Last Day of School

Starting the last day of school off right - donuts!!

These two are pretty excited!

One last wave...

Why so serious? It's the last day, bud!

Getting a little more excited...

And they're done! Noah's happy leap!

I didn't get any early morning pictures of Savannah so I grabbed these of the beautiful artwork she brought home.

Xander was proud of all the awards he received.

I was proud of the final grades he brought home!

Another school year in the books and now it's time to have some summer fun!

Noah's End of School Year Picnic

A few days before school ended the 4th grade held their End of School Picnic. The first thing they did was award citizenship awards to the students who had participated in and completed the Patriots Program so Noah got one of those.

Next came the Honor Roll recipients so I put away my camera...and then whipped it back out when Noah's name was called. I had had no idea that that was even a possibility for him.

Wow! I was super proud of him!

Proudly showing off his awards.

He hung out with me for a few minutes, enough time to eat a little lunch and pose for a picture.

And then he was off to hang with his friends. This has been typical End of School Picnic behavior all of elementary school.

I honestly don't mind; I love watching him play with his friends.

His fabulous teacher, Mrs. Patzer.

Our Miscellaneous Spring

I always love looking through my random phone pictures and remembering all the little events that take place in our lives, ones that can easily go unremarked on but that make up the everyday moments of our lives.
I absolutely love taking pictures of the sky and do it quite frequently whenever I see amazing sunsets or cloud formations.

One of my all time memories of my little Noah - he came to me one Sunday morning while I was getting ready for church and, holding up his two suits, asked, "Mom, should I wear Confederate gray or Union blue today?"

Family time is sacred to me and I try to make sure we do lots of fun things together despite our hectic schedule. Dinners out are rare so we try to really enjoy them when we get them, even when the kids are goofy and try to eat at a separate table than us...

or when they get grumpy when we insist on eating together and having good manners.

Each month we make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to donate to Catholic Charities. It has been a wonderful chance for our family to serve together.

Just as I love taking pictures of the sky, I love when I get a chance to see nature up close and personal. Living with woods behind us has provided us with all kinds of cool experiences with all the creatures and critters that live by us.

First time we've had a possum visit us!

And sometimes we inadvertently take one of them out. Poor guy! He seriously hung from the bottom of David's car for awhile; David actually had to pull his little body off.

We also had a super moon in early June. Super cool!

Our own little critter spent the spring getting to know all of us better. He especially loves cuddling in Noah's warm, fuzzy blanket.

It took me awhile but I actually feel a little more comfortable around Rocket as well and can touch and even hold him. Sometimes. As long as he doesn't make any quick moves.

Posing for the camera.

The kids love hangin' with their friends.

Savannah and some of her church friends at a stake fireside.

And I continued subbing and love when I have kids I know in my classes.

Memorial Day 2017

Memorial Day dawned gray and cold as off we headed to the annual Ward Memorial Day Breakfast, one of our favorite church activities of the year. David always has pancake duty

and the kids hang out with friends.

And I take pictures.

Enjoying our tasty breakfast! My favorite is the nutella poptarts that Melissa Hardy brings. Delicious!!!

David had a cooking helper this year.

The other two helped with the eating!

Some of the other activities of the morning included a patriotic program with singing by the primary children...

some baseball throwing...

and taking care of the cute Foote boys. Unfortunately it was just too cold for going down to the water or having water fights this year.

The rest of the day we just hung out. At some point Heidi sent me a picture of her kids playing in Mom and Dad's pool, obviously enjoying a spectacular day.

So, I sent a picture to let her know about our freezing cold day.