Braces

Our youngest is now seeing the orthodontist for braces and an expander. It been an adjustment for the whole family, though.  She can't swallow, her throat hurts, nothing tastes good, she can't eat, the expander was put in too far back, she talks funny, it's not fair, she wants them out, and she'd rather have crooked teeth.

She doesn't want to eat french fries, yogurt, apple sauce, oatmeal, or anything else that is soft.  The only thing she likes is pancakes.  She even admitted that Grandma will have a hard time putting up with her next week (I thought that was cute).  But despite the drama and crying fits, we're actually observing her improving each day.  

Here's the list of foods to avoid during treatment:
- popcorn
- bagels
- pizza crust (can have the center of pizza, though)
- hard pretzels
- suckers or hard candy
- ice
- raw carrots
- nuts
- taco shells, doritos, cheetos, and other hard chips

Have fun at Camp Grandma!

Colorado

Eric and Ashlyn took off for a week to explore Colorado. First stop was the Colorado School of Mines, the most renowned school for engineering. 

Second stop was Canon City and the Royal Gorge River, in which they went white water rafting down Class 4+ rapids.

 

Their next adventure was climbing Humboldt Peak, soaring above 14,000 ft. The trail was vaguely marked, so their decent was elongated after venturing far off the path. Additionally, they battled snow, hail, rain, wind, thunder, and lightning along their climb. After covering 10+ miles in 10 hours, as well as camping out in the back of their rental car for two nights, they were beyond exhausted.

Before heading home, they tackled an extremely strenuous 2,000 ft climb up the Manitou Incline and finished with a relaxing train ride up to the top of Pike's Peak.

Uptown Art

My sisters-in-law and I enjoyed a night of art and wine.  Here is the picture of downtown Greenville that we were supposed to paint.

We started with some blue and orange paint.

Added in some brown boxes for the building frame.

Then finished about an hour or so later with something that should resemble the original picture.

My picture close up.  Not bad!

Graduate

Our oldest graduated from high school last week.  Here's one picture before the ceremony with her friends since childhood....

During the program, she's on stage (below) between the student body president on the left and the salutatorian on the right.  

If you'd like to hear her amazing valedictorian speech, we've saved it on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=322g8Q3OKos

Or, for the rap-only version professionally recorded, follow this link: https://vimeo.com/129541563

Afterwards, you can see her walking out through the line of faculty applauding.  She's the one in the middle with the light blue stole and has such a beautiful smile on her face!

 Outside, we finally get to hug and congratulate her.  So proud!

 

Thankful for all the family who travelled the distance to be here!

Friends of hers.  Great bunch of kids who will truly make a positive impact on the world!

Treating the family to a lunch in downtown Greenville.

New Driver

Our son was finally ready for his learner's permit.  In SC, you can get it at 15.  The nervous look is so apparent on his face.

Here you can barely see him taking the on-line test.  Cameras weren't allowed, so this is the best zoom I could do with my phone.

He passed, missing only 4 questions!  Now he begins 40 hours of logged time behind the wheel before he can qualify for his restricted.