Savannah's Spring Recap

Savannah had a really great spring, with many various activities to keep her busy and happy. This past year she was a member of two book clubs, one at school where the students would discuss a Black-eyed Susan book each month, and one with a bunch of friends from school. We hosted the friend one in May, discussing The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull. This was a book we had read as a family last year and really enjoyed. Any book that has candy as the major theme is a good read, right?

The school book club group.

Savannah also participated in and passed off The Patriots Program at her school. Each student had to memorize and learn various things, such as all 50 states and their capitals, The American's Creed, the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, parts of The Gettysburg Address, The Pledge of Allegiance (easy!), The Star-Spangled Banner, and a few others. For those students who passed off all 10 requirements, there was a special luncheon and discussion with several soldiers from our area. Savannah was very excited to listen to the soldiers as well as receive some fun prizes.

Softball took over our Tuesday and Thursday evenings! This was Savannah's first year and, though at times she got a little frustrated with her hitting, she came a long, LONG way from the start of the season. Her coaches loved her and one of them even approached her about playing on his travel team. Alas, she is too old for the age group he coaches but just the offer itself was a huge boost to her confidence.

By the end of the season she was getting a lot of hits!

She also loved being catcher for at least one inning each game.

Her team made it all the way to the championship game where unnfortunately the other team won. But Savannah enjoyed the season and is thinking of playing again next year. One last cheer as the Hurricanes!

Nice trophy!

A few days before school ended Savannah attended a 5th grade social with all the other 5th graders. Although she wasn't too big on the dancing, she did enjoy the food and spending time with her friends.

There was also one last 5th grade celebration where the kids received recognition for academic achievements. Savannah was recognized as a Honor Roll student as well as a recipient of the Patriots Program Award.

Her class had voted to determine who the two ABBY Students of the Month would be for May and Savannah was one of the students chosen.   We're so proud of Savannah going out as an ABBY award winner, especially when it was her peers who chose her!

At the assembly pictures of each 5th grade student were shown, one when they were a baby, the other as a 5th grader. The kids loved guessing who each baby was. It's hard to believe that Savannah is no longer an elementary school student. On to middle school!

Due to rain Savannah's 5th grade picnic was held in the classroom.

Savannah and her best friend Celine.

Savannah and her various awards. She was extremely disappointed that she didn't receive The Bookworm award but her class did vote her Best Singer.

And she finally did it - straight A's!!!! Math has been her Achilles heel and has kept her from this goal for the past two years but she finally did it!

A Wonderful Getaway

While the Pierces were here they did one of the kindest things for David and I - they watched the kids so we could get away for some alone time. It was just an overnight getaway but it was much needed and so wonderful! David took me to Kent Island right on the Chesapeake Bay.
Crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge!

A room with a view.

We went out to dinner at the Crab Deck. We were seated right by the windows and were able to enjoy our food as well as watch an enormous thunderstorm head our way. About 5 minutes before the storm hit, the servers started scrambling to bring tables in and close all doors and windows. They barely made it before the first drops started to fall and then the show began. Lightning, massive thunder, the wind whipping the rain drops, and the rolling waves in the bay were quite the scene. It poured for a good 15-20 minutes! When there was a loll we decided to make a break for our car because we could tell another storm was about to hit. Rain started to fall again as we got to the parking lot but we had quite an obstacle to get into our car...the storm had dropped so much rain that water was all the way up to the car door! At least I was in flip flops; poor David didn't even have time to take off his shoes and socks because the rain was pouring down again. We both waded through the water to the car, hoping that rain wouldn't spill into the car as soon as we opened the door. I really wish I had gotten a picture of it!
  The next morning we slept in and then David spent some time reading on our balcony.

After breakfast we took a walk along the pier.

After that we headed into Annapolis and had lunch at this little Irish pub, Galway Bay. We had seen this restaurant on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and it definitely lived up to its hype on that show. We both had the corned beef and cabbage sandwiches and they were delicious!

I was so stuffed after lunch that we decided to just walk around for a bit. We came across the Annapolis State House, a beautiful brick building where General George Washington resigned his commission at the end of the war.

We also checked out St. John's college.

Too quickly it was time to head home but it was definitely a wonderful time spent together! Maybe next time we'll get a few more days!

Hangin' With Grandma and Grandpa

We were all so excited to have David's parents visit for 3 weeks in May. They did spend a week down in Virginia but the other two weeks were with us and the kids were in heaven! We absolutely LOVE having family visit! Don't get me wrong, we love living on the east coast but it is so hard not having family around to hang with on a regular basis. While the Pierces were here the kids were still in school but they took advantage of every minute after they got home each day to be with Grandma and Grandpa. They read books, played games, took walks, did puzzles, talked, watched movies, and loved having grandparents at their games/concerts/recitals to cheer them on. There was even a trip to Target to get a new toy!

Dave and Jackie left before Savannah's birthday but they still wanted to take her out for a special birthday dinner. They treated us to a tasty meal at Famous Dave's, Savannah's choice. We all had such a great time together!

Lovin' some ribs!

Memorial Day Fun

Traditions are what make our Memorial Day holiday so much fun! Our day starts off at the Ward Memorial Day breakfast and we always arrive a little early so David can join the other high priests in the traditional pancake cooking. Unfortunately David forgot to wear his Ute shirt so I didn't grab a shot of him and the bishop with their opposing team shirts on. Oh, well, I'm sure there will be next year.

The kids enjoy a little breakfast before heading off to the various activities available.

Never before have we ever had the need to wear warm clothes to the breakfast but the morning was a tad chilly. Usually we are sweating in 90 degree weather so the beautiful 70's was welcomed by all. Savannah headed down to the water and collected a few shells, something she never gets tired of finding.

David joined the other country bumpkins to play some horseshoes. Yee haw, y'all!

And the boys and I took a little walk down to the water. Noah enjoyed playing on the rocks...

and then he and Xander decided to get in the water. Thinking I was being so smart, I had them take off their shoes and socks so they'd keep them dry for the rest of the day.

Of course Noah got his feet all sliced up from the rocks or glass or whatever else was lurking in that gross water. Poor little guy!

We came home for a couple relaxing hours and then headed off to the softball game! We met up with several families from the ward and had a great time!

Great hit, Xander!

I have to admit, the first baseman was pretty hot!

Yep, that's my kid wearing socks and flip flops and playing softball.

And now it's time to eat!

We had a few grills for the hot dogs, hamburgers, and chicken, and everyone brought a side, some chips, and drinks, and we were set. It was another great day spent with friends.

And this year we even had some family here as well.