There are certain events in a person's life that causes stress.  Any one of them in a year can be hard.  Let's take a look at the past year.

• June 2011 - Chaperoned a 2 week trip to Germany and Austria with 30+ teenagers
• July 2011 - found a house to buy even though we weren't in the market to buy.
• August 2011 - prepare home to sell
• September 2011 - close on new home prior to selling old home
• October 2011- traveled to Utah to watch Marty run the St. George Marathon - finally received an offer on old home and closed 15 days later
• November 2011 - non-eventful Christmas preparation plus Madrigal preparation
• December 2012 - Birthday, start a new job, Marty has a stroke
• January 2012 - Living with the reality of a stroke
• February 2012 - College visits plus extensive rehab for Marty
• March 2012 - Settling into reality while returning back to work
• April - Relatively quiet month - phew! Took a trip to Kansas City plus made/altered 2 prom dresses.
• May - Broken arm, graduation, family visits, septic pump failure (=backyard full of sewer the weekend of graduation)

I'm sure I've missed a few things in here, but these are the highlights my brain can remember at this time.  Here's to hoping the next year brings much more joy than the last year.  


In the next year we know we have:

• Addyson off to college
• 20 year wedding anniversary
• Fabulous yet to be planned trip to celebrate anniversary
• Lots of love
• Lots of laughter
• Lots of prayers
• Hopefully few tears
• Lots of the Savior's love.

I'm just a little behind on blog posts. Prom was April 21 (exactly one month ago) and I am just now getting pictures up. Bad, bad mama!  Addyson went to her senior prom at Bentonville High School with her good friend Connor Cude.  Jessica went with her friend Blake Bartlett to his junior prom at Fayetteville High School.  They both had a very enjoyable time.  They looked like princesses.  After seeing so many girls wearing little more than lingerie, I am grateful for the standards set forth by our church to encourage the girls to dress more modestly.  They looked sophisticated and refined.


Jessica's group when out for pizza and bowling before prom (in their tuxes and dresses) and then road go-carts after prom (minus the tuxes and dresses).  She had a very enjoyable time.


Addyson's group only did dinner and pictures before prom but then attended the school sponsored afterprom party at Fastlanes.  After- afterprom, the entire group went to Connors house to watch movies. 


It is important to me to have a parent up for the girls when they come home.  With two very different schedules, there were two very different curfews.  Jessica had a 1:00 curfew, Addyson had a 5:00 curfew.  I set an alarm to go off at 12:45 and 4:45.  Boy was I one tired mama in the morning.


OK - enough words, let the pictures begin.

Saturday night our family split up into different directions.  Jessica & Rylee went with their uncle, nana and papa to the movie.  Addyson, Marty, granny and grandad all went out to Andy's for frozen custard.  It was an enjoyable evening by all.


As we were coming back in the house, Marty froze and said "what's that?"  "What's what?"  "All those lights"  "What lights?"  "little flashes of lights".  "Oh, lightening bugs"


If you have never seen lightening bugs, they are very cool. I wish I could have taken a pictures because there were hundreds. Marty wanted to know why they do that.  He tried to catch some, but we couldn't get them.

If we had, they'd looked like this.







So, what causes ligtning bugs to light up?  I don't really understand, but I'm thankful that Heavenly Father puts such beautiful, unique creatures on earth for our pleasure and enjoyment.