Madame Elizabeth's Father's Day Edition

Ode to Papa

Happy Father's Day!

 

The Grand Canyon

I've decided the best way for me to document our family vacation to Arizona is to do it chronologically and not all in the same post. It is just too much.

I will start with The Grand Canyon.

On our way to the Grand Canyon, we stopped at a gas station. We were so excited when we saw the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine! I have never seen one before. Across the street from the gas station was Bedrock City. We had to stop and take a few pictures with some of favorite cartoon characters!

Mary-Faith, Kayleigh, Caroline, Lindsay and Everett.

I am at a loss of words in describing the grandeur of the canyon. It is beautiful. We took a shuttle that allowed us to get different views of the terrain. Our first stop had a trail that you could hike to the base of the canyon. It was about 7 miles down.

 I'm with Bill and Shirley.

 Brad accidentally left our shoe bag at Meredith and Sam's house. Poor Kayleigh had to wear her flip flops. Meredith and I wear the same sized shoe, and she just happened to have an extra pair of tennis shoes that I could borrow. As always, Everett was fearless, and he made me very nervous.

 Cozette and Kate are fast friends. 

Kate calls Cozette "Ozette.".

 A view of the Colorado River.

In addition to the beauty of the canyon, I was amazed at the temperature. We went from about 113 degrees to 54 degrees all in one day. I love that there is no humidity in Arizona. Every day is a  good hair day! However, we all struggled with having chapped lips, and I was always thirsty in that desert heat.

On the way home, we stopped at The Singing Pig in Williams, AZ. I hope that one day I will make it back to that delightful restaurant (actually it was a saloon)! The owners were very gracious to us. It was simply the most delicious BBQ I have ever had. The sandwich is divided into four quadrants. He tops the BBQ with different sauces: a cranberry chutney, maple honey mustard, horseradish, and tomatillo dressing.  It was an explosion of flavors. Each bite was a delightful surprise. I've never had anything like it before. 

Two of my sisters-in-law.

Barbara to the left, and Meredith to the right.

I love these ladies very much.

This was the first two days of our trip.

 

Madame Elizabeth's Blooper

My children have mastered the talent of making us laugh. They wanted to make Mom a clever video for Mother's Day. Their tradition is to write raps (with my assistance) and perform them in their gangsta' personalities. They decided to do something different for Mom this time. Kayleigh has enjoyed drama this year, and she has perfected her British accent. This was the first take of their video. Kayleigh thought up the idea of Madame Elizabeth's Poem Time, Mother's Day Edition.

What makes it so funny is that at the opening of the video Kayleigh welcomes us and closes a book which is supposed to represent English Literature. It's actually a Nicholas Sparks novel, which is about the farthest thing from real literature! She's wearing my reading glasses. Notice how she struggles reading. Spraying Everett in the eyes was an accident, and he is not faking.

It's terrible that we laughed so hard.

And yes, I snorted at the end.

 

Off to Kinder"garden"

Cozette and I have been anticipating graduation day for weeks now. She woke up this morning giddy with excitement about the ceremony. She knows all of the songs, she sings them constantly while we are driving. This was an exciting day for both of us, as I have been planning and preparing for weeks to present the program and concert to the school. The teachers were so kind in assisting and helping me carry out this day. Our theme for the year was, Off to Kinder"garden." It was  spring themed, and the classes worked diligently to add their art work to our garden. They also created graduation construction paper self portraits. This was a big hit among the parents.

We sang a variety of songs for this year's concert. As always, I incorporated ASL, and the children looked like angels as they signed to Love One Another. We recently had a music unit where we listened to music from around the world.We learned a Jewish song titled "Shabbat Shalom," which interpreted means welcome sabbath. We even had a grand finale this year. The children's favorite song is "Milton, the Dancing Christmas Mouse," which was performed at Christmastime. They ask me weekly if they can sing it, so I agreed to let them sing it a their graduation.

For the rest of our lives, we will remember this day. It is the day that Cozette was struck with stage fright and did not sing. Not. One. Word. I was devastated. She told me afterward that,"All those people were staring at me." I guess it was too much. I need to mention that she did not sing on Mother's Day either.

We also presented a slide show of each child answering questions. One of the questions Cozette was asked,"What does it mean to be a good friend?" She answered by saying, "If I am playing with a toy someone wants, give it to them." One of my classes was asked, "If Jesus came to your house, what would you do with Him?" One boy answered, "I would wash His feet." The favorite answer was by another little boy who said he would play, "Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots with Him."

Proudly marching in to Pomp and Circumstance.

Miss Cozette Simpson is in the middle.

 A small glimpse of her demeanor on stage.
She was just about to receive her diploma.

Cozette quickly recovered afterward when she saw her Daddy.
Kayleigh came to school with me today.
I introduced her to all of my classes, and the children fell in love with her.

The little graduate.

Cozette's teachers Ms. Angie and Ms. Venice. 

We love these ladies.

Cozette's pre-k class waiting to go into the sanctuary.

It does pain me to say that Cozette is now officially off to Kindergarten!


 

To Mommom

Happy mother's day to our dear Mommom, who is away from us, because she is serving a mission in Manhattan, New York.

I hope this video makes you smile.

I am working on posting the blooper video. It will make you cry from laughing.

 

Watch Out World

A few weeks before Kayleigh turned 15, (which was October 8) she non-nonchalantly made the comment, "Oh, I'm so gonna' crash when I get my permit." I went into shock as I envisioned her crashing my new van. So, we waited a few months before we let her get it.

Actually, it was almost seven months.

I wish I had her on video at the DMV. The nice lady told her to pose for her identification photo. Kayleigh literally put her hand on her hip, tilted her head, and smiled as if she was posing for a New York photo shoot. A minute later when the picture was processed, the lady told Kayleigh that she was going to have to pose again. It was all she could do not to laugh out loud in front of Kayleigh. I told Kayleigh to be more serious. When the second photo was processed, Kayleigh looked at it, and reacted with fright. She looked at me like I had all of the authority in the world, and exclaimed, "Oh, mom, you have to tell them to take my picture over again!"

My eyes made contact with the nice lady, and we both laughed. I explained to Kayleigh that I could not make that decision, but after looking at the picture again, Kayleigh decided it was an acceptable picture. It actually looks fantastic for a license.

Then Kayleigh left to go take her test. I have to admit that I was nervous. Cozette was my little spy, and she would quietly walk around the corner to peek in the room where Kayleigh was taking the test. She did this twice and reported both times that, "Kayleigh was taking forever!"

We were thrilled when Kayleigh came out with a big smile on her face!

We celebrated the happy day by going to Parkside Bakery afterward for double-doozie chocolate chip cookies. This is a fun bakery where you can write with chalk on the tables.

I have only been in the car once with Kayleigh. She drove me around the block in Nikki's neighborhood. She did okay, but for now once is enough.

 I leave the training to Brad!

 

Everett is Officially a Teenager

Just about the time I was ready to catch up on blogging, our computer caught a terrible virus. I could not figure out for weeks, why I couldn't access my blog. To make a log story short, this explains my absence. I am sad that I have not documented some of our family events this year, such as my 43rd birthday. I can't find the pictures. We have lost many documents and files.  

Everett did turn thirteen! He is a teenager now. I do believe he is the cutest boy on this planet. He was recently called to be the president of the deacons quorum. He takes this responsibility very seriously. 

 

Easter Sunday

I have missed blogging!