April-June 2012

Well, apparently I blog quarterly.  And I take pictures when I remember so there are a lot when I remember and none the rest of the time.  Oh well, such is life.  The priority is raising the kids, not documenting them.  Hopefully I have something for them to take with them when they leave my house though and something for me to look back on and smile when life is hopefully a bit less chaotic.  

Spring Dance Recital - 2012

My friend, Jamie, has a dance studio in her home.  Last year her daughter decided she really wanted to take violin lessons so we did a trade.  My boys signed up for dance and I started teaching Taylor violin.  It worked out really well because Dylan was in a class with three other boys since I knew he would be a little embarrassed about doing dance.  And Preston got to take dance with his buddy, Owen, and his cousin, Kylie.  Dylan did surprisingly well and the dances were great.  I was quite impressed with the entire show.  Preston was hilarious!  He is the biggest kid in his class and the one who completed the fewest actual moves during the dances.  He is the kid who for sure was the entertainment for those not watching their own child dance.  Marissa went up on stage to hug them afterwards while I attempted to snap some pictures and the girl is a natural.  She was dancing around and completely comfortable on stage.  She cried when I made her get down.  Dylan has decided to skip dance this coming year, but Preston is way excited to dance with Kylie and Owen once again.  And Marissa will be joining them.  I now have the smallest and tallest kids in the mini class and can't wait to see what the recital looks like.  It's bound to be pure entertainment for all!

Home School Conference
Family Ball - 2012
We attended the family ball again this year.  It was way fun, although the attendance was down from last year.  We still had a great time watching our kids learn to dance with others and boogie their little booties off half the night.

The Slades are homeschoolers and ended up not being able to attend the family ball (except for two of their kids who rode with us).  They decided to do their own little version and invite ward members over to party on down.  Some dressed up, others didn't.  My family did.  It was fun to watch Dylan dance with the little girls.  Taylor (my violin girl) wins the award in my book.  She danced with lots of boys her age (10, 11 or 12ish) and didn't feel embarrassed one bit.  She was able to get the most wall flower-types on the dance floor smiling.  Gotta love her!

We headed up for the Golden Spike reenactment again this year.  Much less stressful with great weather this year.  We saw trains, watched the play and picked out a cheap souvenir to take home.  I packed lunch and we ate on the grass.  It was a great day!

Abuela wanted to get pictures of all the grandkids so we attempted a photo shoot at the Bountiful Temple.  I think they turned out pretty good considering we were dealing with 11 fairly young children, but they weren't her favorite.  Oh well!  Luckily we did manage to get a couple really cute ones of her with my three kids.

Preston's preschool graduation.  I had such mixed feelings about preschool graduation.  I cried during Dylan's.  I loved his teacher and couldn't believe he would be started kindergarten.  With Preston, I sent him because he needed the extra help.  But I'm not sure it was what he needed.  I do think he enjoyed his time in preschool, but I believe the progress he made academically was thanks to sensory learning and lots of prayers and patience on my part.  But...one of his teachers, Miss Mona, was a gem.  She loved Preston and he really responded well to her.

  
We headed up to Idaho to visit my sister and her kids when they had young animals - pigs and pheasants.  My boys were in heaven!  They got to ride dirt bikes and four wheelers, shoot guns, get dirty, play on the playground at their cousins' grandma's house next door, watch lots of movies, roast hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire pit, and just be kids.  We did put them to work shoveling rocks into the wheelbarrow for Justin.  That's the kind of thing I wish they had to do the whole time they were there.  Tanner and Preston are only three months apart and they play perfectly.  There is never a problem when the two of them get together.  They spent most of their time with butterfly nets in hand searching for ladybugs (which Tanner calls Joeys) out in the tall grass.  They also spent a lot of time on the four wheelers.  Tanner, who wasn't even 5 yet, drove the four wheeler around like a crazy man while Preston giggled and shouted faster.  We finally had to tell them to ride with the bigger boys. Geez!  Sometimes you have to let go of your fears a little as a parent so your kids can experience life.

I wanted to have some school routine during the summer so we decided to do a little bug unit.  We ordered ants, ladybugs and caterpillars and had a great time watching them, studying them, and in Preston's case, hauling them around until they all died.  Totally worth the money!

Random summer pictures.  I love these because they illuminate the personalities of each of my children so well.  Dylan with the bucket in the pool, my curious, little scientist.  Even in play, the world is a place to be discovered a mystery to be solved.  Preston with his swimsuit and floaties on (even though the pool is only a foot deep).  He is sitting in the back of a big plastic dump truck with a jar in his hand for catching bugs.  Gotta love that kid!  And Marissa...filling up and emptying a bucket, screaming in a high pitched voice when anyone attempts to take the hose from her majesty, and trying on shoes that do not belong to her.  Such a girl!

There are a million reasons I love Marcos!  I'm not going to attempt to list them here.  He happens to be one of the best dads I have ever met...and I'm not just saying that.  He loves his kids and loves spending time with them.  Dylan was dying to go to the zoo after Rocky Shores opened.  And guess what.  Marcos took them.  On opening day.  In the crowds and chaos.  And didn't even make me go with him.  Now that's an awesome Papi!  These are a few of the pictures they took while they were having dad time at the zoo.

 
My dad and step mom have an annual get together, which they are now calling a family reunion.  It usually takes place in May or June and involved lunch, water, and lots of grandkids.  The kids had a blast playing on the slip and slide and tossing water balloons with grandma Suzanne while the adults sat under the balcony and sipped Diet Coke.  :)

I was really sick the beginning of June and called my mom in desperate need.  Marcos had to work and I needed help.  My mom had plans to get together with my aunt, but ended up stopping and getting my kids and taking them with...to Boondocks.  Lucky kids and lucky me!  I'm so grateful to have a mom I can share anything with and know she will love me no matter what.

More time with grandparents.  Grandpa Barney helped Dylan with some scouts stuff and taught him how to fish.  Then he took him to a fish farm and spent WAY too much money letting him learn to fish.  Thankfully Marcos loves fish so at least we got a good meal out of it.  If you can't tell, Preston LOVES Mr. Potato Head.  He now has Mr. and Mrs. and can play with them for hours.

Ward Girls' Camp 2012

I was called as camp director again this year.  I was pretty nervous flying solo since last year was a stake camp.  Also, I really wanted to do an overnighter with the 4th years.  And we did.  Yay!  Everything turned out awesome!  I know most of you probably don't know these girls, but I sure love them dearly!  I feel like I have watched some of them grow up for years and it makes me feel like a proud parent.

The rest of camp was no less amazing.  Our theme was BOOT Camp (Buiding on our Testimonies).  It was such a fun theme and so awesome to tie everything into the war that we are fighting.  It was so much fun and a very spiritual experience for everyone.  We WAY over-planned activities and ended up not having much time for most of the crafts we had scheduled, but we managed to fit them in during a post-camp activity.  Brilliant!  We had an obstacle course, did skits, made crafts, had DELICIOUS food, went boating, shot guns, went hiking, and had many incredible testimony-building experiences.  And I got a lesson in cheering from a few of my most girlie girls!  Gotta love that!  I'm so the opposite of the cheering type.  But I held my own and even did a pretty decent-looking toe touch.  That's right people!  I got skillz!