Mike's Graduation

This was a pretty busy week for Michael. The big event was his high school graduation. He worked extremely hard to get here. When we moved to Texas, the requirements for graduation were different than in Utah, so Michael had to take night school and lunch time classes to make up the classes required. He didn't get to have the laid back, easy classes like most seniors. It was frustrating and disheartening for him, but we persevered and pushed through to the end. He never gave up, even though there were many times he wanted to.

Besides all of his brothers and sisters and us, his dad, Frank, was there. Also, Grandma Hazel Jackson; Grandma and Grandpa Welch; Andy and Keri Welch and their 4 kids; Uncle Mark.

We cheered and yelled and clapped and cried (OK, that was just me). Mike said he almost cried when they announced, "Seniors 2007 - Graduates 2008".

After graduation, we all went out to one of our favorite places - CiCi's Pizza.

I am so proud of Michael for this great accomplishment. He is so ready to move ahead in his life to greater things. Although I am happy for the fact that he is moving into adulthood, it is hard to realize that my little baby is now a man. He set a great example for his siblings today by graduating with a high school diploma. He has great plans for the future as he looks forward to a career in the United States Navy.

Our Day at Sea World

We had a fun day at Sea World. We made sure to get wet when we could as the temperature was near 100. Mike did a behind the scenes tour and got to pet a shark, a manta ray and played a little with the dolphins. He really enjoyed that. Marshel loved the Journey to Atlantis ride. Everyone liked the Shamu show. Rachel fell at the waterpark and spent an hour with the EMT, before he sent us to the Instacare for x-rays of her shin bone. She had landed on a corner right on the shin, but it turned out to be okay and is still sore a week later, with a nice shiny bruise. Other than that, it was a good day.

But, the kicker is this video of Marshel at the Journey to Atlantis ride, waiting to get splashed. ENJOY A GOOD LAUGH...WE SURE DID!

Mike's Eagle Scout Award

Just a few words from a proud mama!

Mike received the top award in Boy Scouts of America, his Eagle Scout Award. We had a really great program, which included his dad, Frank, telling about the award; his Uncle Andy, a former Eagle Scout, awarding Mike the badge; his grandparents all had a small part as well. He had many people attend, friends and neighbors, family, even Uncle Mark came from Mexico for this great occasion.

We topped it all off with cake and root beer floats and visiting. Mike received an Eagle statue and the Trail to Eagle plaque from Grandma Hazel; and from me and Martin he received an Eagle engraved silver pocket watch.

It was a great evening.

Our Landscaping Boo Boo

Well, we had this great idea to build planter boxes behind our patio and put plants in them. We also wanted to put a frame around our trampoline and put pea gravel under there, so we wouldn't have to worry about mowing or killing the grass. Well, we had a few setbacks:

The trampoline frame went in without a hitch. I told Martin I was worried that he would hit a sprinkler pipe, but no water ever bubbled up, so I breathed a sigh of relief.

A couple of days later, we started on the planter boxes. After pounding in the 3rd or 4th rebar, we heard this really strange sound, like we had woken up an animal and they were scratching the wood. We actually had a few scary thoughts of the ants in the latest Indiana Jones movie, but those went away pretty quickly when we started seeing the bubbling water coming up. We dug that up and repaired the main sprinkler line. We decided that at least we knew now where the sprinkler lines were, so we moved in about 6 inches. As we got almost the last rebar in, guess what? Here we go again!

We dug that one up and to our amazement, the sprinkler lines were not put in straight, but at an angle. This time we got 2 of them, but got those repaired. Meanwhile, Martin mentioned that he saw a wet area by the trampoline, so we dug that up. 3rd times the charm! We got another one.

Now, we're on hold, while we decide whether to continue or not. Our backyard is starting to look like an excavation site.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Mike's Eagle Project

Mike has earned his Eagle Scout Award in the Boy Scouts. He organized and directed the building of an exhibit at the Lackland Air Force Base History Museum. He built a floor and walls, stained and lacquered them. This took about 3 full days, divided up over about a month's time. It looks great and he had fun doing it.

Happy Birthday...to Martin...to Rachel...to Marshel...to Kellee...to Mike

Martin turned 41. How old is he! No big birthday party, just cake and ice cream.

Then came Rachel, who turned 13 (officially a teenager). She and her friends made cupcakes and watched movies.

Marshel turned 6. Kellee turned 4. They had a party together, with a cool Balloon Twister who made Marshel a Motorcycle and Kellee a lifesize Cinderella.

Mike turned 18. We had our friends the Williamsons over, went to the pool, barbecued and ate cheesecake.

Soccer 2008

Marshel played soccer this year for the first time. He had a great time. Michael calls it Magnet Ball, because there's one ball and about 20 kids running around behind it all over the field. The goalies were usually sitting on the ground playing with sticks. Granted, these were 5 and 6 year old kids. It was fun to watch.