Wednesday, May 27, 2009

All-American Memorial Day Weekend

I spent this Memorial Day weekend in celebration of great All-American experiences. I thought it a fitting tribute on this holiday :)

On Thursday and Friday, I enjoyed spending time with my nephews from Oregon. Family is, quite possibly, the best thing this country (and this world) has to offer us; and I love playing with my family! I got to watch an entire "cowboys and Indians" marble battle... I saw Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker play baseball in the back yard... AND learned how to make machine gun sound effects--all without leaving my house! Awesome. I love my blondie boys.

On Saturday, my brother was officially dubbed "Dr. Severson" in Berkeley. It made me very proud. I loved being at the ceremony with all the graduates. The electric excitement just flows at graduations, it's thick in the air and rings through your whole being! I love it! Of course, after listening to a couple professors jabber about their doctorate students, it wears off a little, but still, where else but America can you get the means and the opportunity to enjoy such an education?
Saturday evening, we enjoyed the great American past time with the Oakland A's! Unfortunately, after eleven innings and chilling wind, we lost... but at least we got to witness Giambi's 400th career home run!

And after the LONG game, we thoroughly loved the pyro-spectacular set to some of our favorite show tunes! Dawna was very good about wearing ear plugs... in fact, she wore them from the eighth inning through the end of the show... this was her favorite firework because "it looks like a butterfly!"
But the weekend fun didn't stop there... no no no... Monday the All American celebration continued with a classic hamburger and hot dog barbecue followed by a hike to beautiful little Yosemite. Our country is so rich with man-made and natural wonders.
Woah there Lawrence... easy on the watermelon...
(Technically, this was his enjoying of the barbecue leftovers, but look how cute that is!!!)

Last of all, my All-American Memorial Day weekend wouldn't be complete without mentioning my favorite veteren: my dad. He gave years in the prime of his life to serve our country, and continues to serve in his own way. I am impressed with him daily as he helps his clients live within the laws and let the laws help them live successfully. And I am grateful to him for showing us how fortunate we are to have been born in such a land. I hope he knows that I'm doing my best to appreciate all the opportunites that are mine here. Love you, my All-American dad!

Labels:

Friday, May 15, 2009

Silver Award Photo Shoot

So, those of you who are familiar with Girl Scouts will recognize the title...

A Young Woman in our ward was earning her Silver Award for Girl Scouts and decided to give a free photo shoot--complete with all the pictures on CD AND Costco muffins while you wait :). I thought it was great fun, and Jon was a very good sport considering how much he loves taking pictures... hehe...

Here's a few of my favorites:

Our Family! Lawrence had just woken up from a nap, so his expression is a little dazed, but still cute!

The Lansing Court Cousins!
And me and my sweetheart! I know, I know, corny mushiness... honestly, though, don't you wish you were this much in love :) ?

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Great Grandparents


My grandparents were visiting for my cousin's daughters' baptisms. They are the most amazing 80+ (I won't reveal their actual age) couple I've ever known! I loved that Dawna and Adele got to see them! I enjoyed showing Grandpa my garden and sharing knitting patterns with Grandma! I sure love them!

Piano Prizes

So, as many of you know, I teach piano lessons. In an attempt to get my students to practice, I give them "stars" for completing assignments or let them count up their practice minutes to earn prizes. I decided to offer a new prize: a piano bag or purse created from the free fabric we get :) My girls were particularly excited. Here's my first two Piano prize creations:

This student wanted a "teal and brown" piano music bag. She picked out the stripe pattern, and I made her this bag. I really like the way this one turned out:

This student wanted a "purple purse." Purple is a more difficult color to come by, but she found a couple pieces she liked... and then as a perk, I decided to embroider Tinkerbell. She's crazy about Tinkerbell. This was really my first time embroidering, and I think it turned out pretty good. Emily showed me how to do this very simple back stitch. I was glad they both liked their prizes!

Labels: