Brett and Ellie Swim Lessons

June 4, 2012
School has ended and here comes summer.  Enter swim lessons.  For two weeks Monday - Thursday Brett and Ellie went to swim lessons.  They love it and get so excited when I tell them it is time to get ready.

Go Brett!

Back float Brett

Here I go!

Wheeeeee!

YES!

I am so proud and happy for Brett.  Swimming does not come easy for him, a couple of years ago all he could do is sink.  He has improved so much especially the last two weeks.  His teacher was very impressed with him and his willingness to try and keep trying.  Right now he can can swim for a little then flip over to his back for breath and quick rest then flip back over and keep going.

Eclipse

May 19, 2012
So the a big eclipse was happening on the 20th of May and the sweet spot for our area was Kanarraville, UT.  Which happens to be right where my brother John and his family live.  The eclipse is called the ring of fire, because the moon is not big enough at this point to cover the whole sun.  So you see the outer edge all around the sun.
So we loaded up and headed out.  Our plan was to go to Beaver and stay in the KOA and then Sunday drive up to Beaver Canyon and see Puffer Lake.  Paul was excited to share Beaver with us because he grew up coming to Beaver to camp and fish with his family while he was growing up.
On the way down several miles outside of Scipio Paul just happened to see one of the tires of the trailer shred and go flying off the road.  Great huh?  So we pull over and he opens the door and we can immediately smell burnt rubber.  So we set about changing the tire, the problem was we couldn't get the spare to drop because this bar thing that lets it down was bent and we couldn't use it bent.  This nice older man in a tow truck stopped to help us.  He and Paul bent the pole back with the hydrolic thing on this tow truck so that Paul could drop the spare.  Changing a tire on the side of I15 is not too much fun.  Luckily the majority of the drivers moved over and gave us room if they could.  After that we were back on the road again.

The kids decided that this looked like a Beaver Lodge.  Is that what you call it?  Someone tell me if I'm wrong.

This is Puffer Lake.

Paul took Brett and Ellie down by the lake, there was really no way to get Trey down there.  They had fun squirting water and watching the fish jump out of the water.
Beautiful place, so quiet, calm and peaceful.

Once we drove back down from the canyon it was time to hook up the trailer and go to lunch.  Kan Kun Mexican Restuarant has been a tradition in the Marshall family since Paul can remember.  Good food and excellent guacamole dip!
After lunch we drove down to John and Alice's to meet up with family, eat good food, visit and of coarse watch  the eclipse.

This is a picture of the main field that people and news outlets were gathering in, however this is a very small portion of it.  There were probably a couple thousand people that were stopped all around the town to see the eclipse in the sweet spot.  The people in Kanaraville were probably very happy with this whole thing was over and they could have their town back.

Ellie with her awesome cousin, Tayson, taking a look at the eclipse.

John and Alice hosted a pretty descent group of people.  They cooked us wonderful food.

It's a coming!

And there you have it.  The eclipse was just finishing up as the sun went behind the mountains.  Perfect timing.
We stayed that night in our trailer at John's.  Monday morning we went into Cedar City to get a new tire for the trailer then drove home.  Was a great weekend.

Brett playing Tball

Another spring has come and Brett is playing Tball again.

Brett with his teammates in the truck having popsicles after the opening day parade.

Brett likes to play catcher the most then his second favorite is the pitcher position, which at this age the kid doesn't pitch but stands by the coach.

Batter Up

Sliding into home, boys just like to get dirty.

Brett makes the stop then get the throw to first base.

Good game.

Kindergarten Graduation

On May 18, 2012 was Brett's last day of Kindergarten.  He had such a wonderful year and learned so much.  The kids put on a program for the parents and it was full of fun songs.  Here are a few pictures.

Brett with his teacher.  She is wonderful.

Happy Graduation Brett!

NYC Day 4

Today we got ready to head home.  We did make time to visit the Hershey store to get goodies for the kids. We took the subway out to an air tram, then the air tram to the airport (JFK).  So much faster than driving.  Interesting thing happened, we had to take a bus out to terminal 4 to get to our Delta plane.  Terminal 4 is not completed yet but Delta is running flights out of it.
It was a long trip home but we got here and I was happy to see my kids.

NYC Day 3

Today we went to some main features in New York.  Central Park, Battery Park, Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island.
No matter how many times Paul and I go to Central Park, we find somewhere new to walk and new things to see.  This time we heard and then saw a woodpecker.

No, I don't know that man but I loved the picture.

Drew and Brandie on the tree lined street in the park that was made famous by the movies.

So this picture above is cool because it was taken just hours before we saw a mid-night showing of the Avengers movie.  And this spot where I am standing to take this picture is in the last scene of the movie where they all go their ways.  Cool huh?!

One more from the beautiful park.

Down to Battery Park we went.  We got on the ferry to take us out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. But because we were late in the afternoon we only had time to go to one of the places.  We decided to go to Ellis Island.  You can pretty much get the grandeur of the statue as to go by it because you are so close.

A look back at lower Manhattan.  The day was over cast and dreary but no rain.

Beautiful Ladies!

If I remember right this is called the registration hall.  Immigrants would sit for hours, some times wait for days to get into the country.

"Are we registered?"

Next we headed for the 911 Memorial site.  Currently you need to have tickets in advance, so we had gotten ours earlier in the day and had a set time we were to be there.  So we were running tight but made it just fine from getting off the ferry in Battery Park.

Here is a picture of a sign they had posted showing which pool had what names engraved on it.  It is a very peaceful place.  You could tell that the people there really respected and honored what this site meant.  I know Paul and I reflect on so many things whenever we have gone to Ground Zero.  Tragitity, sadness, honor, respect, sacrafice, unity, freedoms and blessings.
The pools are in the same locations as the two buildings were.  The memorial building/museum is not opening yet but the grounds are beautiful.  Many, many trees.

One of the new buildings under construction.

Paul and I in front of one of the pools.

The South Pool - I think they did a wonderful job with the two pools.  Names engraved on all four sides, water spilling over the edge down into a shallow pool then down into the center square.  The sound that the water makes is just perfect and soothing.

After we were done here we went and had dinner then went back to the hotel for a bit before our mid-night showing of  the Avengers movie.
It was so awesome, loved the movie and loved that I saw it first in NYC!