Shenandoah

This is the song that the Middle School choir sang at their concert. It is a famous ballad that many singers have recorded. There are many verses about someone moving west and how much they will miss this river. Hauntingly beautiful!

Spring Concert

John's Spring Concert brought me to tears over and over again because the songs were so beautifully chosen and sung. The Women's Ensemble was amazing. The girls' voices are not going to change so they had a mature sound that was fabulous. They sang Safe and Sound, In Flanders Fields and For the Beauty of the Earth.

John's Choir sang This Old Hammer, ( an old spiritual) and Shenandoah. I was really moved to tears.
I have found that one of the places where the public schools really meet "the Good, the True and the Beautiful," is in their music programs. These songs were patriotic and Scriptural. Very sweet!

Good-Bye, Grandma Dolly

Grandma Dolly passed away in her sleep and our family helped her to be buried with dignity.
She and I had made all the arrangements in advance and I recommend that to everyone. What a big help to know exactly what she wanted and what was important to her. The historical details were provided by her for her obituary when we prearranged. I would not have known those things to include.

Although she had wanted a graveside service, the day of her funeral included torrential rain. None of the senior citizens, her sister and nieces and nephews, nor the children would have been able to be outside in those conditions. We were able to use the church and her own minister played the piano while we sang The Old Rugged Cross and Amazing Grace. Larry, Jeff, Greg, Sam, John and Jon were her Pall Bearers. I was very proud of these men in my life for taking the time off from work to do her this honor. It was a very nice service and typical of Baptist funerals, we were invited to get up and tell a few stories about Dolly. That personalized it. She was a fun and unique person!

After the funeral, we went for lunch at a buffet restaurant and had a great meal together.

Tori couldn't make it due to taking her Final Exam. That was fitting because we have a family joke that Grandma Dolly never could remember who Tori was. She could definitely remember her boyfriend, but not her! I appreciated that Tori was able to clean her apartment for her twice in the fall. Dolly lived on her own for over nine and a half decades! We should all be so lucky. She will be missed and remembered.

Mother's Day

This is my gift for Mother's Day, a second refrigerator for the garage that Larry and I picked up at a yard sale for 50 dollars the day before.

The guy who owned it said that it had just come out of his house as they had up-graded to stainless steel appliances that week. An impromtu gathering occurred for Mother's Day as the guys cleaned and decluttered the garage to make room for our new fridge.

I am soo excited to have this second fridge which I have needed for years but we could never make it happen until this one fell into our lap at such a give-away price. It's funny because just as more kids are leaving home we get more storage space!

Three Babies and a Wedding were the topics of discussion! God is Good, all the time!

Weather being everything, it really delivered!

The guys played some basketball.

We are all enjoying seeing our John grow so much. His voice may wind up being the deepest of all the boys.

It was great to have so many folks show up when nothing was planned!

We took some more belly pics!

Jousting was some entertainment.

The only thing I regret about this fabulous day, was not seeing my own wonderful mother! I look forward to seeing her soon!
My Mother-in-law, Sally, planted all these irises. The next day, these buds were in bloom.

I saw posts saying that many Moms really enjoyed this special day, saying that it was one of their best ever.
I would have to agree! Thanks, Larry and Kids, for everything!

Prom

Natalie had a date with a great fellow from our church for the Senior Prom.

This girl likes fashion, and chose a gown that is stylish and could definitely be worn again!
Her wrist corsage had battery operated white lights in it and she wore it lit up!

Group dates are best! We followed the couple to another neighborhood where all the parents were taking pictures of this group of friends.

The lovely ladies...

and the Gents.

After pictures were taken, this group went to dinner at a new high end Steak House downtown.
Natalie had fun at the Prom, which had a Great Gatsby theme.

Fun Day in the Park

The event that I help with in a small way is Fun Day in the Park. My friend Mimi has been in charge of this for about twelve years or so. It is designed for kids to have a good time outside. The whole Festival moves to the Park on Sunday and has many crafters, a car show and Fair Food vendors.

Juby helped me all day and worked from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm.

We saw friends and family out enjoying the day!

The hospital set up this display with an anatomical torso and the game "Operation".

A Petting Zoo with an educational program was enjoyed by the kids.

A local troupe of players made up of high school students entertained by singing show tunes. They were very talented!

By the afternoon, the huge gusts of wind we kept experiencing side-lined most of the blow up inflatables.
It was still very pleasant to see so many families outside, having fun at the park.

Real Twinning

After the Parade, Tori's time as a Princess  (over 48 hours) was over. She was delighted to catch up with her fiance, John and his identical twin brother, Jay, with his girl, Spenser. The couples had fun enjoying the rest of the Festival, no doubt turning heads for a double take as they walked through town together!

Grand Feature Parade

We gathered at the home of our friends from church as we have for many years now. The parade is even more fun to watch from outside someone's home. In this town, folks buy homes on the parade route for just this purpose to put on a yearly party for friends and family.

Everyone brings food to nibble on throughout the afternoon.

The kids can play in the backyard when taking a break from watching the 3 to 4 hour long parade.

Sam's band sounded great! This year, when they came to a pause, they turned to face the people lining the streets and played "The Happy Song". Very cheerful!

Here comes the first float of Princesses!

There's Tori on the right.

The Queen is 17 years old and the newspaper accounts said that she has a great personality and was having a wonderful time.

The weather was terrific for the parade and we all enjoyed it.

Coronation

John also joined us for the Coronation of Queen Shenandoah LXXXVII held at a beautiful local high school.
We parked at John's parents' house and took the time to meet them, fine folks, now that we have an engagement!

Each princess was introduced by her whole name accompanied by her escort and took her place on the stage.

Then the Queen Designate, always the daughter of a celebrity, in this case the daughter of Sean Astin, star from the Hobbit and the grand-daughter of the father of The Adams Family TV show. The script for the  Coronation rite was written over  eighty years ago and is full of pomp.

Once again, pink and green in every and any shade are the colors to wear. Almost every person in town follows this dress code for all the days of the Festival!

We hurried off after the program ended to work a parking lot. We helped to park cars before the Firefighters' Parade and our Youth Group made over a thousand dollars from the 10 dollar parking donation per car.