Derek's Utah State Science Fair Awards

What a night. Derek looked so handsome in his suit and black tie. I was so incredibly proud of him for all his hard work on his science fair project. We were so excited to learn that out of all the participants in the regional competition that he was one of the ones that was to be invited to the awards ceremony. There were so many honorable mention awards to be handed out we would have been so happy just to have won an honorable mention award. That all by itself would have been huge. Every time I think of how well Derek did, I get emotional.

My Mom and I were able to discover together that he was one of the few participants from yesterday's competition to be invited to the awards ceremony. I was out doing errands. Derek and I knew that we would be receiving an email to notify all the participants of the ones who made it to the awards ceremony. The way we would know who made it would not be by name but by their number each participant was assigned when they first were all originally accepted to this next top tier of the competition. My Mom called me and told me that the email was in. At first I had the wrong number and we concluded that he did not make it. It was a bit sad, but not for long, my brilliant mother told me that she was sure that the number I gave her was not right. I began to get a bit of excitement running through me. I searched over my old emails right in the store. Eventually I found the email and read the correct number to her, after a few moments we saw it together, his number was in fact one of the ones invited to come to the award ceremony. I got emotional right there in the store. I was so happy for my son.

Derek totally cleaned up in the awards tonight. He did not just win 1 award, he won 3! This one was from the American Society of Civil Engineers.


This was another award he won this was a big one. He won the Broadcom MASTERS award. He was one of the 10 best of ALL the projects. We were jumping up and down so happy, THREE awards! WOW!

This was actually the first award that he won of the night. There were 10 honorable mention awards for his division of Computer Science and Engineering. We were on pins and needles and they kept naming names for honorable mention awards and his name was not called (we were glad because we knew that meant that he had won one of the top 3 awards!) He won 2nd place for his entire division!

After every award he won I could not resist it. I had to call my Mom, I ended up calling her 3 separate times. She kept saying "another award?!" and laughing so excitedly.

David made it with 5 minutes to spare. He drove straight from the airport coming in from Chicago this evening.

 

It was great to get another family picture on this very special night for Derek.

This is the picture of the 3rd win. The Masters Broadcom award.

This is the picture for the 2nd award, the civil engineering award.

This is his first award, the 2nd place for his division.

Before the awards. We went out to dinner to celebrate. Derek of course got to choose. He chose The Old Spaghetti Factory. The manager asked the special occasion and when we told him he let Derek choose where we sat, we could sit in the trolley or upstairs with a beautiful view of the mountains and the cherry blossoms in bloom on the trees. Derek chose upstairs. It was an incredible view to match the night. I love Derek so much. I am so blessed to be a part of his life and to be his mother.

My kids are among my best, best, best, friends. I am so blessed to be able to share their lives with them. To watch them as they grow and succeed. To learn and mature and gain so much from them. I can't imagine not being with them, sharing so many moments with them that feels like it will never be enough.

Derek's Regional Science Fair

My brilliant son with his cool science fair t-shirt and his display behind him of his project. We had just set up. The parents were NOT allowed anywhere on the entire floor during judging. In fact the student could be disqualified if the parents came. It was hard for me but I knew it was best so I left him, went home and paced the floor, cleaned and tried to stay busy until I knew I could go back and see him. We kept in touch with texts and a few calls.

He was judged individually by four different judges. The judges were all professionals including some professors. They all asked quite in depth questions about his project to make sure he understood his project. Derek nailed every question! One question that he was asked that I remember was, why he tested shear strength instead of tension strength. His answer was

This is a picture of Derek just outside Rice Eccles Stadium door before entering to get judged. I was so glad we came as early as we did. The email said not to come before 9:45 am and I got him there at 9:15 for a couple reasons. I did not know what the traffic was going to be like because it was all the way downtown. I also did not know what the parking situation was going to be. The night before we set up for the project the parking lot was just about filled and I did not want to have to park 5 miles away! It's a good thing we got there early, as I left after I dropped him off for his competition I saw a HUGE line wrapping around outside.

Here is Derek outside of Rice Eccles Stadium. I wanted to show the hugeness of the building. Where he set up was above the signs draped on the building so he had a great view of the valley as he waited to be judged. Fortunately we were prepared for a long day. We packed water, some snacks his 3DS game boy, and our family Kindle to read while he waited to be judged.

His is the day of the set up. Thanks Derek for letting your old mom be in the picture with you. I'm just so proud of you!

There you can kind of see the view he had, it was so much more than the parking lot, promise.

Derek with his winning project.

My winning son, in so many many ways!

My handsome nerf war son

Just a fun day together showing off Derek's great sense of humor and fun.

Grandma's 70th birthday

Yet another of the many times that allow me to be grateful for my job. My mom's 70th birthday. We were able to go out just for a short weekend to share this time and help her know how much we love and appreciate her. I am so eternally and every day grateful to have her out of all the women that have ever been are now and will ever be, to have her as my mother. She is my friend also. She has done so much for me, there is no way that I could ever repay her or say thank you enough. There has never been a time that I did not know she loved me, no matter what, no matter what. She has always been there for me. She is there on the every day moments, always listening to me and about my day. Letting me know what is important to me is important to her. There is so much to be proud of about her, so much accomplishments that she has done in and outside the home. But most of all, she is my mom and she loves me.

Hannah sitting by Grandpa. She has a way with him. When he is down she can pick him up just by walking in the room. I think that they were friends before they came to this earth life and that she was sent to pick him up and lift him, and she does just that.

Thank you Hannah for loving my father so well, thank you.

This is a picture of Gavin with Grandma. He is Stuart's 3rd boy. I love his animated face. I love this picture of all the candles.

This is a picture of the cake we got for my mom.

This is the picture of the moment Mom opened up the gift of her Kindle. We also got her the black purse on the floor beside her.

We all got her these flowers. I was so grateful that Janna, Stuart, and Matthew and their families were able to come out for this occasion. I wished so bad that we could have got Eric and his family out. I miss them and I know it is hard for them that their great long distance makes it so difficult to be out with the rest of us as often as they want to be. But knowing that in their hearts they would so want to be here makes their absence easier. I sure do love them and miss them. I am so blessed to know they enjoy being with my family and love us.