Scholarships - wahoo!

NUAMES is a small High School 

but the 163 seniors graduating this year were awarded 2.4 million dollars 

in scholarships - wahoo!

As the twigs have approached graduation, 

they've been accepted and offered scholarships 

to multiple Universities. 

When Zac left on his mission he thought he'd be coming back to University A,

in the middle of his mission he decided University B was the one for him, 

and now that he's nearing the end of his mission the...

the winner winner chicken dinner 

is University C!

We'd never have guessed it two years ago

so we're super grateful for the whisperings of the spirit that told him 

to apply to multiple Universities. 

We're especially grateful for the scholarships

that were so generously offered to help the twigs!

Just like Zac, Hunter was awarded scholarships from multiple Universities, 

from the State of Utah, 

and from the American Legion. 

We love them!

There is another scholarship they've received.

It's given by a family

that is full of generosity and vision and love. 

It's the "Jim Hefner - spirit of NUAMES"

scholarship given by two of the wonderful women pictured below in 

honor and memory 

of their dear Husband and Father.

Deb (in peach) is the school's Director of Business Operations

and we adore her!

Her dear husband, Jim, passed away when Zac was at NUAMES

and it was heartbreaking. 

She courageously and optimistically

has carried on and influences more lives that can be counted. 

She and her daughter (on the left in the picture below) 

gave three scholarships in Jim's honor this year. 

Jenny and Hunter (pictured below) were two of the recipients. 

We love you Deb and Ash. 

Thank you for loving and supporting our twigs!

We'll all do our best to follow your examples.  <3

(Thanks, Jenny, for the great picture!)

Leather dress shoes and President Obama...

The twig's high school sure knows how to celebrate graduation. 

It feels like we've partied all month long!   :)

The Senior's Capstone Night was so interesting. 

Caleb's project was making his own leather dress shoes from scratch, 

Kolton made a laser, 

Jason shared his experiences from years of gymnastics/tumbling, 

and Hunter presented about the opportunity 

Boys State gave him to attend Boys Nation and meet President Obama.

 I wished we could have made it an all-nighter 

and heard about everyone's project! 

The next party was Scholarship Night which

left me with a lump in my throat that has lasted for days because of the generosity that was extended to the graduates.

That will have to be another story for another day though 

because it's time to go celebrate some more.   ;)

New things in the rain...

A few Friday evening's ago, we headed out with the twigs 

and their venturesome friends to try some new things.

The first new thing was geocaching in the rain. 

As we drove through the beautiful rainstorm 

along the foot of the mountains, 

lightening was flashing in the clouds where we were headed 

and I was worried our little adventure might be over

but just as we arrived the lightning stopped. 

We bundled up and set out to find the cache with our umbrellas and gps. 

Finding the cache was the easy part. 

The hard part was trying to get the crazy thing open. 

It was a puzzle cache.

We read the clue/story, took notes, 

and gave the directional combination lock 

our best try...up...down...down...down...right...up...time after time. 

Eventually, we were soaked, snookered, 

and ready to head back to the warm, dry car 

when I heard Hunter say "let's go look at the view!" hahaha 

Just like that the teenagers all took off through the drippy scrub oak. 

I love their love of this gorgeous world. 

Hats off to Jenny and Ben for being such good sports 

as this was not your normal Friday night hangout. <3

The next new thing we tried was just past the neon dragon. 

It's a little restaurant called Pig & A Jelly Jar. 

Our friends, the Dixons, have talked about beignets for years. 

I've always wanted to try them and this place has them. 

They also have fried dill pickles, fried green tomatoes, and pigberry shortcake. We got an order of each and passed them around the table. haha 

Just saying, sriracha aioli is the bomb with fried green tomatoes! 

We ended the evening playing Taboo and laughing till midnight. 

If you can figure out the 

"Up, Down, Left &..." cache GC3DF7Y, 

please give us a hint, we're all ears and thumbs! :)

Counting down the days...

One of the terrific people who trusts me to clean his/her teeth 

is a happy, optimistic man 

who is approaching the age of retirement 

(though you'd never guess it.)

 Most people I get to visit with who are nearing retirement 

are excited at the prospect 

and are counting down the days, weeks, or months. 

When I asked about his retirement plans, 

his response surprised me. 

Counting down the days 

is not in the plans for this awesome guy. 

Not that he's planning on working forever, 

 he just wants to live today to it's fullest.

 Counting down the days would distract him 

from enjoying what today holds. 

He says he'll think about retirement when the time comes.

How smart is that!

I've heard Thomas S. Monson call it

"finding joy in the journey" and "living in the present."

We have a lot of "counting down the days"

 opportunities in our family right now.

There's

counting down the days till we get to have Zac back with us, 

counting the days we'll all be together 

before Hunter heads off to Timbuktu 

(New Hampshire), 

counting down the days till vacations

and parties

and reunions

and the temple

and homecomings

and farewells.

So many counting down the days!!

I'm really trying not to count down the days. 

(It's harder than it sounds!)

I'm trying to follow my friend's wisdom and enjoy what today holds!

I gotta tell ya though...

the green grass of summer

with it's accompanying 

 evenings devoid of the scene above is calling my name...

with a bullhorn! 

;)

Pressed down, shaken together, and running over...

"Give, and it shall be given unto you; 

good measure, 

pressed down, 

and shaken together, 

and running over..."

(Luke 6:38) 

Man I love that scripture! 

I love the image of something so chock-full 

that it has to be pressed down and shaken.

Even then it's still running over!

It's a perfect description 

of how I felt on Friday, 

  so completely full of 

immense gratitude, 

squealy delightedness, 

and exhausted relief

that it makes your face jump between 

big splashy eyeball puddles

and smiles so big your cheeks hurt. 

Friday, this handsome wildcat-riding guy 

graduated with his Associates Degree! 

He hasn't graduated High School yet,

still has 4 weeks of Seminary to finish before

that happens next month, but somehow WSU doesn't mind. 

How grateful I am for the many educated, selfless men and women, 

the hard-working friends, 

the scholarships and opportunities 

that have blessed Hunter's life!

There aren't words...

just big splashy eyeball puddles,

achy cheeks 

and a heart willing to help 

the next round of brave souls 

who are walking this road less traveled.