The Last Bell Rang

I am as bad as my students when it comes to counting days when school is over and summer begins.  I think everybody gets tired and needs a summer vacation including the teachers.  Anyway, finally school ended Friday and summer began.  I am proud to say that I just finished my 25th year of teaching.  I plan to retire sometime within the next four years, but meanwhile I needed to celebrate the end of the 2010-2011 school year.  Since Steve is in Hawaii and unavailable, I invited Sheldon, Julie, and Jace to my celebration.  As soon as I was finished checking out at school on Friday morning, we headed for The Cracked Egg for a delicious breakfast.  Jace then needed a nap; so when he was rested, we went to The Shark's Reef at the Mandalay Bay Hotel on the Strip.  We enjoyed the day's festivities, and I for one was glad that the last school bell had finally rung.

Sheldon Graduates

Introducing Dr. Sheldon Olsen

Last Thursday evening Steve and I flew into Portland, rented a car, and drove to Forest Grove, Oregon to attend Sheldon's graduation from Pacific University.  He now is officially Dr. Olsen, and he will be seeing patients soon as an optometrist. 

Julie and Sheldon went a day ahead of us as they flew in on Wednesday.  They checked us into our rental home that we were sharing.  That night Julie hosted a party with the other LDS optometry couples that they shared the last four years with in Oregon.  On Thursday Sheldon attended a capstone seminar at the university followed by a picnic luncheon and then a recruitment dinner that evening.  Friday Sheldon attended one last capstone seminar, and then he enjoyed the afternoon playing basketball at the university gym with his optometry friends.  Meanwhile, Julie, Jace, Steve, and I went shopping at the Columbia Employee Store compliments of one of Julie's friends who works for the company and could get us an entrance pass.  We've shopped there before, so this was one last time to take advantage of the discounts.  Then we headed for Costco and bought the items we needed for dinner after the graduation on Saturday.

Friday night Julie hired a babysitter so the four of us could drive into Portland and attend a formal sit-down awards banquet at the Convention Center.  It was a very nice event including a guest speaker and slide show.  We had lots of fun.  When we returned to Forest Grove, Sheldon's mom, sister, and aunt and uncle had arrived in time for Saturday's ceremonies.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and attended the ceremony where the doctorial hoods were placed on the arm of each candidate.   This presentation was at one of the buildings on the university campus.  It was a very nice affair.  There were 87 students graduating with their doctorate in optometry.  After the hooding ceremony the college hosted a nice luncheon on the grass.  We thought we would have time to go home, but everything took longer than expected.  We then headed for the outdoor university stadium to attend the final ceremony.  It was at this last ceremony that Sheldon actually received his diploma and the doctorial hood was placed around his neck.  Midway through the ceremony it started sprinkling, but that was no surprise to me.  It ALWAYS rains in Oregon.  After the final ceremony there was another reception on the grass.  Dessert was served. 

After a full day the formal graduation events were over, and we headed back to where we were staying.  Julie had planned a nice dinner  thanks to Costco.  Sheldon opened his graduation presents after dinner, and the graduation celebration lasting a number of days came to an end.  Julie and Sheldon began packing and got things organized as they had plans to leave for Long Beach, California at 5:00 a.m. Sunday morning.  As a reward for all their hard work and dedication for nine long years of studying, they had booked a cruise to Mexico for one week.  The best part of this trip was that the LDS couples that they had become so close to also went with them.  Steve and I took care of Jace while they vacationed with their friends in Mexico.  We are so very proud of Sheldon and admire his dedication in this long journey as he achieved his degree.  Way to go, Sheldon! 

The Sun Room
Jace was pretty taken by the bird cage.

No trip to Forest Grove is complete until you shop at the
Columbia Employee Store.



Everything in FG is so beautiful; we were on our way
to the Portland Convention Center for the
awards ceremony.



This is the slide they showed of Sheldon.  There was
one slide for each of the graduates.

Portland Convention Center, location of
the awards ceremony

Pacific Univeristy, on our way to the hooding ceremony.
Jace has both his grandmas with him for
this event.

This is one of Julie's close friends.  Her
husband also graduated with a degree
in optometry.

I took Jace outside to play for 30 or so minutes
before the ceremony began.  It is a little hard
to sit still when you are two.  The kids were
all very interested in the squirrels that ran up the tree
trunk as soon as they saw the children.

This is Sheldon receiving his hood.  They placed it
on his arm.  In the afternoon ceremony the
doctorial hood was placed over his neck.

After the morning ceremony

Maybe Jace will be an optometrist too

Sheldon's mom on the left
Norm and Annemette, aunt and uncle, on the right
along with his sister, Heidi

The campus is absolutely beautiful; it's so
green.  The trees are all huge.

Sheldon is walking up to the stand where his name
will be read and the hood will be placed on him.

Sheldon is on the stand and has just
had the hood placed on him.

What a great couple!

The happy Olsen family

Sheldon's fellow LDS optometry students which he
shared four years of schooling with

LDS optometry students along with their wives;
this is the same group of couples that went
cruising together in Mexico for a week after graduation.

The supporting and loving wives of
the graduates

The dinner party Julie threw for Sheldon at our rental home.

Can't have a party without a graduation cake!

Jace on the shuttle as we drove back to the airport on our way
to Las Vegas after the graduation.  Little did he know that
his mommy and daddy were off and away and Grandma
and Grandpa were the babysitters for the next week.



Thomas Graduates from UNLV

This morning Steve and I attended Thomas' graduation at UNLV.  He graduated with a degree in Biology.  We are very proud of him as we know how much work goes into earning a diploma.  The ceremony lasted three hours, so it was a bit long.  However, we enjoyed seeing all of Thomas' hard work pay off.  We know he couldn't have done it without his parents, family and especially Natalie supporting him along the way.  Here's wishing for a bright and happy future for the Ellsworth family!

A Cactus in Bloom

This picture is specifically for my sweet grandchildren who live in Missouri.  Since they don't live in the desert, I wanted to show them what a cactus in bloom looks like.  It's actually quite beautiful when you look out into the desert or at desert landscaping in town and see vibrant colors. It often catches me totally offguard especially when I'm not expecting to see much beauty.  At school every morning the last few weeks I've walked by the cactus in the picture below as I enter the building to start my day.  This cactus is getting so tall compared to how big it was just a few years ago.  I can tell by looking at this cactus that I've taught at Sierra Vista HS for quite a few years now.  Here's to the beauty of all God's creations including the dry and dusty desert of Nevada.

Mother's Day 2011

Although today is actually the day before Mother's Day, I feel like I've celebrated the occasion already.  When I got home from school yesterday, I saw two dozen purple and pink tulips from Melanie and Ryan on the kitchen island.  Steve gave me a dozen orange tulips the day before, so I felt really spoiled being surrounded by my favorite flower.  When Steve brought the mail in, there was a package from Heather and her family.  They gave me a pretty necklace.  Julie and her family last weekend gave me a black bag to carry my scriptures and lesson materials back and forth to church on Sundays. 

Today Steve babysat Cali and Ashton so Natalie and I could spend the entire day together.  What a great Mother's Day present!  Natalie and I attended my stake Relief Society spring social from 9 to 12.  The stake had gone to a great deal of effort to make the day fabulous.  It was an inspiring, uplifting and spiritually motivating affair.  We heard a special musical solo while a slide show played with pics of various women in our stake doing a variety of RS activities.  After that we were divided into four sections, and we rotated to four different classes.  We heard presentations about water purification, modesty, patriarchal blessings, and scripture reading.  All of the speakers were fabulous as was the yummy luncheon that was prepared and served by our stake high council.  I am so glad I could attend even though initially I wasn't too anxious to give up a Saturday morning of rest and relaxation.  After the social was over, Natalie and I headed for the matinee.  We saw "Something Borrowed."  It was a romantic comedy which we both enjoyed. 

Tomorrow Steve doesn't have any stake meetings as the stake president cancelled them all so husbands and fathers could be home enjoying the day with their wives.  Steve will actually be able to go to church with me tomorrow.  That sounds like a great gift to me.  After dinner we are going out to dinner.  I have been thoroughly spoiled this Mother's Day.  I want to thank my dear husband and four beautiful daughters for making this one of my favorite.  I love all of you.

Natalie Turns 28

We celebrated Natalie's 28th birthday twice. Once on her actual birthday; and second, when Julie, Sheldon, and Jace were in Las Vegas a week or so after the fact. Both times we enjoyed a family dinner. For the first party after dinner, we played pin-the-nose on the dog and musical chairs. The second party we wore our New Year's Eve hats and made noise with party horns. No one seemed to mind that the hats said Happy New Year's and not Happy Birthday. We gave Natalie a Kindle. She didn't decide she wanted one until the day before her actual birthday, so the purpose of the second party was to give her the gift once it arrived. Both parties were great fun. Dessert for the first go-around was brownies which is Natalie's favorite.  The second go-around we had cupcakes.  Although the little grandkids made a huge mess eating them, it was fun watching them enjoying dessert.  It's always nice to be together, and we'll accept any reason to party and be with our family.

 

Iron Girl 2011

Today Julie and Natalie competed in Iron Girl held at Lake Las Vegas near Henderson, Nevada. Both successfully finished which means they swam a half mile, biked 14 miles, and ran for 3.2 miles. It was fun to see them participate in this race together. It was a rather cool, windy day. I guess that caused the water in the lake to be a bit rough. The girls said on the bike ride and run there were places on the trail that were harder than others because of the wind pushing against them. The girls had to be at the lake at 5:30 a.m. We arrived at 6:30 a.m. which seemed very early for a Saturday morning. However, I am very glad we were able to be spectators. As before when Melanie and Natalie competed in previous races, it was a lot of fun being outside and watching all the athletes. I wouldn't have missed it. Way to go girls--here's to good health and being strong!