Lyle's 57th!

I'm not a very good birthday party 'thrower'... maybe occasionally. This year Lyle didn't get very much attention from his family (he even had to make his own birthday cakes to take and share at work). His co-workers took him to lunch, though, and they partied!

Track Season

Aaron Berry, Sean, Clay Scott, and Cy Kinkead ready for the 4X400 at Crooksville, OH.

We have been into the track season now for over a month and I haven't posted anything about it, so let me do that now. Sean is running well, but he wishes he was running a tiny bit faster! Our weather has been absolutely horrible for track season. I don't think we have had more than two dry days in the last month and a half. It makes it a little hard to be excited about practicing or performing (or sitting in the rainy, windy, cold watching)! Regardless, we do love to watch Sean run. Several of his meets have been cancelled because of storms.

He has had three 'relay' meets which I think are nearly worthless. One is fun -- three, well that is just way over-done! It means, for example, that four hurdlers from our school have their hurdle times all added up to come up with a final time. Well, we don't have any real hurdlers except Sean, so they don't end up with a very good time! He wishes Nic, Matt, and Tanner could be on his team! (They would be all of the great hurdlers of the last decade at West Muskingum High School!)

Last Thursday night he had a meet at Muskingum College. There were 24 teams at the meet! He decided that instead of running the 110 Hurdles he wanted to Triple Jump. Most meets don't have a triple jump event. [A few weeks ago at the Circleville Relay Invitational, which is huge, there was a triple jump and he had the individual longest jump. Our other jumpers didn't do well, so as a team I don't think they even placed. But without ever practicing or competing in the event he jumped a 37'. He loved it.] Back to Muskingum College Invitational..... he ran in the 4X200 relay with Aaron Berry, Cy Kinkead, and Clay Scott. They placed 8th! In the 300 Hurdles against 39 other hurdlers, Sean placed 7th! Then his 4X400 team with Aaron, Cy, and Clay placed 5th. As Sean was running his leg of the 400 at 11:45 p.m. they called for all of the boy triple jumpers to report to the long jump area! He decided that he was tired and spent; it was cold and slippery; he didn't want to injure himself, and everyone (including the coach) wanted to get on the bus and go home, so he did not triple jump.

In the meet against Crooksville and New Lexington he placed 1st in both the 110 (16.4 secs.) and 300 (43.2 secs.) Hurdles, the 4X200 team placed 1st, and then the same guys again in the 4X400 placed 1st. So he, and we, were pretty happy.

One more thing that we are going to miss..... sitting at track meets watching our kids!

DOESN'T HE MAKE THIS LOOK EASY? 110 High Hurdles

300 Hurdles

Easter Happiness!

Matt and Katie invited us to spend Easter Sunday with them. They fixed a fabulous lunch! Yummy homemade rolls, grilled turkey, mashed potatoes, spinach salad with homemade dressing, limeade made from scratch, and a delicious pie. They really out-did themselves. (And all of that the day after they returned on a long flight from Utah!) I ate my heart out! We had so much fun watching Averi hunt for Easter Eggs and open her Easter Basket. She is just delightful when she discovers gifts! She always says, 'Wow!' with great excitement. It makes watching her open gifts almost as much fun as getting one yourself! It was such a fun, exciting, and relaxing day for us. Thanks so much Matt, Katie, and Averi for a Happy Easter!

And Those Awards Keep Rolling In!

"More awards?" you ask. Could there possibly be any more? Well, yes! Sean is the recent winner of the Outstanding Student Musician Award. The Rotary Club of Zanesville recognizes and salutes the outstanding student musicians in Muskingum County. Sean's choir director nominated him as West Muskingum High School's outstanding musician! So Sean, Lyle, and I enjoyed breakfast with all of the Rotarians at the Zanesville Country Club as well as all of the other high schools' outstanding musicians and the Superintendents, Principals, Music Teachers, School Board Members, etc.

It is a nice honor, once again. Sean is such a well-rounded individual! Have I said before... very talented? I know I have, so let me repeat myself! We wish we would have encouraged this music thing a little more and little sooner! However, it was really our new choir director at our high school that has made the difference! Mr. Whetstone has been really terrific. All of the students love him. He has made music fun and cool! (Probably him and "GLEE".)

Great job and CONGRATULATIONS, Sean! Keep it up!

Sean's 2011 Prom

On the way out the door to pick up his date. Sean looks so handsome!
Date - Emily Martyn
Sean & Emily; Ross Watts & Tara Pumphrey, Cy Kinkead & Aryan Moarefdoust
Good friends!

Having a hard time being serious...

Prom was held at Eagle Sticks Golf Course.
Emily & Sean, Tara & Ross, Brian Stout & date Lisa, Paul Wilson & date Kacie
Sean and Adam Wilson
Sean walked in the door after prom carrying this! All of the juniors and seniors vote during prom and the winner is announced! It is a nice honor. I will give you one guess who was the Prom Queen! .....and of course you are right - Tara Pumphrey!

Sean took Emily Martyn from Granville, Ohio, to prom. (They were on the Stake Youth Council together and are good friends.) They had a fun time especially with all of the other kids from church! After prom was over, Sean, Emily, Cy, Aryan, Tara, and Ross came back to our house and watched the newest Harry Potter movie. I think things died down around 4:30 a.m. Not much time to sleep before church. Ross spent the night at our house. Aryan and Emily spent the night at Tara's. Sean will take Emily back to her house after church and lunch.

Can't believe it is the last prom we will deal with as parents! So many chapters ending.......

Enjoying Hudson!

Such a precious bundle! He is adorable!
Our first meeting! I hoped I could get there before he left the hospital, but Ashley only stayed in the hospital for a day - almost not even 24 hours! She was 'done with the place'. So they went home on Monday, April 4, and I got there Tuesday morning.
Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Clark with Hudson, Ashley, and Kendyl.
Brooklyn likes this baby.

Ashley is such a beautiful, fantastic little mommy!
Saying goodbye.
Baking cookies with Camryn and Brooklyn. They were really good at it!

I just got home from Utah and an enjoyable time with that adorable Hudson and his terrific mom and dad! Not surprisingly they are fantastic parents! I am so impressed with how perfectly they have transitioned into parenthood! It seems very natural for them. He is a very lucky little boy! I spent hours holding and cuddling that baby who reminded me so much of my own (I guess because of his tiny size, his hair, his long fingers, and the way he moves and stretches). I also had a lot of fun visiting with Ryan and Ashley's great friends, Scott and Kristen, who are allowing Ryan and Ashley to live in their upstairs until they can move into their own home. Kristen is taking good care of Ashley! Knowing that made it easier for me to leave.

Of course, I loved spending time with Nic, Steff, Brooklyn, Camryn, Kendyl, & Tanner and his friend, Danielle, as well.

An added bonus was an evening spent with my mom & dad (who drove from Idaho to see their newest little great-grandchild); Leslie, Kyle, Nichole & Chris; Sheri & Tom; Karen & Derek; Michael & Yvett. We called around last minute and decided to have a little pizza party get-together at Nic and Steff's home for anyone who could make it. We sang happy birthday to Michael, Kyle, and Leslie. Wish everyone else was close enough so that we could have grabbed them too and sung happy birthday to Laurie as well. I took zero pictures during the evening - and am so mad at myself for that!

Grandpa and Grandma Clark made the trip to Bountiful one day so that they could also meet Hudson.

It was hard to leave, but knowing that I will be back in a few weeks when Steff has her baby, made it a little easier!

Hudson has Arrived! April 3, 2011

Such a gorgeous little mother-to-be three days before delivery!
They look happy!
First visitors - Kendyl, Steff, Brooklyn, Nic, and Camryn

Hudson was born this morning around ll a.m. He was 5 pounds 7 ounces and 19 inches long. Ashley was 5 pounds 11 ounces and 18 inches long when she was born. Ryan said everything went great! I think he tried to talk Ashley out of having an epidural, but she was most insistent and therefore was a happy mama!

I am flying out there tomorrow night late. So, I will probably miss the hospital visit, but I'm hoping to be of some use, and I'm looking forward to tons of cuddle time!

Averi's Sleep Over!

She slept so peacefully. Probably the only time that she was still! She is such a mover!

We don't do this often enough... hardly ever, but it has to start being a weekly occurance because she will be moving soon. Can't stand to even think about her being so far away!

Averi is such a little doll. When I went to pick her up on Friday, she was so excited to come! She just seems happy to get buckled in her car seat and wave good-bye to her parents! We talked all the way home and listened to the 'princess music' (actually it was my WICKED CD)! She loves those princesses too!

She ate fabulously, made papa take her outside - which is where she would like to live! Then we went and watched Sean's Musical Revue. We kept her out past her bedtime, which might not have been a great thing to do, however, she loved every second of it. She didn't even need toys or books to keep her happy. She was completely satisfied to sit on my lap and just watch and listen to the show. She was perfect! She became a little concerned when Sean left the stage, but she was extremely excited when he came back on. And she even spotted 'princesses' on the stage to be happy listening to. Everyone around us thought she was amazing... sitting so still... being so quiet... seeming so entertained! She went to bed very easily and sleep came quickly!

Saturday morning we just played and played - Go Fish, Princesses, Dollies, Coloring, Karaoking, Hide 'n Seek. In between all of that she ate lots of food (well, lots for her!) and she took a nap!

I think her parents could have left her for one more day. But I won't complain. I'll just go get her again, and it won't be soon enough!

West Muskingum High School Musical Review

The high school choir has been working on some Broadway hits for a show. The show turned out great. We enjoyed ourselves. Sean and the other kids had a great time - he says he is missing the practices and sad that he doesn't have that to look forward to still! He sang four songs besides the group performances. He sang a duet with Tara Pumphrey - "The Last Night of The World" from Miss Saigon; a duet with Jennifer Wohlgamuth - "Phantom of the Opera" from ....Phantom of the Opera, of course; a solo of "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera; a duet with Nathan Stout - "In Lily's Eyes" from The Secret Garden.

Once again, he is not so keen on me posting these. But he knows me.....

In Lily's Eyes

I didn't get this to post with the "Seasons of Love" post, not sure why! I am so inept! I decided to post these two songs because you know what "Phantom" and "Music of the Night" sound like.

Nic & Lyle hike Coyote Gulch

Wade invited Lyle and Nic to join in his adventure to Escalante, Utah. It was freezing cold at night. They had snow. The days were in the low 50's. To look at the pictures, it was a breathtaking adventure!