Hannah's own post

What is so special about this picture? I took it from the back seat...legally as Hannah passed her driver's test today and I no longer have to sit up front with her. Ryan was riding shotgun today.

Ryan's last day, Memorial Day, and other things

 Ryan's first day of kindergarten in 1999

last day of high school 2012

Memorial Day visit to the cemetery:

 Michael, Ryan reading about his great-grandma Noma, Hannah, and Eric

 Veteran's section of the cemetery

Hannah

Memorial Day was busy. After the cemetery visit, we attended a graduation brunch for Baylee. Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa's who were having a pizza party for graduates Michael and Ryan.

 Glen and Ryan (who made faces at me instead of smiling)

Michael recounting his role as a care-flighted patient in the mock disaster drill

After the pizza party, we had a family over for some games and food. The activities included some climbing.

 Pierson and Ryan on the tall silo

 Schyler, Hannah, and Alex on the shorter silo

Glen pointing out the property lines to Jody and Kenyon
(um, not our property line, by the way, you wouldn't have to look far for that)

I had stamping the previous week.

 Becky's card

 my card

Michelle's card

Memorial Day

We have a very busy day today and I didn't want our activities (mostly related to the upcoming graduation on Friday) to block the meaning of today. First up for today is a visit to the cemetery, but after that it's just a lot of family, friends, food, and fun--which we are able to have thanks to those men and women who served in the military.

For Veteran's Day 2010 I made a brief post about some of the veterans in my family. Here's a repost:

http://treadingwater-beth.blogspot.com/2010/11/veterans-in-family.html

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Veterans in the family

My dad and my father-in-law were in the military. They served in the army about the same time in Germany around 1957-59. Here is a photo of my dad that I love:

The back is labeled in dad's handwriting:
1957-58
in front of Bamberg snack bar












[After posting this I got an update from my dad on his service (which I should have asked about before posting in the first place):

I was inducted into the army on Nov 13th 1957. I took basic training at Fort Binning GA and

was sent to Bamberg Germany in May of 1958. I returned to the states in September 1959 and

was discharged at Fort Dix New Jersey on October 14th 1959. "Happy Birthday Charlie"

October 14th is my dad's birthday, in case you hadn't figured that out.]

Dad's brother, Uncle Joel, was also in the military. He was a P-51 pilot at the tail end of World War II. He also piloted the last American transport plane out of Saigon during the 1975 airlifts.

Here are 2 photos of my grandpa Ted Mominee. He also served in World War II (and apparently was in Oklahoma at some point):

 

Ted's grandfather Gideon Vincent, a French Canadian who immigrated to the US, served in the Civil War in the 1st Vermont Calvary and was at Appomattox when Lee surrendered to Grant. He was injured in the war, received a pension, and his farm was in payment for his service.

 

My ancestor that served in the Revolutionary War was my 5th great grandfather Peter Kolb. He was born 1732 in Pennsylvania and later settled in South Carolina. He served as a Private in 1782 in Colonel Lemuel Benton's regiment, South Carolina troops.

And my 3rd great grandfather Joel Jervis fought in the War of 1812.

Glen also has some military ancestors. Besides his Dad, his Uncle Wayne (his mom's brother) was in the army. 

Glen's 5th great grandfather, William Butler, served in the Revolutionary War for over 7 years and was in the camp of George Washington at Valley Forge that miserable winter of 1777-78. Later on, he was a sentinel guarding General Washington's tent. He was wounded twice during his years of service.

We remember our friends and family who have recently served and who currently serve our country. They are in our daily prayers...prayers for their safety and for the well-being of their families. We acknowledge your sacrifice and courage. May God bless you for all that you do and for all that you have given up to defend the cause of freedom.

Summer's almost here

Alex and his friend Jace have been working on a project for weeks. They finally finished and turned it in.

Eric finished up his classes on the 17th. There is always an arts fair at the end of the semester, and one of his ceramic pieces, a coil pot, took 3rd place.

Next up was Glen's Academy Awards on the 17th. They have 3 levels of awards: mini-Glennie for Theatre I, a semi-Glennie for Theatre II, and a Glennie for Theatre III and IV.

Ryan was nominated for a mini-Glennie best actor award (for his role in Charley's Aunt), but lost to Tyler Wood. Glen won 2 semi-Glennies--one for best set and one for best director (both for The Romanian Uranium Mystery).

Cousin Michael won 1 mini-Glennie for best understudy (in Stage Set for Murder) and a Glennie for best actor (for his role as Harry Monday in Three Murders and It's Only Monday).

Cousin Joseph won 2 semi-Glennies: best supporting actor and also best supporting actor (for his role in Up the Down Stair Case and then his role in The Romanian Uranium Mystery).

 Alex got a special certificate for his role in The Princess Bride.

 Ryan could not be at the Awards Ceremony because he spent 2 days at Great America with his AP Physics class. It was math and science day at Great America. One of the activities planned was a cardboard boat race. Ryan came in 3rd.

Then it was Glen's birthday on Saturday.

 Likewise! is a fun game...the object being to match your answers (that you've written on your paddle) with the other players to score. We aren't so good at the matching answers and scoring part, but that was OK.

Alex, Ryan, and Glen

 Sunday we were in the perfect position to observe the solar eclipse. We made some pinhole cards to do our viewing in...then everyone else besides me went next door to use the welding mask as cousins' house. Oh well.

the moon starting to move in between the earth and the sun

Right at the height of the eclipse, the shadow had a complete ring of light around it.

The eclipse cast the coolest shadows

And we finally got Ryan's graduation announcements made (besides just procrastinating, we had lost the picture file and finally got it all worked out).

And, besides being too busy will all sorts of end-of-the-school-year activities, I started my "preparing for summer" routine...I'm trying to get my house organized so that when summer starts, I'll be ready to tackle my projects instead of clean. So far, so good.

our recent activities

Andrew's surprise visit and he's on 2 intramural teams:

It was almost time to leave for work on Friday morning when I looked up to see Andrew walking past with  some of his siblings. Big surprise! Adam, Alicia and her husband Dallin came to surprise Jackie, Sarah came to surprise Kathy, and Andrew came to surprise me for Mother's Day. It worked. We were all really surprised. Only the fathers and 2 siblings (Becky and Eric who had to get their rooms ready) knew about the visit.

Besides taking 8 credits for spring term, Andrew is on 2 intramural teams: ultimate frisbee and kickball. Sarah and Adam are on his frisbee team and Adam is on his kickball team. Their frisbee team lost 12-0, but they won their kickball game. The 3 cousins all live in the same apartment complex and are in the same church ward. I'm so jealous, and so glad that they have each other.

Eric has finals next week.

He will get to relax for a few months after finals. We still aren't 100% sure what his fall plans are, but we are thinking instead of attending WNC (Western Nevada) here in Fallon--or in Carson, he'll go to TMCC (Truckee Meadows) in Reno.

Eric posts on his blog every day. His posts of often full of references that I don't get and it's an interesting trip into his unique mind. He blogs the most amazing (and mind-boggling) things at times. His blog is on my sidebar, but here's a link to 2 crazy posts if you have a few minutes to kill:

http://dielikeadisneyvillain.blogspot.com/2012/05/and-now-i-will-tell-you-about-my-day.html

http://dielikeadisneyvillain.blogspot.com/2012/04/how-best-to-eat-hot-dog.html


Ryan played Andrew's part in "Charley's Aunt:"

I am so sad that I forgot to bring my camera to the One-Act play Ryan was in the other night. Years ago (5?), Andrew was in the full-length version and it turns out Ryan and Andrew had the same part: Jack Chesney. Jack is a friend of the titled Charley and the two of them are trying to woo 2 girls. It's a fun play. I was, once again, totally amazed by Ryan. He did a great job, knew his lines, and seemed so comfortable on stage.

And there's only 19 days until he graduates from high school...


Hannah went on a strings trip and is sophomore girl student of the month.

Hannah went to California with her cello and the high school band and had a nice 2 days. We also found out last week that she was chosen as the sophomore female Student of the Month for May. She deserves it. 


Alex made his first step in Boy Scouts.

Alex earned his "scout" badge in boys scouts the other day.  I was at Ryan's play and so missed the ceremony, but there'll be plenty more to follow.

Glen's been gardening and doing tons of things at school.

Let's play "One of These Things is Not Like the Others" from Sesame Street. Glen put in some strawberry plants. Can you guess which strawberry is from our little patch?

I've been reading and making butter and subbing--and counting the days till summer. Not much to report on my end.

Other family happenings:

At the ward party the other night there was some dancing. As you can see, we were in an open barn with hay bales around. It was SO much fun to watch everyone.

Eric O., Hannah, and my Eric having fun

 Last night I had a baptism to attend. When I got back, Hannah had dinner ready and had set up a nice little spot outside for us to eat. Using our tomato cages, Hannah made a display of photos of me, photos that I had taken, and some tole painting practice pictures I had done. She also had made some candle holders (which spell out "Perazzo") and hung them on the old clothes line pole.

Spring has sprung and we have a few irises blooming (they were from Glen's grandma Noma).

And to end this update, here is a video clip that we just love (Andrew's planning on trying out for Divine Comedy again this fall):

Divine Comedy's Shoulder Angel skit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thwNVbNkP7I&feature=related

quote from a mystery book about the freedom to choose

I have been enjoying my kindle and some free books lately. The one I finished today (Design on a Crime by Ginny Aiken) had some interesting quotes in it.

The basic idea was that Haley, the main character whose father was a pastor, had lost her faith because of an incident in her past where she was the victim of a violent crime and now she was the prime suspect in the murder of her mentor and is struggling with many things.

So, a really good quote that deals with why God allows bad things to happen and doesn't step in to change things is:

"I didn't have control over what anyone else did. And while God could control anything and everything, he had given his creation the freedom to choose. God could intervene, but then he'd be no more than a master puppeteer.

"A puppet couldn't love back. And that was what God asked. His children had to choose whether they'd love him enough to obey or whether they'd go the other way.

"I had to accept that God gave everyone the same freedom."

I really liked that, so I thought I'd pass it along.

Middle-aged Mormon Man blog

One of my favorite blogs I make sure and read is called Middle-aged Mormon Man. I don't know who he is, but he has great posts. Often they are funny and/or wise. He recently did a three-part series to be found here:

http://middle-agedmormonman.blogspot.com/2012/04/whirlpool-of-spiritual-stupidity.html

http://middle-agedmormonman.blogspot.com/2012/04/whirlpool-avoidance-or-thank-you.html

http://middle-agedmormonman.blogspot.com/2012/04/surviving-whirlpool.html


As you can tell, his topic deals with spiritual danger--how to avoid it, or once you have been sucked into the whirlpool, how to get out of it. Great stuff.