Graduation Day!

She did it!

We were pretty proud of our girl. She got to sit on the podium as one of the top twenty in her class (of 418). They didn't tell her her exact ranking, but they lined her up near the front of the line if that means anything.

We were glad Grandma and Grandpa got to come up. Then they were off to Texas for the next one.

Tamsyn's cousin Markee also graduated. Here's the whole gang and the two grads.

The annual breakfast bash

Since Jeff was made a bishop a few weeks ago, we decided to invite the whole ward to our annual Memorial Day breakfast. We figure we fed about 120-30. 

Call us crazy, maybe. But as long as the weather cooperates, and we can put people outside it's not too hard.

We had people bring more stuff this year, too, drinks, egg dishes, meats. It was a good spread.

Here's our cute little neighbor, Olivia.

Some more cute neighbros, Jocelyn and Taylor

And our cute Bishop, relaxing after a morning of flipping pancakes.

A few pictures from the latest "Brendon, Taylor & Michael" shoot.

Hang In There

When I was a little girl I had a poster of a kitten hanging by its paws from a tree limb. The sign read "Hang in there". That's what I thought of the other day when I heard Jack crying outside and calling for help. This is what he looked like. He climbed on the step stool to get up there but then couldn't get down.

He looks a little worried. . .

Grabbed a few shots of michael when they were here last Sunday.  He is such a cutie.

Okay, here's one for me.  Merrill said I had to take his picture as he was performing surgery on the two trees in front of our house because next year he doesn't think he will try it again.  I looked away for a minute, heard a scream and a thud, and quickly turned around to see an object flying through the air  At first I thought it was my dear husband but relief settled in as I realized it was only the trimmer.  It survived the fall so I tied it to the end of the cord and hauled it back to him.  No, I don't think he will be doing it again next year.  (Anybody want to chop those trees down?)

Isle of Skye

 At the recommendation of a friend we headed up to the Isle of Skye to spend a few days. He assured us that is where the typical Scotland scenery is. It was a long drive and took us two days with stopping to get there but he was right, it was beautiful. We stayed at this hotel in a cottage.

 This was the beach we could walk to from our hotel.

 It was really cold but we lucked out on the weather. It only rained on our very last day and we were driving the whole day anyway.

 Another castle. It had quite the view but I can't imagine living up on this cliff with the cold wind blowing like it does. They must have been and are very hardy people to live there.

 A picture of the "crofting" farms. Can you see how the land is divided? The people who lived on these plots worked the farms but did not own the land. After paying rent to the wealthy landowners the people who worked the farms barely had enough to feed their own families. The people who currently own the farms are required to work them or lose them.

 The water was so blue. Look at how it swirls at the base of this cliff.

 This is the cute cottage we stayed in. It was once lived in by a woman who saved the life of the Bonnie Prince Charlie who, with his Jacobean followers, tried to reclaim the throne by rebelling against the king of England.

There were lots of sheep on this island. We wondered if there were more sheep or people on the island.

The Highlands

Highland Cattle

Glenco-the mountains and valley were formed millions of  years ago by volcano and glacier 

Another Castle-Several movies were filmed here, including Bravehart



The last family to live in this hut had 13 kids and they all shared a room. The parents had the other room.



National Junior Honor Society inductee

Two nights ago, we attended Amanda's inductee ceremony to NJHS.  Doesn't she look beautiful?
As a side note, I failed to mention in an earlier post that Amanda and Kristin made the baseball cake, not Kristin and Rachel.  I stand corrected.

Brothers

We enjoyed Derek's brief visit. He helped out on all kinds of home improvement projects. He even helped out on an Eagle project.

Cake Decorating - Kristin and Rachel

Kristin and Rachel enrolled in a series of cake decorating classes. I don't know who had more fun, Rachel and Kristin decorating the cakes, or Jared eating them.

The flowers look real and are edible, though not very appetizing.  Even by Jared's standards!

Stirling Castle



Damsel in distress



Knight in shining armor



 There seems to be an endless number of castles in Scotland. We saw a few of them. This one was built by King James the IV. . . and V. . . .oh, and VI.

 I liked this castle for the beautiful view of the cute town of Stirling. I couldn't help but wonder if any of our ancestors knew this area.

Loch Ness

The lock at Loch Ness. We watched a few boats come down through the locks that were built in the 1800s.



As dreary as the pictures of Loch Ness always look, I thought it was a beautiful lake.





Chris looking for Nessie.




Oh! I see Nessie!






We wandered down this path on our walk to find something to eat. At the end of the path is an amazing little restaurant where we ate one of the best meals of our trip. Fish and chips and steak pie.









At the restaurant-the view was amazing, overlooking Loch Ness




Our rental car drew attention from young and old.