The Tagging Game

I've been tagged...here's the rules:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.

2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

3. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules

4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.


Eight Random Facts About Me

1. I once got sun poinsoning so badly that it made my forehead swell up like a Klingon.

2. I am a huge procrastinator.

3. I have had two surgeries on my left upper eyelid to raise it to the same level as my right upper eyelid. It helped, but they're still not the same.

4. I have always had a problem with popping pimples. I could spend a long time searching every millimeter of my face for anything remotely possible to extract and then work incredibly hard to extract said thing.

5. I am ambitious and independent, but no good at follow-through ... until the last minute, of course.

6. I don't like my knees to be touched.

7. In high school I pierced the second hole in my left ear by myself. The ear lobe on the right has never had a second hole.

8. I love the smell of horses. Even their poop smells good to me.

Okay, that's it! I'll tag Amanda, Kisti, Kristi and Britney. I know that's only four. I'll think about the other four later. ;)

Sometimes there are just more photo opportunities

Suddenly, it seems, my children are doing more interesting things of which to take pictures. Here are a few and the stories that go with them.

Kalleigh loves to look at her baby book. Aren't children good for our egos?! We usually look at them together, and we'll point at her pictures and say, "Kalleigh," as well as whomever else is in them. One morning, I was in the kitchen and heard my little girl say what sounded like, "Kie," in that same down and then up voice inflection as when we say, "Kalleigh." She said it over and over, and knowing her baby book was not where she could reach it, I went to see what she was talking (literally) about. She had found a box containing baby gear that had a picture of a baby on the outside. She was pointing at the baby and saying, "Kie!" Makes sense. Every other picture of a baby is of her, right?!

This morning, before school, we got out Johnathan's baby book. Kalleigh pointed at a baby Johnathan picture and said, of course, "Kie." Johnathan was quick to correct her. :)

My boy can sleep anywhere. This picture was taken at 6:45 last night. We had just gotten home after being out all day, and he had missed his nap. After I took the picture, I proceeded to remove all of his clothes and put a Pull-Up on him. He did not wake up until 7:15 this morning. Bless his heart!

And you thought he fell asleep saying his prayers ...

As I alluded to this morning, this was Johnathan's first day of school. He's in Ms. Melissa's class every MW&F morning. But somehow in the last year, he went from being a baby to being a little boy! (Seems like I posted a first and last day in May, so you're seeing this 2-yr-old picture for the third time.) Check out that tan!

Pictures please

Here are the only pictures I have taken in the month of August. We seem to have been so busy doing so little! Plus I never seem to have my camera when we need it. Like Kalleigh's first trip to the zoo. Or second. Or third. Oops. Johnathan jumping off the diving board for the first time(s). Rats.

So, like I said, these are the pictures I have taken. Hooray!


Johnathan's most commonly used phrase at this stage is "all by myself," and I've been trying to encourage him in that when it's appropriate. So here's what he picked out to wear to dinner a couple of nights ago. And he put it on "all by himself!"


The "back" view.


This is Johnathan's swim suit. He LOVES it.


Showing off "his" muscles.


Kalleigh's little swim outfit.


The front view. The tongue is always out these days feeling the new teeth coming in on top. She has her bottom front two and the top left and the one to its left all mostly in. The other top front one is just about to break through.


She's taking up to four steps now! But I had to snap this one for the tan lines she's developed this summer. I use 50 spf!

Fruity flop

Not entirely a flop; just not what I had planned.

I buy fruit to have something healthy to eat. My kids love all kinds of fruit, so it's not like I have to struggle with picky eaters.

So, I bought all this fruit about a week ago: grapes, peaches, clementine oranges, strawberries. We did well and ate all the grapes and clementines before they went bad. But then there were the strawberries and peaches. I just kept fogetting to get them out.

So what do you do when you have a lot of fruit that needs to be used all at once? You make desserts! A strawberry pie and a peach cobbler later, I look back at my good, healthy intentions and chuckle a little.

I'll do better next time. :)

Boy, they were good!

One of those mornings ...

This morning was just one of those mornings. Crazy things that usually happen very rarely all happened at once.

First, I had gained 2 pounds. Nice.

Then, as I was getting a glass out of the counter, I bumped it on another glass and chipped that one. The glass shot out and landed in my hair and went down the front of my shirt. Thankfully, John was there to keep the children out, so there were no cut feet.

Yesterday I had made some really yummy mango bread -- recipe from Kristi--so I wanted to toast a few slices for breakfast. While the yummy bread was in the oven, Kalleigh started throwing a fit, so I tried several different things to calm her down. And then I smelled that horrible burning smell. Totally black. Ruined. I resorted to putting the next piece in the microwave.

I needed to feel better, so I put on some fun clothes with my favorite black beaded necklace and went to get Kalleigh dressed. As I sat Kalleigh down to put her outfit on, she grabbed my favorite black beaded necklace and ripped it right off. Of course it broke in the back, allowing all of the beads to roll down the back of my shirt, down inside my jeans and some even made it all the way into the underwear. Nice. The beads that didn't get caught in the underwear were all over the carpet, and Kalleigh started going after those. "JOHN!!!" Thankfully, he was still home and came running to get Kalleigh as I tracked beads across the house to take off the string that was once my necklace and to get the vacuum.

Ugh! And what time of the month is it? I bet you can guess. :)

"We'll all look back on this and laugh," right? Let's hope so! It was close to comical even this morning.

7 Years

To the man of my dreams,

I thank God for you ... for your patience with me ... for your leadership in our church family and in our own family ... for the way you dream big ... for your tenderness with our children ... for your example to them and to me ... for your faithfulness. Thank you for loving me! I love you, John!

One year

Blogging for one full year. Crazy. Honestly, I didn't think I'd make it this long! It's been such a fun way to keep in touch with so many of you. Thank you, readers, for your sweet comments along the way.

---------------

John's and my newest obsession is with this group:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=o5udB-ZLCZg

We want to be just like them.

Talkin' to God

We were about to say our prayers as I was putting to Johnathan to bed last night. Now, we've been having an interesting issue recently with Johnathan not wanting to "talk to God." He'd say, "I don't want to talk," or "Not tonight, Mommy." What am I supposed to do with that? This is not another chore like putting toys away. It's an honor to be able to talk to God! Johnathan doesn't seem to understand that right now.

Anyway, he says, "You say the prayer, Mommy." I said, "Okay, how 'bout I say one and then you say one." Okay, he agreed to that. So I said a little prayer and something about "thank you for the blessings you give us like our family, our friends," etc. And I finish up, "... Amen. Okay, your turn." So he starts, and the rest of the dialogue goes something like this:

J: "Dear God ........ and Mommy and Daddy an-"

K: "Don't forget the 'thank you' part."

J: "Fanku for Mommy and Daddy ... and the blessings"

pause

J: "I don't want to say 'the blessings.'"

K: "That's okay; you can say your own words."

J: "Fanku for Gallant?"

K: "Yeah! You can thank God for Gallant!" (our horse)

J: "And what else?"

K: "Oh, I know! You can ask God to help Papaw Curtis feel better!"

J, looking up for the first time: "Hey, God? Can you make Papaw Curtis feel better?"

Long pause as Johnathan looks around the room with his eyes, while I force my shoulders to stop their laugh-induced shaking!

Then he looks at me and shrugs his shoulders, confused. And then we had the talk about how God answers prayers.

Whew! Another mommy/son conversation where I feel like I should know all the answers and leave feeling like I know absolutely nothing!

I love my little boy!



PS Papaw did not end up being able to go home last Friday, due to complications with his surgery incision. However, the doctor intends to do another chemo treatment today and shoot for going home tomorrow or the next day. We're very hopeful! Day 32 ...

You're gonna love this

First, I talked to Mamaw this morning who said that the doctors want to send Papaw home tomorrow! She said this is day 28 in the hospital for them! I couldn't believe it had been that long. And 2 BM's this morning! (I think we're all pretty open about it now!) I've never been so excited about poop in my life! It looks like the chemo did in fact shrink the cancer enough to relieve some of the pressure on his intestines. Praise God!!

Second. I just had to post some of the pictures that Keleigh (Kreg's girlfriend) took of the kids and me while we were in AR. She not only took them, but then edited them all and put them on a cd for me for my birthday! Thanks, again, Keleigh! You're amazing!

A good day

According to Mom, Papaw had a pretty good day yesterday. He doesn't seem to be having too many side effects from the chemo, other than a headache the next day. We are so thankful for that! Thank you so much for all of your prayers and encouraging words I continue to hear every day!

We're having an incredibly laid back week, which is SO nice! This week consists of play dates, singing rehearsal, swimming with friends, a scrapbooking crop, a birthday facial and sipping coffee slowly. Now, I have to admit that I have yet to unpack from our trip, but really, who does that surprise? Not me.

Now, I have to go get my pictures ready for my crop!

Chemo begins

Papaw received his first chemo treatment last night. Several of us went to the hospital to be with him. I was amazed at how "chipper" he was! He had told me that he was really dreading the chemo, but I think there is a part of him that is eager to see if this is going to work. So while we were there he was cracking jokes right and left and just really seemed to be in good spirits! He had been so down the past few days, so it was so good to see him so "up."

I stayed with him a couple of nights ago, and thankfully he had a very uneventful, very restful evening and felt rested the next morning. Yea! We keep looking for anything to celebrate!

Kreg and Keleigh are taking the kids and I home this afternoon. They'll get to spend the night in Tyler, go to church with us in the morning, and then they'll head back to Searcy.

It's been such a good week, and I'm so glad to have been able to be here! Thanks to everyone who helped make that possible for me!

Papaw Update

I'm still in AR, and so glad to be here. The kids and I are really missing John, though!

The latest is that Papaw isn't able to keep anything down anymore. They took him off the tubal feeding (TPN) completely yesterday, but after having thrown up twice since then, the dietitian has recommended that he go back on the TPN as soon as possible. He's just not getting the nutrients that he needs when he can't metabolize his food. Of course, he feels better after he throws up, so again, we look for the positive. The doctors were really hoping to send him home without the TPN, since it's such a hassle, but it looks like he'll need to hang on to it awhile longer.

Speaking of sending home, they're still saying possibly Friday, but we're not holding our breath. Another good thing is that they are talking now about "upping" his first chemo date. No dates have been thrown around yet, but I really thing moving it up is a very good idea. The tumors are what are causing the pressure in the intestines which causes his food to back up. If the chemo can reduce the size of the tumors in that area, perhaps he will be able to finally get off the TPN and eat normally.

I am planning on spending the night at the hospital maybe tomorrow night. Like Elizabeth said on her blog, I think just being there with Papaw will be good for me! There are probably more benefits for me than there are for Papaw!

Johnathan and Kalleigh have had up and down days on this trip, but have been mostly good. Yesterday afternoon while we were with Papaw, Johnathan said to Papaw, "I'm sad that you're not feeling good. I'm sorry, Papaw, that you're not feeling good. I wish you could get better, and then we can play!" We were there this morning, too, and we were discussing lunch plans. Johnathan said, "You want to go eat lunch, too, Papaw?" Papaw said, "I'm probably going to need to stay here for awhile. You'll have to eat my catfish for me!"

And I love to watch Papaw and Kalleigh interact. Her face lights up when she sees him and she waves with enthusiasm!




Johnathan hangs on Mamaw's words as she describes a bird from a National Geographic magazine!

We're looking forward to seeing Pat and Deborah tomorrow! I'll keep you posted ...

Amazing people

Some people are just amazing.

I said in my last post that I was looking forward to going to Bible class that night. In class I mentioned Papaw and the struggles we're all going through and just said that I wished I could be there in AR to be with him and the rest of the family. So Thursday, one of my friends from class called and said that I had just really been on her heart. She knew I wanted to be in AR, and she wondered if she could do anything to help make that happen. Then she just asks, "Can I take you there?"

I was floored. I said, "You would drive me to AR?" "Well, yeah!" So I made a few phone calls and we agreed to leave the next morning and meet Kreg in Texarkana.

Not only did Lori drive to Texarkana and back with nothing but a lunch stop, but she also had her three boys, 6 and under, in the car with her! I should also give due credit to Kreg for agreeing to make the drive as well. Thanks to Lori and Kreg for making it possible for the kids and me to come back up for this next week!

We arrived in Searcy and went straight to the hospital where Papaw was eating supper. He's on a strict liquid diet, but what he's eating does seem to be passing through--a definite improvement over the last couple of weeks. Aunt Donna was there when we got there and a little while later, Deborah and her boys came in as well as Chad and Elizabeth and their kids. It was a full room and probably a little overwhelming with six kids, 6 and under, but it was so good to see everyone!


Caleb, Kalleigh, Johnathan, Carter, Ashlyn, Joshua

The latest update is that we have a plan now for the chemo. Tomorrow, Papaw is going to have a CT scan to check his lungs for any cancer spots. Then two weeks from tomorrow will be his first chemo treatment. It seems that the oncologist and the surgeon are not quite in full agreement on how soon they should start, so the two week mark seemed to be a compromise. At least we have a plan.

This morning we had church in Papaw's room, led by Uncle Randy. We focused on the different characteristics of God and had a chain prayer with each of us thanking God for specific characteristics that meant a lot to us right now. It was very moving, and I did okay until it got to Papaw. There's just something about hearing Papaw pray ... he is such a soldier and is and always has been faithful to God. What an example! What a hero! I let the tears of love and appreciation run down my cheeks.

Here are a few pictures from this morning. I'm sure I'll have more through the rest of the week!




I had flashbacks of Papaw teaching me shaped notes!


I think Mamaw got in some good snuggle time!

We miss John SO MUCH, but it's also so good to be here.

So how do I handle personal stress?

My mind has been consumed with Papaw. This morning he had a setback. He tried to sit up, and when he did, the bottom of his surgery incision broke and fecal matter came out. We don't know what caused it--whether the surgeon nicked it while he was in there, or if the cancer is eating through already. Needless to say, Papaw is miserable and now has this new infection. He'll be having a CT scan this afternoon, and I'm anxious to hear the results.

So I have cooked and cleaned like a maniac this week. We had a pork roast with rolls and all the "fixin's," including brownies with Reece's baking pieces in them Monday night. Tuesday night we had company to eat the shish-ka-bobs I suddenly needed to make. Then we stayed up with them until 11pm playing Settlers! Today I have rearranged our living room including dusting and redoing the entire bookshelf. It's like I can't sit still.

To add to it, Kalleigh has a fever today. A little over 101. No rash, and really no other symptoms other than a very slight runny nose--all clear. Mom thinks it's her ears. She said it sounded exactly like what I would get when I had ear issues. I'm wondering if the pacifier at night adds extra pressure on her ears making her more susceptible to ear infections. Anyone know?

I'm really looking forward to church tonight. I'm in a class specifically for mothers of toddlers, and it's WONDERFUL. It's a classic example of the older women mentoring the younger women. But my emotions are on edge, so I'm going to have to be careful tonight, or I'll lose it! I had missed the past two classes since I was in AR and then on the 4th we had our church party. Everyone will probably be eager to get back in class.

The cookbook is open to a lemon meringue pie that I'd like to try, so that should keep me busy the rest of the afternoon while my children sleep. :)

Thanks to those of you who drop by. It's nice to feel connected to so many of you even when we can't spend as much time together as we'd like!

A visit with Papaw C.

I talked to Papaw this morning. It was hard for me because I had no idea what to say. Here's the latest.

Papaw had a CT scan on Thursday, June 28, while I was still there because his food had been backing up again and he was in pain. The doctors found that there was some blockage in his intestines, but didn't know what it was. I asked Papaw then if he had been chewing on any Fisher Price toys lately, since that was Bison's issue a while back. :) They even ran a Barium series on Papaw just like they did on Bison to find out exactly where the blockage was! Papaw grinned and said, "Well, I guess we all work about the same way!"

They did surgery on July 5th to see what was going on. We were hoping it was scar tissue from the last surgery, which had given him problems at that time. But no. Papaw's cancer has come back. The doctors removed what they could, but they could not get it all. Apparently, it's a thin film that is in and around his intestines that would be impossible to remove. I talked to Mom a little this morning, too, who was telling me about when Papaw woke up from the surgery. The doctor said that they didn't have to tell Papaw if they didn't want to, and that they could just "play dumb" until the surgeon got there. Yeah, right. Like Mom and Mamaw were just going to lie when Papaw asked what they found. Which, of course, was his first question when he woke up. So Mamaw told him, and in typical Papaw fashion, he said, "Well, John Brown."

When I talked to him this morning, he said he was in a lot of pain from the surgery. They made the incision at the same place as the last one was. Plus, Mom said that whenever they do surgery on the intestines, there is a lot of gas that has to make its way through afterwards, so that's painful, too. Then a quick, "I love you," and we hung up.

The next step is to get Papaw strong enough so that he can have some kind of chemo. We don't yet know what kind he will have. The worst thing is that the doctors are using words like "incurable" and "inoperable," so this is what will take him; we just don't know when. The doctors haven't given us any idea of how long. The chemo is supposed to reduce the tumors so that his bowels won't be obstructed and he can live "normally."

Thanks to Tara who took my call this morning! Mamaw had stepped outside to stretch her legs and get some coffee. Tara said that Uncle Randy had stayed the night at the hospital last night. Papaw is getting so many visitors from church friends and other family, which is so nice and also so good for Mamaw! I get to go back in a couple of weeks for one of my best friend's (Adrienne's) wedding, so I hope to spend a lot of time with Mamaw and Papaw, too.

Thanks so much for your prayers. We're all trying to be strong and dwell on the good things.

50 I Have's

I have an incredible husband who is my best friend.
I have two wonderful, sweet children.
I have been to 41 of the 50 United States.
I have traveled to 10 countries other than the United States.
I have made concrete and dug latrine holes in Honduras.
I have always loved animals.
I have raised a litter of rabbits for the humane society.
I have taught a bunny cuddling class.
I have a passion for working with teenage girls.
I have a back porch swing that I sit on nearly every day.
I have been really scrapbooking for three years.
I have worked as a museum tour guide.
I have coached high school basketball and cheerleading ... at the same time.
I have been told I look up to 5 years older or 10 years younger than I am.
I have been a stay-at-home mom for a little over a year.
I have been a mother for three years.
I have given birth twice.
I have had one epidural.
I have delivered a child with out any medication or doctor.
I have a love for baking.
I have a deep appreciation for setting a pretty table.
I have rafted the Arkansas river in Colorado.
I have been horseback riding in the Rocky Mountains.
I have been bucked off a horse twice.
I have eaten squirrel and I love it.
I have lived in Tyler, TX for 16 months.
I have been stopped three times by a policeman.
I have never gotten a ticket.
I have had only one written warning.
I have performed in front of 15,000 people in one weekend.
I have begged for feminine products in a public bathroom at Universal Studios.
I have been a Christian for 18 years.
I have a sister who lives in Pennsylvania and a brother still in college.
I have cousin on Broadway.
I have a quick temper.
I have never cursed, but wanted to from time to time.
I have never tried or wanted to try a cigarette.
I have tasted wine in the communion cup of a Ukrainian church, and I hated it.
I have a great-nephew.
I have never liked snakes.
I have never liked Prince.
I have always tested right in the middle of extroverted and introverted.
I have had meningitis.
I have a phone phobia.
I have a mole on the top of my right ear that makes me look like an elf.
I have sung at an Italian restaurant by the bar with a band.
I have two high school track records that have stood for 10 years.
I have always been about "15 degrees off cool."
I have smelled cigarette smoke one lane over and two cars away.

Bath pics

Here are some bath pics of the kids I've been meaning to get up for awhile.

"This is the way we wash our necks!"

Anything Johnathan does is so funny!

Suckin' on a frog ...

All clean!

The living room project

For the past week and a half, the kids and I have been at Mom's helping her redo her living room. It was a big project that included stripping wall paper, ripping up carpet and trying our hand at covering panelling with Venetian plaster, but I think it turned out great! I didn't get very good before pics, but most of you know what her living room looked like if you had been in her house any time in the last 17 years. :) Here are a few before and afters:

This starts on the left wall as you walk in the living room, and I'll work around clockwise.


Johnathan LOVED painting.






We had a lot to do ... and we were a little overwhelmed!


We filled that collage with recent black and white family photos!


We painted all the trim and doors white, and it really brighted things up!


We cleaned and rearranged all the shelves.


Look! New curtains! New carpet! Recovered chairs!




One more view.

We had a really fun time putting it all together!

The week and a half at home ...

... has been really nice. We've had company, and so of course I've cooked and cleaned a lot, but it's been really fun! Well, the cooking part anyway.

What happened was that I was just really in the cooking mood. When you go out of town, you don't cook at all, and I guess I just missed it. So I decided I'd have a couple of Johnathan's friends and their families over and call it a birthday party. :) I didn't even make a cake for my son. (Mom is making him one for is actual birthday, Wednesday.) It was great!

Menu: Hamburgers, grilled corn on the cob with citrus butter, lettuce wedges with creamy dressing, a veggie tray with crab dip stuffed in red peppers, garlic roasted potato wedges, stuffed jalapeno poppers, strawberry-citrus punch and a blackberry-nectarine crisp. Honestly none of the recipes were worth keeping, but it made for a very impressive meal, and tasted fine. Did I get any pictures of the spread? No. Amazing. Oh, and I also had Cheetos and snow cones for the kids!

Dad got to come spend most of the day with us, so we took him to Mario's that night to celebrate Father's Day. John and I got to sing with the band, too, so that was fun, and Dad snapped a few pictures of us performing! While he was here, Dad helped us put together Johnathan's swing set, but of course it rained during the party, so the kids didn't get to play on it! They still had fun playing with the new toys Johanthan got.

Kalleigh is now crawling and babbling up a storm. She's a real bright spot in our lives! She's into everything and just a couple of days ago began pulling up on things. Great. Onto the next level of baby-proofing! She's really trying to communicate, or at least it sure seems that way. When she sees John, she let's out a whole string of "da-da-da-da-da-da." What else is that supposed to mean? And when she's hungry, she's been putting her fingers in her mouth and crying, but using an "eee" vowel sound. It's the only time she cries with that vowel sound. I've been saying all along, "Do you want to eat?" and signing eat when I say it. She's only 8 1/2 months, for crying out loud! I recognize that these things may all be coincidental, but I'm not ready to rule out the possibility of these being the beginnings of first words.

I've enjoyed watching a pair of barn swallows grow their family in the corner of our porch. They had four baby birds and it's just been fascinating to me. Here's a picture of the birds at about a week old:


They're about 3 weeks old now and just look like they could take off any day now! Their tail feathers have just a little more to grow, and then it'll be an empty nest!

You see out of all that's happened, here's what I chose to take a picture of. My priorities are obviously out of whack.

Well, I do have a couple of new pics of the kids, so I'll put those up, too.


The infamous "cheeeeese!" smile after playing in the sprinklers.


Kalleigh, in a family heirloom dress of sorts, from Grammie. I have already boxed it up and sent it on to Shawn and Brit's baby, Addie.

The kids and I are heading to AR for a week and a half to help mom redo her living room. I love to do that sort of thing, so it will be fun! When we get back from that trip, we'll be home for a while, and that will be nice, too!

California

This is our week and a half at home in June, so what am I doing today? Absolutely nothing! (I guess eating, feeding kids, changing diapers or wiping poopy bottoms counts as nothing today!) So perhaps, nothing out of the ordinary would be more accurate. We have watched Peter Pan, played outside in the sprinklers and made snow cones today, but absolutely no housework.

California was an adventure. Of course we went for the international sacred a capella music symposium, called Ascending Voice, at Pepperdine, but we were able to sneak in a few other things as well!

I kept the kids in the mornings and some afternoons and then we had a couple of Pepperdine girls help watch the kids during the other times so I could go to the conference. The conference was very eye-opening to the fact that our fellowship is not the only people who practice a capella music. It was not a "Church of Christ" conference exclusively. There were people from the Mennonite, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and other churches.

Each evening a professional a capella group would perform. These styles ranged from Byzantine chant to more lyrical Gregorian chant to choral concert literature to folk songs! The groups were very specialized in their styles and each did them very well. It was obviously for a highly academic audience, and the audience was just that. We felt very inferior to many people there! Other big names who were there included Mike Cope, Jack Reese, Jack Boyd (ACU), Ken Starr, Rick Mars (Pepperdine), Cliff Ganus, III, Arthur Shearin (Harding), Gary Wilson (Lipscomb), and many others whom I'm sure I should know. And then there were John and Kim Hodges ... Which one of these is not like the others?

Harding, Lipscomb and Pepperdine each had a select group of chamber singers who performed. I only heard Harding's group, and they were outstanding. I was so proud to be a Harding grad at that concert! John heard the other two groups, and he said that he thought Harding's was the best and most professional. :) We thoroughly enjoyed the classes and the performances.

In our free time, we went to the beach, did Universal Studios one day and made it to downtown Hollywood. Here are a few pictures from the trip. (The rest are on facebook.)


Poor thing. It was so windy! The sand was blowing in her eyes!


Sand angel!


It was so beautiful ... a little chilly, but beautiful.


We had to fight for our turn, and then those women wouldn't get out of the way!


We really were there!

It was a whirlwind trip, but very good. It's always good to be home, though!