My Writer's Getaway

After having such an amazing time last year at LDS Storymakers conference, I knew I had to be there no matter what!  I spent hours searching the schedule to make sure I chose the perfect classes that would magically turn me into an amazing writer.  Well, I'm not so certain that happened, but I sure had fun!  I went with some Pocatello friends, Mindi Quayle, Heidi Tighe, Nicki Stanton, and Wendy Swore and I stayed in Provo with my friend Rebekah Call who teaches Hebrew at BYU.  We learned some great skills and techniques from terrific writers such as Jennifer Nielson, James Dashner, Sarah Eden, Brandon Mull, Traci Abramson, and Scott Savage.   I typed and wrote notes until my hands cramped and my brain was full, but if I could do it again this week I would!  Such a wonderful conference!

Blurry picture of a cool trio:  Dashner, Savage, and Mull teaching a panel class

My cousin, Michelle Argyle, was one of the presenters but I didn't get to take her class and didn't even see her there, unfortunately, with over 700 attendees.  She taught a class on book covers, and I'm sure it was a good one because her covers are always great. Here's one of my favorite covers.

  She has self-published about 6 books, so she's my hero!

Nicki, Rebekah, Heidi, and I peeking over a suave Brandon Sanderson's shoulder

On the last day of the conference there was a mass book signing and Brandon Sanderson came, although he didn't teach this year.  He is Rebekah's favorite author, so I bought her a book to say Thank You and we stood in line to get it signed.  When he saw her name badge they got talking about the Call family and realized they are cousins!  Pretty cool moment for Rebekah.  We're already planning how much fun we'll have at Storymakers 2016!

Mother's Day

Recently, Emma decided to try lots of new recipes, and I have discovered that she's a fantastic chef!  

For Mother's Day she surprised me with the most delicious crepes I think I've ever had.  

Where did the years go?  Sometimes when I look at my kids I miss my little toddlers and wish I could go back and give their tiny little bodies just one more big squeeze.  But there are wonderful things about having older kids, too.  Namely crepes. 

Senior Prom Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, a nice, normal family was enjoying a nice, quite Saturday afternoon when a loud knock on the door announced a surprise.

 An intriguing basket had been delivered for the eldest daughter, Princess Maren, with a message that could only be deciphered by dying special eggs.

 After soaking them in the magical dye, Maren was excited to see that writing had appeared on each egg.  As she examined each one she realized that she was being invited to attend the Senior Ball with the handsome Prince Kayd.  Of all of the handsome princes in the kingdom, Prince Kayd was the one she had hoped would ask her, and now Princess Maren was elated!

As with any normal girl, Maren's thoughts went immediately to the ball gown she would wear.  She decided she wanted her dress to be so light and full that it appeared as if she floated on clouds.  Seeking the perfect dress, she strolled through shops, admiring all of the lovely gowns with their bows, flounces, and sparkling sequins.  They were all quite fine, but Maren couldn't seem to stop comparing them to the spun gold gown with pink rosebuds that her cousin, Princess Kat, had worn to her own Senior Ball.  Finally, she decided to ask Kat if she would loan her the beautiful gold gown.  After only a moment's deliberation, Kat declared that she would be delighted to let Maren wear the gown.  The dilemma was solved, and Maren was quite pleased.

Plans were made for Princess Maren and Prince Kayd to attend the ball with their friends, who had been close compatriots for many years.  The day of the ball was spent in silliness and fun, as they enacted plays which they recorded and watched several times.  After hours of fun, the youth made their way to their homes to prepare for the ball.

Prince Kayd arrived to collect Princess Maren for the ball looking dashing, as all good princes do.  He brought her lovely flowers to match her dress, and Maren took a moment to pin a blushing, pink rosebud to his lapel, as well.

 She managed to secure it without a drop of his blood being spilt, so they left in smiles to join their friends. Princess Maren and Prince Kayd were in awe of the splendor of their friends and began to wonder if it could truly be the silly friends they had spent time with earlier in the day.

Jacob Hopkins, Sierra Olcott, Trevor Payne, Hannah Whitney, Kayd Meldrum, Maren Symons, Kyleigh Hatch, Ben Pitman, Sarah Reddish, Tate Crockett, Lauren Holmstead, Jared Payne

   After they had been together for a few moments, however, the silliness returned and Maren and Kayd began to recognize their friends once more.

 That evening, a delicious dinner was served for them at Prince Trevor's home, and then they made their way to the ball where they had a marvelous time and danced happily ever after...

 

Graduation

Well, despite the fact that I can't quite figure out when she grew up so much, Maren will be graduating in a few weeks from Century High School.  She's one smart cookie and is graduating with Highest Honors and Academic Excellence.  She was also chosen as Senior Government Student of the Year!  (Last year she was the Junior English Student of the Year). 

She had so much fun this year with her friends and is sad to have everyone splitting up and going to separate schools.  She loved playing on the JV tennis team for four years and competing with the cross country team for two years.  

Maren plans to attend BYU-Idaho for 1 or 2 semesters and then serve a mission.  We're so proud of her and can't wait to see what her future holds!

Senior Pictures

Senior pictures have changed so much from the days when mine were taken.  I cringe every time I look at my pictures, sitting in a chair in a studio with a colored backdrop, closed fist under my chin!  They're so much more natural now, and they really show personality.

Maren is lucky enough to have an aunt who spent hours with her, taking pictures in the most unusual places.  We took some at a duck pond by a trailer park, some at the entrance to the freeway, and some in the cemetery.

 Later, we went to Salt Lake and took some behind Lagoon, some in an amazing public library, and some at the gorgeous Memory Grove park.  We had lots of fun and got some great shots of a beautiful girl!  Maren has grown into such a terrific young lady.  She's intelligent, kind, and so spiritual, and she always impresses us.

 Thank goodness for Becky because we are not naturally a very photogenic family!  Here's the proof!

Emma's Big Surprise

For at least 6 months Emma has wanted a ukulele.  It started when I showed her a video on Youtube of a man and his three year old daughter signing "Tonight You Belong To Me" while he played the ukulele.  It was so cute, and I told the girls I wanted them to sing it as a duet for me.  Emma said she would learn it if I'd get her a ukulele, and she started putting them in my Ebay shopping cart every time she got on my site.  She constantly reminded me that she wanted one, and she told me about a dream she had about how sad she was when she didn't get one.  I've never seen her want something so much, so I bought her a ukulele for her birthday. 

 

 I couldn't help playing a trick on her, though.  Inside of the ukulele-shaped present, she opened this:

 A dollar store toy ukulele!  She was pretty surprised and didn't seem too thrilled!

 When she opened the real thing, though, she loved it.  She's been teaching herself to play all week.

Emma is such a fun person, and we love having her in our family!  Happy Birthday, Kiddo!

 

Chris' Big Day

It's not every year that you get to celebrate your birthday on Easter AND General Conference weekend, but Chris had the great luck to do just that! Laura's family came for the Easter weekend, so we had lots of family to celebrate with.  First, we watched conference at Mom and Dad's house.

Next, we had a giant Easter Egg hunt.  The night before we had a glow in the dark hunt, which was a lot of fun, but this time it was serious.  The two birthday boys set off together to find the money eggs!

Emma was determined to find the egg with the $20 bill (donated by Uncle Rob).  Even Devin hunted!

The chickens must have wanted to join in the fun because Layla found a light green egg that turned out to be freshly laid!  

We figured we hid almost 1,000 eggs, and the kids had way too much candy, but they also had lots of fun!

After the Easter egg hunt Grandma and Grandpa Symons joined us for Chris' birthday.

I love this picture! My family is naturally unphotogenic, but I think my genes must be rubbing off on Del.

 Of course he got the usual gifts, like clothes, but his favorite was an old exit sign I found at DI.  It goes well with his vintage bowling pin and the stop sign I bought him previous years.  His bedroom is rather eclectic, to say the least.

 Liam helped him play with his remote control car.  Boys never get too old for those!

 The following day was Liam's football birthday party at our house.  Lots of work, but Pinterest worthy!