Off she goes....

 The last day in their room together - sad faces!

 

 Rachel's new home away from home - The Fine Arts Center

 

 Taylor Hall at Helaman Halls

 

All moved in and ready to start being a freshman

Dear Sister Holbrook.........

 For several days, we have been watching the mailman drive up, hoping he is depositing a large white envelope.  Yesterday, this was the look on Lauren's face when she went to look inside...

 She has been called to the Utah Salt Lake City Mission - reporting to the MTC on October 9th.  She is soooooo excited and can't wait to get out there and teach!

 Rachel finally came home - it was a quiet 6 weeks without her, and now we only have 5 weeks until she leaves us again.

 Greg, Wendy and family came to visit in between all their stops on a church history trip.  They are a darling family - we ate, played games, put together legos, journeyed to the aquarium and laughed a lot.

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!

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!

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.

Spring Break

 

Road Trip to Kirtland, OH then to Gettysburg, PA and ending in Wahington, DC

 

 At the Johnson Farm where section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants was received.

 We woke up to this in Gettysburg. 

 We arrived in Washington DC at the same time as most of the 8th graders in the country were on their history field trips.  It was also Cherry Blossom festival, although none of the trees were blooming yet, Spring Break for a large number of people, and a week of controversial Supreme Court cases.  So, there were a ton of people!!!

 Taking the metro with a wheelchair is quite an experince.  I took this picture on an empty ride, which only happened once.

 The Jefferson Memorial at night is such a beautiful sight.

 What a treat - the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknwn Soldier - then the surprise of the playing of "Taps".  Rachel's bonus of the trip...

 We made sure we were back at the hotel computer in time for Rachel to sign up for her housing next year at BYU.

 The Washington DC temple is so majestic - the kids had a special experience doing baptisms.

 Twinners with FDR.

 3 of us like to know where we are on the map  - Megan and Rachel just go where we lead them!

 The White House as close as you can get to it right now.

The college basketball games were going on here - just down the street.  Megan was quite upset we wouldn't dish out the money for her to go to a game.