Our Garden

We have lots of shade in our yard, so all of our plants have to be shade-friendly. It has taken a long time to find shade-loving flowers that we both like. We have lots of hosta plants, which are nice, but their flowers are teeny-tiny, and they grow way too big in my opinion. So here is a tour through our garden of my favorite colorful plants.

Oh, how I wish you could smell these lilacs! Their perfume permeates our entire yard!
Here are our lilies-of-the-valley. Aren't they pretty?
This is our pink bleeding hearts that we have growing in various places in our yard. We've got white bleeding hearts, too. There's a rhododendron bush in the background, and some daylilies as well.This may look like one bush, but it is really three different azalea bushes. I think this is probably one of my favorite spots in our garden by the street. And there are ferns, ribbon grass, and Scottish bluebells in front of it.
When we first moved into our house(which has been ten years ago, by the way!), we bought some lilac bushes and planted them in the garden by our house. They never bloomed until this year, when we finally got two blooms, which you can see in this picture. Someone told me that it's because they were finally pollinated by a male lilac plant. Does anyone know anything about this? Is there really such thing as female and male lilac bushes?

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed your tour through our garden. Tony works very hard at keeping it beautiful, and he deserves some accolades!

Nicholas' performance with the High School Orchestra

Nicholas was invited to perform his NYSSMA solo with the high school orchestra. For those of you who do not recognize it, the piece of music he played is the first movement of "Spring" by Antonio Vivaldi. We are very proud of his accomplishment!

Happy Memorial Day!

Today was our town's Memorial Day parade. It wasn't anything big, but it was still fun! Our friend is the director of one of the marching bands.

Happy 13th Birthday Nicholas!

I gave birth to a beautiful little boy 13 years ago, and he has grown into a young man that we are so proud to call our son! Moms are always allowed to brag, so please bear with me as I tell you how wonderful Nicholas really is.

1. He has been in all Honors classes since they have been offered in our district(which in our school is 5th grade), and has maintained an average of over 95 every quarter.


2. He was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society this year. Those of you who are familiar with NJHS know that the character traits that are required to be a member of this organization is Character, Scholarship, Leadership, and Service.


3. He is an active participant in his Boy Scout troop, and encourages the other boys to participate as well.


4. He wrote a song for English class, and is so humble about it that he didn't want to share it. His father convinced him to allow it to be posted on YouTube so you can hear it now.


5. On June 15, Nicholas will reach a goal that he set for himself long ago, and that is to play/practice the violin every day for 2000 days in a row. (I wish I had that kind of persistence when I was his age!)


6. He has participated in honors orchestras every year since 5th grade.


7. He performed a level 6 NYSSMA solo this year(for those of you who don't know, level 6 is the highest level you can reach) and received a 98 A+ for his performance. His chamber orchestra teacher was so impressed with his playing, that he invited Nicholas to perform with the High School orchestra. By the way, the name of the piece he will play is the first movement of Vivaldi's Spring Concerto.


8. He is diligent in the performance of his priesthood duties as a deacon at church, and knows who he is and what is expected of him.


9. He is always willing to help out around the house and do what is asked of him.


10. He loves his little brother, and he is very affectionate!

Now if only he would make his bed. . .

We love you, Nicholas!

Happy Birthday!

It is my fortunate lot to share my birthday with others close to me for the rest of my life(and through eternity too!).I was born on my Dad's 40th birthday, my sister Gayla is 11 years older than I am, and my sister Holly is 3 years older than me. Those are the only birthdays and ages I never have to struggle to remember! I was 4 months shy of turning 18 when Gayla passed away, and it has been hard for me to celebrate our birthday without being able to share it with her.

I love being able to tell people that I share my birthday with my father and two of my sisters, and see the look on their faces!I have always felt extra close to my Dad because I was born on his birthday. I remember always climbing on his lap and snuggling with him. He was my Daddy, and I wanted to be with him as much as possible. I loved hearing him sing - he wasn't very good at holding his own pitch, though. He used to tell us that he could only carry a tune in a bucket! Sitting next to him in church was fun, because he listened to people next to him singing, and he followed whatever pitch they were on. I don't know if he ever realized that we would purposely change from singing soprano to alto to tenor, and then back again. As long as he had someone to follow, he had a beautiful tenor voice, and I'm sure he still does!

One of my most favorite memories of my father is of him bringing me to my orthodontist appointment once a month. My Dad worked long hard hours and would collapse in a chair and fall asleep as soon as he got home from work. Being able to spend his waking hours with him was a real treat! We lived in Aurora, NY at the time, and my orthodontist was in Ithaca, NY. Those of you who know the upstate New York area, know that it is a good half-hour drive. I had that entire time with my dad all to myself. I loved it! We spent the time talking, listening to the radio(did you know that Dad liked Country music?), and talking some more.

Gayla had a beautiful soprano voice. I always wanted to have a voice like hers. I tried to audition for the All-State chorus, but I didn't make it. I was devastated! I haven't given up, though, and I love singing. I can still hear her voice singing the descant to "Silent Night". I can't bring myself to sing it, because I cry too much, but I can play it on my violin.

A few months before her death, Gayla and her husband John, moved to upstate New York to be closer to us. Gayla told Mom that it was because she wanted to get closer to her little sisters. I believe that Noelle, Rachelle, and I were home at the time. We used to spend hours talking, laughing, reading dramatically, singing together, and so many other things that I will always cherish. When she died, it was the morning that I was supposed to audition for an All-County chorus. Mom told me that I could go or not, it was my choice. I decided that Gayla would be mad at me if I didn't go to the audition because of her, so I went. I was accepted into the chorus. It was my senior year, and it was very hard to be without my big sister whom I had just gotten to know really well. I am so glad for that time I had with her.

Holly and I have always shared a unique relationship. I guess you could say that there are so many qualities of my older sisters that I wanted to emulate. Holly plays the violin beautifully, and I love playing the violin, too. After Holly decided to major in violin performance, I decided to major in performance and education. I have always loved being able to share our violin abilities, and playing duets with her. I used to love staying up late nights talking with Holly. She could usually out-talk me, though. There were many nights that I would be mumbling my answers to her as she was trying to talk with me. I'm sure I missed many things she said to me because I had fallen asleep!

I brought Nicholas and Michael went to our stake's Father-Son campout on Friday, and Tony met them there later. (Tony was very tired after a tough day at work, but trying to be good) They returned Saturday morning at 10. So I had Friday night into Saturday all to myself. It was a great birthday gift! I watched a movie, went to bed, and went to breakfast the next morning with my visiting teachers for my birthday. I went and got my nails done, too(I very rarely do that!), then went home and helped Tony prepare for a neighborhood birthday party. We have two neighbors who share my birthday week, and we decided to celebrate together. Unfortunately one of them wasn't able to make it, so just Liz and I celebrated!

Tony made me feel so special on my birthday - it was a great day!