A Getaway

Brad and I just got back

from an extended weekend juant

to celebrate our anniversary.

18 years.

Wow.

Even after this many years,

we got to have some "firsts" on this trip...

The first "first" was a quick stop on our way out of town

at this little joint...

Yummers!!

Love the rice!!

The second "first" was a stroll though

this lovely shop that I've always longed to visit...

where I fell head over heels in love

with a fountain (not this one)

that I totally cannot afford!!

Oh dear.

The third, and favorite, "first" was a day spent in this glorious town...

Nevada City, California is FULL of beautiful Victorian homes

and we enjoyed spending the day walking (& driving) around

selecting which homes we would purchase

for ourselves and our loved ones

when we win the lottery.
(I like the blue, Brad likes yellow.)

Only two things are the same about these trips we take each year:

1) Brad plans them

and does all the leg work

and follows me in and out of endless little shops

(Thanks, honey!)

and

2) We come home to a house

full of extremely happy children who have been

swimming,

to the movies,

to McDonalds,

having water balloon wars,

etc., etc., etc.

with the World's Best Grandma.

Oh, and every year I come home to this...

a whole week's worth of ironed clothes!

What a beautiful life!

Go Vikings!

Tonight was the All-School Awards Night
at Matthew's High School.
Teachers from each department
select a few students from each grade level
as outstanding among their peers.
Matt's done pretty well this year so we headed on over...
thinking he might get nominated for something.


So there we sat...
and sweated...

Engligh winners - nothing
Math winners - nothing (but Congratulations Isaac!!)
Science winners - nothing

more sitting...
more sweating...

History winners - nothing (but Congratulations Spencer!!)
Foreign Language winners - nothing

(but Congratulations Jason!!)

So...
maybe he wasn't getting an award.

And then...
All of a sudden...

The winner of the Most Outstanding Student in Construction...

MATTHEW STEPHENS!!

Are you kidding me?
Construction?

I was cracking up!!

Okay... What-ever!

But, then again, he did make this...

Just lovely, wouldn't you say?

But the night wasn't over yet.

Next they gave certificates to all of the students who had a 3.5 G.P.A or above. 130 Freshman in all. Wow.

"Can we go?" he begged.

"PLEEEAAAASE!!"

"No. Kids we know are still getting awards. We need to clap for them."

{this is where he's rolling his eyes at me}

Finally (we're still sweating by the way) they get down to the last awards of the evening. An oustanding male and female Viking from each grade level.

Can you guess?

He got it!

Outstanding Male Freshman. (You get nominated by a teacher and then you write a resume stating your qualifications.)

I was stunned.

(I guess all that Scouting and those service projects DO count for something!)

We're proud of you buddy.

Jason, Spencer, Matt, Isaac and Kristi--

Good Job!

Outstanding Male Viking - Class of 2012

A Yummy Equation

Do you know what you get when you add these...

to an evening of this?

You get this!!! Yummers...

Brad was out of town last week
and so I was trying to find little projects
and movies to entertain myself with.
This was my favorite combination!

Happy Belated Birthday Camille!

Only a Grandma would notice

that a certain little girl

had a birthday

that was never celebrated in blogland

and documented as a part of our permanent history.

Heaven Forbid!!

Camille celebrated her 9th birthday while

Grandpa was in the hospital,

so we had a quiet party at home.

Her best gift was some yummy new fabric

that will be quilted into a bedspread

for her new ORANGE room!

(its her fav.or.ite! color)

Quite a haul for a little girl,

wouldn't you say...

After we opened gifts we headed over to the hospital

where Aunt Linda and I visited with Dad

while Mom took a little break

and went to Leatherby's to celebrate

our little girl's birthday

with this yummy treat...

Ooh,

la,

la!!

About a week later

we had a family party for Camille and Rachel

over at Grandma's house...

with a REAL store-bought cake.

(Wow! That never would have happened

when I was a kid!)

Afterwards she opened lots of fun gifts

from Grandparents

and Aunts & Uncles & such.

Of course the great thing about birthdays

is that the birthday girl

has all these new toys to play with.

So, she's busy playing with all her new toys,

RIGHT?

WRONG!!!

She's too busy with MY scissors and MY tape

(that I can NEVER find)

crafting this miniature playground

for her little pets -

Isn't that the way it always goes??

P.S. Steve - if you're reading this, I want you to appreciate that you aren't the only Stephens grandchild with a fascination for tape and paper! Shame on Papoo for yelling at you all those years... it's in the genes!!!

Simple Gifts and Battle Scars

I love Mother's Day. I know a lot of people hate it, and so I always try to keep my expectations very low...this way I am always pleasantly surprised! Brad had an early morning meeting, so I gently reminded Adam about our breakfast in bed tradition, and he and Matt brought me a yummy blueberry bagel with some strawberries on the side. Delish! And, as always, there were sweet gifts - new flowers for the front porch and some sweet smelling lotion. What's not to love?? But I must admit that every year my favorite gifts are the simple ones, like this little book Camille made at school about the many hats I wear...

And on the way to Grandma's house, Adam crafted this cute little mailbox out of some paper he'd brought along. All through the drive I got mail - several sweet little notes from each the kids. Talk about your special deliveries...

I'm hoping your Mother's Day was sweet as well - full of the simple things that make life so grand!

And speaking of grand... take a look at these scars! Looks like he's really been through it (and he has!!), but he's doing fabulously. Thanks so much for all your prayers and love!

Happy Day!

Hey, Good Lookin'

As a part of Camille's Birthday Festivities (more on that tomorrow) we took the kids up to Sacramento to visit Grandpa in the hospital. If this were me, I wouldn't want my hospital picture posted for everyone in blogland to see, but since they don't have internet access in the ICU, he'll never know!!! (So don't tell!) The kids were a little shy about seeing him, but once he started talking everyone was okay. He's in good spirits and is so happy that they've finally let him go pee. (Simple pleasures...) He's hoping they'll let him come home tomorrow, but I say "not a chance!" Maybe on Monday though.

We love you Dad! Can't wait until you're all better!

An Update...

Medical science is amazing! My dad came out of the surgery just fine, and the doctor said he was a "real trooper!" He was really agitated, steaming mad at my mom, and a bit psycho when he first woke up (some would argue that this is normal behavior for him, but don't you believe them!), but I guess you've got to have a few side effects when someone goes poking around in your brain for 6 hours. I spent the day with him today and he's feeling better and looking great - very cute for a bald man! In two weeks they will turn on his bionic parts, and then we'll know how successful the surgery really was.
Unfortunately there is the little matter of the heart attack he had about 8 hours after surgery. Keep those prayers coming...

Hero

hero n., a man of great courage.

I'm sure that all of you feel that your dad is one of your heroes, but tonight I feel it very acutely. As most of you know, my dad has Parkinson's Disease. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to deal with all of the symptoms he faces, but he handles it with amazing grace. In a move I'm not sure if I could have made myself, he has elected to be proactive in managing his symptoms and improving the quality of his life (and, in turn, the quality of many lives - mine included) by doing something about it. He's in the hospital tonight, and in the morning he will undergo 6-12 hours of brain surgery. I'm so proud of him - and, to be truthful, I'm a little bit frightened.

Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery is (to my meager understanding) a surgery in which two holes (each the size of a quarter) are drilled into the skull so that doctors can insert probes deep into the brain. These probes are connected to insulated wires that run betweeen the skull and the skin going down the side of the head, behind the ear, and down to the chest area where they will implant a pulse generator (also known as a brain pacemaker). This device will send electrical impulses to the probes in the brain to interfere with the neural activity that is currently going on there. Because feedback from the patient is essential for optimal placement of the probes in the brain, he will undergo most of this surgery while he is completely and totally awake.

Wow.

If that isn't courageous, I honestly don't know what is.

I love my dad, and I have great hope that this surgery will be a tremendous blessing in his life. Please include him in your prayers. . . I know it will make a difference.

Love to all. . . especially you, Daddy!

Spring Break

Just finished our Spring break.

Some highlights...

rode a whale

{at UC Berkley - such a fun place!},

explored the human form

{ooh la la!},

held a tarantula

{not her mother's child!},

did some of this

{with our adorable cousin},

while sporting these beauties,

rode the rides,

and played LOTS and LOTS of this!

{Go, Adam...another RBI}.

Hope you enjoyed your break too!

Easter Preparations

My mom and my sister's family came over on Friday

for the sometimes annual day of all things Easter.

It's been a few years since we've done this,

and again I am reminded

about the difference between girls and boys.

Matt and Jared dyed their

obligatory egg or two

before they headed off for a day of

cards/basketball/video games

with Matt's buddies.

{And trust me-

getting them to do a few eggs

was no easy task!}

Nathan and Adam were a little more willing,

but they only got in a few eggs before

they got distracted by this.

These boys were even willing to decorate a cookie,

but didn't last very long before

they were distracted by this...

BOYS!!

The girls, on the other hand,

were a different story.

Their enjoyment of the day started

from the word "GO!"

They got the dyes ready

{don't you love the way they fizz!}

and got everything arranged on the table

ready for us to begin.

They meticulously worked on each egg,

completing at least a dozen or two each,

and loved tutoring little Rachel.

I love this shot -

the dye drippings are almost as beautiful

as the eggs themselves!

After the eggs were successfully beautified,

they got to work on the cookies ---

Cutting out the dough...

and decorating cookies.

{Or eating the decorations, as the case may be!}

Did we end up with beautiful

works of art??

No.

We ended up with these --

cookies with as much frosting, sprinkles and candy

as humanly {or "kidly"} possible!

Now, don't those look apetizing?

I guess we're all ready for the big day!

{see post below...}