CONGRATULATIONS JADE!!!!

Jade wrote a story for "Young Authors" at her school, and won first place in her class. The middle school director said it was an easy decition. It's titled "Lilly" and is the sweet story of a little orphan girl. (first half is 10 pgs long and could easily be a short novel if she chooses to develop it) Here is a peak at the opening paragraphs......

*She sat down slowly, not knowing what to do next. She was bored, lonely, silent, and wishing for a place of unexpected things, a place that she could call home. She looked up solemnly, noticed a loose stone in the floor of the cell kicked out of its place, and then continued to brood over not having a real home.
Suddenly she heard a faint jolt of a door opening then closing with a loud bang that echoed through the long corridor. She stood up hopefully; she knew that bang for only the man with food did that sort of slam. Instinctively, she stood up hastily, brushed off the straw that stuck to her like glue, and sprinted for the corner of her cell. When she had reached her destination, she hugged her knees tightly to her chest and waited. *

Pretty cool start eh? I know she is super talented with art, but I had no idea she also has a writers heart. She loved doing this, and we are encouraging her to write more often. If you want the whole story, let me know, I'll email it to you. She is also working on a painting for an art contest, I'll post both her and Josh's entries when they are done. :)

WAY TO GO JADE!!! WE LOVE YOU SWEETHEART!!!

GNO

Miss Jessica Lowe came here for a once-in-a-lifetime visit to Utah. We were honored. So I organized a GNO with some of our mutual sistas. (* but Amanda was sick with the flu, so she had to miss it :(

Miss Jessica herself, and the cutest twinners in the world, Stephanie Toland and Staci Martin.
At the movies, a teen-chic-flick of course.

Sisters....Jessica, me, Lindsay, Mica-dearest.

a couple group shots, I was talking to Bill during this first one. But it's a good shot of 3 sets of sisters, all connected in some way. I'll try to simplify it....

Staci, Steph, Jessica, Lindsay, me, Mica

Staci is Mica's sister-in-law, Steph is Staci's twin and a fellow artist/friend, Jessica is Lindsay's older sister who has a blog that is stalked by nearly everyone we know, Lindsay is our sister-in-law married to Enos, Mica and I are obviously sisters.

It was so much fun, I'm so glad Jess came to visit Lindsay and gave us a fabulous reason to plan the whole nite-out. And I'm so glad Staci was able to fly up just for the occasion. We need to do this more often ladies!