Spring's Winding Down....

We haven't had much "spring weather" in Utah this year - not if you consider spring weather to be sunshiny days in the 60s and 70s with blossoms everywhere, at least.  Now if you consider spring weather to be rain and more rain, with a little bit of snow thrown in for good measure and a tornado or two to boot - well, I guess we've had nothing but spring weather in Utah this year.

But the children are all finishing up their last days of school before summer vacation, this weekend is Memorial Day, the calendar is getting very close to the month of June, and those are all signs that spring is supposed to be melting into a warm and wonderfully dry summer in our desert climate.  We'll see if we get any break between spring violence and monsoon violence this year, weather wise.

Here are a few photos (and some links to more if you're interested)  from the past week in our life:

 

1.  The very last of the tulips.  Once they finally decided to bloom, they've been delightful.  I did have a couple of patches of these double fringed ones that waited even longer to bloom, and it's kind of nice to still have them around after the rest have been stripped of their blossoms.  They're almost gone, too, so I'm scrambling now to get some more color into my flower beds to replace these.  But nothing seems to quite match the dancing colors of the spring flowers. 

2.  Tornadoes - I've been saddened by the tragedies stretching across the southern states this tornado season.  Ever since I watched Wizard of Oz my first time, I've been frightened of tornadoes and grateful we live in an area that really doesn't see many of them.  But now I have one child planted in the heart of tornado alley - kind of - and another on the fringes of where the storms seem to all be heading, and I am even more terrified.  My heart breaks for the lives that have been torn apart over the past couple of weeks.  The storms have been violent in Utah, and with each one I've worried that it would become more violent as it passed into the Plains.   And it seems like each one has.  That doesn't help my worry level one bit!  But with all my concern, I don't think a speck of my worry has slowed any of the weather down at all.

Tornado cloud over Lehi Sunday evening.  Fortunately it just produced a nice hail storm and wore itself out without a funnel.

 3.  On to a more fun subject - BIRTHDAYS!   Stephanie celebrated her birthday in California this year, so we didn't get to share cake and ice cream with her, but Sunday we did get to watch her open a few gifts.  Click here for more pictures.

Kamryn told Stephanie it was a cookbook.  "How did you know that?" Stephanie asked.  "You are so smart!"

  (It was Isaac's birthday earlier in the week, too, and we wanted to wish him a happy day as a family, but he and Heather thought it more important to go to Heber to spend the day with his mother.  I think we can forgive them for that.)

4.  Baseball!   Maddy and Jack were on the Red Sox Tee Ball team this year and believe it or not, they've already had their final game.  Tuesday night (and it had been rained out the week earlier, so it was even a week later than initially planned).  Mike and Makinzee already had U-2 tickets and so the kids got to play out their game with two sets of grandparents (one set to take movies and pictures, the other set to cheer the loudest) and their aunt (who was watching them for the evening) there to cheer them on!  A few other pictures from this final game are posted here.

Jack, Maddy, and Lexi after the game Tuesday.

Every kid on the team got a trophy for being an MVP.  

There's something to be said about that and life - I think.   We can all be MVP's in our own little way.  We can all make a difference, do something - and it doesn't even have to be unique - just do something to make the world a better place.  Every day we can look for little ways to make the lives of our loved ones, our friends, and even strangers, better.  We can stop and let another car get onto the line of traffic ahead of us.  We can be courteous in the checkout line, even when someone else is being rude.  We  can give a hug and a smile and a word of encouragement.  We can reach out from inside us and make a difference.  We are all MVP's in the game of life, after all.


5.  One final note on Spring:

This was taken less than a week ago.  Facebook friends have already seen it and commented on it. This is the end of May.  The mountain should be almost bare right now on this front face, except for some of the deeper valleys.  Yes, with the coming of warmer weather in June, one day it's going to have to all melt.  Maybe I don't want to be so anxious for summer heat yet...