What on Earth?

Seriously, what on earth are these? These are all of the banana peels I passed on my bike ride to work this morning. They are all within 1/2 a mile of each other. Notice the different states of dessication? I think they are all from the SAME DRIVER!

And I think if I am not careful, I will end up becoming a cartoonish figure.

Post-Grad Outing.

Jenni has blogged before about Johnny's; a sushi join in Perryville, MD that is absolutely dynamite.

It was where Suzanna wanted to go after her graduation to celebrate.

Like Jenni said, we missed the Ritchies!

It was an opportunity to order the biggest collection of sushi on the menu, the Love Boat Deluxe!  The sushi is the best I've ever had, but the presentation that Johnny puts together is amazing.

Look closer at that picture; the crab is made from a carrot.  The Turtles are made from cucumbers!

Suzanna was the guest of honor, she got to kiss the turtle!

My favorite moments from the dinner were when Sam (after initially being very dubious about this whole raw fish thing!) brought his plate back for more, and when Suzanna declared her octopus was delicious.  I am so happy my kids have mature palates, and trust us when we say, "Try this. It's fried soft crab with avocado, two things you're not wild about, but together they're amazing!"

Videos of Suzanna Walking Across Stages

Suzanna is DONE with High School! Yay! Here are some terrible, low-quality, but exciting-for-us videos of the ceremonial parts!

The Magnet program she is in had a ceremony two weeks ago where each student was highlighted for their capstone project.  Jennilyn blogged about the Gallery Walk.  You can see Suzanna shaking hands with the Program Administrator here.

This is Tuesday at the Graduation.

We are very proud of her, but excited to see what she does next!

I Find Myself Strangely Nervous.

I've had half my kids graduate. This should be old hat.

But I am really wound up about Suzanna graduating tonight. This will be her roommate at BYU.  They are going to have so much fun.

I am really proud of her.  This is her at the seminary graduation Sunday night.

Have we done everything we were supposed to do? Does she know how much we love her? Does she know how amazing she is?

I will miss her so much when she goes to college, but I am so happy for her.

 

My Secret Corner Sidewalk

Some people have secret gardens.  Secret Recipes.

I have written before about my secret sidewalk corner.  We put furniture out there that we no longer want and

>POOF<

It disappears!

It's hard to see through the branches of the redbud tree, but that's the big black vinyl couch that was in our front living room out there last July.  Hottest day of the summer and it only lasted two hours.

We've dispensed with four or five different sets of shelves and dressers, a dehumidifier, a (non-working!) treadmill, chairs, couches, loveseats.

When Mrs. Landbeck says, "Time for it to go," we do not hesitate.

Last Monday was a corner day.  This photo is of some stuff I set out Saturday morning.  A bunkbed frame (with no mattresses or mattress-supports).  In the ten minutes it took Stewart and I to drive to my Dad's house and back, the bikes were gone.  Ten minutes later, a pickup pulled along our driveway to thank me for the bunkbed frame.

I put more things out Monday, the row of furniture stretching halfway down the front of our house.  Well, not really half-way, but you know, it was like thirty feet.  It started to disappear before I could get out there to take a picture!

I was dumb-founded at the things people took.  And old chair with some of the side cushioning eaten/taken away by critters (probably for a nest somewhere).  Four chairs missing their seats and backs, in partial states of re-finishing.

It was good to divest, and good to pay forward to someone else.

WARNING! Do Not Erase (Please)

OK, who remembers which kids drew this?  It was on the basement chalkboard at our house in Bailey Road.  Actually, this is the second iteration of the picture, it was drawn once, and then someone erased it, leading to gnashing of teeth and wailing of tears (hence, the warning to not erase).

Two things of note.  First of all, there was a time when Katamari Damacy was a really big deal in our house.



Second, we removed the chalkboard from the basement family room wall in our Forest Hill, MD house, moved it (drawing intact) to the garage of our Aberdeen, MD house, and it has been there for five and half years.  Yes, that's right, I pulled it out while cleaning the garage on Memorial Day.  What a treasure.

I have the best family ever.

Stewart's Leaving and Returning.

 A photo from Christmastime.  We have been very grateful for the people in Montana who have housed Stewart, and who have forwarded photos of him occasionally.

These are the two companions from Stewart's final few weeks. The apartment they were using was given over to a pair of Sister missionaries, so Stewart spent the last two weeks staying in the dorm area of the mission home.

Friday night was when Stewart was due to fly home.  Jenni loves balloons, so Stewart's return Friday night was a good reason to have some! I think Sam looks more dubious here than he actually was.  It was *really* late Friday night.

Suzanna made this AWESOME banner all by herself.  Now that I think about it, I'm not sure when she had the time, between AP tests and other school work  But thank you Suzu!

We watched people coming up the hallway for five minutes.  Every guy in a white shirt or a suit was suspect.  Finally, he emerged!

 Suzu was great, running to give him a hug.

The reflective tape glared out on a bunch of our photos of him.  But he looked great!

Saturday morning, our Stake President had us come to his house to release Stewart.  There was a very ceremonial moment when President Halsey asked Jenni to remove Stewart's nametag.  I think she might have teared up a little.

We are glad he's back!