THE LAST NIGHT AT THE TAFT SUMMER SCHOOL

Everyone dressed up and we had a wonderful evening at dinner. Here are some of the interns, faculty and students. Take a look at the buildings and grounds while you are at it. Absolutely lovely. The room where we ate has been dubbed "The Harry Potter" room.

Jack and Jim, the Tour de France boys!! After lunch, they would go upstairs and watch the tour together.

Andy and Ryan, interns. Also Frisbee kings!

Ryan and Barclay.
Ryan was Barclay's intern, they were a perfect match!

We are Missy's "away parents" while we are here at Taft. We spent a day with Missy, her mom, aunt, brother and friend at their house in Rhode Island. Had a wonderful time.

Since Jack wouldn't smile we took a pic of just Missy and me!!

"The group"

Jack and his 5 advisees. We took them out to a Chinese Buffet one night and they loved it!

Terrence and me. Really nice young man from Memphis.

Jim and I. Jim always has a smile on his face.

Barclay, Steve and Jack.

Jack and I.

My friend Sue and I. I'm gonna miss that lady!!

EVENING OF THE ARTS

Last night was spectacular! The drama students put on a play and the photography students produced a film about the Oil Spill in the Gulf. Very impressive. I will try to get a link so you can view it.

Here are some pics of the beautiful art the students displayed. Their teacher and my dear friend, Sue Keown Peck, was the drive behind these artists.
















Here are some of the wonderful people we have gotten to meet here at Taft.

My friend Sue (the art teacher) and me!

Kristina (who runs the Summer School) me and Sue!
And the humidity sucks!!!

These are the 3 Musketeers (aka The Three Stooges) We LOVE these young people!!
Kyle, Missy and Justin.

Kyle, me and Justin!

Kristina and Steve are the core of The Summer School.
Everyone who knows them are certainly better people because of them.
The students couldn't ask for better people to run this Summer School.

WE ARE WINDING DOWN

We are getting close to the end of Summer School. Everyone seems so tired and exhausted....5 weeks is a long time when it's 24/7.

We are fortunate to have had a window A/C because it has been humid and hot here. But at least we get visitors! LOL

Tonight is the Evening of the Arts. First there is a play performed by the students, then a Summer School Video produced by the students, and we finish with The Art Show where the students have their art on display. I will take pictures and post later.

Tomorrow night is the fancy dinner where everyone wears proper attire which is followed by a dance. We have to really keep an eye out on the students as they tend to stretch the rules a bit. Some of the students have already begun to leave. So it is quieting down a bit.

Jack is busily working on last minute notes and scoring tests as well as writing his evaluations on both student faculty (interns) and advises. This is a stressful time for the faculty, but they are in it for the long haul.

We have met some really wonderful people this year (we say that every year!) I hope we can keep in touch with them, even if it is on Facebook.

Saturday we start packing up to prepare to leave for Tennessee to see our girls, Judy, Kelly and Samantha and their families. We hope to spend as much time with them as possible so leaving Saturday would really help get us there sooner. But if we are needed here to watch over students who haven't left yet, we will stay till Sunday.

The few things I miss the most from home are my bed AND my grandkids and their parents.

Recent Updates

Jack has been actively watching sports while we are here. First the World Cup, and now The Tour de France. He goes upstairs where there is a big screen TV and he and Jim watch the Tour. Needless to say, he is a happy camper.

I have been reading, reading and reading....I will post my summer book list when I have finished.

Saw my Stampin' Up! friend, Diane the other day and we stamped for several hours! It's always nice to see her.

Went to see "Karate Kid" and had dinner at a Mexican Restaurant called "Tequila's" with my two girlfriends, Sue & Kristin. We needed to get out!!

On Tuesday/Thursday nights we tape "Wipe Out" and have the kids on our floor come and watch it with us after study hall. One at a time they will hear us yelling when someone on TV falls or gets knocked off something. That gets the curiosity up of others and before the show is over, we have a packed house. One kid even brought a bag of chips! Cute huh?

I've been busy making cards for the students who have birthdays while they are here. I go and get them a cake as well and then they celebrate in the dorm where they live. Only two more to do.

We went to visit Herb & Cheryl (one of Jack's Taft friends) for dinner and met their friends, Tony & Judy. What a great time we had laughing and sharing good company and a wonderful meal. I will post pics later.

The interns/teachers here this year really are great. We didn't think it could get any better than last year, but we were wrong. The new dining rooms are awesome and they have huge tables that seat 10, but we pretty much all crowd together at one table.

This is the end of week 4, only 1 week to go. Time flew by! Not happy about that. We have a full week ahead of us. I will post as it happens.

SHOTS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE (on the road)

Sunsets

The Hill House

Our Trip to Littleton, New Hampshire

On Friday, July 9th, we went up to Littleton, New Hampshire for a small Hill Family gathering. Fortunately the weather co-operated and it was very beautiful. We had cousins, spouses, children, brothers, nieces and 2nd cousins etc., along with a few dogs! It was fun to sit around outside and play catch up with everyone. As the bugs starting biting, we headed inside for more good conversation.
We traveled through some small towns which were very lovely. Here are some pictures:













Jack & I stayed at the Littleton Motel which is the oldest Motel in New Hampshire.



This site is a memorial garden for Aunt Barbara. These are actual flowers from her garden.







We ate breakfast at the Littleton Diner. Click on picture to make it bigger.




There are more pics to post but for now I got as many posted as I could. I hope you enjoyed them.

Summer Book List

Here are the books I read this summer:


"Fire and Ice" by Julie Garwood

"Best Friends Forever" by Jennifer Weiner

"The Girl Who Chased the Moon" by Sarah Addison Allen



"The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd



"Slow Burn" by Julie Garwood




"Sizzle" by Julie Garwood


"Killjoy" by Julie Garwood



Loved all of them!