 23rd We began the day with sticky buns and opening the first gift. It was a Saturday - all the better.

Jamba Juice for an afternoon snack. Her favorite is Orange Dream Machine.

Rachel loves to read and chose to spend a good part of the day curled up with a new book in the sun.

Homemade ice cream and homemade hot fudge finished the day off. One of Rachel's friends summed her up so well. Rachel had helped her with a homework item and she said "Rachel, you make the world a better place." Nice compliment from a teenage girl - couldn't have said it better myself!

DISNEYWORLD

Off we went for Spring Break - in search of fun and some sunshine!! Rachel made our mile tracker. Mickey was attached to a clip. Every 25 miles, he moved to the next green dot until we reached our "destination". Creative idea, don't you think?

Sunday we relaxed, went to church and toured the temple grounds. There are some amazing palm trees there. For all you sports fans, we were minutes from the Bay Hill golf course where Tiger Woods won the Arnold Palmer Classic that day.

Monday we started off at Epcot. This time, I finally made it around to visit all 11 countries. Test Track was a big highlight for Nathan.

The smile on my face is because of the sunshine that actually gives off heat and requires sunglasses and short sleeves. I was also thrilled with the flower beds in the background. During the month of April, Epcot has a flower show. There were topiaries and shaped trees and some amazing flowers.

Tuesday's stop was at magic Kingdom - my personal favorite.

Don't you just love Mickey and Minnie? No matter how old I get, they make me feel like a little girl again.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain were by far the family favorites.

Much to the embarrassment of my children, Blair and I danced on Main Street. Who can help it? Those songs just make you want to sing and skip and dance. Blair knows just what to do to make me happy.

Wednesday we went for the action at Hollywood Studios. Blair especially enjoyed all the stunt shows and behind the scenes thrills.

There are 3 in our family that are much more daring than the rest of us. Rachel, Blair and Megan enjoyed all the high speed, crazy roller coasters in each park. Thursday we took an early day and went to Animal Kingdom. The Lion King show is still fabulous - Nathan was invited to participate in the final number. Tigger is one of the greatest Disney characters - always happy and bouncing around.

The safari ride had an added twist this year - just moments before this picture, the giraffe had been blocking the path of the jeep in front of us. Then he stuck his head into the side of the jeep, just to explore and meet the people on the ride.

Friday we went back to Magic Kingdom - I love the fireworks show and the changing colors of the castle.

Pinewood Derby

Few experiences in life bring as much excitement and anticipation as the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. A dad and a little boy working together to create the fastest and coolest car around.

Blair was very patient and, more importantly, hands off. Nathan did most all the designing, sawing, sanding, painting, hammering, and weighing.

The theme for the night was Red, White and Blue - Nathan's car fit it just perfectly!

And......The races begin.

His wasn't the fastest, but wasn't the slowest either. All in all, a successful first-time derby. Next year Nathan says he will go for a different shape and weights distributed differently.

Dinner at our House

I love family dinner time! Rachel always has a funny story about what happened during lunch at school and makes us laugh uncontrollably. I love seeing the kids interact with each other and bounce things off one another. I love that we learn about social studies and global issues, talk about math problems, study for quizzes and give input on whoever has the latest project. I love that, in spite of everything else family members could be doing, it is a time we try to keep sacred. Everyone enjoys it and it makes me feel like we all are connected again.

Tribute to Amy

Amy Blasinski loved to dance and sing. She loved dogs and her friends and family. She competed in Special Olympics and had a great sense of humor. She died while still a teenager. While I never knew her, her heart was given to Lauren 4 years ago today.

Barb and Ron are Amy's parents and incredible people. We wrote letters back and forth for many months, then first spoke on July 4th, 2006. They came to visit us when we still lived in New Jersey. Their home is here in Chicago. Amy's heart kept Lauren alive for almost 3 years and endured radiation and chemo and rejection and coronary artery disease. These 2 girls fought a hard fight!!

There are many people that come and go in our lives. We cross paths and learn from each other and are never the same. But this family has a greater capacity to love and give and care than any I have seen. I am so grateful to them for the gift of life and the gift of their friendship.

Happy Birthday Megan

Megan was born on Feb 4, 1997, 12 years ago. Wednesday was her birthday and it started off with crepes (batter made by mom, but cooked and flipped by dad as per her request) for breakfast. The first gift she opened was tickets to a DePaul women's basketball game that night.

Our evening schedules were packed for the next few nights, mostly with basketball activities, so it was Saturday before she finally was able to open gifts and have cake and ice cream. I spent some time this week reviewing pictures and thoughts of Megan's life. She gets up early, is very obedient, is thorough and organized, always prepared and a bit of a perfectionist. She is funny yet tough, a hard worker, helpful, and is a straight A student. Megan has her dad wrapped around her finger and loves to shoot hoops wherever and whenever she can. She plays clarinet in the school band and keyboard in the after-school jazz band. Megan always gives 100% effort in everything she does - an amazing young lady!

Bishop Holbrook

Have you ever had that one phone call that changes your life? You might not want to pick up when the stake executive secretary calls your house. As of November 30, Blair is now the bishop of our ward. He says he only has 5 years to help facilitate all the miracles that need to take place.

It is inspiring to watch him go about "doing good."

This was after a long Sunday of tithing settlement and visits.

Perhaps the stress is getting worse. This was his Sunday afternoon nap in between meetings last week.