I’m very proud of Marc.  He is a great provider for our family and is dedicated to Maricopa County.  Marc works for the Maricopa County Department of Emergency Management as the Emergency Operations Center Integration Manager.  I could tell you what I think he does, but it probably wouldn’t be correct so I’ll let him post about that if he feels it necessary.  He has just been recognized for 15 years of service with the county.  I thinks it’s more and more rare that an employee stay with the same company for many years in this day and age.  Congratulations Marc!

No, not Marc, he still has a few years before he hits that milestone.  I’m talking about my parents wedding anniversary!  My parents were married in the Los Angeles LDS Temple on September 12, 1968.  Unfortunately we lost my dad about 7 years ago to the ugly “Big C”  but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t celebrate with my mom.  My siblings and I had 50 yellow roses delivered to mom on the 12th.  Those are the official flower for 50th wedding anniversary.  We also had a fun gathering after our monthly family Sunday dinner.  Mom’s siblings came, as well as our local cousins.  Nicole made a beautiful cake, cupcakes, as well as a cute board with facts from the year they were married.  We watched a fun video of pictures from their wedding and a few of our family as it has grown over the years.  Creston also surprised us with a video of Dad.  Creston had video interviewed dad a few months before his passing.  We got to watch the portion of the interview from my dad’s perspective about when my parents met.  It was really special.  We even got to FaceTime Audrey during the videos so she could watch them too.  It was a very nice evening visiting with family and reminiscing.  I love my parents and am so incredibly grateful for their love and their example to our family.  Because of them, we are an eternal family.

Once upon a time, I was pretty decent at blogging and keeping a digital record of the happenings of my family.  Insert growing children, an increase of work outside of the home, and social media…death of a blog.  Too many years have passed and I recently realized (when taking my oldest child to college out of state) that my family is growing up.  These are times of change and growth for our family and I want to remember it all.  So if for no other reason than a modern journal, I’m going to give it another try.  Here goes…

We are not special or much different than millions of families across the globe, but even then, this was a BIG DEAL for us.

May 30, 2018, our oldest child (Audrey) graduated Chandler High School (Marc’s Alma Mater) as a Distinguished Scholar. This day also happened to be our son’s (Carson) 13th Birthday. He was a good sport about sharing his day with his big sister.

Fast forward 3 months. Marc & I found ourselves sitting in the Marriott Center on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, UT along with 598 other new student parents. Across from where we sat was a sea of 4,000 new students. Anxiously awaiting the convocation to begin, we scanned the crowd and actually spotted Audrey (although she didn’t see us).

After the conclusion of our second meeting. Marc turned to me and said, “I don’t want to leave her, but I’m so glad we’re leaving her HERE.” I couldn’t agree more.  If any of you are curious about this fine institution, take some time to peruse their website at

www.byu.edu

When the first child leaves home, the entire family feels it.  There is a shift in dynamics in the home that is felt by every member.  It has been interesting this first week that Audrey has not been living at home.  For me, it kind of feels like Audrey is at camp, or working late, or out with friends & I just haven’t seen her at home.  She has called every day sounding very happy and confident.  This has helped me adjust to our new normal.  I think after a few more weeks, it might feel a little more “real”.  Not sure what that’s going to feel like.

We’ve kept busy reorganizing Sophia’s room.  She’s been begging for over a year to paint.  She was a huge help.  The two of us hit it hard last Monday and got all the painting done.  We have since, put up new curtains and hung decorations on her walls.  We have a few more ideas to complete her room which will hopefully happen within the next couple weeks.

Another great distraction to this change in our family’s daily comings and goings is BAND SEASON!!! Grace is a Junior at Chandler High and has begun her 3rd season playing clarinet in the school marching band.  This means Friday night football games, selling concessions, and Saturday competitions.  Grace really loves being part of this band and I love that she loves it.  GO Wolves!!! We love the Wolfpack Pride Marching Band!

Last night about 11:30pm, the doors on our bedroom began to shake as well as the bed.  Ginger asked what that was because we were asleep and it woke us up.  It sure felt like one as we have been in one in Southern California, a 4.4.  Well sure enough, it was.  Thankfully, no damage or injuries, but it’s kind of crazy to have that happen here.

  
This is funny, Ginger had to drop off something at the High School and saw the class pictures.  She decided to look for my year and see if she could find me.  Well she did, and Steve too.