Memorial Memories=0)

Drake, Lee, Adree, and Cara gazing at the ceiling in the visitor's center at the S.L.C. temple
Adree, Ainsley, Drake, and Seth in front of the Rhinos (the back of them anyway!=0)
Lee and I , zoo style!=0)
Adree and the camels (over her shoulder)
A couple of worn out boys in the car on the way home=0)



So, a good call was made on the Lambsfold front and we decided to take a few days off and go visit my sissy and her family in Utah county. It was lovely! Not only did we enjoy getting to go and spend time with our family, we also enjoyed a significant drop in temperature! You know, that was almost worth it right there! Just kidding! I had to work until just after noon on Saturday and much to my surprise, Lee got a wild hair and cleaned out his "work" vehicle (his Trail Blazer, with climate control, leather, XM satellite radio, and a whole lot more room than my silly PT Cruiser) and had it almost all packed by the time I got home. Just having a better vehicle to travel in made the trip go by so much faster!=0) We arrived at my sister's in Saratoga Springs (out in the middle of fields and green and a much more appealing to the eye view than an endless sea of red rock and sand, or so I think anyway!) at about eight.=0)
On Sunday Morning the kids entertained themselves and everyone got ready at a leisurely pace, so we could attend Sacrament meeting at 1 and then took a short trip to Salt Lake to Temple Square. The kids loved the visitor center with the Christus, especially Drake who loved the painting of the galaxy on the walls and the ceiling! After we got back we had a barbecue with turkey burgers (chicken breast for Lee) and our cousin Michael Lebbon came over from Provo with a couple of friends. We had a good time visiting with him and catching up on everyone in his family and ours.
Monday we gathered up all the kids and a small picnic and trekked back to Salt Lake to visit Hogle Zoo. Apparently, everyone else had the same idea as us because it was packed and parking was at a premium! Despite being quite crowded, the kids (and the adults too) enjoyed looking at the map and seeing where they wanted to go next! We pretty much let the kids lead us around to the various exhibits. =0) It was really fun!=0) Lee treated the whole gang to a Chinese buffet in American Fork that evening. Afterwords, Cara and I took a quick shopping trip to Ross while the guys looked around in Best Buy. =0)
Yesterday, we said our goodbye's and took our time going home making a couple of stops along the way. I think that's the way to travel, give yourself plenty of to get home and stop when you feel like it! Thank you Sissy, for letting us invade your home and spend some time with your family!=0) What a way to make some Memorial Memories!=0)

Now we're off to bigger things, like first grade=0)

Seth, our newest graduate...
Seth with his teacher Mrs. Lee
Patiently waiting, sort of...


Along with about a thousand other things that somehow mashed themselves all in one day yesterday, was Seth's Kindergarten graduation.=0) The Kindergarten teachers put together a program for the parents, including songs, dances, and a little sign language. All of which in both English and Spanish. I was actually amazed that at the beginning of the program they had a couple of the students reading their introductions and the little girl who read the Spanish portion was not an "English as a second language" student!=0) Amazing that they can take these little ones in a dual immersion program and teach them all their language and math skills in both languages and the students become adept at all of it in both languages.=0)
The program was adorable, all be it a tad too long, but what amazed me most was the actions of some of the parents in attendance. There were parents there with balloons and flowers and leis and all members of their extended families in attendance. I bought my kid a new shirt on clearance ($4) because he was supposed to have on a white shirt and he didn't have one and I showed up and clapped and took pictures. Hmmm, apparently I missed the memo, because I thought that was the point! I understand little ceremonies like this are really fun, but there is a time when things get really blown out of proportion. Come on you're crying and carrying on because you weren't sure if your kid was going to be able to graduate? Isn't the whole point in Kindergarten to learn your ABC's, 123's, learn to read, stand in line, cut and paste, and color in the lines? Really, give me a break!
So, it seems these Kindergarten graduates are off and ready for new things...like the real world, dorms and room-mates, first jobs and heart breaks, or maybe they're just off to the first grade! =0) Yes, with more reading, math, standing in line...etc.=0)

Vincent VanGough, perhaps not...

I love looking at the simplistic images from the mind's eye of our children.=0) Capturing the shear innocence and wonder that only come with youth. When you are young you wish more than anything to grow up and be able to make all your dreams come to life. When you finally get there you spend the rest of your life trying to recapture some of that simplicity and wish that you had spent more time dreaming.=0) Star-gazing as shooting stars streak the sky remind me of spending time with a friend of mine in Oak City, Utah. It was during the summer and she lived amongst the countryside and the stars seemed endless. We watched several shooting stars cross the sky and I remember thinking of the reason for our existence in this realm. Adree, thank you for your imagination and artistic ability and for capturing your innocence, if just for a moment.=0)

Must be the end of the year...

Adree mugging for the camera
Adree and her classmates singing for their parents
Waiting for the show to begin


The third graders of Dixie Downs Elementary took the opportunity to entertain their parents on Monday with a lot of singing and some dancing too!=0) You can always tell when it's the end of the year, because you get to be entertained by the youngsters! This was fun! So many schools now a days don't have the emphasis on music education...which makes me glad that my kid's school still does! They sang in both English and Spanish and Adree's class danced as well. Adree being very " not shy" was loving it and was able to really ham it up! I'm so glad I had the day off and was able to witness fun first hand!

"Mother, I love you..."

Here's an old school pic of Mom, Me (on her lap), and Cara (in stroller)


As I have been thinking about the impending holiday that seems to be upon us, I have had Primary song lyrics from my childhood rolling through my mind... "Mother, I love you...Mother I do...Father in Heaven has sent me to you...When I am near you...I love to hear you...Whisper so softly that you love me too...Mother, I love you, I love you I do"
I haven't the words to express how much I love and appreciate my Mother! All I know is, being a Mother myself, is the love and sacrifice you made for us and how I would do the same for my children in a heart beat! Mom, you are the best! Always there for me when I need anything, even if it's just a listening ear. Always happy (almost!) and in good spirits. You are my role model and my guide, if I turn into my Mother...you know, that's okay! She's a great lady! I love you Mom, I really do!

Nifty, nifty looks who's...=0)

Here's a handsome guy!=0) and Puppy too!
Here's a younger, still handsome guy!!=0)


Okay, out of respect( for the elderly! j/k!) I will resist the temptation to finish the rest of that rhyme...still, my silly man Lee has a birthday today! Born in Michigan, Lee is the youngest of six kids, where he spent his happy times on his Grandmother's ranch in Northern Michigan. They spent their time snowmobiling, sledding, water skiing in the summer and camping out under the stars. I'm just going to mention the happy times in his youth. Being the victim of alcoholic parents, spending time with his Grandmother and learning a love of music, are what he remembers as happy.
He played drums in a band as a youth, joined the Airforce for a stint, and attended the University of Michigan before rescuing a stranded girl in a very bad part of Detroit. Thus, gaining the opportunity to become a magician/illusionist in Vegas. The girl he rescued happened to have a Dad with connections (not sure what) with Caesar's Palace, after mentioning he wanted to move west, Lee took a stage name and performed as an illusionist in Caesar's Palace. This led to taking a tumble off stage (do to negligence) and breaking most of his ribs, his arm, hand, his sternum, collar bone, and more I'm sure! The casino bought him a house in St. George, because he was dating a girl from Cedar at the time, to recuperate.
After a long healing process and many classes completed at Dixie, Lee went on to tour for several years with the band "Dirty Puppet". They opened for the "Ramones and the Romantics, Huey Lewis and the News" and probably would have made it to the big time if their lead singer hadn't O.D.ed!
During this time, when he wasn't touring, he was able to complete his bachelors in business and after the band he owned a detail shop, gas station, and a topper store (for pick-up trucks). He invested money into the stock market and took an interest in a pharmaceutical company with a revolutionary product, "Abreva". You know, for cold sores? Anyway, he helped push it through approval with the FDA and befriended the inventor and was ultimately responsible for bringing it to market!
He has since, toured with a reggae band, became an Audio Engineer, and owned multiple rental properties in the St. George area. He now has a DJ business (Weddingpartydjs.com) and just started a computer repair business (ABC Rent-a-Geek). Between these and helping to raise three ankle biters, he is a very busy man! I asked him once how many lives he had lived! He's done so much in his life, it makes the most motivated person look lazy!=0) I love you Babycakes! Happy Birthday from all the crazies here in the Lambsfold!=0)

That's two outta three...

Drake sporting his new specs
Seth sporting a new pair (still red of course!)


So, there seems to be a trend in Lambsfold and I think you can guess by the pics so far...=0) Well, good vision doesn't seem to come by us naturally..except Adree that is! We took all three of the kiddos to Dr. Miller the eye doctor last year and discovered somethings, Adree is lucky enough to have 20/20 vision, Drake was slightly near-sighted, and Seth is far sighted with a significant astigmatism. Apparently, the kids with the "bad vision" don't even have the same kind of "bad vision." Who knew? Anyway, Seth was due for a yearly eye exam and I decided to take Drake as well on a hunch and this is the result... For whatever the reason Drake's slight nearsightedness has turned into quite nearsightedness!=0) Seth's astigmatism has mostly corrected itself and with a slightly stronger prescription has 20/20 vision, instead of 20/30. When Seth got glasses last year (at 5) I was becoming concerned, he had attended preschool for about a year at this time and was still having trouble with his numbers and ABC's. The glasses made all the difference! In just a years time he is at the top of class and loves to read in both English and Spanish! Now Drake, well, he has had a few problems this year and has focus issues as well as he didn't turn any school work in for like a month...(thank you to his teacher for bringing that to my attention so soon...) Anyway, I noticed on his school work, anything that had to do with something written on the board was left blank. His teacher informed me that he had moved Drake to back of the class and making that eye appointment got me wondering how much his eyes were becoming an issue. So, Drake got his new glasses last week and the comments I've heard are, "I didn't know that some things were up on the wall" (in his classroom) and "The mountains have so much color!" and of course, "I didn't know that the mountains had all those lines on them!" Indeed!=0) My Dad reminded me today that he knew a little girl who didn't know there were trees across the street and couldn't see all the leaves on them until she got glasses herself. Hmmm, I wonder who that was?=0) Well, two outta three are glasses wearers and actually, 4 out of the 5 characters in the Lambsfold are too.=0)