Mr. & Mrs. Preston Weekes

On 06/07/08 our nephew, Preston Weekes, was married to Brooke Dove.
We enjoyed a wedding dinner & had fun gathering with family members at the reception.



Preston & Brooke --- the newlyweds



Clive ... unprepared for a camera flash

Jolene, Mom & I enjoy time to chat.

Mom with her four little darlings ...
Jolene, Wendy, Roger & Nancy.

Just imagine what it will be like when Dad, Sheryl, & Kim can join us for a first ever grouping of the ENTIRE family.
(The thought gives me goose bumps!)

Father's Day

Father's Day was celebrated this year with a small gathering of family.
Darren & Mars enjoyed staying at home with their own children & Kevin was off in Disneyland with Kristen's family.


Clive's gifts included a food saver from me (he's been asking for one ... really!),
a tie from Spencer,
a book from Marisa & Jonathan,
& a photo from Sheryl's family.

Spencer & Marisa are "naturals" in front of the camera. No posing or nonsense from them!

I've been thinking a lot about my own Dad today. I miss him more than I ever thought imaginable. He may have been gone for 26 years, but I think I feel closer to him now than ever. I often feel him near and look forward to the day when I may once again feel the warmth of his hand in mine. My memories are sweet and sustain me until we meet again.

32 Years!

On the 11th of June Clive & I celebrated 32 years of marriage.
Sometimes it seems like we've been married forever,
yet the time has gone by in a flash!
It has been a wonderful rollercoaster ride and worth every moment.

We enjoyed a meal at Chili's and then spent the afternoon in the temple.
Thanks, Clive, for being my knight in shining armor.
I love you!

My Home Away From Home

For the past 11 years I have spent a minimum of 17 hours a week as an employee of

Copper Hills High School.

For 8 years my job has been an EdNet Facilitator. It is my responsibility to facilitate the classroom for all the distance learning classes. We broadcast ASL classes to other high schools in the district, receive concurrent enrollment courses from USU & our newest undertaking is to receive Mandarin Chinese classes from BYU.

I take care of the technical end of the classroom (computer, projectors, cameras, etc.), handle classroom management, work with facilitators, techs, professors, schedulers, and others at the universities, Utah Education Network, & district offices, handle grades, organize files, make copies, and anything else that you can think of that may involve a classroom or technology.

I love my job and the challenges that it offers. There are never two days alike.

Working with the students is refreshing and I'm especially grateful for my co-workers.

I had planned on snapping photos of all the classes, but chaos reigned at the year-end (especially when I was called to jury duty) so I missed out on half of them.

This is the smallest of our Chinese classes. It started out larger, but some couldn't handle the challenge.

The second group of Chinese students. Notice how the subject appeals more to the guys than the girls? It is the exact opposite in our ASL classes.

Here I am with Vanessa Francis, the Chinese teacher facilitator. She is a darling young woman who has become a dear friend. She was born & raised in Taiwan.

Our classroom is located within the Media Center, so we work closely with the Media Aides. Two of them are Heliana Glad & Maurine Helm.

Lori Munson & Terri Cluff are the wonderful facilitators I get to work with. Lori has been with me for 2 1/2 years, while Terri just finished her first year. We enjoy working together and have become friends, which is an enormous bonus!

Bob Tiney is the school librarian & school computer expert. Two more Media Aides are Lydia Nagle (a former facilitator) & Carol Cole.

I Have A Garden!

I have never been much of a gardener.

I hate dirt, don't get along with heat, & am allergic to the out-of-doors in general.

Besides that, nearly everything we have planted in the past 24 years has died.

However, I LOVE fresh produce.

In the past our summer garden has consisted of a few tomato & zucchini plants stuck into a weedy patch behind our old (now deceased & buried) shed. I refused to step a foot into it.

This year, however, we decided to try our hand at

SQUARE FOOT GARDENING.

I really liked the idea of a garden that is weed-free, requires very little water, & no hoeing is necessary.

Sounds too good to be true?

Well, we'll let you know what the results are at the end of the season.

Clive built the boxes & lined them with landscape cloth.

I stomped on the peat moss to compact into just the right amount of cubic feet.

We stirred up the mixture of equal parts of peat moss, compost, & vermiculite,


then shovelled it into the wheelbarrow

and moved it to the back yard

where we filled the boxes, watered, & raked until they were filled.

Clive nailed on the grids & built the trellises & then I planted the crops ... tomatoes, 4 types of lettuce, carrots, cabbage, sweet peppers, jalapeno peppers, sweet onions, green onions, beets, radishes, bush beans, peas, zucchini, crookneck squash, baby watermelon, & pumpkin. We tried potatoes, too, but a neighborhood cat dug them up! I added a few flowers into the mix, too. The vine crops will grow on the trellises. We also planted strawberries & herbs alongside our new, improved shed.

We'll add photos of the progress of the garden as the season advances. I can't wait!

Yes, I'm Alive!

If it seems that I've dropped off the face of the earth, it is all an allusion.

Like everyone else I know, I have just been overwhelmed with the busyness of life.

During the last two weeks of May I was caught up in working extra hours to finish up the business of ending a school year, helping Marisa and Jonathan pack up to move, a ward funeral, and celebrating Clive's birthday. In addition, Clive and I worked long, hard hours preparing and planting a garden.

When June arrived I made a recommitment to exercise daily and I spent two LONG, boring days doing my civic duty on jury duty. It is an opportunity that we all need to participate in. The court system seems a little different when you are on the side of making decisions concerning people's lives. I worked on a Relief Society enrichment social, making myself a pioneer bonnet and apron to be in the spirit of the evening and prepared and taught a Relief Society lesson.

We've attended weddings, celebrated our anniversary, spent time in the temple, and enjoyed an outing with our grandsons. On top of everything, summer school has started and I work from 8-4 every Tuesday and Thursday. This week I'll be hosting our dinner group and finishing up visiting teaching to the five sisters I'm assigned to.

On top of everything, my camera isn't working. It looks like I may be making a new purchase. I'll be making new posts soon with the few photos I have been able to get.

Now ... life continues to speed along!

Book Tag

Directions:

1. Get the nearest book to you, or one you're reading that contains over 123 pages.

2. Go to the 123rd page

3. Find the 5th sentence

4. Post the 5th sentence

5. Tag five people

"If you are one of those people who wouldn't know what to have for lunch if it didn't involve a sandwich, or breakfast if it didn't include toast, this may actually be the biggest challenge for you."

(In case you can't tell, I'm reading yet one more book on becoming healthy by getting rid of all the acidic foods in my diet. No problem? Just eliminate meat, dairy, yeast breads ...)

I tag: Mel, Tara, Stephanie, Erin & Jolene