Arizona!

After more than a decade,
I finally made a trip back to my birthplace: Arizona!

First stop: Grandma's house in Sierra Vista
(about 90 minutes southeast of Tucson).

We arrived during monsoon season (my favorite!)
and the flowers were exploding with color.

Every afternoon, the clouds rolled in
for the the daily downpour.

We saw a rainbow (or double rainbow) each of the 3 days we spent there.

Ahhh! There's nothing like an Arizona sunset.

Bisbee, AZ: Queen Mine copper mine

The mine was active up until the 1970s.

That's right...it was 50 degrees underground.
On a hot July day in the middle of the desert.

Mining gear required for the excursion

Tombstone, AZ: the town too tough to die.

When they talk about the wild, wild west,
this is the place they're talkin' 'bout.

Huachuca City, AZ: We also visited Kartchner Caverns,
a GORGEOUS cavern where we couldn't take any pictures :(

The surrounding state park shots will have to suffice...

Thomson Draw, AZ: At long last, Grandma's cabin-
a place synonymous with happy childhood memories!
It was so good to be back!

The all-terrain pickup was new, though.

Grandma actually taught Parker
how to operate it himself (BRAVE WOMAN.)

Payson, AZ: Parker is posing on the very same wall
where I also had my picture taken as a 10 year old.
This was my last home in Arizona before moving to Utah.

The view from the Mogollon Rim- 9,000 ft above sea level. Whew!

One last stop: the fish hatchery outside Payson.

These large containers are filled with thrashing trout and bass.

Fireworks at the beach

Independence Day weekend!

There are lots of great things about having grandparents.
One of them just happens to be that they live near a gorgeous lake
that puts on a spectacular fireworks show over the water.

We spent our holiday watching the rockets' red glare
at Lake Monticello. What a show!
Okay, so maybe it didn't look EXACTLY like this.But it did look like this.

And this.
Something about the cool sand inspired
a Kumbaya moment for Jeremy.

The glow sticks came out after the sun went down.

(A bashful) Hudson, Isaac & Katie

Lily played in the sand for hours and didn't even try to eat any!

(Imagine that I've posted some of the video footage from the show here,
until I can figure out the software that came with my new camcorder.)

End of an Era

I didn't think it was going to be a big deal, but it was.

My little guy graduating from elementary school!
A moment 6 years in the making!During the ceremony, there was a surprise moment
when Parker was called to the stage
to receive an award for outstanding performance
on the Standards of Learning tests.It really FELT like these kids were moving on
after growing, learning, and achieving so much at O.B. Gates.

During their first days, they took naps
and finger painted and sang songs about
the ABCs and their teachers hoped they
wouldn't have any "accidents" requiring a change of clothes.

During their last days, they knew how to
send their teachers emails, how to
work with a group on a social studies
project, and how to add unlike fractions.

These two had a particularly good
time in elementary school.

We were pretty proud of him that day.
During the last 6 years, there were many long evenings
with homework,endless tests and projects,
and lots of giggles when we were just
too silly to take it seriously anymore.

5th grade also marks the end

of Parker's enrollment in the before & after
school program at The Goddard School.
Guess those 6th graders are just too much trouble!(These ones DEFINITELY would be.)

Parker's favorite teacher, Mr. Turner.

Parker's locker at Goddard, where I would always find
random bits of things when I came to pick him up,
from mysterious notes to half-finished drawings
to Lego pieces, broken pencils and rubber animals.

Another favorite teacher, Ms. Mary
(though you can't tell by THAT expression!)
She always had a smile for Parker
at the end of a long day.

And finally, goodbye to this former 5th grader's domain!
Farewell, O.B. Gates!

It was a little sad to drive away for the last time,
watching the playgrounds disappear as we drove away.
But I believe Parker is looking forward to the next adventure.

How Sweet it is

It's pretty much summer--I don't see the point of schools
dragging out the inevitable by insisting on these last two weeks.

The 5th graders finished their SOLs (standardized testing)
this week- 3 separate tests that took the entire
school day to complete!

Parker rocked his math SOL, he only missed
one out of the sixty questions!
We took him out for ice cream to celebrate.

Parker's Art

In the rare moments when Jeremy isn't working at the computer,
Parker will ask me to print "cool pictures"
from the web so he can draw them:

He will spend hours of free time trying to
get the dimensions and proportions just right
on these drawings- after homework and chores,
there isn't a lot of free time in the evenings,
but he usually cranks out about one a week.
This year he discovered perspective,
and it's been awesome watching him grow as an artist.

This is How Parker Sleeps

Whenever we go to check on Parker

after we put him to bed, he looks like this.
What impresses me is the fact that all the pillows
are still on the bed. Usually they are strewn about
the room, the blankets are on the floor,
and he is clinging to a scrap of a sheet.