Easter and David's Birthday

Here are some old photos. In the past BlogSpot would publish this like it was the day that you saved it. So this should have been back in April. Apparently that doesn't work anymore. :(



Easter Box we Mailed Cameron 


He got it the day AFTER Easter - even though the Post Office said he'd get it

the Friday before. Oh well - maybe that's when hewas able to pick it up???

(Easter candy, eyeglass repair kit, beef jerky, pictures, loc-tite

poster hanging "putty," and an Easter tie. I mailed him an

Easter card, too, but it was in a separate envelope)



Easter Basket Close Up 



Everyone got pretty much the same things: a chocolate Easter bunny,

Robin Eggs, a Tootsie Roll bank, Cry Baby Gum and Peeps



The kids playing some video game




David - trying to avoid getting his photo taken... 

I caught him off guard and was able to snap one!

  



Thor, posing weirdly



David's Birthday Cake(s)

Don't you love how the cake by Meagan looks like it's totally on fire?
See the little tiny bundt cakes on the pan Jarom's holding?
They were a pain to get out of the pan!

Jarom Goes to College

We got Jarom down to college on Saturday. David wanted to leave at 9:00 am, but Jarom and I were still zombies. We finally got up and got moving around 9:00 am and finally headed out on the road at about 11:30 am.

That would have all been fine - we would have made it there at about 1:30 pm, but... David remembered on his way out of town that he had forgotten to eat anything that morning. With him being diabetic now that was a bad thing, so we needed to stop someplace for him to get something to eat. I suggested the Burger King we just happened to be passing on our way out of town, but he said he couldn't make it over to that lane and we'd find something else.

Then, I forgot about it (still being somewhat asleep). When we got to the freeway, David said we'd stop along the way for food. When we were about 30 miles from home, traffic slowed to a crawl. There was construction on two lanes of the freeway and only two lanes were open. We tried getting off at the first exit, but about the only place to eat was a Del Taco and I doubt I can eat any of their food. So, we got back on the freeway and got off at the next exit and stopped at a Wendy's.

David decided Jarom needed to take a bike to college so he could make it to his bowling class on time. Which was probably a good idea since the bowling class is about a mile from the campus and he only has 10 minutes to get there. 

We bought a bike rack and strapped the bike to the back of the van. Dad was afraid someone was going to steal the bike, but I told him, "Good heavens, the bike is old and no one is going to steal it." By the time we got to Wendy's it was about noon, so all of us got something to eat. And nobody stole the bike.

The college had a free lunch for students and their families on move in day, but I figured we'd probably make it there around 2:00 (what with the traffic), so we'd probably miss the lunch anyway.

We got a little lost on the way there. We knew we were off when we ended up on a dirt road! We also managed to drive through a torrential rainstorm, but we finally made it. At 3:00 pm.

We had just enough time for Jarom to check in to his dorm, then go to the Student Center to pick up his Pell Grant check and get his Student ID. He even got to talk to a counselor who places Engineering students into internships. Apparently there's a company in a nearby city that has paid internships for students. Only problem is, it's 22 miles from the college. Maybe Jarom will find a friend with a car with an internship, or maybe he'll wait awhile to do an internship.

We were suprised when they told us that the cafeteria doesn't open until Wednesday (the first official day of school), so we went to a grocery store and bought Jarom some food. At least he has a refrigerator and a microwave in his dorm.

We got to meet Jarom's roommate - the one he's actually sharing a room with. His name is Ben. We also got to meet Ben's parents and his older brother who is on temporary leave from his mission because he broke his arm playing extreme Frisbee on wet grass. They seem nice. We met another of Jarom's roommates, too. His name is Bryan and he's from the next city south of us. He seems nice as well.

By the time we got everything done and Jarom settled in it was 8:00 pm, so we headed home. David ran out of oxygen, so I got to drive home. It was kind of scary driving through a twisty canyon in the dark, but we made it. And David was OK too. Sad thing is, he was thinking more clearly than I was! We stopped at a KFC for dinner at about 9:40. They closed at 10:00, so they were out of a lot of things, but at least we got some food.

Once we left KFC, I was tired, so I cranked up Twisted Sister on the CD player. Amber did not enjoy that, but she didn't complain. David seemed fine with it, though. :)

So, we made it home safe and Jarom's at college now, ready for a new adventure.

Jarom's High School Graduation

Jarom in the Parking Lot

Jarom & Mom (aka Me) outside the Maverick Center

David (aka Dad), Jarom and Amber

Meagan and Jarom

Zac, Grandma and Grandpa

Jarom walking in (he's right near the back)

Jarom walking in farther...

Meagan - "posing" for the camera

Jarom playing with the band

Jarom walking back to his seat after the band played

Jarom on the front row

and again...

Jarom, walking up to graduate - one of the final graduates...

A little closer to walking across the stage

And there he is - officially graduated!

The Hunter Class of 2013

It's true. I'm finally blogging - after a couple month's hiatus. Mostly 'cuz I told Dad I'd post some photos. Now I'll have to decided on a couple to post on Facebook. Unfortunately David's Olympus camera that has a 12x zoom died at the beginning of graduation. Not quite sure why? We thought it was the battery, but it wasn't. The Fuji only has a 3x zoom, so I had to sneak up closer to the arena/stage to get anything at all close. Oh well. At least I got some photos!

Jarom got a dark blue cord (high GPA), a silver cord (high CPA) and a white cord (for being honored at the Awards Banquet the previous week). He also got a Diploma of Merit in College Prep, Math and English. He could have gotten Social Studies, too, but he didn't know that til it was too late. And he got a college scholarship, too. Jarom did very well in High School!

Before the graduation ceremony, all of Jarom's friends were MIA, so I wasn't able to get any photos of him and his friends in their caps and gowns. Sadness. Maybe we should have had them meet him at a certain spot? Too late now... I think the same thing happened with Meagan and Cameron. We'll have to remember for Amber.

The crowd was a lively bunch. The back half of the graduates did the wave when the student body president walked across the stage. Since Jarom was in the front, he didn't even know 'til we told him. Everyone was told not to use artificial noisemakers, but I heard a couple of airhorns and a few drums in the crowd. And people on the balcony above us tossed paper airplanes and expired coupons on us. Wonder if the high school will have to pay an extra cleaning fee?

The graduates were pretty well behaved, but the audience could have been quieter. While the student body president was speaking, I felt like going up and telling everyone to "give me five" like we do in Primary, so they'll quiet down. (And it usually works!)

After the graduation, we saw the Newsomes and a few other people we knew, then we went outside to try to find Jarom. There was a band playing, so we thought he'd be there, but nope. It was a mariachi band. It was a pretty good band, but no Jarom. So, we waited by the van until Jarom showed up. By the time we got home, it was almost 10:00 pm. Jarom seemed happy to be graduated, and we were happy, too.

Easter, April Fool's & Wisdom Teeth

Meagan and Zac went to church with us on Easter, which was nice. Zac had gone paintballing with his brothers the day before, so he was stiff and sore, but he made it around. I did Sharing Time on Easter about following Jesus' example. I've also been studying the last week of Christ's life, since it's been Easter-time. He was certainly busy during his last week. Interesting that he died (and was resurrected) during Passover. Christ was the ultimate Passover sacrificial lamb. God really likes to use symbolism. Sometimes it takes me awhile to catch on to it, though. After church, we came home and everyone got their Easter basket. Apparently Zac really likes Peeps - he ate all 5 of his Peeps as soon as he got his basket. After that, we had Easter Dinner (ham, funeral potatoes, sweet potatoes, asparagus and rolls). Then we put a pumpkin pie and an apple pie in the oven. While we were waiting for the pies to cool, David and I fell asleep. Actually, David fell asleep before the pies were done cooking. After we ate pie, we went to Mom and Dad's and visited them and Sheri and David. David J was excited because at 11:30 that night he was going to board an Amtrak train and travel to visit his WOW friend Zach (not sure of the spelling?). His train was scheduled to arrive Monday afternoon, then he was to catch a bus to his final destination. So, I suppose he's having an adventure exploring the big city now. I asked David if he was going to go visit Cameron. He had the encyclopedia on the kitchen table and had just discovered his destination is about 140 miles from Cameron and Zach doesn't have a car, just a bicycle. So, I guess David won't be visiting Cameron. It's probably not allowed anyway... I went to the temple again last Thursday. It was nice, but waayyyyy more crowded than the week before. Last time there was me and 1 other woman in the waiting room. This time it was me and 20 other women in the waiting room. But it was still nice and peaceful. Love the peacefulness of the temple. We've been reading the Book of Mormon as a family. We seem to be able to stick to scripture reading better with the Book of Mormon than anything else. We're near the end of Alma, where Moroni and Ammoron are sending not very nice epistles back and forth to each other. Moroni was pretty sneaky, which worked out well for the Nephites. I mailed Cameron an Easter card and Easter box. USPS tracking said the box was delivered at 10:43 am on Friday March 29th, so I'm assuming he got it. Now I have to ship back Cameron's extra pair of glasses sometime this week. He mailed back the checkbox letter in the SASE I sent him and even drew pictures of frogs and a "fish" on it and wrote a letter to me on the back of it. David's birthday was yesterday. I had the day off work, but I was so exhausted, we were lucky to make it to CostCo and put together his birthday dinner. We had his usual birthday dinner - chicken cordon bleu, rice, cooked veggies (cauliflower and mixed veggies this time around - usually it's broccoli), and, of course, red velvet cake and ice cream. It's a good thing David reminded me to get him a birthday present! He got a special edition DVD set of "The Hobbit" with a 62-page book. He was happy with that. (He should have been - he picked it out himself.) Jarom got his wisdom teeth pulled this morning. His appointment was at 9:00 am and he was ready to go before I was! We got to the oral surgeon's about 8:45 and only had to wait a few minutes for Jarom to get called back for his surgery. This time they let David and I go back until the doctor came in to do the surgery. Jarom went to Dr. Urban, the same doctor Cameron went to. He was good with Cameron and he still takes our insurance, so it all worked out. The oral surgeon Meagan went to was good, too, but he's wasn't on our insurance list anymore. The doctor and his assistant both said the surgery went very smoothly. Jarom didn't talk much when we went to the back to pick him up. On the ride to Iceberg, he wrote on the back of an envelope so he wouldn't have to talk. Jarom chose an orange cheesecake milkshake. He didn't get a hot fudge cheesecake milkshake like Cameron and Meagan did, so David got one. This time David let me drive home, so he wasn't swerving all over the place trying to drive and consume his milkshake. Thank goodness. Jarom is now asleep on the couch and very grateful for painkillers.

Our Favorite Books for Children & Teens

This post is in response to my Mom's comment on this blog that she needed to know our favorite children and teen books right away. Here's the list Amber and I came up with this morning. Mom, most of these are fantasy books, so I'm not sure if you'll like them. I put an asterisk by the books that are fairly realistic. You might like them better.

Our Favorite Picture Books
(Mom probably didn't want picture books, but I love them, so I'm listing them anyway!)

How the Grinch Stole Christmas, by Dr. Suess
                    My favorite picture book of ALL time. Maybe my favorite book of all time!
Corduroy*, by Don Freeman
The Story of Ferdinand*, by Munro Leaf
Crictor*, by Tomi Ungerer
Curious George*, by H. A. Rey
Bumblebee*, by Margaret Wise Brown
                    Jarom and I read this so many times we memorized it
Good Night Moon*, by Margaret Wise Brown
                    Amber and I read this so many times we memorized it
The Cereal Box, by David McPhail (?)
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day*, by Judith Viorst
The Stinky Cheese Man, by Jon Scieszka
                    Silly, silly, silly
Super Cluck, by Jane O'Connor
                    This book got Jarom interested in reading
Amelia Bedelia*, by Peggy Parish
The Golly Sisters Series*, by Betsy Byars
Monkey Monkey's Trick*, by Patricia McKissack
                    One of Amber's all-time favorite books
Lily's Purple Plastic Purse*, by Kevin Henkes
Miss Nelson is Missing!*, by Harry Allard
                    Meagan and Amber both loved this one.
Frog and Toad are Friends*, by Arnold Lobel
Diary of a Wimpy Kid*, by Jeff Kinney
                    I like the first book in the series the best
Captain Underpants, by Dav Pilkey
                    Amber submitted this one. My are these books silly!
Dogzilla, by Dav Pilkey
I Spy Book Series*, by Jean Marzollo & Walter Wick
                    Jarom loved these so much he wanted to be Walter Wick when he grew up.
                    He made lots of I Spy set ups and had me photograph them for him.


Our Favorite Children's Books (Chapter Books)
(Don't know if Mom meant these either, but here they are!)

The Magic Treehouse Series*, by Mary Pope Osborne
                    Lots of books in this series, based on actual historical events. Jarom loved,
                    loved, loved these. And Amber liked them, too.
Del Tora Quest Series, by Emily Rodda
                    Jarom and Amber both loved these. I think Cameron may have read them?
Anything by Roald Dahl, but especially:
          The Witches, Mathilda, James and the Giant Peach and
          Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
                    Amber loves Roald Dahl.
A Series of Unfortunate Events Series*, by Lemony Snicket
                    Amber read all of these. They were good, but rest of us didn't get in to
                    them so much.
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, by Bruce Coville
                    Meagan liked this so much she gave it to Amber one Christmas.
Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine
                    Any book by Gail Carson Levine, really. I like the book better than the movie.
                    Mom, you might like her book, Dave at Night*, based on her father's childhood in
                    an orphanage in Harlem. Hey, and it goes along with the whole "Annie" theme.
Farmer Boy*, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
                    Love all her Little House books, but this is my favorite.
                    Probably because they're always eating!
Nancy Drew Series*, by Carolyn Keene
                    Amber and I love these. The original Nancy Drew books, not the newer ones.
                    The other kids never really got in to these. We're mostly in to fantasy.
The Mad Scientists' Club*, by Bertrand R. Brinley
                    I haven't read any of these, but Amber says they're awesome.
All-of-a-Kind Family*, by Sydney Taylor
                    A fun story of a family of all girls. I really liked this book in elementary school.
                    Maybe because I could relate to the all girls thing?
The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
                    Spooky, slightly macabre book, just like the title suggests.
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsburg
                    For some reason, I never read this one, but Holly raved about it.
The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster
                    Ditto above.
Deep and Dark and Dangerous, by Mary Downing Hahn
                   Amber suggested this. It's a ghost story. She also suggested Closed for the Season
                   by the same author.


Our Favorite Books for Teens
(The first few might be more suitable for pre-teens?)

The Gateway, by Obert Skye
                    The first in the Leven Thumps series. The plot has a few problems, but the
                    wacky inventiveness of the book makes up for it. I listened to this on CD
                    while I was washing dishes and cleaning the house. Hmm... maybe I should
                     try that again.
Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer
                     First in a series of books about an evil boy genius. Amber liked it. I could
                     take it or leave it. But I did like Artemis's Butler (named Butler, of course!).
 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling
                    Love the whole series, but this is my favorite. My favorite movie of the series,
                    too. Love Hagrid.
The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan
                    The whole Percy Jackson Series is good. This is the first of five books. In the
                    series, Percy Jackson is Poseidon's son and the Greek gods are real. In fact, he
                    he hangs out with Athena's daughter and a satyr named Grover through most
                    of the series.
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
                    A better - and easier - read than the Lord of the Rings series.
                    For one thing, no Tom Bombadil!
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis
The Extraordinary and Unsual Adventures of Horatio Lyle, by Catherine Webb
                   Amber suggested this one. An Amazon review calls it a cross between Sherlock
                   Holmes and Dr. Who. No wonder Amber likes it.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
                    Books by a former Monty Python writer. What could be better?
Huckleberry Finn*, by Mark Twain
                    Another of my favorite books of all time.
To Kill a Mocking Bird*, by Harper Lee
                    Amber read this on her own when she was 12. Just for fun. Unusual, I know.
Sherlock Holmes*, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
                    This is from Amber. She loves Mr. Holmes.
The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale
                    A Utah author, no less. Based on a lesser-known fairytale.
The Giver, by Lois Lowry
                    Amber suggested this book. I haven't read it. The reviews on Amazon are good...
                    It's about a boy who grows up in a Utopian society and discovers maybe
                    perfection and ease aren't as great as one might think.
Cinder, by Marissa Meyer
                    Amber suggested this book, too. It's another spin on Cinderella, but this time
                    she's a cyborg.
 The Warriors Series, by Erin Hunter
                    Amber says this series is really popular at her school. She hasn't read any of them
                    but says they're about a clan of cats.
Beautiful Creatures, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
                    Amber owns this one. Actually, she just told me she has Beautiful Chaos It's
                    a supernatural teen romance. Hopefully better than the Twilight Series. (I know 
                    some people love Twilight, but I trouble understanding why.)
 The 13th Reality Series, by James Dashner
                   Amber hasn't read this series, but says one of her friends really likes it. It's Sci-Fi.

So, Mom, I hope that's a good enough list for you!

UPDATE: Meagan came over tonight and wanted me to add three more books:
The Devil's Arithmetic*, by Jane Yolen
                    A novel about why the holocaust should be remembered. I've read this one.
                    It's pretty good, but sad. Of course, it's about the holocaust, so how can it
                    not be sad?
Anthem, by Ayn Rand
                    A book about individuality. I haven't read it, but Meagan loves it. Futuristic
                    sci-fi book.
The Secret Garden*, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
                    Another book Meagan's read that I haven't. I'm not sure why I haven't.
This made me think of another book:
Dragonwings*, by Laurence Yep
                    One of the books I "borrowed" from Meagan when she was supposed to be
                    reading it for school. It's about Chinese-American life in California in the
                    early 20th century.
And Jarom wanted me to add this book:
Eragon, by Christopher Paolini
                    This is one of Jarom's favorite books. And Cameron's, too. It's about a                    
                    boy and a dragon on a quest to save their world.              

The Sun'll Come Out Tomorrow...

Tonight we went to opening night of Annie, Jr. at the junior high. Here are some of the photos I took. Since I took the photos, I am lucky enough to not be in any of them. Unless I find that Meagan took some photos of me I don't know about and has uploaded them to facebook.

The first few are of my family in the audience attempting to not have their pictures taken. Apparently programs come in handy for that.

Jarom, Meagan & David

Dad, Mom & Katelyn

Holly

You can tell who in my family is photo shy.

Now on to photos of the musical:

Meagan and I made 4 of those orphan pinafores!

Pinafores!

At the orphanage



Amber hiding behind the lamp

Singing Servants

Finale

Amber and friends, after the show

Of course, I'm mostly posting photos of Amber, 'cuz she's the most important part of the whole musical, right? So important that they left her name off the program. Serious.

I even got my name in the program, as part of the costume crew. (Meagan's name should have been in there, too, but Mrs. Johnson didn't know I'd finagled a pinafore out of Meagan.) After David pointed out Amber's missing credit Mrs. Johnson apologized and said she'd print some more programs and make sure we got one with Amber's name in it.

Not Quite Yet for Jet

Jetta's perked up a bit over the weekend, so we've decided it's not quite time for her to go yet. Boy, this is a difficult decision to make! We'll keep you posted on what's going on with her, but for now, she's still here! (Which makes me happy!)