Last night was June’s last dance recital, as hard as it is to believe. She, and all of the girls, did their usual great job. This was her first year that ballet was offered at their studio, and she absolutely loved it.

I got this one of one of her other dances – she’s in the middle. I loved this dance.

Mallory went with me to see the recital, and I got this picture of them together afterwards.

I loved this puzzle – another one my friend Pam Cato lent to me – because I love the National Parks 🙂

Saturday night Jeff, Meg, & I headed over to Gastonia – about ten miles down the road – to meet Lindee, Jackson, and Mallory, and to see Clara and the Choraliers in their final concert of the year. As always it was just amazing. I got this picture of Clara in the middle of the show…

…and this one afterwards, with her sister and mom. We were all so proud.

Friday morning, before we ate “lunch” at Sweet Frogs and I headed home, Andy & Amy took me out to tour Tanglewood. I have heard about that place for years from them, and it was so fun to finally see what they had been talking about. It is a huge, beautiful county park – just has everything you can imagine. We got out & walked around the gardens, and they, too, were beautiful. A great way to end my visit.

Thursday morning when I was in Winston Andy (navigator) and Amy (driver) took me on a tour to see murals around downtown. There were so many of them, and they were all pretty impressive. Here are a couple of about twenty that we saw. Lunch at the Carving Board, a stroll around Old Salem – including a meetup with Liz’s old roommate Jessica – and a visit to Trader Joe’s completed our outing, then it was home for naps, visiting, pork chops on the grill, and cheering the Braves on to victory on TV. Just a fun, fun day.

This week I headed to Winston-Salem to spend a few days with Andy & Amy. We had the best time just being Winston tourists – I loved every minute of it. I got there for lunch on Wednesday, & Amy had made a delicious Moravian chicken pie, sweet potatoes, and greens, so we filled up on that, then headed to Reynolda Gardens to enjoy the beautiful day. The gardens were absolutely gorgeous – I got pictures of one of the perfect white irises and one of the perfect yellow peonies. What a great afternoon.

These are from last Saturday, so an entire week ago. Adam called & asked if he could bring his new-to-him car over – he’s been looking for one since his truck burned up in a car wreck a couple of months ago. He is so excited about his new little car. It was so fun watching him tell us all about it, and listening to him talk about all of the plans he had for it. He had to leave when it started thundering, though, because it has offroad tires on it, and they aren’t good for driving on a wet road. He’s a pretty responsible kid, and I’m praying that will continue.

That evening Meg & I headed to Gastonia to see a friend, Linda Lowman, perform with the Gaston Choral Society. The program was absolutely. All of the songs were written by the same man, and the second half of the program was a selection of Sara Teasdale’s poetry set to music, in different movements. It was incredible. They very nicely included the poems in the program so we could understand everything they were singing – just so special. Linda is on the far left – you an just see her between the pew back and the man’s head. I loved it.

Saturday afternoon Adam came over to show us his new-to-him car. He is so happy to have wheels again, and it was so much fun listening to him talking about all the plans he has for fixing it up.

That evening Meg & I were in Gastonia for the spring performance of the Gaston Choral Society. A friend who used to go to church with us performs in it, and she invited us to come. It was absolutely beautiful. All of the songs were written by the same contemporary composer, and the second half was seven of Sara Teasdale’s poems set to music, including my favorite, Spend All You Have on Loveliness. It was so beautiful it about brought tears to my eyes. Just a great day.

Last night we were at the Region 3 All-Region Track Meet to see Adam in action – which happened to be held at Clover High School, which was certainly convenient for us. Also Lindee & Clara were there – Clara’s boyfriend is a distance runner for Clover, which makes it fun for us to have someone else to cheer for besides Adam – plus my dear, dear friends Meg and Evelyn came to see him, too. When he came over to visit with us, his mom and dad and grandfather had made a concession stand run, but I was able to get this picture of him with the rest of his fan club.