Fundraisers and more....

Well, we have been friends with the McCusker Family for over 10 years.  They are a St Francis and SBA family and are both amazing prosecuters.  He is running for Div 3 CC Judge and asked me to help run his fundraisers.  So last night was fundriaser #3.  Thank goodness Jesse came along and was finally able to take some pics of the event.  This one was held in a beautiful downtown gallery but we were not let in the door until 20 minutes before the event.  As I see my semi crooked table cloth, I realize it was because I threw that thing on there and put the food out in about 3 minutes!  Anyway, it was a lovely fundraiser and hopefully will help Michael achieve his goal of getting elected!

After the event.  One tired candidate and one tired campaign worker!

A few very late pics of Claire's 16th Birthday Party. It was the first drive in move for most of these kids!  It happened to be on the night the new Marvel Dr Strange movie came out so they were thrilled!  Some piled in trucks, but most just spread out their chairs and just had the best time.  I was a tad under the weather but still around....thus the lack of good pics.  We had a wonderful popcorn bar that we set up as the movie was starting.  The kids loved the macarons and even the boys devoured them!  It was her first party with boys.....Lord help us all. We broadcasted the movie over Lance's Tesla speakers, and the kids found that super cool.....

So Memphis now has 8 Ukrainean families here living and their children are cancer patients at St Jude.  Word got to me that the mothers and kids left with only a few cold weather clothing.  So we hooked them up and a friend of mine who owns a kids consignment sale reached out to Junior League and hooked us up!  We were able to deliver hundreds of clothing pieces to the moms and kids. Pray for these families....the husbands are back fighting while their children are here with their fight of their own....

Spring has sprung finally!!!!

 

We have a new licensed driver in the house.....

Well, she passed her driving test and the lady only made her do 3 right turns.  When they got back to the testing station, Claire told her that she knew a lot more stuff and she could show her that!  The lady said no, you passed!  I think Claire wanted to show her all her mad parking skills she's been working on!!  Watch out Memphis!

 

She can not be 16.....

She turns 16 tomorrow offically and will take that driver's road test tomorrow!  I woke up and just felt older.....Hard to believe this is happening.  Claire is 16!  We celebrated today with lunch with grandparents and uncle Tommy!  Next week she will celebreate with her friends!  We had a beautiful May day today and she was all smiles!

 

A Claire sized vehicle that she can easily manage and see all the way over the hood!  A very humbled and grateful Claire.....not sure when she will start driving it on her own, but for now she is practicing in it with Lance and I....God give me strength!  And Happy Birthday Claire! 

SBA Gala

Well, I was asked to do the decor for the SBA Gala this year, after a 2 year hiatus thanks to Covid. It was so much work, but so much fun once it came together!  

 

The lanctern clusters and hoops werea sunch of a beast, but so worth it once they were hung and lights were low...

Another fun project....this greenery wall!

The principal handed each guest a glass of champagne with rasberries a welcome beverage...it was loved by all!

So glad it's over....but so glad I did it!

Jesse Presents His Research at MSU Symposium

Jesse has been working hard all school year with his research team AERPAW and has loved it all!  He really enjoys the 5G technology using drones to help communities in need...so he got to show it all off last week!  Go Jesse Go!

 

Jesse goes to Paper Wings Nationals....and Claire battles Greystone....

 

Well, Saturday was a whirlwind for Jesse.  He flew to Huntsville for the Red Bull Paper Wings Nationals and had an absolute blast.  He ranked 4th overal and was super bummed.  But we are glad it's over so he can worry about finals!!He met a bunch of new friends and even got an airplane lodged in the Saturn V.  So he was super excited about that one! They put him up in a nice suite and fed him well throughout....not much more a 21 year old could ask for!  He threw for 38 meters which was still amazing!

And so we traveled Friday to Dickson, TN for the brutal Greystone Course. Claire came into the tourney with confidence because the last time she played Greystone she did well and placed 2nd.  Well, Mother Nature decided to give Claire lots of challenges this time.  This was the hardest course conditions Claire has even played.  Rain, cold, wind, standing water...you name it.  So the frist day Claire dould not catch a break or make a putt.  Sunday, the conditions were even worse, but she cleaned up her game and shot an 82.  And that was with 2 penalties!  So, even though she did not place, she DID clean it up and prove that she could handle Greystone.....Lots coming up soon...including someone's 16th Birthday about to happen!!! Stay tuned!  

Jesse turns 21!

We have a full fledged adult in every way!  Jesse turned 21 yesterday and had the best evening at Bulldog Burgers with Emily and few of his favorite friends!  He had his first beer and did not like it....I'm good with that. He's slammed right now with school, so I'm glad they celebrated him yesterday!  Can't wait til we see him next week and he gets to do it all over again with his family!! We love you Jesse!

 

Jesse is headed to the Saturn V Hangar!

God love Jesse....only would Jesse enter the Red Bull Paper Wings Airplane contest at Mississippi State.....only Jesse would research how to build the perfect airlplane for distance.....only Jesse would use oragami in making the airplane.  Well, all this paid off for Jesse because he won!  So Red Bull is sending Jesse the day before Easter to Huntsville to fly his airplane against a bunch of other guys in the Saturn V Hangar at the Nationals Paper Wings Contest.  Lance and I had never heard of this, put apparantly it's a thing.....Go Jesse go...lots more coming soon!

That's all Jesse needs is more energy..... They have to make the airplane at a table with their own paper and a judge watches you.  I guess some people try to cheat somehow... 

I believe this is 44 Meters of distance.....

So there are 2 divisions...distance and height.  Jesse made a separate airplane for each...and he won both!  But they made him choose which category to attend nationals with and he chose distance.  So the 2nd place person in height gets to go to Nationals with Jesse.....

 

Another Fun Filled Week!

So Claire had a couple of pieces on display at her school art show, and a couple of pieces for sale as well.  She insisted that we show up at the very last minute of the show, and her pieces had already sold!  However, these 2 were on display and we were impressed!  She did the watercolor from an actual picture of our trup to Guilin, China.  Love that she enjoys art so much!

 

Right after the art show was the SBA Spring Musical of Sponge Bob and it was actually adorable.  He great friend Alex was Mr Plankton and the best villian/dancer ever.  Great entertainment!

So we were in Murfreesboro, TN for a big 2 day Sneds event and we snuck in an "unofficial" college visit led by a family friend's daughter to Belmont in Nashville....Claire fell in love!  We shall see what the future holds for Claire

So we were really horrible parents this weekend and took only these 2 pics at the course!!  This was a big tournament with 18 really good Nashville/middle Tn golfers and Claire really cleaned up her game on day 2 to move up to 4th place!  We were so proud of her confidence and mental game yesterday!  Go Claire go!