Schools out and Birthdays

Just a quick post about Katie and Rebecca.  School let out on June 9th and the following Monday Rebecca went to Young Women's Camp at Camp Stimpson on Mt. Charleston!  Katie's high school graduation was scheduled for Monday, June 20, so the Thursday and Friday before Grandpa Snow and Grandma Henderson came to town to help celebrate.  Katie officially graduated from Legacy High School and then we went to a late lunch at the Top of the World restaurant in the Stratosphere Tower!

Katie has been working two jobs - at a pool attendant at the Aria pools on The Strip and at Flip-N-Out, a place with wall to wall trampolines and people go there for parties and fun.  We celebrated Katie's birthday on June 27 by going to dinner and a movie.  She is now 18 and anxiously awaiting to start college at BYU-I.  They put her on the Winter / Spring track so she doesn't start until January 2nd, so she will work through the Fall.

Rebecca celebrated her Sweet Sixteenth with a semi-surprise party - she knew there was a party but didn't know that she and her friends were going on a Mystery Adventure.  They had a blast being driven around and solving a mystery.  Our family celebrated her birthday on July 3rd with shish kabobs, corn on the cob, yummy salad and homemade rolls! 

Katie and Rebecca are going on a High Adventure this week with the Stake Young Women.  They are going to the Moab area and will be rafting, rappelling, shooting, hiking, swimming and other fun activities.

Atkin had an interview to be a life guard at Circus Circus several weeks ago and just found out he has the job!  So at least he'll get a couple of months of work in before school starts again.

Laurie is busy with school - going right through the summer.  She is working as a supervised counselor at the clinic on campus.  Between school and clients, she is very busy.



After Graduation!




107 stories up in the restaurant!




Graduation cake with friends!





Rebecca's birthday crew!




Chauffeurs to the suprise location!




Their adventure van, after solving the mystery!!!




Cake time!



Grey Dawn

Clouds in the east
obscuring the rise
of the orb that adorns
our vast, arching skies

My waking was late
In a hurry I fled
Departing abode
down the road I sped

And rounding the bend
to the open land
on the west I beheld
a sight, oh so grand

The sun, still veiled
from my view, did sneak
Its rays through the clouds
to our snow capped peak

Grey clouds as a backdrop
the mountain did stand
aglow in the dawn
looking o’er the grey land

So rushed though I was
I did slow my drive
to take in the splendor,
enjoy being, alive

Evening

The poems keep surfacing once in a while - thanks for the encouragement Samara, Shanna, Khoren, Brett and Mark!

Evening

Evening, the act of leveling
spreading out a load
settling a score
bringing things closer to the same

Evening, the pleasant end
of what can be a hectic day
when people gather, or not,
and relax, enjoy, unwind

This language, it’s so confusing
which am I to do?
Get even, smooth what’s rough,
straighten a painting or table?

Perhaps evening is a time
to level the imbalance in my life
Read, exercise, call, attend - Or perchance,
watch the sun set and the stars come out

Poem arranged by wordle.net

Weathering

Not sure where this came from . . . guess I was thinking of more years in the desert and places I would rather be . . . yet there is so much here and people I would not have met in other places . . . guess I needed reminding






Weathering

How does it go?
Weather the storm?
Ah, yes, that’s the saying, but
Weather it well?

At times we have
things thrust upon us
voyages or experiences
not of our choice, just musts

So we begin our journey
Reluctant, even defiant –
I will not be a part
I will sulk and be miserable

But from a nook in our minds
emerge fragments of a poem –
of weathering the storm,
and weathering it well

Ha! – that means nothing to me,
It’s for someone else!
I am right in my resentment
Sure in my fury

The storm may be long
and weather it I will,
hunkered down in a corner of the ship –
Ha! weather it well? What a laugh

And when the storm passes
I will emerge and start
again where I was
'ere forced off course

That blasted poem
it haunts my thoughts
At storm end, to start again?
Why not . . . weather it well?!

My tactics must change –
I’ll stand on the deck,
even lend a hand
and gain strength from this storm . . .

Working side of others,
engaged in the storm,
I will draw from their strength
and do what I can to bolster theirs

I will employ this storm,
whether long, whether short,
to continue my quest –
on to my goal, my destination

This storm MAY delay me
or last longer than liked,
but arriving at the port
my journey will continue, not start again

The strength drawn from shipmates,
and the muscle built of my contribution,
will advance me toward my aim
when I reach the calmer shore

There to rest and look back –
Ah . . . the storm was a part, and I almost missed it
whimpering in misery and resentment,
bound by my pride and ignorance

Oh, the poem about weathering –
'Tis for others, AND for ME!
So I will not cower, I . . . I will embark and be on deck
facing the storm with its grandeur and shaping

Not just of the coast, but of the sailor –
Building strength of the body
and potency of the soul
‘midst all its fury and foam

Solitude

I start my workday,
in a cube
A place to sit and
think, subdued

But, oh the din
One voice can make
Breaking in
for "just talk" sake

To think, to muse,
productive time
Cannot be found
within this clime

Must get away
To a place not still,
A place where
MANY voice trill

Rooms for waiting,
rooms for lunch,
Space where people
Gather, bunch

Many voices
Intermingle
None stand out
None are single

In these sites of
Solitude
I can find an
Interlude

Thoughts flow freely,
Ideas gel
Wits can wander
'long new trails

Notes on paper,
drawn by hand –
These will help me
Take a stand

Keyboard near,
in cubicle now
Notes won’t let
my focus cow

Singular voices
don’t interfere
But if they do,
Solitude is near