Day 49 ~ Lindsay's Graduation

Seems hard to believe that yet another one has graduated. Where has the time gone? This one is dedicated to my one and only . . . Lindsay.

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Day 57 ~ More Thomas Memories Made

The last few days have been exciting for Thomas!  On Thursday night, he had his DARE graduation.  DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.  His class selected his essay to be read at the ceremony, so Thomas, along with 3 other 5th graders shared their thoughts on the importance of being drug free.  Then by random drawing, Thomas was selected to read his essay at the next O'fallon City Council meeting.  He was quite impressed!   Here are Thomas's thoughts that he shared that night:

Dear Myself,

My name is Thomas Mattei

     I am 11 years old, I’m in 5^th grade, I’m great at video games, I have 2 parents and 4 brothers and 1 sister, I live in 7 Little Oaks Court  O’Fallon MO and I like to play with my friends and play video games, and I’m a little nervous, sometimes excited, or I’m angry or sad.

     My strengths are being a good friend and family member, I’m good a video games like I already said, I’m wanting to play hockey which I did play a while back and was really good at it, I’m also going to play trumpet and I’m in the choir at my school.

     I feel great about the D.A.R.E program, and it’s important in 5^th grade so young people can learn how drugs affect your life and they can cause bad injuries and sicknesses.

     In middle school I want to play football, be in the band, and I want to join the computer club, and I also want to join any other club that seems interesting and similar with me.

     When I’m in high school I’m still thinking of football, band and that’s all I’m probably going to be in until I find out about more clubs.

     I think after my graduation I’m going to go to college complete my Eagle Scout and get a scholarship to BYU Idaho and between college I’m going to serve a mission since I’m Mormon and I’m going to preach the lord and teach others about god and my religion.

     In my future I think it’ll be wise to be drug-free cause, I have a heart defect and even smoking can cause heart disease even for non-smokers, so I need to keep my heart safe and I’m dreaming of becoming a video game creator and I don’t want any bad ideas for a video game if I accomplish my goal.

     I pledge to be Drug-Free because I want to have a solid heart and help others on my way to growing up and I want to keep others and I safe so everyone can have a good future and we can all reach our goal, and I say if anybody wants to take drugs change your mind and CTR which means Choose The Right and  follow god and what he says and we all want to stay healthy and never stop realizing their goal and for people who do drugs they don’t ever realize what they lost like their career, their friends, maybe even their families and we don’t want that to happen anymore and there’s always a life lesson every day of your life, and I’ve studied presidents for a while and a saying that John F. Kennedy used was…

     Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country…

-John F. Kennedy

     And by that we need to help our country and what that can also do about being drug-free is to help your country be drug-free instead of helping only yourself but to help others, and you don’t have to be selfish and look after only yourself.

From,

Myself

Thomas Mattei

Then on Saturday morning, Thomas earned his Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do!  We are very proud of Thomas for all of his accomplishments!

Day 76 ~ Countdown to Graduation

Lindsay slept in on Thursday and then decided not to go to school.  She has a severe case of Senioritis, I'm afraid.  Thankfully her grades are such, that she is able to afford a day off now and then.   Part of the day was spent cutting out her wallet sized senior portraits and stuffing her graduation announcements in envelopes.  It will be here before we know it - just 22 more days until she's officially a high school graduate!

Marky-Mark

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My Summer So Far. . . in a Nutshell

The last 3 months have passed too quickly. . .

In May I graduated from St Charles Community College School of Nursing. I did not actually attend the graduation ceremony (been there, done that once before), but did attend the traditional pinning ceremony. It was a special night and all of my family including my mom, dad and sister, Stephanie were able to attend. Except Greg who had to work. The following week I accepted a position at a well-known long term care facility in the St. Louis area. I completed my training about 3 weeks ago and am now "on my own". I stay very busy and am usually on my feet about 9 hours a day. I am working part~time right now and that is more than enough! I am happy to say that I passed my boards and am a licensed RN! I enjoy the time I spend working for the most part.





At the end of May after much anticipation, Greg received his mission call. He will be serving in the Boise, Idaho mission. He leaves on August the 16th and will report to the MTC (Missionary Training Center) on August 19. I am excited for him and am proud of his decision to serve, but am of course heartsick at the thought of him being gone for 2 years! We (or I should say, I) am in the middle of getting things ready for his departure. Shopping is just about done, but there are always little last minute details. Greg will probably become ready about 24 hours before he boards the plane! He is such a procrastinator! One of the ways he has prepared is by attending the temple in Nauvoo, Illinois. Michael and I, as well as Michael's parents were there to accompany him.




Garrett, otherwise known as "my baby" turned 4 on the 8th of July. It's hard to believe how fast time flies. Although I think the same thing when I look at Greg and try to imagine him being gone and grown. In fact today Garrett was laying in my lap and I called him "my baby" to which he promptly responded,"Mom, I'm not a baby anymore~I'm a kid!" So he is and so I must get used to it!






The rest of the gang will soon be starting school. Thomas just earned his red belt in Tae Kwan Do. Todd is preparing to try out for the "C" team in hockey. He's excited to be playing with the big kids (7th, 8th and 9th graders). He and Mark both attended Boy Scout camp a couple of weeks ago. Mark also went to University of Missouri in Columbia to attend EFY (Especially for Youth). Lindsay went also and both had a wonderful and memorable time. Lindsay is our major traveler of the summer. She spent a week at Girls' Camp, a week at Cheer Camp, a week at EFY, and is now gone to Pennsylvania and New York with family friends.






As we have prepared for summer to end and Greg to leave, we decided that now was a perfect time to have a family picture, especially since it had been years and years since our last one! So last week all 8 of us climbed into the Durango~ an adventure that doesn't occur too often anymore with all the teenage drivers in our household ~ and drove to Quail Ridge Park in Wentzville for a photo session. I'm including just a few of our favorites of the MANY, MANY pictures! We're so grateful to Ben and Becca for their time and patience and am including a link to their blog: blimbam.blogspot.com