Okay, so this post is not really all about tile. It's really just that thinking about how long the tile has been in made me stop and think about how many Christmases we have until Katelyn graduates from high school. I love being Kate's mom. Sometimes I wonder if I've taught her enough or if I've taken it for granted that she has just always been a great kid.
Knowing that this time in our lives is going to be much shorter than I would like, I am loving it!!! We are having so much fun that I really never take the time to blog about it so I'm going to try to do a mega post and catch everyone up on what has been going on in the past six months.
July.....July was big for us. Katelyn turned 15 on July 6. She had been counting down to this birthday for the past year. On July 9, we flew to Miami and on July 10 we left on our very first cruise on the Norwegian Epic. One reason I picked this particular cruise was for all the cool things we could do on the ship and the other was because it was so much fun to be on a brand new ship. At the time, the Epic was the 2nd largest cruise ship in the world. On the ship, we saw Blue Man Group, a cirque show, and a legends tribute concert with Tina Turner, Elvis , and Madonna. My favorite things on the ship were the big water slide, rapelling, and meeting new people. On our first day on the ship, I signed Kate up in the teen club and told her she would go, she would make friends, and she would have fun.... and then I took a picture of her giving me a dirty look. But, when it was all said and done, that was her favorite part of the cruise. She made friends from all over and loved hanging out with the other kids. I wish I could post more pics.
Our ship stopped in St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Nassau. I can officially say that the Carribbean was nothing like I expected. I had visions of beaches and tropical villages. I was right about the beaches but the cities seemed dirty and run down and the locals were like vultures. We couldn't go anywhere, not even to the beach, without someone trying to get our money. The beach in Nassau was our favorite and I really liked the colorful buildings and party-like atmosphere as we got off the ship. It was cool to get to go to Atlantis. I know there was a lot more we could have seen and didn't.
One thing we lucked out on was where our cabin was on the ship. Without really realizing it, we were directly above and below the main theaters and places to eat. That made it really easy to get most places quickly. The only thing that was hard to get to was t he gym which, by the way, was amazing. It had every weight machine I could possibly imagine and who can complain about running on a treadmill that looks out over the ocean. This being the only ship I have been on... but it being one of the biggest... those inside corridors seemed to go on forever.
We had a very, very long trip home with several hours at the Miami airport and layovers in Fort Myers and Atlanta. The plane from Miami to Fort Myers was the smallest I have ever flown on and because we had to go to another concourse, we also had to go through security again. They searched everything we had and were extremely put out when they had to chase us down to give us the stuff they had forgotten to put back in our bag. Katelyn wonders if the swiping they did for drugs was because of the purse with the rastafari colors she had bought in St. Maarten. The flight from Ft. Myers to Atlanta was actually pretty fun because we tried to spot Columbus and places we recognized from our trip to Georgia.
After our trip came camp. Kate had a great time but the best was what happened the day she got home. She happened to check the mail just in time to get her social security card and make it to the DMV to get her learner's permit. We have some very nice people at the DMV to thank because they held off shutting down the machines so she could take her written test.
August and September...The big events in August were going back to school and..... drum roll.... Kate's 2nd most anticipated event.....
Getting her braces off!!!!
She was able to get them off the day before she started high school. It just so happens that I also got mine off the summer between 9th and 10th grade.... at the same orthodontist.
The best thing about this year has been that for the first time in her life, I am able to drop Katelyn off at school. She likes not having to walk to the bus stop in the morning and I love this time together. Some mornings one of us says something and we end up laughing all the way to school.
I got to go to a football game at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Two words... PERFECT DAY!!!
Katelyn joined FCCLA. I would tell you what that stands for but I honestly have no idea. Basically, it is the club that used to be FHA. As a business teacher who used to work with FBLA, I have to laugh that my daughter joined the FACS club but I can't complain because she did what I asked and got involved. Her first official activity as part of FCCLA was carrying their banner in the Homecoming Parade. Honestly, I think the real reason she joined was so that she wouldn't be left sitting alone on the side of the road during the parade but whatever it takes.
She is also on the Yearbook staff. She was lucky enough to get her page of choice... Volleyball. She mostly wanted this because her best friend Caitlin is on the volleyball team and we love to watch her play anyway. We also spent some time at girls' soccer, football, and have now started going to basketball. I don't mind. I love high school sports and Kate has some pretty cool friends so it's fun to watch them play. Yearbook has been a learning experience and sometimes frustrating. I don't think Katelyn has ever had to work this hard or had someone tell her she had to go back and do it over again. Still, she is doing great! I have heard from a very reliable source (a.k.a. her yearbook adviser who I happened to meet at a district meeting) that she catches on quickly and works hard.
That pretty much sums up Fall for us. Fast forward to....
December....
The first part of December... from what I can remember.... was pretty uneventful. Then came December 10. It was Friday night and I took Katelyn and Caitlin to the mall to do some Christmas shopping. When we got home, we found drops of blood on our front porch. A little freaky but with all the boys in the neighborhood, I figured they were just having fun and someone got a bloody nose. Saturday night Kate and I were out shopping again. We had just come home when there was a pounding on the door. Not just a knock... they were seriously pounding. Kate was a little freaked but when it happened a 2nd time she was terrified. We looked out both times and couldn't see anything. The next morning we found out that the terrifying pounding was someone leaving the first of the 12 days of Christmas!!! Every night for the next 11 nights we found wonderful surprises on our doorstep. I really wish I had done a better job of taking pictures of everything because so much time and effort went into this. This was also the last week of school and every morning I would get up knowing that no matter how long the day was, I was going to find something cool waiting for me that night.
That last week seemed to drag by.... mostly because I couldn't wait for the weekend. This year I had tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas concert. My friend took us to this four years ago. It was the first time for us and I remember how much I loved being there to see it in person. I have tried every year since to get tickets and have never been able to but this year I was one of the lucky ones. Little did I know that just because you have a ticket, it doesn't mean you will get in. I didn't realize that they give out hundreds more tickets than they have seats. I just thought they had a standby line. We were some of the last ones they let in. While the down side of getting in at the last minute was that it started almost as soon as we sat down, the up side was that we were ushered right down to the area that is normally reserved. We had seats right in the middle about 17 rows back! I wish I had gotten some better pictures to remember this night because it really was wonderful.
After that came Marathon Monday!!! We started the day by finally wrapping presents and finishing off our cards. After that we headed downtown to watch the Gardner girls sing at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. We spent some time walking around temple square and grabbed some chips and guacamole at Alberto's before heading on to our next stop.... the Holdman's Christmas lights. It's definitely worth the time. After the lights we made a quick stop by Thanksgiving Point. Even though we missed seeing the ice sculptor at work, we did get to see the finished product and a couple of reindeer. All in all, a very successful night!!!
Kate went to her dad's for a few days so I hung out, picked up some last minute things, and waited for her to come home!! We had a great day together.... very relaxing and fun. This year Katelyn did her shopping with a friend and her own checking account so I think it finally felt to her like she had really shopped for me. She got me some pajama pants that I love and the newest Vince Flynn book. I got her a sweater that I was sort of hoping she would hate but unfortunately, she loves it. She says I can borrow it though!
There you go!!! If you made it this far, we are both finally done with this post!!! On to 2011!!!
