Smiling Mom

We had the oppor­tu­nity to tag along with my dad to his ins­ti­tu­tes in Indian Wells, Cali­for­nia.  His team an he have a power­ful mes­sage they are sha­ring with teachers and prin­ci­pals throughout the country.  Their mes­sage of No Excu­ses, and the notion that not only every child CAN learn, but should be lear­ning.  And it’s our (the schools) job to make that hap­pen.  Power­ful.  Like, change the face of edu­ca­tion power­ful.  I atten­ded a few ses­sions and now feel more of a sense of urgency to get back out to the school site and make chan­ges hap­pen… more on that later.

For now, some pictures.

eClaire han­ging with Aun­tie Ali.

Cou­sin Mika, ham­ming it up.

Cou­sin CJ and BC.  BC’s all, “AAYYY!”

But the majo­rity of our time was spent sit­ting just like this in the pool, avoi­ding the 110 degree heat.  Gotta love vacation!

My chil­dren LOVE the beach.  San Diego has warm waters, and sunny skies.  We couldn’t miss an oppor­tu­nity to play in the sand.

Exfo­lia­ting…

Han­ging with Daddy

Jum­ping waves

Boo­gie Boar­ding (OK, only Daddy and Uncle Jonny who joi­ned us)

And Making Memories

Good Times, happy days.

So, no BlogHer for me this year.  Maybe next.

Ins­tead I had the plea­sure of seeing all my exten­ded family, remi­nis­cing about my grandma, and catching up on old times.

I have a big family. A big Mor­mon exten­ded family.  We are not.  But I often feel that even though I was not rai­sed in the Mor­mon faith, I was rai­sed somewhat Mor­mon.  Mor­mo­nism is more than a reli­gion, it’s a cul­ture.  I was rai­sed with the Mor­mon cul­ture.  And I think I am a bet­ter per­son for it.

My hus­band and I don’t often take pic­tu­res together any­more.  So I am attemp­ting to remidy that.

Notice the earrings… thanks Fussy.  I LOVE them!!

And the shoes.  Well, let’s just say that a girl who, a day before BlogHer, learns she can’t go to BlogHer, MUST do some retail the­rapy.  Mine was in the form of a trip to Ross Dress For Less…  The shoes?  Ya.  they cost less than $18 AFTER tax.  BOO YA!

We’ve known since the begin­ning of Decem­ber that my grandma was living on borro­wed time.  She was diag­no­sed with ova­rian can­cer at that time and given 3 weeks to 6 months to live.  Seven and a half months later, she pas­sed away.

My mom was there, by her side as she pas­sed on.  For that I’m grateful.

The fune­ral is Satur­day, so we’re scram­bling to get everything together for the fune­ral and our next two vaca­tions… today.

We leave tomorrow.

And I had to sell my tic­ket to BlogHer.

Such a bum­mer.  This was to bet the first time I’d ever taken a wee­kend for myself to satisfy my guilty pleasures.

There’s always next year, right??

Sigh.

Prio­ri­ties.  Family always comes first.  And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So tomo­rrow, we leave to attend our final party for Grandma Bryan. And Satur­day, we say goodbye.

———

I’ve recently been hit with a steam of spam com­ments.  As a result I’ll be tur­ning off my com­ments for the days I’ll be gone from my computer.

So all hun­dreds of you coughO­NEof­You­cough don’t be alar­med when you are una­ble to leave your witty thoughts on my posts.

Peace, and if you’re atten­ding BlogHer, have a won­der­ful time.