Blue Ridge Mountains

Emil doesn't let his belaying duties stress him out or the fact that he will be turning 38 on Sunday!!!

The past three days we have been camping at Sherando Lake in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was so beautiful. The weather was amazing for July! Slightly overcast and low 80's! So the reason we were there was to belay some scouts from the stake on Tuesday. Kirstin, Emil and myself belayed along with two of their leaders. There were around 16 scouts. Mostly older.

Of course Kirstin could not stand having all the boys climbing and her not strut her stuff so she got on the rock a couple of times too. I was content to let them have fun and just belay.

It's amazing how many pictures I get left out of because I'm the one taking pics.

Can I just say that the I had such a kink in my neck from looking up!

Our good friends the Bradys met up with us and camped with us. It was soooo good to hang out with them. They've been in Morocco for the past couple of years and now are moving to Oregon.

Here is Lori with her daughter Erin.

Kirstin and Erin found that they had a good deal in common.

Ryan is the same age as Noah and they both had a good time playing Star Wars together.

Nate was so cute! A bit mischievous but what 6 year old boy isn't?

And poor Kent! I kept calling him Ryan. He's 12?Almost 12? Somewhere around there.

On Wednesday we hiked Humpback rock which is a short, intense hike with a spectacular view.

Emil Michael loves to stand on the very edge and freak me out!

I loved the way the cloud was rolling across the valley.

Emil decided to try some bouldering.

Then express his awesomeness in his own special way.

It's his birthday week so I just let him be.

Marigolds, Blueberries and Roller Skates

In March Kai's class did a plant unit and he brought home a tiny marigold plant that we planted in the front flower patch. It's grown wonderfully and every time I see it I'm reminded of when we planted it together.

Our little blueberry bush has been producing berries for the past few weeks and though we don't average very many, just a handful a day, I've been really enjoying having fresh berries on my cereal in the morning.

This past week I took Kirstin and Noah skating with some friends of mine. We had a great time and memories of my middle school roller-skating days came to mind.

Noah and Kirstin actually did quite well.

Kirstin and Olivia Resto

Brady Cahill, Noah and Solomon Pennington

Me, Shelly Sweeney, Tina Pennington and Kari Cahill

This next week we are going camping and helping the stake do some rock climbing on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I'll post when I return!

Life's a Beach... well I wish it was...

This past week while Emil and Emil M. were at scout camp we went to the beach and stayed with my good friend Tina Pennington and 2 of her children, Solomon and Gabby, at their beach cottage. Tina and I have been friends since we did PTA together about 8 years ago. I love her to death and it was so nice to just relax and talk. It did me a lot of good.

Tina and Gabby.

Gabby was so excited to have Kirstin to play with on Tuesday. Gabby will be turning 7 soon and is such a cutie.

The great thing about going to the beach is that there are always tons of kids to play with. This is Noah another boy and Solomon. They played all day with this boy. Solomon is in constant motion and was very hard to get a picture of. Solomon has a heart condition and is a modern miracle. He is one of the reasons we decided to donate some of Kai's organs including his heart valves.

Solomon's back and Noah

Solomon in the middle directing sand hole construction. We went to Busch Gardens on Thursday again and Kirstin brought a friend but we couldn't find anyone that could come for Noah so he and I hung out all day and rode the train, saw a pet show and got soaked on the log flume ride.

Our good friends, the Cahill's, are back home again after a 1 year hiatus in Maryland. We are excited about having them back in the neighborhood. Kari and I had fun picking out paint for their home office.

The next two weeks are without events and that is really exciting to me. I miss the down time.

Published

At the end of the school year the High School published a book of poems and pictures. Two of Emil Michael's poems were chosen. Here they are. The first one is a sonnet.

Forest

Tamarack pines in a forest of snow

Silence eternal, a winter so long

Snowflakes fall lazily, drifting so low

This forest never hears any bird's song

Slowly a leopard slips around a tree

Forest spirit, personified in thee.

Silent and beautiful, dangerous still

Stalking its prey, preparing for a kill.

Silence shatters, human steps scare the prey

Cheated, angry, the leopard slinks away.

Loud and disruptive, the humans pass through

Tarnishing the sweet, soft, unblemished snow.

Time passes, snow leopard spirit gone hence,

Snow and tamarack pines rules the silence.

Save Your Fork; There's More

Can you imagine

Dying

And never knowing more?

To fall into the void, the dark

And simply cease to exist

To feel it closing about you

And just stop being.....aware?

What do you have to look forward to, then?

18 short years of freedom

Work for every day of fifty long years

Waste away your twilight days

Waiting for a final rest....

No.

There is something more. The is

More to this life than the coldness of science

The dismissal of gods, of continuing.

There is a scale that must be weighted

For our life, and what we did.

After this life, a chance to reforge yourself

To start anew in another place

To remember each time our previous lives

And go back, proclaiming,

"This time I'll do better."

And through this process, maybe eventually become gods ourselves...

If you don't agree, think of it this way -

You will go where you want to after you die.

The Christians will go to their god

And the Muslims to theirs, and the Mormons to theirs

The atheist to the void, and the reincarnationist to wherever the heck they're going

And I will continue on, beyond this life

And should we meet then

In that place without a name

And should we meet again...

I'll tell you then what I tell you now

Best of luck to you

And wherever you're going

I hope you do better.

So I made it through another year of Girls Camp. It was actually pretty fun. The past couple of times that I've gone has been on a stake level and that is definitely the way to go. Wal-mart runs for water and ice are a perk and if you just happen to stop by Wendy's for a frosty while you're out so be it. We were so very busy that I didn't take any pictures while I was there. Thankfully one night I got one of the girls to snap some shots for me. These were taken when we had a PJ party and had all the girls rag tie each others hair. It was so cute! They were all in a big square tying the hair of the girl in front of them. In the back of the picture to the left you can see the tent I slept in with 4 other women. It had a shower attached. Pretty fancy!

This week Emil and Emil M. are gone for Scout Camp so it's just Kirstin, Noah and Me.

I did lots of cleaning today plus laundry. Tomorrow we are headed off to the beach to stay the night with Tina at her beach house. It should be fun. I'm looking forward to a couple of days in the sand.

We might try to go to Busch Gardens this week if I can get Shelly to come along. (It's so much nicer with another adult to walk around with.) Staying busy with Emil gone makes the time go by faster.

Obedience class is going well. I think we have Noah almost trained! He decided to hang out with Blaze in her bedroom one day so I got some picks of him in there. He's a nut!

There's just something about a garden that I love.

Ours has been thriving lately with lots of rain.

We've gotten lots of zuccuni and yellow squash lately. Lettuce and spinach are in too. We have tomatoes but they're still green. We'll have to wait another couple of weeks for them.

Last week was very moderate with temps in the 70's, overcast and windy. We went to the clubhouse several nights with Blaze to chase and play in the sand. Watching her dig and play tag with Noah is better entertainment than you'll find on TV. It was actually quite nice as summer can be so miserable here without a pool but Donna lets us use hers so often that we are saved.

We went camping this weekend down to Ocracoke. It was very hot yesterday. 95 degrees. Emil M. got some sunburn. We did apply sunblock but only once and not to the tops of his feet or shins. (Who knew?) He was a bit of a baby about it but today he's much better. At least this year he's letting me put sunblock on him! He always has fun building sandcastles and Blaze decided he needed some help from her.

Kirstin went surfing a bit but said I made her nervous taking pictures.

She is really doing a good job and if she hangs in there and goes more often with her Dad I think she could be a decent surfer but who knows.

Noah had a good time boogie boarding and building sand castles too.

He loves these googles. I don't know how they can be comfortable, they totally squish his ears on the side. He likes that they keep him from getting water in his nose.

This week he has Cub Scout Day Camp and the youth have a temple trip on Tuesday that both Emil and I will be attending with Kirstin and Emil M. It will be a busy next couple of weeks so hopefully I'll find some time to post something. Enjoy summer!

The Dog Days of Summer

Well maybe just the day of the dog!

Poor Cinni!!! I promise, no animals were injured in this photo shoot.

Cinni says "PETA help me!"

I did have a videp clip but couldn't get it to upload. I think it was too big. Blaze had lots of fun pawing Cinni and walking over top of him. She also liked herding Cinni.

So we made it through last week with all the award ceremonies. Noah and Kirstin both made A/B honor roll and Kirstin got the Assistant Principal's Award for just being all around awesome! Actually Emil went to that ceremony while I was at Noah's so I'm not exactly sure why she got the award. Probably over all excellence or something of that nature. When I asked her why she said it was because she opened the door for him every day when his leg was broken.

Noah had a great time posing for pictures. This is pretty much how he looks in every picture he knows I'm taking.

Every single time he went up there for a award he stuck out his tongue. Right now his life's greatest aspiration is to become the class clown. Emil and I have decided to just ride this one out.

I was soon on to his game and got the shot before the tongue came out but kept one to document his silliness when he is older.

Kai's gravestone was placed last Thursday. We were pleased with the way it turned out and it's nice to have a place to put flowers.

I don't know what to say when people ask me how I am doing. All things considered, I'm good,

but I'll never be the same person I was before which may not be a bad thing. I think losing Kai has given me a understanding I didn't have before. I was reading over the April conference talks the other day and read one called Faith in Adversity by Elder Raphel Pino. (http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1032-14,00.html ) if you want to read the entire article

There were many insights in it but the one that really resonated with me was this one. "At times we mourn, but we do not mourn as those without hope."

I have found some of the most comforting insights into this experience while studying about Adversity. I never would have guessed that learning more about adversity would give me comfort but it has. I am so very grateful to have the teachings and words of the prophets and apostles. What a great wealth of experience, compassion and insight they offer. How very fortunate we are to have the gospel. In the end it has made all the difference.