ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY...

...two years ago, Heidi Lynn joined our family. Thank you, Heidi, for all the sunshine and joy you bring to each of us! Happy Birthday, Heideline!

Happy Hunting

Today is Heidi's second birthday and we celebrated with an Easter Egg Hunt at our house this morning. Here's our neighbor Brianna and Addie finding eggs out on the lawn.
There's Brianna with Addie close behind on the other side of the yard.
Heidi found lots of eggs around the aspen trees...
...and in the rocks!

Around the lunch table: Heidi, Addie, Gracie, Kelli, Tyrel, & George Tyner (from church), Riley, Mackenzie, & Brianna Watt ( our nice neighbors).
Addie laughs at Heidi drinking a Capri Sun; Cailin & Colton Orton are behind Heidi.

(Not pictured are Orrin Tyner and cousins Danny, Rosalie, Jake and Sam, who were eating in the family room).
All the Easter Egg Hunters with their loot!

Heidi got a Barbie bike from Daddy so she can ride with Addie on the driveway
Nana sent a snuggly baby doll
Cousins Danny & Rosalie brought Heidi a BABY pony! The Tyner kids got her a smaller wedding pony and a Little People dinosaur. The Watt kids brought a fun doll with a little bed and diaper bag full of stuff, and the Orton kids brought a fun Strawberry Shortcake puzzle. It was better then Christmas around here!

We sang happy birthday over Easter Basket cupcakes...
...and Heidi (or was it Addie?) blew the candles out.
Heidi enjoyed her cupcake!

Heidi and Jake played for a while in the princess tent in Heidi's room...
...Poor Jake get his fill of pink stuff at our house (although he sure has fun playing babies and pushing the shopping cart or stroller around!)
Just as the party ended, Great-Grandpa & Grandma Elrey called and sang Happy Birthday to Heidi. A little after 1pm, the birthday girl crashed for a nap with her new baby doll, pony, and a special birthday bottle of chocolate milk ("mockit miwk")...she's still asleep! :) Thanks, everyone, who remembered Heidi's special day!

TGIF

Friday morning, my brother Matt called and asked if he and his family could come stay over Firday night...OF COURSE! So we did our traditional trip to Chico Hot Springs with the kids...we kidnapped Rich from his office about 5 minutes early and headed down the valley to take a dip in the hot springs, then eat some yummy pizza at the Poolside Grille. The timing was perfect! We loaded up the kids to head home at 8pm and they were in bed by 9pm and we enjoyed a little grown up visit and a good night's sleep! Heidi (next to Matt) at the Poolside Grille at Chico
We drove up the canyon from the resort to the old town of Chico and took a picture of this shed.
Jake & Addie being silly at Chico
Amie with Baby Sam

How the Flowers Looked 4/11...

We noticed our first hyacinth in the front yard on Tuesday...
...and our daffodil bloomed that day, too. Now there are 4 blossoms out there trying to withstand the wind!

Thanks, Aunt Amie!

Heidi got a birthday card and headbands from Aunt Amie, Uncle Matt, Jake, & Sam! She was so excited, so wore them all at once!
Here she is looking out the front window at the neighbors riding bikes
She cried when I went to the mailbox without her...that's why her eyebrows and cheeks are red!
Thanks for the pretties, Posties! We miss you so much and can't wait til you come hang out with us again!!!!

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY...

Georgia (pictured here with husband Rob, May 1992) was born. She's the big sister I didn't get until I was 18, and a most dear & talented friend. Have a beautiful birthday, Geo! We're so glad you were born!

Education is Freedom

I could have called this post a number of other things: Knowledge is Power, The Glory of God is Intelligence...what ever I call it, I have to say something about education.

I hate to admit that I got fired up from watching Oprah today--I couldn't resist the ad that said Bill & Melinda Gates wanted to come on Oprah and share their biggest cause. The show struck a nerve with me--our tiny town is Loserville with a capital L as far as public education goes (example: coming from a school where the median ACT score was 27 and I got a 30, I was shocked to learn that a 23 was GOOD here)--dropping out to become a manual laborer or a teenage mom is not unusual, and I am horrified to send my kids to school here. Fortunately I have a few years to get involved and make a plan of action. Please, please, PLEASE go to the Stand Up website and AT LEAST send the letter to your governor asking him to get behind this movement for better high schools (I have already filled out a survey here in Montana stating that I think all that extra money we made from the huge tobacco tax we passed should go to education--I want the elementary school down the street from me to open up again in the next 2 years--it closed due to budget constraints and not enough kids to fill it, but since then, over 150 houses have been built in the area and 250 more are slated for construction. That should bring in enough kids and dollars, doncha think?)

Learning to read, to comprehend what I read, to think, to put myself in the shoes of others throughout history and throughout our world today, to reason and to empathize has made me a better person and has given me the kind of life most of the world only dreams about. I don't mean that I am wealthy or pampered or living in luxury--I mean that all of my needs are met as are most of my wants; my life is generally free of genuine worry or financial stress, and full of rich and beautiful things because my husband and I have learned to think and reason and appreciate the world around us. I credit this to TWO things: our families of origin and our EDUCATION. Economics aside, the quality of the life you lead when you really LEARN HOW TO LEARN is so staggeringly better, it makes me cry to think that the majority of my fellow Americans are living hand to mouth, blind to their potential because of lack of education.

In a country where even the poorest wage earner pays something toward public education through taxes, it is nothing but shameful to see and read about the massive failings of the public school system. My knee-jerk reaction has been to home school or super-supplement my kids' education to give them what they need and deserve, but it just dawned on me that EVERY KID deserves what I am striving to give mine--even if their moms work full-time and can't be as involved, even if homeschool was never an option, even if their parents think school is a waste of time. Every American child deserves to have someone show them the value of an education, the joy of reading and finding what you're really truly good at, the peace of knowing you are equipped to provide for yourself and your family in a job that you enjoy and you're good at.

I am definitely going to get involved here. I might end up with another ulcer, but like the song says, "conquer we must when our cause it is just," and I think this is something I can get behind with my mind, heart, and spirit. The first thing I am going to do is see how I can help at Big Sisters and at Learning Partners, as well as start attending school board meetings (ho-hum). And I will continue to pray and teach my children good things at home. What are you going to do?