Summertime, readingtime.

It's summertime!  Time to read!

I want to go to there.

I remember.

Graduation

Last week was Austin's Seminary Graduation.  It was a wonderful experience and I was so proud of him!

Then, this week was his graduation from Rocky Mountain High School. 

I can't believe my son is done with that part of his life

and now he's preparing to go on to college!

Me and Aus

Aus and Rock

My son!

Here are the pictures

Yes, I like these pictures.  They tell a little story about my boys.  But I would NEVER go back to this photographer!  She was very condescending, the boys did not have a good time, and her prices...

I got the package deal that came with the GROUPON that I bought, thank goodness, because if I'd wanted to buy a 4x6 it would have cost me $70 (not framed).  And the prices go up from there. 

But I do love these photos.

Family Photos

We haven't had family photos done professionally for 3 years, the boys are both so different now (I haven't changed too much).  I am excited because we had photos done last week at Cindy Sherman Photography.  We focused on photos of the boys, and there were some that I think will turn out great.  I got jpegs with the rights to post them online with the sitting so I will post as soon as they come in.

My favorites were some pictures of the boys dancing and just a picture of our family.  I think it will be nice to have at my office.

Stay tuned for the posting of the pictures...  maybe I should do before and afters (3 years ago and current).

Newsy

Man, I stink as a blogger, but yet, every few months or so I feel the urge to say something.  So here is a newsy little post:

Christmas - It was great!  On Christmas morning I took the boys and left to go to Mazatlan for 10 days.  It was so warm and wonderful.  My favorite parts were the time spent lying on the beach reading and just watching the waves roll in.  I thoroughly immersed myself with every sense in the beach experience.  I consciously smelled the ocean air, dug my toes in hot sand, watched the waves, listened to the birds and the surf, and enjoyed delicious food on the beach.  I hope that by being so conscious of it I will be able to pull those memories up and relive them as needed.  I also enjoyed visiting with, laughing with, and just being with my boys!  My mom and her husband and my little sister and her husband and darling kids came too.  It was fun to watch my kids interact with their little cousins and to have time to visit with Em and Joe. 

New Years Eve - Em and Joe and myself and all our kids went to old town Mazatlan and ate and a nice little outdoor restaurant on the Plaza Mechado (town square).  Then we walked around a bit and listened to the live music.  My sweet Rocky danced first with his little cousin, Ruby, and then with me.  We then went back to our resort and midnight found me walking on the beach watching the fireworks from all the resorts.  It was  a great way to start the new year!

New job - Suprisingly, I love it.  I was dreading working in Special Ed again, but I really love my students and my schedule and my co-workers.  It is a great job.  I also still love Scentsy and continue to see growth in my business.  I would like my team size to double this year.  That would give me a pretty great income.

Rocky - He is getting tall and strong and is the most handsome boy!  I am told on a weekly basis how kind and cute he is.  He finally found a book series he enjoys, "The Hunger Games".  I think it is because it is very engaging and also it is a quick read.  Austin, Rocky, and I all read the first book of the series on vacation.  Austin and I finished the series and Rocky is 1/2 way through it.

Austin - just got accepted to BYUI - YAY!  He is enjoying senior year and is tall, smart, handsome, and happy.  He should have his Eagle scout award soon (I hope!  just a few more merit badges to finish).

The family as a whole - the big news is that we are going to be in the Hill Cumorah Pageant this summer.  I can not wait!!!  It will be an amazing experience in Palmyra, NY and we will be back east for about 6 weeks (3 weeks just for the pageant).

Happy Christmas!!!

My fave photo for the time being.

My cute boys with G'ma and Lainey in our camper over the 4th of July!

Austin's Birthday

A - Austin is adaptable.  He is easy going and happy and always a joy to have around.

U - Austin is understanding.  He listens to others and tries to put himself in their shoes, many times he has been there to comfort his brother, a friend, and me.

S - Austin is silly.  We have so many private little jokes that make us laugh so hard we sometimes end up crying or shooting liquids from our nostrils.  Austin has a great sense of humor and is willing to entertain the idea of laughing instead of being angry in stressful situations. 

 T - Austin is talented.  He is an amazing writer, I have received multiple emails and phone calls from three different English teachers with praise about his writing skills.  He is a very creative artist and has the ability to see things and transfer them realistically into a visual image.  He plays the guitar beautifully and writes wonderful songs.  I love listening to him play!

I - Austin is intelligent.  He has finally figured out the responsibility for good grades lies with him and that God blessed him with a keen mind and the ability to learn and apply principles academically, socially, and spiritually.

N - Austin is nice.  He tries genuinely to be kind to others around him.  He invites people over and tries to get to know them, rather than always staying with his comfort group of friends.  He gives everyone the benefit of the doubt, and gives them not only second chances, but often third, fourth, and maybe even more chances.  He is Christlike in his interactions with others.

I love Austin very much!  Happy Birthday Aus!

Single Mom

What do you think of when you hear the words, "single mom"?  In the past when I would hear those words I would think of some stoic woman, working hard every day to provide for her family.  Dropping kids off at day care, going to the office, working all day, picking kids up, going home and making dinner and then working through the evening on household responsibilities.

Maybe that is why I have a hard time seeing myself as a single mom.  Maybe it's because Bill just barely moved out, in spite of the fact that we've now been divorced for almost 5 months.  Maybe it's because my kids aren't in day care - whether or not they need to be.  I don't know.  I don't have that traditional 8-5 job, I don't cook (at least not very often), and I really don't do laundry (unless I have to)... so I feel like I don't fit the mold. 

This is a weird new life to adjust to.  I work mostly from home, online and on the phone.  I travel some (which I both hate and love), and I sleep in most mornings (probably later than I should).  I feel in limbo, waiting for reality to set in. 

I think I need to embrace my own "single mom-ness", but I'd like a manual.  I'd like, actually, a crystal ball so I can see where this all ends up.  In the meantime... I guess I will take it as it comes and re-adjust my perceptions. 

Bits and Pieces

I have been a slacker blogger, which is fine because there are only like 5 people who ever read my blog.  But here are some random things I meant to blog about, but never did.

Wrestling:
Rocky participated in wrestling this past fall.  He was awesome.  I hated watching it the first 2-3 times, but then I got over it.  I was banned from video-taping as it seemed to make him lose.  Every match I didn't video tape he won.  His fastest pin was in 8 seconds - WOW! 
On his very last match he was in the third period and was down in points 12 - 2.  He had been on the bottom and struggling the whole match (I was video-taping it) and I just thought, "Ug!  He can't lose this one!"  I turned the camera off and looked down for a moment and when I looked back up, Rocky had his opponent flipped over on his back and pinned.  He won!  It was a great way to end the season!  Here are some pics:

Rocky and a couple of his wrestling buddies.

Ha!  Take that! 1..2..3..PINNED!

Some of the moms (missing a few).

Happy boys.

Lunch Bunch:

Every day Austin and lots of other guys invade someone's house for lunch.  I feed them every other Tuesday.  I feel bad for them when they eat at our house because I just throw something together.  They have had pizza here a couple times, a waffle bar, pancakes, sloppy joes, bread bowls with stew, and Arby's Roast Beef Sandwiches one time when I was really bad.  At Toshiko's house they get fabulous homemade japanese food and home cut and breaded french fries.  I'm not sure exactly what they are, but Austin raved about them.  Here are some of the guys playing games after eating about 100 pancakes.  (I got the camera out too late to take before photos.)

Chillin' after a fine lunch of pancakes and oranges.

Getting their "Halo" fix to get through the last couple hours of school.

The left overs of about 100 pancakes!

Thanksgiving:

Somewhere in the midst of the fall we had Thanksgiving.  This is the only picture I am posting of Thanksgiving.

Family:

These pictures were taken in Arizona while we were there for my dad's funeral.  It was a good time of healing and happy remembrances.  I enjoyed spending time with all those who were there to show their love and support, especially my siblings and their families.

My fine boys!

Em and Joe (the coolest aunt and uncle).

Me, Sally, Em, and Joe

Eating at the Firehouse Kitchen in Prescott, AZ.  Very fine food!

Rock and his cousins.

Outside the Firehouse Kitchen with the owner.

Em and Hannah (after Em cut Hannah's hair)

Gabe, Roland, and Jason waiting for the service to begin.

Sally and cousin, Jodi.

This was the sparse little desert cemetery where dad's body is buried.

Me and my siblings with Rosemary, dad's wife.

Hanging out at home:
We spent lots of fun hours enjoying each other's company.  Sometimes with friends, sometimes just with family.  These are my favorite times!

Austin, so tall and handsome!

Lulu, the dog.

This is just a wierd picture.

Playing x-box in the garage.

goofing off

Gotta love having friends over!

Taking a break from wrestling around.

Rocky was showing us some of his songs for band.

One of my all time favorite pictures!

Goodbye 09

Thank goodness it is over!  What a year!

Here is a quick recap of 2009 in the French household:

On December 30th, 2008 we returned to Idaho from Christmas in California.  I was then promptly laid off of my job along with over 200,000 other people.  It made finding a job very challenging.

Later in the month we headed to California in January for Grandma Steimle's 90th birthday party.

Cousins in California

The tunnel of cupcake candles for Grandma's 90th. 

Notice the shirts, "I am a descendant of LoRene Hawley Steimle"

February was a fun month with snowboarding and Scentsy.  I did my first expo, a motorcycle show with Carole,  see this post for more about that. 

Rocky putting on the snowboard gear up at Bogus.

A few of my friends from the motorcycle show.

March and April brought more Scentsy work and family time at home.

May brought spring time, finally, and the Hunter Ward Talent show.

A bird nest on our outdoor stereo speaker, look carefully, there are three baby birds in there.

Flowers on one of our 5 flowering trees.  Ahhh, springtime!

June brought the end of school, and the beginning of Kristen, Austin, and Rocky teaching swim lessons.  It was lots of fun!

July  and August started with a big Fourth of July swim party (read this post) and included Scout Camp, High Adventure, Hunter Ward Camp, Rocky's 13th b-day, Kristen's birthday, Scentsy convention, and Adventures for Youth Camp at BYUI.  busy month!  Kristen also took a long trip and did a Scentsy show in Priest Lake, ID.

Scentsy show in Priest Lake, hanging out at home in the summer (more here).

Hunter Ward Campout and Pier in Manhatten Beach, CA (more on my trip here).

In September I went to California for a couple big Scentsy shows.

Nancy and I in Santa Clara, CA.

October through November was Scentsy, Scentsy, Scentsy.  I went to Southern California twice, Canada, Nevada, and Colorado, all for Scentsy shows.   Through this intense effort I earned a promotion in Scentsy to Director.  I also had a fun "witches party" just before halloween (read more here).

In the midst of all the chaos of 3 shows from California to Canada, I got divorced and then my dad died on Thanksgiving morning (read more about the divorce here, and about my dad here and here).

In December I took a break from all the Scentsy shows and traveling.  I stayed at home a lot and tried to recover from a challenging few months.  Christmas was nice, quiet, and peaceful.

After Christmas we took a short trip to SLC.  We got to meet Austin's girlfriend, Courtney.  She is a cute girl.  We spent the day at the mall with her and saw a movie.  The next day Austin, Rocky, and myself went bowling and then met Courtney and her family for dinner and a trip to temple square to see the lights.

Austin and Courtney                                                       Austin bowling

At the arcade and at temple square.

So this brings me to the end of 2009, happily!  I look forward to 2010 and hope that it brings lots of success, happiness, peace, and laughter with it, for all of us!