July 2011

The main event this month was Rayne's graduation from BYU Idaho. Our little family--Cliff, I, Allegra and Isaiah--drove to Idaho to see our oldest daughter graduate from college. What an occasion! But first, some of the other stuff we did first in July:







Allegra has been, as usual, very productive. She made this little ballet dancer for one of her cousins. We started out the month of July with "grandparent camp". Since grandparent camp takes place at Grandma and Grandpa's house, it also takes place at Uncle Cliff and Aunt Audrey's house. So we had a VERY full house for a week. Because of Mom's mom's recent death, my mom (i.e. Grandma) wasn't up to planning a week full of activities, so the week was mostly about playing with each other--which is always fun. Allegra and Isaiah, being among the oldest of the cousins, were often the caretakers. Allegra, ever the generous, sweet girl that she is, offered to make a doll for every cousin. They all chose what they wanted--Pokemon figures, Japanese dolls, ballet dolls, etc. This ballet doll is just one of the many she made. I am sorry to say that I didn't get pictures of any of the others and, since they went home with various cousins, I am sure I'll never see any of them again. Keep in mind, dear reader, that Allegra doesn't use patterns when she creates. She sees the item in her head, draws it on paper and then she makes it. She's amazing! As you can see, this little doll is also a music box. She's such a talented girl.

Have you ever seen a sliding glass door shatter? Unfortunately, I have. My dad was running the weed whacker (a very long job around here) in our "backyard" and it threw up a rock that shattered our door. It was actually kind of pretty! The glass was tempered, of course, so we had a little pile of shining, glittering glass outside our door. It reflected the light of the sun and threw rainbows on the walls of our room. I was almost sorry it was swept up and thrown away! Fortunately, since our glass is all "e-glass" that is, it's all energy efficient, there were two panes on that big window. Since only one broke, it's not like we were open to all the world until it was fixed. And fixed it is now. I kind of miss that tinkling sound it made as more pieces fell off in the wind. And the little rainbows on my walls.....

Other July activities included: gardening, swimming, visiting the Jelly Belly factory with 13 children. A little hairy while we were waiting in line, but otherwise much more fun than it sounds like it might be with so many kids!!

Chase turned 20! He's serving in Cape Cod and we sent him a birthday package and many, many of our good friends sent him packages and letters and cards. How blessed we are to have so many generous people in our lives! This 20th year will be the first complete YEAR in which I will not even SEE my boy. His 20th year will be experienced by me through letters and (hopefully) pictures. Strange to think about it. Sure, though, that his 20th year passed in any other way wouldn't be nearly as happy and right. Happy birthday, dear Elder Adams-Hart! So glad he's on a mission! Wish I had more PICTURES though. Sigh.

Cliff also had a birthday! He turned 45, still as handsome as ever, and productive, smart, hard-working, kind, generous, loving.... all those good things. We celebrated with a dinner that he made himself (I know, I'm lame. Usually I cook for him but this year I totally bombed on that) and with his favorite dark chocolate cake and frosting that I DID make. Yes, I did.

We had my sister Jessica's 3 kids here to stay for most of the month of July. Gemma (11), Miles (9), and Peyton (7) were tons of fun to have around. One of the great pleasures of being an aunt is getting to know my nieces and nephews. Because Jessica and her family live in Seattle, I don't know them as well as I know the kids who live here. So it was a real pleasure to have the Gendreau kids around. I really got to love them. I was sorry to see them go. Jessica stayed for a few days when she came to pick them up and we went to the beach. Why do babies always like to eat sand? Here's baby Bruce (Reed and Dorothy's youngest) with a sandy mouthful.



While we were in Utah (on our way to Idaho) we also visited our good friends the Hutchings for a few days. We always enjoy our time with them.

And..... finally, RAYNE GRADUATED!!!!








After all those years working at Nordstrom, saving and saving, working hard at school (she graduated with an A- GPA), putting up with all those roommates and all that SNOW and ICE... she's done! I can hardly believe it. She can hardly believe it! We are very proud of her. It was amazing to go to her graduation events and experience the uplifting atmosphere of that school. When Rayne first expressed a desire to attend BYU Idaho, I was unsure. I had kind of wished that she would attend BYU Provo, where both her Dad and I earned our undergraduate degrees. But she--ever the adventurer--chose BYU Idaho. After her 4 years there, I can enthusiastically say that I hope all of my children attend this university. I LOVED BYU Provo, but BYU Idaho has a very different feel to it. I like the way spiritual growth is emphasized, I like the closeness between the students and their professors, I am in awe of the many prophecies associated with this school, I admire and embrace BYU Idaho's educational philosophy. I'm very happy that Rayne led the way for our family to discover this university. Yes. But most of all, I'm very happy and proud that my baby girl, my Rayne, my firstborn, my much-loved daughter, has earned her 4-year college degree. What an accomplishment! She is such a hard-worker, so dedicated to progress and goodness. Next: work at Nordstrom until January and then off to Taiwan to teach English--a whole new adventure. Go Rayne!