Ward Family Update

Wow! it doesn't show on the blog all of the things we have been up to lately so here's the quick update of other happening in our lives!

I totally did spring cleaning in the basement I went through every box, moved the food storage to another section cleaned up the assortment of crafts and material. Threw away bags of trash and gave away piles of old useful stuff to others. Now onto the bedrooms.

Lydia and Austin passed their swimming lessons and will start lessons on the next level when school ends

Willy and Austin finished their first aid merit badges and are working on the fitness merit badge.

Bill interviewed three times for a promotion at work. He represented himself well and all were dissapointed when he did not receive it. However.......... he will try try again. Bill never gives up. He always has been one that never stops trying. The Lord must have something else for him, like to continue teaching seminary.

We have been busy with friends, school, church and home.

The kids are all growing very fast so I thought i'd include a picture of our soon to be first grader isn't she lovely.

Senior Award Ceremony/Senior Pictures

Isn't she beautiful. I love how happy she is!

It's amazing how tied in knots your stomach can be when you are sitting in an auditorium awaiting the presentation of an award and your daughter who is to receive an award has not yet arrived. The funny thing is you know that the schedule is going to be tight but both events are very important. So as I wait for her arrival I pray that Jessica is having a wonderful time with Denise getting her senior pictures taken and praying that what ever award she is receiving is near the end of the ceremony. It's fun to try to predict which award she will receive whew not that one not the photography student of the year this year, but last year it was, so what is it? Jessy arrives happy, and energized talks to us a few minutes quietly before she heads up to sit with her peers. She receives along with about 60 of her classmates the presidential award, a special certificate and letter signed by president Obama. Jessica is in the top twenty percent of her high school class of 438 students and a GPA of higher then 3.75. She is amazing! She has worked diligently over her high school career in her academic pursuits! Great Job Jess!

By the way she also had a wonderful time having her senior portaits taken. She looks so beautiful, and her personality shines through! Thanks so much to Denise Beatty! Jessica had such a wonderful fun time running around old town having her picture taken!!! You captured her beautifully!

Mormon Prom

Some may say why a special prom for only teen that are Latter-Day-Saints. Many of our youth would not attend prom sponsored by their high schools because of the music and morals of the students of their high schools. It is also a great opportunity for the youth to have a wonderful time together in a wholesome environment. Stakes from all over our area work together to make it a wonderful event. The invitations are sent out in advance and you don't need a date to attend.

Some of the kids in our ward got together and had a nice meal and played games at Mary's prior to going to the dance. Thanks so much to the Brown's for hosting. I love it when the girls go to the dance so excited and then they come home still so excited that they can't stop talking about it!! I actually wanted them to write about it all so they could tell all the details but they haven't taken me up on the offer. I just know they had a wonderful time!! One of the things that the girls mentioned to me was that the decorations were fantastic. They also have karaoke, DDR, and other activities in other rooms of the stake center, for those that want a little break from dancing.

Making Corsages

Excitement is in the air! Researching yu-tube done! Now for the real thing!! Making corsages. They had never done it but with full confidence in their abilities Emily and Jessica give it their best shot!! They came out so beautifully one for each of them and one for a friends date!!

As they worked together making bows, and putting wires in flowers and arranging them on the wrist band, I could just picture us all working together on flowers for a bigger occasion a wedding for one of them. It was so fun to hear the laughter and the excitement about how much fun they would have at prom.

Giant Cookie

Today Lydia and Emily enjoyed making cookies together. Lydia is learning to spoon the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet. So some of the cookies are smaller and some are bigger. It was so fun to watch as she crinkles up her mouth in concentration, Oh no that isn't it it" she just has another mouth full of cookie dough she is trying to hide. They decided to make a giant cookie and Lydia claimed it as hers. She ate half of it and decided to put the other half in her lunch for tomorrow. What fun

An Evening in the Garden

We had a beautiful evening together planting our last garden box, cleaning up the yard and enjoying a fire. We have been working getting our garden boxes made and filled with our special soil, but the rain has been hindering our planting of one our boxes. So tonight it was a great day to get it going. We took the wood from our old rotted out garden area and made a fire. It was fun to sit around and chat and play. There is something about a fire that makes the evening memorable. I'm hoping that we will get a little sun soon. It has been so rainy and cloudy. On the up side it has been cooler than usual so we haven't had to use our air conditioning.

Lime Green Fingernails and a Bet

Let's see if I can get this crazy story straight. Willy had a great day he came home happy, but I could tell that something was up. He was trying to tell me about losing a bet with some girls at school. Yet he wasn't being to clear on what he had to do because he lost the bet. Come to find out that the bet was that he had to stay quiet not saying anything to any one for the entire day at school. Now for anyone this would be a difficult task, but for Willy this was even ridiculous to agree too. He said he did really well until 4Th period which is PE. He got excited about winning a game and blurted out his excitement. Wow I can't imagine him going that long without speaking. The girls he bet made it the entire day. I can't see that so I think they just took Willy for a ride. So today he came home with lovely green fingernails so so so cute. They matched his Eliphino Shirt. It's funny to see his friends get the best of him because I'm sure that most of the time he is the one that gets the better of them.

Emily Passes Road and Range

It's a big day in the life of a teenager when they finish learning to drive and they receive their licence. Well today was that day for Emily. She completed the Road and Range course. She is so happy. She can now drive without an adult in the car. She now has her paper licence and in a couple of months she will receive her licence from the judge. Wow another child to run errands. However not an extra car for her to drive. Congratulations Emily!!!!

I'm so proupd of how she was so particular about the practice hours that she had to have. I was getting tired of driving so many hours but she held the course and drove every minute of the 45 hours she had to drive with an adult in order to get her licence. She is a great driver very careful!

A Lunch Date and Flowers

Bill took me to a great restaurant Charlie Chaings for an early Mother Day brunch today! I ordered a chicken and fresh pineapple dish. and it came served in the pineapple. Besides being beautiful it tasted great. I had a great time with Bill talking about the adventures of camping with the boys. I still love how comfortable Bill and I are together and that we can still chat about everything and nothing, and yet it still feels good to have complete silence without awkwardness. I am grateful that he is the one that is the father of our children and because of him I am a mother. As he took me for lunch for mothers day I honor the man who accepts me for all my faults and helps me be the best mother I can be for our children.



When we returned from lunch the kids had gone out and each had bought flowers and a balloon for me for mothers day! so cute Lydia's colorful bouquet on the table Jessica's Easter Lilly bouquet on the entry table Emily's bouquet of Asian Lilly's on the coffee table, Austin's Yellow and red stripped tulips in the bedroom, and Willy's balloon in the family Room. What a lovely bunch of Flowers, and what a lovely bunch of kids. Indeed I am blessed!

Father and Sons

I love to hear about the adventures of boys. They are so full of crazy antics and jokes. I'm not that great at summarizing what I have been told or not exaggerating the parts that were best but here is my attempt at what happened at father and sons. The best part for me is that they came home happy.

Bill said that it was the best one with the best weather that he can remember. Austin had fun following around Ashton and when told how to cross the creek by a much younger Ashton, Austin fell in the creek and became totally soaked. Willy had a good time hanging out with Brother Gregory and the Ojo boys. The story goes that this group of boys loved Bill and kept asking him to tell more jokes until Bill didn't have any more to tell. (That must have been a million he always has a good one) Bill went on and on about what a great fireside that the priests had prepared. The young men and our two soon to go missionaries shared their testimonies about missionary work and about their conversion and helping others to find the gospel. They are amazing young men. One young man who has been a member for a couple of years talked about how he shared the gospel with his friend and was recently able to baptize him. Both are the only members in their families. I know that the spirit was felt because I felt it as Bill was telling me. I'm sure it was a great way to end the evening.

Austin and Willy slept around the campfire with Brother Parker. Bill tried to sleep in the tent, but found the ground rather hard to sleep on.

The boys all agreed it was the best ever. So glad!!

Dresses and Dinner

I enjoyed being with the girls today. There was no school, so during the day we went dress shopping together to get Emily a prom dress and a new Sunday dress. She is going to Mormon Prom with some friends in a couple of weeks and can't wait. The pictures are of the Sunday dress stay tuned for picture of the prom dresses on prom night.

Lydia thought all the dresses were beautiful and wanted Emily to try on all of them. It has been difficult to find dresses for Emily but we found the Dress Barn. The minute she walked in she found some she liked. She probably tried on 20 or more. We had such a fun time. Jessica has already found her a dress for the dance, but found a skirt for college! So glad we found something for both of them. We went to dinner together at Applebees. Jessica, Lydia and Emily are great company. I'm so glad to be their mom.

All City Band Concert

It's time to shine with the Biggest Band concert of the year. All of the city schools that have bands have a concert together. It's great because it gives us moms hope who have 5th graders and it shows the mothers of seniors how much progress the kids will make or have made from 5th grade to high school. The fifth graders start the program followed by sixth, 7th and 8th combined and then the high school concert band. Then just for fun they had the drum line from the marching band play. It's great to hear the upward improvement over the years. It brought back memories from when I played in the band for all those years. Mom and Dad thanks for going to all those concerts. (even when you didn't want to)

It was hard to get great pictures , but imagine close to 300 students with their instruments on the floor of the high school gym. the concert was an hour and twenty minutes. The last number all the bands played together "We Will Rock You" It was loud but awesome.

Learning to Swim is Awesome

Austin and Lydia have one more week of swimming lessons. They have both improved. I talked to Austin's teacher and he will be going into the swim 3 class. He has been improving on the craw stroke, back stroke and side stroke. Lydia has been improving in putting her head underwater, full leg kicking and back float. Her favorite part is jumping into the pool to her teacher. She is not as timid about the water getting in her eyes and ears. She will be going to level one next session.