Kindergarten Graduation

Dan graduated from Kindergarten on Friday the 18th.  He spent a lot of his time making sure I was watching him, and he spent a lot of time doing awesome moves.  I wish I had been closer to the front so I could have seen them better.    Dan is rather proud that he is now a first grader.  His pictures will be worth more than any words I can say.


I took this picture because Dan was watching to make sure I did. 

Dan after graduation.

Dan Thomas

Uncle Chris

Prom?

Chris and Tina's wedding day.

Tina and Chris.  I believe this was May 7, 1988 (four days before my wedding)

I met Chris when I was 13.  Chris was in our ward (church congregation) when my family moved to Missouri, and he started dating Tina before much time had passed.   Tina was 16 and Chris was 17.  Chris became good friends with my brothers Brian and Ray too.  Ray and Chris would sometimes go camping.  Brian and Chris like to play games.  Chris was often at our house, and I remember occasionally being at his.  Chris likes music, and in an attempt to expand my horizons (or to save Tina from Air Supply being constantly played) he took the time to make me a tape recording of music that he thought I would like.  I still have at least one of those songs on my ipod's favorites list today.  Chris is good at playing the piano and used to play quite a bit of ragtime music.  I was not above begging him to play, and he was always fabulous to listen to (in my opinion). 

Chris went to Japan on a mission, serving honorably there, and trying occasionally to teach some of us a little Japanese when he got home.  I think I can still ask where McDonalds is in Japanese, and perhaps sing a few lines of a song.  We had moved to Colorado before he got back from his mission, and I went off to college before he married Tina.  I remember waking up in my apartment and thinking "my sister is getting married today", and wishing that I could be there.

Thankfully, Chris and Tina moved to Provo and didn't live too far away from me when I went to BYU.  They were very good to have me over and feed me.  I'll always remember the timely phone call Tina made that meant I didn't have to finish the noodles with salt I was having for dinner!  I spent Christmas with them the year that I met Derek -- a couple of weeks before Derek and I got engaged.  Tina made me a stocking (that I still use every Christmas) and they both were very welcoming.  I was so thankful to have family to spend Christmas with!  They had their first baby boy by then and I always enjoyed being with baby Bryce.

After Derek and I got married, going to Chris and Tina's became a regular thing and and we'd all watch Star Trek together, and often eat their food together too.  Chris went to school for a really long time, and eventually got his PhD in Psychology with an emphasis in behavioral neural biology.  They had several children during that time, and even more after he started working as a professor at BYU-I.  Tina and Chris now have 8 children, 2 children in law, and will soon have two grandchildren.  They are good at knowing the importance of family, and we love to visit with them still, though it's a little harder to find the time to drive to Idaho!

I know a lot of this is about Chris AND Tina, but I do not think Chris will mind.  Chris is a good person.  He is thoughtful and kind.  He has a lot of different talents and has tried out a lot of different hobbies over the years.  He really has enjoyed backpacking and hiking and he has taught his children to like them too.  The brothers on my side of the family try to get a backpacking trip in every year.  Some have gone more smoothly than others, but they always see beautiful things and enjoy each others company.  Chris has been my brother for a long time.  I am thankful for him and his good example to me and to my children.

Tina and Chris with their children.  I couldn't find a more recent one.  My apologies to Jamie and Kat.

Happy Occasions

At the end of last week Derek and I celebrated our 24th anniversary.  We had grand plans that didn't work out, but we enjoyed what we got to do.  We saw a movie that made us laugh, went and ate a delicious dinner that I didn't cook, and then enjoyed the beauty of Utah Lake and the chance to talk without interruptions.  We even skipped rocks.  I'm not too bad at that, but I discovered that Derek can flip little rocks with his thumb quite a few feet, while I can flip them at least a couple of inches -- if I concentrate.  Luckily, I don't need that skill to get into heaven.

It has been a great 24 years, and we are hoping to have lots and lots more years to enjoy.

Sunday was Mother's Day (as I'm sure you all know).  It was a really busy day, and kind of emotionally exhausting for me and so I had a slight come apart at the end, but that doesn't take away from the awesome things that happened.  My favorites are these:

When I got back from my early morning meeting a very nice note and embroidered "doubt not, fear not" was on my pillow from Kayli.  She had also drawn a colorful "Happy Mother's Day" on the white board.

Dan gave me multiple pictures, including one from school with "a really cute picture of me" (says Dan).  He likes pictures of himself.  In that one he guessed my age as 33.  Bless him.  He guessed my favorite food was "beans", which made me laugh.  He hates beans, which he gets from me.  He must figure though, that if I make them at all, I must love them!  In Primary he made me a picture of multiple black hearts that was apparently his favorite picture for me because he talked about it the most.  He hugged me several times throughout the day and told me how much he loved me over and over again.  Dan is great to have around on Mother's Day!

Derek gave me a wonderful letter that I love and went for a little walk with me after church.

I talked to my own good Mother for a little over an hour.  It is always good to get a chance to talk to my Mom.  After that I talked to Tia and then Trisa.  By then it was almost time to go on over to Derek's parent's house for a Mother's Day dinner.  While there we had a chance to talk about the hard things and the good things about being a Mother.  The hard things are really hard, but the good things outweigh them -- at least for me.  I am thankful for all of my good children.  Hooray for them, and hooray for good Moms everywhere.

My Derek



 Derek had his birthday on Saturday.  I love him.  He is a great husband, dad, son, brother, friend, etc., etc.  I always say that he is a bit like Mary Poppins -- "practically perfect in every way".  He disagrees.  I am right.  A good share of the good things that I do, that I get credit for, are Derek's idea.  He is very thoughtful and compassionate.  He is good at helping us all smile.  He works hard.  He plays hard.  He is a good man and I am thankful for him.

Derek had a busy birthday.  We spent a lot of the morning with family attending and celebrating our nephew Ethan's baptism.  Next we went home and sent off a picture message to our niece Maryn who was being baptized in the afternoon.  The puppets participated by being in the picture.  Derek returned Trisa and Tia's several calls and text messages that we had missed while we were out.  He put them on speaker phone while he unwrapped his presents.  I'm sure it was a thrill to hear the wrapping paper crinkle over the phone line -- but it was the closest we could come to having them here--which would have been our favorite. 

The pictures show our next adventure.

Derek, Dan, Kayli, Jake, and Connor at the beginning of the trail to the pine forest.

Dan Jake and Derek in the "fort" up in the woods.

Dan

I think Jake and I were still saying whatever long thing Derek told us to say before he snapped the picture.

When we got home I accidentally made about three cakes worth of frosting for a few cookies.  This is Derek right before he blew out his large candle.  Hopefully he'll get his wish.  That was a ginger cookie with cream cheese frosting.



Mmmmmm.

Next we did a little yard work for Derek's birthday, ate some food from Wendy's, and watched a movie.  All in all I think it was a good day for a good man.

Happy Birthday to my Derek.

Jake's First Cub Scout Campout

Bat Jake is in the back on the left.

They had tin foil dinners.  Jake had tin foil pizza tortillas.  He really doesn't love meat and potatoes.

Jake and Derek are standing in the middle -- at the back.

Jake was really nervous about this campout, even with his Dad going, but he had a great time!

The Wishing Plant

A couple of weeks ago Dan came in and told me that he had "wished on a wishing plant" that he would be able to go faster on his bike, and it worked!  So then, he excitedly told me, he wished that he could be grown up in two days.  I was not so excited about that wish and I said, "But I don't want you to be all grown up in two days!"  He then tried to console me by saying, "I don't know if it will work.  It is magic, so I don't know."  Thankfully he is still not grown up.

I wasn't sure which plant in our yard was the "wishing plant" and so I asked him.  He said, "You know, that white one that is out there".  Hmm.  It wasn't until I was outside so that he could show me, and he started looking around, that I clued in that "the white one" is a dandelion gone to seed -- of course!. 

A few days later he came and told me that he had wished on the wishing plant that he could ride his bike better, and it had worked!  He said that Jake had wished that he would be the best soccer player ever.  Jake was there and so I glanced at Jake.  He gave me the "Jake look" (Which is one eyebrow raised and an amused look on his face).  He shrugged his shoulders and said "Well, I do like soccer!"

Kayli Goes to Prom. . . . .

. . . . but before that Kayli, Dan and I went dress shopping.  The other girls are off at college, and the other boys and Derek were with scouts.  Who knew that Dan would love helping Kayli look for a dress?  He really liked that three way mirror in the dressing room so that he could see himself looking awesome, he liked picking dresses for Kayli to try, and he loved riding the escalators (which is how we got him to go without complaining in the first place).  He also got a Wendy's hamburger out of it and so dress shopping was a good thing for Dan.  He was a bit disappointed that she didn't pick the one he liked the best, but he didn't cry over it.  We went to one store and got one very nice dress.

When Prom day came Kayli went and got her hair cut in the morning, and then later her YW president kindly did her hair for the dance since Tia was not available and I do NOT do hair.  Here are some pictures of Kayli looking gorgeous.

Kayli.  I forgot to tell her not to hold on to her dress.  It was a little long and so she didn't want to step on it.  She's holding on to it in all of the pictures I took.  Oops.  It's still pretty.

The back of Kayli's hair and dress for you to admire.

I made Kayli pretend to put on the boutineer.  I really put it on -- which is funny because my Mom put on Derek's for our reception since I didn't know how!  I watched a video on how to do it -- and Kayli's date Ryan had instructions for me too.  Besides, I've done a couple for Tia and Kayli's dates before.

Ryan and Kayli.  They are friends.  He is in our ward and Connor said he's never seen him looking more nervous than he did when he came to get Kayli!

Kayli pointed out my flash hadn't been going off, which was causing blurry pictures.  Here is a clear one.

The last one before they left.

Ryan and Kayli went with a pretty big group and had a good time.  Kayli's dress ripped when she was getting in the truck, but it was just a seam coming loose and was easily fixed before church today.  Dances and dates make Kayli really nervous, but she said that she did have a really good time.  Derek and I even propped our eyes open until she was back (at around 11:30) and got to hear about it and get hugs from Kayli before bed.

Uncle Quinn

Uncle Quinn with some of his children and some of mine.

I "met" Quinn for the first time through letters while he was on his mission.  He didn't get home until I was officially his sister-in-law.  I have had a few years since then to get to know him in person, even though, once he got married, they became the travelling family for a while, living in a few different states before coming back to Utah (Hooray!).

Quinn and his wife Tonya have five children and I write about visiting them quite a bit since they are always graciously hosting us at their home.  I suspect we invade their home, eat their food, and enjoy their hospitality more often than any other family.  This is nice for us, and I have written about it before.  My kids still talk about the family home evening we had while visiting when we had a marshmallow battle using marshmallow guns.  Some of us laughed so much we had a hard time "shooting" those guns without inhaling the marshmallows!

Quinn is an occupational therapist who is good at caring for people.  He does a good job of listening.  He listens to neighbors, friends, family members, and the people he works with.  This is, I suspect, one of the reasons that Dan follows him around talking whenever he's here or we're there.  Quinn is also patient when Dan tackles him or otherwise does kind of pesky things. Connor describes Quinn as "fun", and all of my kids love him. 

Quinn has a notorious sweet tooth, which I think he has been trying to curb.  There are lots of family legends about Quinn eating all of his Easter or Christmas candy in one sitting, and then not feeling too well later.  Fortunately he enjoys being active too and so the candy hasn't killed him off.  He likes sports, and hiking, and he's done lots of scouting activities before -- both while earning his Eagle, and while being a scout leader.

There are lots of good talents and qualities that Quinn has, and I'm sure I don't know them all.  He does have a gift of making people feel like they are important to him.  He has a good sense of humor, he is compassionate, he is thoughtful, and he has a good sense of adventure.  He loves his family, and works hard to take care of them, and his extended family too.  As of yesterday he is my age (for a few months).  If only I could remember how old that is........I have conveniently forgotten.

Happy Birthday Quinn! 

Spring Break Part Last

Day four we got up and swam, pretending it was warm.  The pool was heated, the hot tub was nice, and we had a good time.  Next we drove to the Valley of Fire.  You drive and drive and then, all of a sudden, there are fabulous red rocks to climb on.  We didn't really see even close to all there was to see, but we were ready to head back to the cousin's house.  Dan opted to start out sleeping on the mattress this time.  We all enjoyed that visit, and we made it home safely the next day.

This is a picture of what Derek did a lot of during our trip.

Tia with some petroglyphs

Dan

Jake, Kayli, and Connor

Jake, the back of Dan, and Derek

Derek and me

Dan, Kayli, Tia, Connor, Me (Sherie)

Spring Break Part 2

Day 3 (Wednesday):  We climbed around Red Rock Canyon until the weather got to be rainy instead of just really windy and not very warm.  We drove around after that, had lunch in the car, and drove off to Vegas where we saw the Bellagio's fountain show and saw their pretty flowers.  Then Derek humored me and found the house I lived in until I was 8 and the elementary school I went to until halfway through third grade.  I even got a glimpse of our old church!  We went back to the hotel, swam, ate, watched Psych, and drove to the Las Vegas Temple.  That was one busy day.  Perhaps I wasn't as un-grouchy as I should have been the whole day, but I did enjoy a lot of it!

Another day another Hawaiian shirt!



Dan is always ready with a dramatic pose.



Connor and Me on a ledge

Climbing was a great favorite with the boys, who loved the little caves.

Jake did not seem as afraid of heights as usual.  He had a great time.

This was the view at lunchtime.

We stopped by the visitors center.  Dan has a happy smile.

Us at the Bellagio.  Kayli says she is not looking because Derek said everyone's name but hers so she was sure he didn't want her to look.  Silly Kayli.

Kayli, Tia, Me (with Dan), Connor, and Jake

This shows a little of how tragic Jake and Dan were about not being back at the hotel yet.

Tia by the flower picture.

I'll finish up tomorrow -- I hope. 

Spring Break

Day 1:  We eventually pack up and drive to Cedar City to say hello to Trisa and drop off some of Tia's stuff.  Then we head to "the cousins" in St. George.  There we picnic, pay semi-attention to the concert at the park, and then head back for sleep.  Dan insists that he is sleeping on the ottoman (Not too wide and not as long as Dan).  We all try to tell him he'll fall off, and Uncle Quinn strategically places a mattress on one side hoping he will fall that direction.  At 2:30 a.m. I can witness that he is still on the ottoman.  Derek, who sleeps poorly no matter where he is says Dan stayed on much longer than that.  By morning though, he has landed on the mattress.  He says (sounding a bit disappointed) "I fell off".

Day 2:  After the cousins are off to school, we desert Aunt Tonya to her busy day and head off to Lake Mead and Hoover Dam.  The weather is really warm, and really windy, which makes the warm bearable, but occasionally threatens to blow us over.


The windy picnic.  Think sandwiches that are dry before you're done making them.

Lake Mead is beautiful!

The wind whipped up some dirt with the water by the shore.

Dan with "crystal rocks".  He loved Lake Mead!

Hoover Dam spillway (we think) -- it was really amazing.

Jake and Derek.  Derek was meant to be born in Hawaii I think!

Dan, Derek, and Tia

The Hoover Dam is awesome.

Connor kept Dan from blowing away on the windy bridge that crosses above the dam.

This is the bridge we walked across (halfway)

We ended the day with a swim and a soak in the hot tub at our hotel in Henderson.

Writing about more days today would overload you with pictures.  These two days were our warmest weather wise and we did have a really good time.