TODAY is my first taste of "summer vacation"! I am looking forward to 8 weeks off, and do so appreciate the fact that I can enjoy some time at home! The first three pictures are the results of 9 days of "textbook check-in" at our Skyline Library at the end of the school year.
This is the first year that our Library will store student textbooks over the summer! Fortunately, we had some great student helpers who assisted with the scanning and stacking!
This summer my hope is to spend some extra time with my grandchildren, Landon and Cailyn. This is Landon at 4 months of age, and only two weeks post-op! He's doing great! Landon is an easy smiler, coos and giggles alot. It's such a pleasure to be able to hold and rock a baby.
Here's Landon's big sister Cailyn at around 4 months of age...don't they look like siblings??
And here is Cailyn now at 2 years, in such a grown-up pose! Cailyn and I will enjoy her new sandbox on our patio, playing dress-up, playing with legos and having snacks at our tea party table.
My hope for the summer is enjoy these cutie-pies, along with some reading, a little sewing, and relaxing. Hopefully we will get up to Mom & Dad's Strawberry house this summer to enjoy some cooler weather. I plan to play with PAPER alot, i.e., sorting, shredding, recycling. I've saved too many papers (interesting tidbits) over the years, so it's time to "let go" and feel a bit lighter! I want to concentrate on organizing recipes (something I've been trying to do for years now!) I plan to go to the YMCA almost daily (and I'm saying this out loud so I am more committed to the exercise that I need!) And, last but not least, my mantra will need to be "do not go shopping...do not go shopping!" No paycheck means I need to stay out of the stores...UNLESS, of course, there's a great sale that I can't miss! ;-)
It's a time for growth and renewing our spirits, starting fresh, and "hoping for the best". Thanks to our Lord, who died on the cross, so that we might be saved... Easter is a SEASON to celebrate, not just for a day!
Here' s my Dad and brother-in-law, Ken, enjoying a chat together. Also, this is a time for "great aunts" to hold babies and catch up with nieces and nephews! Here's my sister Terry holding Landon, who is almost 3 months old here, and course, his mommy, Corissa!
Of course, Easter Bunnies are a part of Easter too, and Cailyn was an expert egg-finder this year in the backyard. Great-grandma and great-grandpa filled a dozen eggs, Aunt Alissa & Uncle Alan hid them, and Cailyn had lots of fun finding them. (By the way, in all the photos I took, I somehow missed our son, Mike...he was definitely at our celebration...but was a very busy guy snapping his own photos of our celebration together!)
For the past 10 years I've been privileged to join 8 other fantastic women for an annual weekend "retreat"! We started our tradition when one of our Dobson colleagues moved to California. Teri invited us to San Clemente, and we all jumped at the chance to see her again. That was the beginning, and now 10 years later, we always meet for two nights and days to re-connect in April. We went to California a few years, and then we were invited to Bev Douwstra's and Tina Smotek's homes in Payson. And the past 4 years we've held our reunion in Scottsdale, Arizona. 
We enjoy lots of laughs, share photos of travels, families and grandchildren; we reminisce about the old days when all of us worked at Dobson High School, and we eat...oh, did I mention, there is wine included too? The past few years have found us celebrating one of our friends' retirements also! This year's honoree is Debbie Wylie. We "gift" her with dinner and a special present. 
One of our friends, Marilyn Larson, is very creative! With the help of her daughter, Nicole, she made each of us a necklace, pictured above. We dub ourselves "The Chic Clique"! This is a beautiful group of women, and over the years we have shared joys and sorrows. I am fortunate to know each and every one of them!
Here is Marilyn on the left, with Janie (our FEARLESS organizer) in the center, and Bev.
