Senior Luke

Now, isn't that just the handsomest young man you have seen in a long time?? My little boy is almost a man!!

Yesterday I picked up Luke's Senior pictures and I was so thrilled to see so many great shots! There are 44 proofs and these two are my favorites. Luke has different favorites and Scott even different ones. I love these two because they capture that impish look that tugs on my heartstrings. Those of you that know Luke know what I mean. He is a fun, fun kid and such a joy to have around! Oh how I am going to miss him when he takes off in a few months!!

Senior year has typically been challenging in our home. Ekstrom Seniors have tended to be apathetic, bored, impervious and anxious to be done with school; but so far (knock on wood) Luke has been hanging in there like a champ. He is pleasant in the mornings and goes about getting things done (for the most part). It has been a good year so far and I have great hopes that it will continue through the rest of the year!

Luke has great plans for his future and he has what it takes to take him there!! Hang in there Senior Luke! The countdown has begun.......7 months!

sniff

One more....

Here is our beautiful Miss Elizabeth breaking in her quilt. Thank you for sending the picture, Sarah!

Beautiful baby quilts!!

Miss Leah's quilt with the beautiful Miss Leah! Emily sent me the butterfly fabric and I took it from there. The pattern is called The Hopscotch Quilt.

This is the quilt for Elizabeth. I saw and fell in love with these fabrics on a trip to Idaho and knew I had to use them for the quilt. I love how they came together and I LOVE the way the binding looks!! Can you see the backward picots?

Below there are pictures of both quilts. I uploaded a few and then decided to add a couple more and Blogger wouldn't let me manipulate them so they are not in any order.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

What can I say? I have started this post 3 times and deleted them all. I love my Dad. He has worked hard all of his life, many of those years supporting my 9 siblings and I. He is loving and funny and gives really tight hugs. He worked a lot when I was a child and so I got to know him while visiting his Pharmacy and watching late night television together. (Both at the chagrin of my Mother.) I would hear my Dad come home from work and I would sneak downstairs making sure that I saw Daddy first so that Mom couldn't make me got back to bed. Dad would let me sit on his lap or by him while he watched Perry Mason or M.A.S.H. Mom would try to make me go back to bed, but Dad would veto her and let me stay. Oh how I cherish those moments!

I started working for Dad when I was 14. He would send one of my brothers to the Jr. High to pick me up and then I would make the rounds with him after work and we would go home together. He used to work at the nursing home as the Pharmacist and I wasn't allowed to go into the Pharmacy so I would sit in the lobby visiting with the residents. I learned to love those nights, and those wonderful people!!

Dad taught me many lessons through the years, especially to value myself. He often praised me and helped me to feel loved and cherished.

I could go on. My Dad is the best! I love you, Daddy!

Meeting Leah

I went to Utah last month to be there when my newest granddaughter was born. I got there on the 10th, the due date and was ready to snuggle the sweet little cherub. Leah had other ideas. Despite our walks and pep talks, she refused to arrive. I stayed a week but had to go as I was scheduled to head to Alaska. Wouldn't you know it, she arrived a couple of days after I left!

Emily posted lots of pictures but we didn't get a chance to meet her until Memorial Day weekend. At the end of our cemetery tour we headed to Provo for a bit.

It was wonderful to see Emily and her family and to meet Miss Leah. She is adorable!

Leah meets Grandma with Mom looking on protectively.

Hmmmm.......not sure she likes me.

That's better. Grandma isn't THAT scary.

Meeting Uncle Luke

And of course, Mr. Fitzwilliam had to be adored by his fans!

We didn't get any pictures of Leah meeting Grandpa, but of course, she snuggled right up to him. He is everyone's favorite!

Turning the Hearts of the Children

What does Memorial Day mean to you? Is it a three day weekend where we can jump kick the summer and break out the 'ole RV or tent and go camping? Does it mean bbq's with family and friends or excursions to the park or shopping? Do you take time during the day to remember and honor those who have served this country and sacrificed their lives to protect our freedom?

As a child, Memorial Day was a day to remember our loved ones who had passed away and to visit their graves and honor their memory. Every year we would ravage the flower beds and cut the blooms from the lilac bushes to create bouquets which we would load into the car, then we would all pile in and head to Victor.

Victor was always synonymous with love to me. From my earliest memories there are flashbacks of trips to Victor and they are filled with hugs and family and acceptance. We didn't go up there often but when we did, we were wanted and loved. On Memorial Day we would go straight to the cemetery which was quiet and peaceful, not the creepy scene of Hollywood horror films, but welcoming and calm. As a child I would tip toe around the stones, not wanting to stand on the bodies, looking at the different stones and wondering about the people under the ground. As a teenager, I would ponder the words engraved on the stones and marvel at the brevity of life and wonder about the lives that were led by those people. My Grandparents died when I was quite young and so our trips to Victor included stops to their graves. Standing there thinking about them, I would let memories of my Grandmother's hugs roll over me and I would see my Grandpa's chin stubble in my minds eye and wish that I could have known them both better; my heart literally turning to them with fondness.

My Grandma and Grandpa Pack both died in my adulthood and so my fond memories of them are of visiting them at their cabin in Island Park. Sometimes on Memorial Day weekend we would go there and spend time with them. They are both buried in Southern Utah and I have yet to make the trek down there to visit their graves. That is for another Memorial Day.

Honoring loved ones who have passed on is also a tradition of Scott's family and every Memorial Day in the early years of our marriage was spent between Victor and Malad and Logan. We would pack up our children and visit the graves; sometimes with my family and other times with his. We packed flowers and sandwiches and felt good about passing this great tradition along to our children. That all changed when we moved to Alaska. With no family members buried in Alaska, we had no graves to visit and so we filled the weekend with family time; camping or exploring that beautiful state.

I realized this Memorial Day that we truly neglected passing on this very important tradition to our children. Luke thought that we were crazy when we explained our plans for a road trip to visit cemeteries and graves. Emily was wondering why we went and Hilary e-mailed from The Netherlands asking if there had been a conference talk about how we should go visit the graves of our deceased family members. How could Scott and I grow up with such a beautiful legacy of reverence and homage for our forebears and not pass that along to our children? We made Memorial Day memorial for our children but somehow missed the mark.

There will be other Memorial Days and somehow we will encourage our children to join us in future visits. Hopefully their hearts will warm with love for their Great Grandparents and other relatives as we share our memories with them. One day they might stand before their granite grave stones and feel their hearts turning to their fathers the way mine did this past weekend.

Scott's maternal grandparents are buried in the St. John Idaho cemetery. Here is his Mom getting some flowers in just the right spot.

Scott's niece died in an auto accident when she was a teenager. We visited her grave in the beautiful Robin Idaho cemetery. From her grave there is the most beautiful panoramic view.

Every year on our way to or from Victor, we would stop in Swan Valley for square ice cream cones. My earliest memories of this place are of a small shacklike business but look at it now! I hardly recognized it! Yes, the ice cream is still square!!

This is how Fitzwilliam spent much of the time spent at the different cemeteries.

Mr. Luke goes to Prom

Need I say more??