A taste of Spring

Who would have ever thought a month ago when the snow was still knee deep that today I would walk outside and see a small crocus emerging from the earth.  I cannot put into words how excited I was and how much this small sign of things yet to come meant.  Life is ever changing, this we all know, but the rate at which it changes is sometimes overwhelming.  Last week Japan was devasted in the blink of eye.  Thousands of lives lost and more still missing.  We have changes too but none like what the people of Japan experienced.  My thoughts and prayers are with them.
Nichole and Steven were able to fly up last Saturday morning to spend the weekend with us.  It was her 23rd birthday on Sunday and we were thrilled to be able to celebrate with her.  It has been a long time since that has happened.  She has been at the ACC tournament the past 4 years or on spring break somewhere.  Jim picked them up at Logan International at 7:30 am and they hit the ground running.  I had gotten tickets to the Blue Man Group show in Boston for early that evening and in the meantime there were pedicures and shopping to be done. We walked down to the Cheers Bar (Jim loves that this is in Boston) and then were off to the show.


Cheers




Blue Man Group



  After grabbing dinner, we headed off to the the UMass Boston campus for Taylor's high school basketball game. The boys were in the state playoffs.  Unfortunately they lost in overtime but it was a great game and so fun to have Nichole and Steven there to watch her.
Sunday was the State Cheer Competition in Northwestern MA. for Taylor's high school team.  We dropped her off early in the morning and Jim took Nichole and Steven over to the Patriots Stadium for a look around.

Maybe sometime in the future we can get them up for a ballgame.  The stadium is only 15 minutes from our house.  I think Steven likes that there is a Bass Pro Shop over there as well as that's his favorite store.

After a quick lunch we were headed to the competition.  Nichole judges high school cheer competitons in VA and so she kept us all up to the minute on the teams and their scores.  The mothers loved it.  The team ended up taking 9th place overall but managed to score high enough for a bid to Nationals.  They will be competing in Hershey Park, PA. the first week in May.  They are so very excited, they have never in school history qualified for Nationals.

We still needed to do a little birthday celebrating and so off to dinner we went!



Birthday girl



We put them on a plane to Baltimore Monday evening, wish we could have just kept them both here with us for a few more days but am very grateful we got to have them for the short time we did.

Yesterday was another big day, Taylor had to have a root canal done.  The second one in three months.  She is killing me, and I'm sure she isn't real happy either.  She has to endure the pain.  Along with that Ashley found out where she was going to match for her surgery residency.  She is headed to Scott and White hospital in Temple, TX.  This is affiliated with Texas A&M.   We are so very proud of her!  What a journey it has been for her and she has done it!  I cannot believe that the little thing that we gave birth to 26 years a go is going to be a surgeon.  I knew she amazing the day she was born, what a gift she has been.  Sam has been on spring break this week and so he has been able to attend the meetings and various functions leading up to and including the match ceremony.  They are both very excited, a little scared and nervous, and already booking tickets for next weekend to go and meet with their realtor and builder.  They are planning on building a new home, with promises it will be ready for them by the end of June when they arrive.



The hospital in the background

 

aerial view of Scott and White campus

Jim is thrilled that the College Basketball tournament is underway.  You know Nichole was born on a Sunday on bid day, 2011 bid day we celebrated her birth again, only this time there were no Dr.s to tell him to turn off the TV.  Hope each of you are enjoying a taste of spring at your house too.  Until next time..........