Tulips, Family, mmmmm!

The very favorite flower of my sisters Lori and Tara (purple), and my daughters Randi and Heidi (yellow) are tulips! Colorful, beautiful tulips. So when we were in Utah in April, Lori invited us to join her family and her

great friend Nancy at a tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point.

The flowers were gorgeous, and the acres of grounds of streams, waterfalls, and a Koi pond, were so beautiful and a fun time to spend.

Brendon and Stephanie entertained us with a "race to the top" of the stairs. Go Steph! We did hit Cabela's "sporting goods heaven" for the guys first.

It was a bit chilly and windy,

but so very worth it. We loved watching Will and

his antics playing in the water,

Love this boy!

and they had the coolest "Secret Garden".

Wonderful day of family, friends, and the Lord's beauty. So enjoyed!


Hues of heaven brightly shone,

Gift from Creators, graciously grown.

Sweet glimpse of heaven to please the eye,

Blankets glorious under blue sky.

Lord, we thank thee for such grace,

Simple majesty given to our daily place.

Totally Bummed!

Just want to say, that I am bummed. I took the memory card out of my camera to take to Costco to develop on Saturday night. I changed my mind....cuz, hey, I can. I wanted to look at the pictures at home first. When I got home, my memory card was no longer where I put it. If anyone has seen my blue 2Gig memory card for my Sony........please send it home. My weekend in Vegas is on it, as well as mother's day, and my mom's birthday....I am sure you can see why I am sooooo very bummed!

My first tag!

I received my first tag from Heidi - it is a picture tag of things about me.....

Age at my next Birthday
Place I want to visit
My Favorite Thing
My Favorite Place
My Favorite Food
My Favorite Color
The Town I live In

Name of a Past Pet Joey

Nickname I have Had

College Major

First Job
Goal I have for this next year
I tag: Lauri, Joy, Caroline, Kim, Barbra, Taylor

Nature Boys

My Russell is a dyed in the wool nature boy. He has a long history and fascination with the outdoors in general, fishing and snakes in particular.

He saved his little brother from being bitten by a baby rattlesnake when he was about 12, when his family lived in the hills of Saugus. He even caught a rattle snake on a hike for a Father and Son’s when my oldest was about 2 ½, and carried the snake in one hand and my baby in the other down the mountain. Only (to make a long story short) to bring the rattler home in a burlap sack to later BBQ it and eat it ("it tastes like chicken" says he).

He enjoys sharing his love of the outdoors and his skills with his friends and family.

All of our kids have been exposed to dad’s love of nature, and they have taken up one form of it or another. Hiking, camping, fishing, surfing, and critters. Skyler enjoys fishing the most, and has a definite common love for Heavenly Father’s creatures.
Hence this past week we have had a course in the care and feeding of sparrow hawk chicks at our house. Not that the momma bird wasn’t doing a good job, she dropped a beheaded lizard, and a dead baby bird for her baby to eat. Russell and Skyler took it a step further in their quest to compete with the momma bird and bought "feeder" mice, killed them and fed them to the bird.

Notice the proud papa grin on Russell’s face as Skyler holds the baby perched on

his gloved hand.

Skyler made a night time home for the baby in a cardboard box as he did not want any cats, possums, raccoons, all of which live in our neighborhood, to snatch the baby up.
The following day, Skyler was on the phone with Dad to see if he could go by the house on his lunch hour to check on the bird, and called his brother to see if he could see the bird. When we came home that afternoon, his bird friend was sitting perched on our utility trailer, along with her little brother bird.
More feeding and more holding, protecting and urging. After a few days, the first baby was flying, and by Sunday they were both flying, even tumbling on the

neighbor’s roof fighting over food. Hey, that sounds like some kids I know!

Today our feathered friends seem to have flown the coop, independent little things…we think we can still hear their familiar cries…I think it sounds something like "thank you brother birds"……

Cruisin' and then some

Okay, so check it out! (That's Idol talk for this is good!) My Russell earned a trip at work….a Caribbean Cruise….a what you ask? Oh yes, a Caribbean Cruise. We were totally stoked (teen boy lingo) to realize that someone else would be paying for our 30th anniversary trip (which isn’t actually until November, but hey, who’s counting??, Oh, yeah, we are!). Anyways, life is crazy for the Sheryl Holmes… Son’s wedding March 22nd, get back to work, then go to Colorado for my Jackson’s birthday, and spend a week with my girl and her hubby, oh, and my baby J!, Come home and work for 3 days, then get on a plane for Miami…tired yet? well it gets better…Cruise to Jamaica for a swim in the Caribbean,

lunch at a resort,

then hike up a 935 ft. waterfall - yes Sheryl really did the hike, after much consideration, and splashed around in the waters there.

Then cruise to Grand Cayman while enjoying a most delicious Sushi bar nightly,

(Russell thought he had died and gone to heaven) as we had the late seating for dinner, we could totally do both!

In Grand Cayman, Russell gave the wave pool a try, and came out the conquerer of the group.

They even amped up the wave to the fastest & tallest wave whenever Russell’s turn came up. I guess they could tell a seasoned pro when they saw one!

One glorious thing about the cruise was relaxing and sleeping in. Something that neither of us get to do past 7 am on a Saturday once in a while. We felt rested for a few day, then back to reality. Then cruise back to Miami for a day of flying to Salt Lake City for our Brendon’s graduation. Great times for sure, they were perfect hosts. We feel a bit overwhelmed by our blessings of weddings in the Lord’s temples, an opportunity to go on this lovely cruise and celebrate with our kids their accomplishments in life. Now for the intense weeks of preparation for our Cody to get to the MTC June 11th. Oh yeah, and Skyler’s High School graduation on June 12th! We are blessed.

We have a College Graduate!

On April 25th, our Brendon received his Bachelors of Neuroscience from Brigham Young University. Brendon has enjoyed so much his experience at BYU. He found his sweetheart Stephanie, received his degree, and was accepted to Medical School at A.T. Still University in Kirksville, Missouri. He starts there in August.

We were able to get to Utah from Miami after we went on our Cruise. My sister Lori and her son Will were able to join us. Lori, Brent and William were Brendon's family away from home.

He spent a lot of time in their home doing laundry, eating, studying, playing, talking and watching Will grow. They are buds.

We had a great day, as we celebrated together. Brendon wanted to go to J-Dawgs for lunch, and then we took some pictures around campus.

We are so proud of our Brendon for all he has accomplished, and so love that he has Stephanie by his side to encourage and help him through it all. They are the best. Congratulations Son!!