Grandparents Day at BCCHS

Valleri

Grandma's and Grandpa's

I was privileged to be invited to Grandparents Day at Valleri's school. As you can see there were a lot of grandma's and grandpa's at this celebration. The old gym at the high school was full. They arranged chairs on the floor for the grandparents, and the students sat in the bleachers. There were so many grandparents, that those who came later sat in the bleachers also. I was happy to sit in a chair. The priest said it was the largest group the school had ever had at this celebration of the generations. The music was wonderful, and the choir of students was so good, and the BCCHS Band also played. The music was religious, a couple of the selections were Faith of Our Fathers, and Shall we Gather at the River. Once again, I was impressed with the sermon that was given. Reverend Jarrod Lies was the officiant and he spoke to the students, reminding them that this gathering was generations of love, support and a wealth of information for them to tap into. He had the different generations stand up, so all could see the vast age that was represented to them. 1901-1924: The G.I Generation; 1925-1942: The Silent Generation; 1943-1960: The Baby Boomer Generation; 1961-1980: Generation X; 1981-1998: Generation Y; and 1999-2020: Generation Z. It was amazing that all these generations were represented. After the service a reception was held and you got to spend that time with your grandchild. When they went back to class the president/principal of the school took the guests on a tour of the new gym. It is beautiful. That gym was built by private donations, along with other enhancements to the school. The picture of the new gym is above, and you can see the eagle that was hand sketched and painted. A side note regarding the principal. Her name is Leticia Palacioz-Nielsen. Those of you who read this and are from Newton will recognize the Palacioz name. It was nice to see her and share a hug. When prayer was banned from public school, we did our children a great disservice, and that's all I have to say about that. Thank you so much Valleri, it was a wonderful time to share with you.

New Day, New Race!

The smile of a winner!!

Big Sis, is always rooting for Emi

Check out this link I have provided for you. Fabulous recap. Bookmark the site, I can't wait to see what's next.

These are better pictures of Emily jumping the hurdles. She was flying today. Her race was the 100 meter hurdles. You will see her dressed in blue, running in lane 5. Her time was 20.91 sec. She won her heat. She placed #9 out of probably 38-40 girls. Her time was better than last week, last week it was 21. something. I don't remember the tenths. The one thing I noticed today was, how tall she looked. But her jump was higher for sure. It was miserable weather, the wind blowing blowing. Not a good day for racing, especially if you have to run against it. I took a video of her running the 400 relay. I am not going to post it. Takes to long to load the show. Her team placed 3rd in that event. She was also scheduled to run the 200 yard dash, but it's the last event, and I decided not to stay for it. I was a frozen Popsicle. It is so much fun to watch all my grand kids do their favorite things. I am so excited for baseball to start. Stay tuned for more videos of my very talented kids. Prejudice................... gnaw just speaking the facts.

Hurdle Jumper

I was checking my camera, and wa-la, here is a video of Emily jumping the hurdles on her birthday. You can hear the gun go off at the beginning of the race. Memory lapse I guess. I hope you can see her towards the end of the video. I missed her crossing the finish line, she was third. I am going to try for better next time, and get the whole dang race. The other picture is of her lined up to run the relay. She was the first of four girls to run the race. She also runs the 100 meter race (I think that's it) hopefully, I will be corrected if I am wrong.

Not so funny........

I suppose everyone who reads this knows what a tick looks like....right? Well, I have seen pictures of them, but never met one up close and personal. YesterdayI had my first introduction to the little buggers. I did not meet just one, I met two!

I spent sometime in my yard yesterday, just communing with nature. I communed alright. Later in the evening I took a shower, got ready for bed. Settled down and was scratching my leg when I discovered something on the back part of my leg at the knee. I thought I knew what it was, but not sure. SO, I called my neighbor, got her out of bed. Trapezed over to her house in my nightie and robe so she could look. YEP, two of the little suckers had taken up residency. I am sure it would have been funny to watch, two old ladies with a magnifying glass, flashlight and tweezers. Long story short....she got them out. Today I got some high potent bug killer, a sprayer and set out to kill them. Yes, I said KILL!! I sprayed every inch of my yard, wore a mask, put deep woods on my shoes, my legs, my socks, and my jeans. I am sure the people who watch people peed their pants laughing. We have used this high powered stuff before, and it works magic. I sprayed the porches, the windows, so now nothing lives in my yard. Hee hee!

Just thought I would share this exciting "adventure"!!

HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY SWEET EMILY ANNE!!

My sweet Emily is 13 today. What an absolute JOY this young lady is. She has a smile for everyone, and is never to big to give her Gram a hug. Emily is loyal, funny, strong in her beliefs and one of the sweetest young ladies you will ever meet. Emily dances jazz, she is a good volleyball player, a great basketball player, and runs the hurdles in track. She has her first meet of the year...today on her birthday. I love the time I get to spend with Emi. She makes me smile. We spent the day together earlier this week, and it was wonderful. Happy 13th Birthday sweet Emily, I love you with all my heart.

VOICELESS WARRIOR by MKYoung

Voiceless Warrior

Gazing at first light, such a inexplicable vision....
This vessel of steel and arms....
Dressed in the rations in order to examine....
Results are mandatory, not shelter....
.. ..
Gazing at first light, such a momentous vision....
Blue collar scientists reveal their flesh....
They appear from this territory of paranoia....
A unanimous experiment, a voiceless warrior.....
.. ..
Gazing at first light, such a influential vision....
The apparatus ticks down to zero....
A deafening noise and radiance from the heavens ....
The sinful arrives, invisible and unforgiving....
.. ..
Gazing at first light, such a solemn vision....
The confusion now becomes extremely clear....
How can the sun rise from the west?....
The inauguration of mortality starts today....
www.atomicveterans.org

My Day With Emi

When Valleri turned 13 a few years ago, I took her to do things that all girls love to do. Today was no exception. I picked up Emi, and off to see Sara we went. Emi had her hair done with some color weaving. it was very subtle. She has beautiful dark hair, and Sara put some golden brown highlights in it. In the sunlight it sparkles. After we finished at the hairdressers, we went to buy some special shampoo, then had lunch at Red Lobster. We enjoyed it a lot. The wait staff sang happy b'day to her. Then it was off to have a manicure and pedicure. It was her first time for that and she "loved" it. She had her toes painted a pretty blue with daisy's on her toes. They did her fingernails in a soft beige color. She felt like a princess. Then we shopped. I love to shop with Em, she knows what she likes and goes for it. When we finished at the mall, we topped off our day with ice cream. It was a very special day for me, and I enjoyed it 'a lot'.

THE GRAMCRACKER 4

FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE

Celebrate!!!!

For several years, we think 10, Aunt Sherry has been placing the infamous orange ribbon on her birthday presents. I think Emi would be disappointed if that darn ribbon didn't appear.

Here she is giving her Aunt Me a big hug.

Show me the MONEY!

My favorite #2 is going to be 13 on the 18th. Just doesn't seem possible that she has reached her teen years ALREADY.

Just a few pictures from her special celebration.

I really like this picture. Her smile says it all. I stole this picture from her Mom. Hope she doesn't mind. I absolutely love the expression. She is here with Shelbie and Landon.



It was an almost perfect day. That is, if you pretend that it didn't rain, and that it wasn't cold, or that the gravy was thicker than the potatoes. I fried chicken. That's what Emi wanted. I hadn't fried a chicken in probably 15 years, maybe more. I concentrated on it, and put way to much milk and butter in the potatoes. I lost sleep over that darn chicken. But, it was good or at least they said it was. Loved everything about the day, and boy am I tired.

Pole Vaulting

Just another POLE VAULTING day!

I have never watched this sport before. It was exciting, or maybe it was because I know this person. She did darn good as far as I could tell. She got over the bar, but caught it with her elbow. Wonder what you do with those elbows anyway? I know with practice, practice and more practice she will sail over it before long. This is her first year, and I admire that she is even trying it. She's one gutsy gal, my little VAL!

Something to Celebrate!

Isn't this just the cutest little/big girl you have ever seen?

What you are looking at are two pictures that have the same meaning only at different ages. The first is a picture of Valleri, that was taken shortly after her baptism as a baby. She is all decked out in her beautiful baptism gown. The second is a picture of her taken after she confirmed her baptism vows at the age of 15. What a joyous occasion on both counts.

Confirmation is the re-confirming of the vows that were taken at her original baptism. Those original vows were taken by her parents and God parents.
Now she is what they consider to be the age of accountability, and she re-took those original vows.

The Bishop of the Diocese administered the ceremony. It was tearful for this Gram. I enjoyed the sermon given by the Bishop. He spoke to the young people, not down to them. He used his fist to demonstrate his point. That being the thumb is God, the little finger represents them. Why does the little finger represent them you ask. Because it is the weakest finger on your hand. The fingers in between; are the church, the parents and their sponsors, or I guess you could say, everyone else. When the fist is clinched, it represents power. Power to grow in the ways of the Lord with the strength of those who love and care supporting you. The power of forgiveness and the opportunity of service to church, family and friends. She is a beautiful young woman now. She has just taken another step towards adulthood. I am so happy to have witnessed this event.

Pictures to share

Just a few pictures of the confirmation ceremony. I am fond of the picture top left. Valleri waiting for her "moment" in time.