A VISIT FROM AUNT JUNE AND COUSIN GREG

Aunt June and Cousin Greg have been here for a week. They arrived on Thursday of last week and leave today. Nora cried last night and asked me to tell them they can't go. We have had a wonderful time and here are a few pictures. I will post more later. Mom and Dad don't want them to go either but we can't keep them here against their will.

We visited Daddy's work

Mom and Dad at the company park. Nora took the photo's (except the one including her).

Aunt June and Cousin Greg and Nora

BABY JAMES'S PARTY

Nora calls her cousin James "Baby James" and Baby James turned 1 year old. Nora had a great time at the party. She won a game of musical chairs and thought that was wonderful. It was even better than the cake. We all had a great time especially Baby James and all the other children. I didn't get many pictures but did get get pictures of Baby James and his parents Yuli and Isaac.

NORA'S PHOTOGRAPHY

Nora loves taking pictures. Every time I get a camera out she grabs it and wants to take pictures. Here are a few of her photos. They were taken at Bever's Bends State Park. She loves that park. I have more pictures taken there more recently that I will post when I have lots of time.

SCHOOL DAYS

When I picked Nora up on Wednesday she started to cry. I felt so bad. Ms. Jackie said she had been fine all morning until I got there. She said one little boy had cried all morning non-stop and that could be why Nora had cried. Then on Friday Nora saw me before I got to the door. When I opened the door Nora rushed to me and said "Mama I have a new best friend.". I asked the name of her new best friend and she said something that sounded like Sophie. Ms. Jackie said it's Zoe. Zoe is a cute blond girl that's heavier than Nora. We saw her at the open house last week but she wouldn't look at anyone and had her face hid on her mother's shoulder. Nora introduced me to Zoe and Zoe looked very happy to have a best friend. It still may take Nora a little while to get used to being away from home for four hours without Mom but we'll get there. I think things went very well this week. On Friday I was given the yellow hand Nora made on Monday. It is a keepsake from her first day at school and we will be given things throughout the year so we can look back and see how much Nora has grown and see the improvements she has made. She brings something home everyday she is there but special things will be made every once in a while. The yellow hand with a heart in the palm is on white paper and has a yellow mat around the edges. I should have taken a picture for the blog but I didn't think of it until now.

NORA'S FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL

Nora started preschool yesterday. She had been very excited about going to school but when we got her up she had changed her mind about going to school and decided she wasn't going to go. We had breakfast and talked about what the day would be like and decided that going to school would be the best option for the day. Anyway, we went to KindleLight and Nora was very quiet. Her teacher wasn't there yet and she and the children from her class waited in the neighboring classroom for the first few minutes. While there Nora colored a beautiful green frog. I waited in the hall and watched through a window. Nora continued to look to the window to see if I was still there. When Nora's teacher arrived she took her students to their classroom. While they were changing rooms I told Nora I was going to leave and she said "and you'll be right back". I told her I would be back to take her to lunch and then we would go home. She was O.K. with that.

When I went back to pick her up they were having story time. I waited in the hall and watched. Nora was enjoying the story. They were almost finished when Nora noticed I was at the window. She stood up and started jumping up and down then she would sit back down and just couldn't contain herself and would start jumping again. I think the first day was harder on me than it was on her. She had a great time and wants to go back. She will only go three half days a week. I was so happy that we didn't have any tears. This was Nora's first time away from us except for staying with Aunt Angie. Nora was such a big girl and we are very proud of her.

I almost forgot to mention that Nora was very excited about painting her hand at preschool. She said she painted her hand yellow and put it on a piece of paper. She thought that was great.

FRIENDS

This is Brooklynn, Payton and Nora (back to front). Brooklynn and Payton are first cousins and were in Nora's dance class last year. We are going to a new dance studio this year and Brooklynn and Payton are moving there also. They want to be in Nora's dance class. I never remember to get pictures but this time Nora asked me take pictures of them together. The girls play so well together. They all love playing tea party.

Nora will start preschool in two weeks. We will be going to open house next week. Nora is excited about school. She will be there three half days a week. While she is excited about going to school she is still acting like Nora does when change is coming. She has been acting out for a few days. I know she will love school. When we visited a class there in May she had such a wonderful time. While I was being shown around she never even missed me.

FOUR YEAR WELL VISIT

Nora had her four year well visit on Friday. She is 39 inches tall and weighs 37 pounds. She had to have immunizations. Five immunization. Four injections. Two in each thigh. She screamed so loud but as soon as they gave her a penguin tub toy she was fine. She refused to take any Motrin on Friday and by evening she was limping on both legs. She would say "It doesn't hurt". Anyway, on Saturday she was fine but told everyone she saw that she had shots. Even at church on Sunday she was telling everyone she had shots. Nora's eye sight was good and her hearing excellent.

Nora is so healthy she hasn't had to go to the doctor much. Her last doctors visit was almost a year ago. We were late with her three year well visit (because of the move) and had it in the fall. She will not need any more immunizations until she is eleven years old. I hate to think about flu shot this year though. She isn't going to like it. She did OK with her flu shot last year but it was only one stick. After having four it will be an ordeal.

JULY FOURTH

We had a celebration at our home on July fourth. There was no church service on Sunday night so we had everyone over for fajitas on Sunday evening and then we made ice cream. After that we had fire works. I didn't actually get to see the fire works because Nora is afraid of them. Nora and her cousin Cody and I watched Nick Jr. while the fire works were happening. It rained on Sunday afternoon so we brought all the outdoor furniture inside so everyone would have a place to sit and eat at a table. We had a very good time.

Our yard is almost finished but I'm not sure when it will be done. The man (Bob) that was doing the yard died of a heart attack. He was 51 years old and had never had heart trouble. He has a wife and three children. The oldest child is 22 and has just finished college. He is trying to take over the business but is struggling as you can imagine. Bob also has two younger children both under 10 years of age. His wife and oldest son came to see us yesterday to let us know they intend to finish the job but it may take a while. Please pray for this family. Bob was stressed to the limit with his business. He had more going than most people can imagine taking on and now this family is trying to finish all the projects and keep the business going. The young man taking on this responsibility didn't have the licenses to run the business and has had to study, take tests and become licensed even to keep things running. The yard is looking very good and I think of Bob each time I look out my windows.

When everything is finished I'll post pictures. Paradise Gardens has done a good job on the yard. I would have taken some pictures yesterday if it had not rained. We had a very good time even with the rain. It was not like any Fourth of July celebration I've ever had before. I guess it was our "bring the outside in" party.

WEDDING DAY

Amanda and Thomas were married on Saturday, June 12. It was a beautiful ceremony. Nora was the flower girl and she loved her dress. I am embarrassed to admit that I didn't get a picture of the groom but I didn't. I only got one picture of the bride. They were very busy and it was hard to get a photo of them. Here are the pictures I did get. Amanda had a theme wedding. The theme was Alice in Wonderland. Nora was Alice. Amanda sent a picture of what the dress should look like and I made the dress. It turned out OK. We were not allowed to take pictures in the cathedral so all the pictures are at the reception.

The tables were decorated like this. Each was different and all were lovely.

wedding cake

groom's cake

ring bearer and flower girl

Nora carried this rabbit in the ceremony. I didn't get a picture but the ring bearer carried a tea pot with rings on the spout.

Joshua, Nora & Del

Nora & Del

Eve & Joseph

Eve was the Maid of Honor. Eve & Joseph will be getting married next year. It's nice that they are giving my sister a little short break before there is another wedding. Although Joseph isn't officially a member of the family yet he has found his way into all our hearts.

Hannah

The bride, Amanda

the kids having fun

Daddy, Joseph & Del

Me & Nora

My Daddy & Mama

Caleb & Gaffer

DANCE RECITAL

Nora's dance recital was just before our trip and I'm just getting the pictures posted. Nora refused to pose alone and every time I thought I was going to get a picture of her she would turn and I would get a picture of her back side. I did get some pictures but I got some really good pictures of some of the other girls. I'm not posting those but will try to get them to their parents. We were not allowed to take pictures while the girls were on stage so I'm glad I was back stage with the girls while they dressed and waited for their dance routines.

From left to right: Olivia, Nora, Allie, Brooklyn, Payton, Kit in tap costumes

Nora being silly

Nora and Brooklyn

Nora

Nora, Brooklyn, Olivia, Kit, Allie, Payton in ballet costumes

Nora