Friday was one of the first nice days of the year. It was especially nice because it was graduation day for Ryan and Sarah. Don't they look sharp and happy? You should have read Ryan's bio in the Commencement book. Impressive!


Then you can see the group assembled to cheer them on, including the Anderson's, and the Morrisons, and Ryan's Grandfather Cannon.


Can't you see the happy intelligent educated look on Sarah's face. She was even happier to learn she had comfortably passed her former nemesis, the Math class!


No graduation event can be celebrated without the traditional trip to Oasis. Tales were told of the famous "Hi, Mom, this is the girl I've been telling you about. We're off to Mexico for a week" conversation.




Not letting up for a minute, here they are off to find a place to live in New Bedford the next day, hours after submitting the last assignment.


Sarah has already sent back this shot of the harbor in their new home town.

Rachel's half marathon

Having trained very little, our dear Rachel did a half marathon Saturday. Melanie and I didn't even get up as early as she did, let alone run 13.1 miles before 10:00 A.M. We did, nevertheless, get to see he after the race finished, at the Gateway Center.



Congrats to our courageous Rachel!

April Surprise on Sunday morning

I woke up this morning, looked over at the window, and saw that it had SNOWED! I thought the season had turned, but boisterous winter wanted to flex its muscles and made a statement. So, I had to witness, document.

A potter, from the beginner to the most experienced, starts with a lump of clay.
And starts to turn the potter's wheel. At first the potter's design isn't obvious. One might doubt whether there is a design in mind.
As the potter continues to work, to mold the clay, to push and change its shape, the clay reacts. If the clay is responds correctly, the expert potter can build a useful and beautiful pot.
As we see the form take shape, we may see possibilities. The potter has a detailed plan in mind. He might want to add to, or take away some of the form or shape, to make the design needed.
We might wonder, if changes are necessary. Perhaps the clay is uneven, or the the walls unbalanced. The potter can see that changes are necessary. If the changes are made in time, the mistakes can be remedied easily. If the the clay doesn't mold correctly, the potter knows that the pot will be useless, and must be discarded, or reformed.
So the potter takes care to mold and form the pot, patiently and expertly,
to make a pot that might have been hard to imagine before.
But, even after the shape is finished, the pot needs to be fired, and subjected to high temperatures, to harden the pot. Otherwise, the pretty shape is useless. But when, it is finished, the potter's design, care, shaping and firing produces a useful and beautiful pot.
When I read Jeremiah 18: 1-6, I think of what kind of clay I am.

"1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

2 Arise, and go down to the ^apotter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this ^apotter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel."

Do I let the Lord mold me according to his expert and thoughtful design? Or do I resist, and try to keep my unbalanced spirit, to not yield to his at time firm, at other times gentile molding. Does He wonder if it is time to start over?

Is the clay greater than the Potter? What great works of art and utility can be produced by a The Potter, with clay that shapes and forms according to His loving and all-knowing workmanship!

Downstairs renovation update

Above is the hallway at the bottom of the steps, after you turn right. Here we look north, towards where the old laundry/storage area used to be. Then, to the right, in the corner, where you used to enter Ben/Eric's bedroom and the bathroom, now is just the entrance to the downstairs bathroom.
Going in, you see the newly tiled tub
and the new sink and vanity (my favorite!)
Coming out of the bathroom and going west, our old bar is now a storage room -
Here's the hallway where the bar used to be on the right, and the furnace on the left. Ahead, where the pool table and tv room used to be are Ben's bedroom, to the right, and Sarah's/Rachel's, to the left.
Ben's bedroom door (i dasn't look behind it)
Sarah/Rachel's bedroom hall (see the duct corner, above where the noisy vent is).
Here we go back to the stairs, and turn left instead of right.
At the bottom of the stairs, immediately to the left, (where the old bedroom hall way entered Rachel/Sarah's old bedroom) is a closet.
Opposite the closet, we look to the southeast, standing about where the wall between the bedrooms used to be, looking at the new french door, where the window used to be.

Looking north, we see the second french door, and the north end of the family room.

Going back to the bottom of the steps, we turn right instead of left, and see the kitchen/dining area, with the new blackboard on the left.
Here is the kitchen area straight on, with the checkerboard tile floor. You can see where the new appliances, countertop and reset cabinets will go.
Here is a close-up of the kitchen area, where you can see the microwave, and the repainted cabinets, awaiting the appliances, countertop, sink and repainted bottom cabinets. Different, huh?

On this Easter morning, we were greeted by ....


more snow.

But pressing forward in spite of the weather's cold shoulder, we did Easter with the Livingstons. Emily found all six baskets.







And, Melanie continued with her conference brunch masterpiece.

This year, quiche replaced the casserole.


But the fruit and the blueberry buckle was there. Since the traditional participants were off doing good things, some with their own families, we had to find replacements for them.
Uncle Jay's trip to hospital for pancreatitis kept Aunt Melissa at his bedside. But Megan, Matthew and Emily kept their Spring Break rendezvous in the West with their brother and sister, and Utah cousins. The Livingston's made delightful substitutes, and distractions for Mike and Melanie from the reality of those who weren't there.


Rachel did make the trek from Cedar and represented her siblings. Greg relaxed during the sessions, and Emily kept busy.


When it was time for the Livingston's to literally take off, we were sad, but hopeful that they could return. Word to Matthew: keep practicing your skills; someday you'll be able to compete in Ping-pong, Scrabble or Pool.