Narcy is going to live

Savannah's car will be repaired.  The body shop worked to find a better deal on the parts to bring the price down so that the insurance would pay.

Woohoo!!! Now, how long?

Update Post Script

Another trip to the body shop today revealed some possibly bad news.  By state law Savannah's car may have to be declared a total loss.  Grr.

So when life keeps smacking you around, pray a lot, and play a little. Savannah, Wyatt and I finally made good on using our zoo pass which I purchased over a month ago because they have new penguins.  We checked them out, and the bears were very active and fun, and so were the gorillas.

The beauty of a pass is that it pays for itself in two or three visits, but we will go way more often than that because I don't feel like I have to see the whole zoo every time I go which means if I only have an hour, it's worth the trip.

Update

Dad has been released from the hospital. Your prayers are appreciated.

In other news the ball is rolling on getting Savannah's car fixed. It may take a couple of weeks, but she will get her freedom back sometime this summer.

Congratulations, Austin!

My nephew graduated from high school yesterday!  He had over 300 students in his class, and it was the fastest graduation I have ever attended... just over one hour.  There were two speeches that were about 3 minutes each.  The principal said that he would like to tell everyone to be quiet, but he knows that does not work, so he told everyone to just go ahead and celebrate, and people didn't carry on like their graduate just won a national championship in some sport.  We did have some great people watching though.  Some of the graduates got up and moved during the ceremony to sit with and talk to friends. People walked over and talked to their graduates and snapped pictures.  People chatted through the whole thing.  It was interesting, but it was okay too.  They made sure every name was heard.  

the two graduates

the original four cousins in birth order

trying to get a smile...if it's going to happen, Jonathan can do it

I am not. I repeat- I am not shorter than Savannah.  Her heels are higher, and we were standing on a ramp.  

proud momma

How do you get a smile from this guy?  You tell him that you will not stop taking pictures until he smiles, and you keep snapping.

Hanging out after graduation at a great, local seafood restaurant.  It's a must if you are ever visiting our town.  It's only open in the summer. 

In spite of Dad's trip to the hospital, I think we had an enjoyable day and honored Austin appropriately.  The truth is, he did not want to participate in his graduation.  His mom made him, and he stayed up until 5:00a.m. the night before.  Teenage boys - shaking my head.

His brother graduates from the same school next year ---looking forward to more people watching, and Tiffany is taking a cow bell.  Wow, just wow!

Happy Birthday, Julia!

Julia turned twelve today.  In honor of her birthday, I will share some fun facts about this girl.

• She gives her all to whatever she pursues- whether sports, academics, or the arts.
• In her spare time, she uses an app to design houses and loves virtually exploring houses on the market.  I could add that she also spends a lot of time watching gymnastics videos. She will love the upcoming Olympics, and she spends more time than I care to admit watching the train wreck that is Dance Moms, and she believes it is real.
• If you take her shopping, you will spend more time and money than you intend.
• Her laugh is totally contagious.
• Julia has no filter and keeps few secrets, so be careful what you tell her.

How she spent her birthday:

Julia started the day with swim practice, followed by dive practice.  She returned home briefly before her tumbling class.  She left her tumbling class a tad early to see her cousin graduate from high school, more to come on that, but that is another post.

Julia has learned to braid her hair, and does all kinds of fun stuff with it.

After the graduation and dinner out with the family, Julia enjoyed her favorite dessert (fudge) and opened her gift from the family.  We could not gather the whole family because of the graduation, so we plan to do that next week.  Our original plan was just to celebrate a day late, but several family members could not make it.  As it turns out, that's a good thing because my dad is back in the hospital.  He was admitted just prior to Austin's graduation and will likely spend a few days there.  There are better ways to pick up women, but I have not convinced him of that yet - joking aside, he could really use some prayers.  It seems we are right back where we started six weeks ago.  I sure hope that his health improves and that he does not have another heart attack.

After our mini-celebration at home, we went shopping.  I am determined to find a pair of comfortable and affordable Chacos.  My grandma always said, "you can buy cheap clothes, but whatever you do, buy good shoes."  She had lifelong problems with her feet and was always, always trying to find a shoe that did not hurt her. She blamed her issues on growing up in the depression and buying shoes that were too big and wearing them until they were too small.  My feet always hurt, and I really don't like wearing tennis shoes all summer.  I found comfortable Chacos, but the price tag is daunting, so I am trying a cheaper pair.  If they don't work, I will bite the bullet and get the more expensive pair because I know that they will last, and I will get every penny out of them.  Our shopping trip did not turn up the shoes, but Julia had fun looking at adult coloring books and wallets - two things still on her wish list.

She was very happy with her new purse and the Wallflower from Bath and Body Works for her room.  Julia is a boho girl who should have been 12 in 1975.  Her style is all 70's.  The only purse she would have liked more than the one she got would be one with fringe, lots of fringe.  Julia has been eying purses for months, and she found this great little purse at TJ Maxx.  You know how it is at TJ Maxx, you have to buy what you want on the spot because it won't likely be there when you return, so we had a conversation about it.  I asked if I could just get that for her and wrap it up and give it to her on her birthday.  Julia did not like that plan.  She said that she likes to be surprised unless she snoops and finds her gifts - she's done that many times.  So, I returned to TJ Maxx the next day when I was on a crazy, tight schedule to get things done and purchased the purse.

We chose the Wallflower because we are a candle loving family, but there are rules about candles.  When my candles started disappearing, and I found one in Julia's room, I decided she needed a safer option to scent her room.  Not even my adult children get to burn candles in their rooms.  Julia liked both gifts and thanked us again and again for them and for taking her on a little shopping outing -where we only purchased fun stuff like toothpaste. True story.

He was there every day!

There was an attendance error, so Wyatt was not recognized during the middle school award ceremony, but he had perfect attendance.  Way to go, Wyatt!!

This just in

 I have a friend who clearly knows her way around a camera better than I, and she clearly knows how to find the best seat in the house.  photo creds to Tammy