This post is to record that today I was such a nice mother.  After lunch, Camille wanted to paint her birdhouse that her father built for her.  She LOVES to paint.  So I helped her get everything out and left her happily painting while I went to the computer to get organized for an upcoming trip.  I should have paid a little more attention. An hour later...things had gotten a little out of control!  Paint was everywhere:  the floor, the table, the bench she sat on, her clothes, legs, feet, hands, arms, face, hair.  But here's a small victory:  I didn't get mad despite my surprise at the gigantic mess. Fortunately it is washable paint and everything cleaned up eventually.  Although I'm not sure how the birdhouse roof is ever going to dry with all the paint it has on it. I should have taken a picture before she washed her hands.

We spent Thursday night in Crestview, Florida, and spent most of Friday driving.  It was the rainiest day of our trip.  We decided to spend a few hours in the middle of the afternoon at the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia.  More than 20 years ago, I bought a book at a garage sale called  "Explore a Spooky Swamp" that we have enjoyed reading to our children for all these years.  That book is about the Okefenokee Swamp. This guy scared us a little by following us for a short time.   No zoom--he was that close.   We decided to rent a canoe and take off into the wild.  This gave us a chance to go into the more quiet areas of the swamp.  It was pretty spooky!  As we paddled along, we heard some very close, big splashes but because the water was completely black, we couldn't see anything.  Before long, we saw our first alligator sunning himself right next to us.  We saw a lot of alligators on that canoe trip, including one that followed our canoe for a s

Several years ago my husband and I decided we would take a trip to the South for our 25th anniversary.  This was the year (see this post ) and we held ourselves to that despite the challenges of leaving all the kids, especially our youngest with her medical needs.  We asked our oldest son and his wife to take care of everyone while we were gone and they valiantly agreed. We flew to Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday, April 29th.  We arrived in the early afternoon and decided to go visit the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.  It wasn't my favorite gardens that I've been to but still enjoyable.  One thing they specialize in is sculptures made out of plants.  They also have a really nice orchid house that we enjoyed.  Another thing I loved was how few people were there.  Rain was predicted but thankfully it held off until after we left.  The weather for our whole trip was actually great--not too hot, not too cold, and not too rainy.   These are all pitcher plants which eat insects

This last week our oldest son graduated from college!  It's a great feeling to see a lifelong goal that you have had for your child finally achieved.  His wife was able to walk with him through the graduation ceremony although technically she finished in August.  She had not yet "walked" so they were able to do it together. Sadly, this means that they will be moving far away, out to the East Coast, taking their sweet little girl, our first grandchild, with them.  Because of the field my son is going into, there is little chance that they will be living near us again.  But I didn't raise my children to live near me forever so I am glad that they will have an opportunity to really be on their own.  We will miss them! During graduation, President Uchtdorf of the First Presidency of our church shared the story of how 24 years ago he was in the audience with his wife watching one of his children graduate.  Next to them were their twin grandsons.  Now one of those gra