Lillie Can Ride a Bike

Lillie finally can ride a bike!!  We are so proud of her. Once again she overcame a little fear of falling down and figured out how to do it!!  She has a lot of grit and determination. Now onto four wheels!!  

Aunty Berta Comes for a Visit

Week 1

We have wanted Aunty to visit for a long time. We just knew she would love seeing the DC area and that we would love being with her. She decided to come for a month!!  Here are pics from her first week. We are having a blast!!

The airport had a beautiful stained glass crab exhibit. Perfect to welcome Aunty to Maryland. And she matched the crab too. 

When we arrived Lillie gave her a tour of our home and we fed her after a long day of travel. We were so happy to have Aunty here!!

The very next day we arranged for a boat ride on the Chesapeake Bay in Southern Maryland, where we live. 

The rest of the week we went into DC. We went to some museums and saw the Washington monument and the Capitol. We enjoyed cooking meals together and eating out. On the weekend we went to an outside craft fair at Eastern Market and did more sightseeing. Aunty baked us some banana bread and we loved it. We are thoroughly enjoying ourselves!!

We also wanted to teach Aunty how to use her new iPhone. So we took a zoom class. 

Lillie loves have her grand Aunty around the house!

We also took Aunty to see the headquarters of the AFL-CIO. Her father, my grandfather, worked for the chapter in Hawaii.  He retired from there in the 80s. 

YW camp

Our Lillie was at camp last week. It is hard to believe that it is her fourth year camping!  She was old enough to help be one of the youth leaders. 

CYSO

We are so proud of Lillie. She ended the year with CYSO with a real bang!  The virtual thing was less than optimal. But when they started to meet in person things started to get better and she really did well. The group sounded amazing and her conductor really recognized her hard work. 

Here she is with Mr. Benichou. 

Chesapeake Youth Symphony CYSO

Lillie is such a smart and talented girl!  We love her for it. Despite not always loving to practice and play violin, she does it in part because she knows we want her to do it and in part because she knows it will be a positive benefit to her. Sometimes I know practices with her has been rough, but she is such a good daughter!!  Tonight she played her heart out for their annual gala event. Because of COVID they pre recorded them selves and will show it in a drive in theater format. Should be interesting. But they had all the youth dress in their concert best and recorded them. It was a long day but she did so well and they sounded like a professional orchestra. Here is a collage of Lillie and her friends at orchestra practice. 

Happy Easter

 Wow!  A whole year of being quarantined. And we are still not out 100%. But Easter this year was wonderful. We watched conference and were reminded of what Jesus Christ did for all of us. So thankful for that. We had a great Easter!!

Happy Birthday Lillie

Our little girl turned 16 today. It is hard to believe all that time has flown by. She is remarkable in every way. She is smart, organized, obedient. She is hard working, good at the violin, always does what is asked of her even though she may not fully understand why. She is sweet, helpful, and inclusive. We sure think the world of her. A bunch of her balloon friends showed up to which her a happy birthday!!

We got a new pet for the new year

 

A Birthday Fit For A Hawaiian King

Kim planned a birthday with all my favorites from Hawaii. I am always lucky on my birthday and spoiled beyond belief!!

Back in November...

Lillie was the student of the month for her math class. We are always so proud of her!!  See announcement below: