June 1st Seminary Graduation

Seminary graduation was a special event this year since I was not only a Seminary Teacher with graduating seniors but one of the seniors was my own daughter Sarah. She had 90% attendance all four years. (No small feat since Seminary is held at 6:30 A.M. each school day morning.) I was especially blessed to have her as one of my Seminary students her junior year. She was a great blessing to me that year because she rode with me to Seminary every morning and helped me set up my classroom each day.

Night at the Cooper's Cabin June 20, 2008

We got off work, quickly changed our clothes and headed up to the Cooper's house to pick them up so that we could head off to their cabin for a night. Their cabin is in Pine Mountain Lake and it is beautiful. It is only about an hour away but it takes you to a whole different world. A quiet wonderful world filled with beautiful stars in the sky, peace, tranquility,the beautiful smell of mountain air and majestic trees. You eat breakfast in the morning and watch the deer grazing in the front yard at the same time. It is a wonderful place! We had dinner at the Hotel there in Groveland. Then we went back to the cabin. Mark and Steve looked over a map of Yosemite and talked about their adventures there. Val and I decided that rest was what we needed since I was falling asleep in the middle of our conversation. In the morning we had breakfast that I prepared and then we went off to an Art Show in the near by park. We saw some of the most beautiful pictures of Yosemite but the prices were a little too steep for us. Steve introduced himself to the artist and made arrangements to take him to glacier point on a sled to take more pictures this winter. The artist was an older gentleman who said he didn't have the stamina to hike like he used to. I'm sure by next summer Steve and Val will have pictures to share of Yosemite in the winter and Steve will have great tales to tell about his adventures with this talented artist.

We came home and attended the wedding of Tessa Arrighi. We got to visit with Bishop and Annette Kimball, Jenni and Micael Abbott and Gene and Kathy Morgan. It was a lovily wedding.

OHS PROM

WOW! I have to say the month of May nearly killed us off! Mark and I are still recovering. It was a month filled with family, major events, good times and times of great reflection with family dear to us. May 1st I finished altering and adding sleeves to a dress for our friend Elizabeth Martinez. Elizabeth seemed happy and I was relieved that she liked the alterations to her dress. She and her mom surprised me with a gift certificate to the Gallo Theater for the Performing Arts. May 3rd marked Bryan’s 33rd birthday. Kinda planned a fun weekend for him and Grammy and Poppy had the opportunity to watch Carly, Braxton and Parker for the weekend. We thoroughly enjoyed having them and they were perfect angels. Even little Parker who is only 8 months old was an absolute gem. It was also Oakdale High School’s Prom and Sarah went with Rodney Perira a wonderful young man who made great efforts to make the Prom a wonderful and a fun evening for her. The surprise of the evening was that Sarah was selected by her Senior class to be their Prom Queen. She texted me during the evening to tell me and I truly didn’t know there was such a thing as a prom queen except in the movies. She was honored and surprised! Before the prom I helped Tina Shatwell serve the 5 couples who went together a special dinner. May 5th Connie Friel and I worked on sponsor packets for our Oakdale Educational Fundraiser coming up in October. We have $130,000 in grant requests that we are hoping to earn and find funds for.

May 6th was senior awards night and Sarah was awarded a scholarship by Raley’s and received the Gold Block O award for her leadership and contributions to Oakdale High School. To my surprise I was also given an award for 18 years of service to Oakdale High School and for starting the Academic Boosters organization there. I had the privilege or awarding 6 scholarships to students that night and received a beautiful plaque with the inscription “Kim Whitemyer A Heart For Service 1989 – 2008” I was truly surprised and honored. May 7th Mark’s dear mother passed away. She died peacefully listening to the Tabernacle Choir. She was having a hard time eating and swallowing. She didn’t want to go to the hospital anymore. We were so grateful for her peaceful passing. It was truly and answer to our prayers. We are also thankful for Mary and Craig Searvers who have been caring for her this past year. May 9th Sarah, Mark, Chloe, Ashlyn Marler and I attended the Modesto Nuts Baseball Game. I knew we were in trouble when no sooner had we found our seats when the girls asked me when it was going to be over. Grammy and the girls spent most of the night playing on the bouncy bins and activities they had for the young ones. The fireworks were spectacular after the game. The Modesto Nuts won and we earned some money for Senior Grad Night.

May 10th was the LDS Prom in Modesto. Our Stake put on a Prom and the girls in our ward all looked beautiful and had a wonderful time. May 14th Was my Seminary auction. My students were able to bid on prizes with the Seminary Bucks they had earned during the year. It was a fun time and my students this year were the absolute best! Our class moto was taken from Moses 17:18 “And the Lord called his people Zion and they were of one heart and one mind and the dwelt in righteousness and there were no poor among them.” They truly were a “Zion” class. They learned to love and uplift one another. I know they uplifted me! May 15th was our Seminary Breakfast and the last day of Seminary. I have to say I was pooped out and ready to get some sleep again! It was also the Senior all night Disneyland trip.

MAY 17TH Sonora Prom

May 17th was the Sonora Prom. Sarah went with a nice young man from Sonora High School. It was actually quite eventful as the Hummer Limosine the kids rented a $60 per person had no air conditioning that day and it was 106 degrees outside. They had to drive from Sonora to Modesto for dinner and then back again with no air. Sarah said it was the longest ride of her life but everyone made the most of it and had fun anyway. Her date was wonderful and she had a great time.

May 20 -23 Graduation, Grad Night, YW In Excellence

May 20th I made a special program for a Young Woman In Excellence night where Sarah received her Young Woman’s Medallion. It is an award that takes six years to earn. It is much like the Eagle Scout award only for girls. The have to give service and execute projects for seven areas which are Faith, Divine Nature, Knowledge, Choice and Acountablity, Good Works and Integrity. We also got to hear Sarah’s testimony of the Savior and her love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. May 22nd Mark and I worked for hours helping to decorate for the graduation party for the seniors this year. I got roped into finding 120 volunteers for the all night party. Mark was a great sport and helped hold and move our ladders so we could hang black plastic on the walls along with various decorations. May 23rd Marked the end of a 19 year span on having someone going to Oakdale High School! Sarah graduated and it was a great occasion to get all of our family together to celebrate. Sarah also attended her all night graduation party and won $200 for second place in the dance contest.

MAY 24th

May 24th was Mary Elizabeth’s memorial service. It was a special day to remember our beloved Mom and Grandma. All of Mary Beth’s children were there and many of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. It was an uplifting day knowing that we will be able to see her again someday and that she was having a grand reunion with many loved ones who had gone on before her. After the memorial service many of us came home to hang out together as Kristin and Eric were visiting from Utah and Los Angeles. Coby just got a new job in Salt Lake City and we are so excited to have them closer to an airport! It will make the trip to help with the new baby in October so much easier! Eric starts school at Pamona Cal Poly on June 23rd. . We were excited that Kelly, Josh and Emily were able to stop by to say Hi! for a minute that day as well.

May 25th we took Kristin to the airport to fly home. May 26th Brayden turned 9 years old and Poppy and Grammy took him out to lunch. Then Poppy took him to see the new Indiana Jones movie. May 27th I conducted an Oakdale Educationa Foundation meeting where we finalized our fundraising plans for our annual fundraiser on October 4th at the Oakdale Country Club.

MAY 31st

May 31st Mark, Sarah and I attended the Ward Relief Society Temple Trip to the Oakland Temple. I tried to have my grandmother and grandfather sealed together but the computers were down. Mark and Sarah did baptisms and I went through a session with Annette Kimball who is a good friend and former neighbor. All of this along with work & church responsibilities the month really kept us flying! It was a great month with many, many things to be thankful for, especially family