Memorial Day Weekend

We've made it a tradition to spend Memorial Day weekend at Willard Bay. We were so excited to be camping with the Lamb family again, the kids counted down the days until we could go. It seems like all of our camping pictures are the same, but they are still memories for us.

Due to the weather being a little cool still, we didn't really get into the water. The kids did have a great time searching for tadpoles in a little inlet. Thank goodness, Grandma and Grandpa Farr stopped by for a visit and offered to take the tadpoles home with them to their ditch!

Jacob had just finished up his Rec. soccer season, and was headed for tryouts the Tuesday after getting back. The Lamb's, with all of their soccer knowledge, coached Jake through some drills. I think Jake's favorite thing during this camping trip was the butt whopping Jake and Kolton gave their dad's in a two on two soccer game.

Kali colored and colored this camping trip.

So many girls, so many friends.

SCHOOL'S OUT!!!!!!

We've kind of turned the last day of school into a holiday around here. We started at 6:30 in the morning, by taking doughnuts to the Middle School bus stop. Those kids aren't there very early, so we had kids running down the street, grabbing doughnuts, as they jumped onto the bus.

Then the elementary kids, who DO hang out at the bus stop for unnecessary amounts of time, shared in the doughnut munching.

Good Friends: Arianna, Lindsey, and Alyssa

Crazy Friends: Thatcher and Jake

THERE'S A REASON THESE TWO ARE SUCH GREAT FRIENDS...IT'S ALL ABOUT THE CRAZY FACTOR!

GOOD NEIGHBORS: ZANE AND ETHAN

WAYYYYY TOO MUCH SUGAR

After the kids left, we had a few hours to get ready for the after school festivities. Of course I was busy, so I didn't remember to take pictures until I uncovered the camera late that night. When the elementary school kids got home we had hot dogs, chips, and lots of treats. The kids played (too cold this year for water) and the moms visited. It was lots of fun.

That party ended and we prepared for a middle school party. Miranda invited her friends over to roast hot dogs, make s'mores, and burn their old homework books. We kind of stayed out of the way and let the girls do their own thing, but there was definitely a lot of giggling going on! The girls had a late night, and by 11:00 pm we all collapsed.

It was all worth it! The kids did such a wonderful job in school this year. They all worked hard, listened well, and had good reports from their teachers. Miranda had a 4.0 for the year, Jake and Arianna both earned a rare "Golden Cougar" award, Sabrina learned SO much during Kindergarten and was a top student.

Daddy and I are amazed at the wonderful students you guys are! WAY TO GO!!!!

Sabrina's Kindergarten Graduation

Our sweet Sabrina graduated from Kindergarten today. They did a wonderful program with fun songs they've learned all year. They also included many patriotic songs. It was so much fun to watch. She has adored having Mrs. Allgood as a teacher. Arianna and Jake both had her and assured Sabrina, before school started, that she indeed was ALL GOOD! It was a perfect fit for Sabrina and she thrived in her class. You'll notice her eyes are pink in all the pictures. As soon as the program was over she began to cry. Sabrina couldn't fathom not seeing Mrs. Allgood every day. I had to talk her into taking the pictures that we have. I think she was emotionally drained, so after a cookie and cup of punch we went home.

While I'm remembering, I want to add the sweetest story about Sabrina. I was doing something in her class one day. The kids were all having free time when I noticed that one of her classmate's had wet her pants. The other kids kind of backed up, got out of the way, and started to point. Sabrina, being the little mother that she is, immediately ran to the paper towels, tore some off, ran back and was about to start wiping up the chair. Mrs. Allgood stopped her in time and took care of the mess on her own. Mrs. A came up to me, shaking her head in amazement, and said, "In all my years of teaching I've never had a student do that." I said, "This is your first accident?" "No," she replied. "I've never seen anyone jump to help clean up and aid another student going through that."

Sabrina has an amazing heart!

RECEIVING HER DIPLOMA

SABRINA WITH HER FRIEND CHARLY AND ANOTHER LITTLE GIRL WHOSE NAME I'VE FORGOTTEN :)

SABRINA AND MAYA

SABRINA AND HER BEST BUDDY, CHARLY

SAYING GOODBYE JUST HURTS TOO MUCH

THEY WERE BOTH IN TEARS (OKAY, I WAS TOO)

SABRINA AND HER DEAR MRS. ALLGOOD

SABRINA WITH HER PRINCIPAL, MRS. NIELSEN

Double Duty

This was Arianna's first year to train for the Wellsville Mile. They worked all year, and towards the end she finally started to enjoy it. The scheduled date for the race was postponed due to a threat of rain. Unfortunately, the day that it was rescheduled for turned out to be a downpour! The day started warm and only partly cloudy. By the time the kids were ready to race they (and all those who came to support them) were soaking wet. They were shivering and Ari's cute glasses were in serious need of some windshield wipers! Regardless of all of that, Arianna did a wonderful job! She came in with a time of 10:32. That's awesome for being completely soaked! Great job, Ari!!!

Here she is at the start. Notice her jacket was almost completely on.

Here she is sprinting to the finish. The red jacket is barely on her arms!

It's hard to see her in this one, she's just behind the middle orange cone. Race completed!

That afternoon, after drying off completely, we went to Kali's Preschool Program. They treat it as a graduation though she still has another year of preschool. Her teachers were Mrs. Paskett and this year she had a co-teacher, Ms. Stephanie. I had to fight Kali most of the year to go to school. She loved it while she was there, just didn't want to make the break. But by the end she was doing great and is looking forward to going back!

Teacher Paskett does a fun carnival after the program. The kids had a blast!

Busy May

I'm finding May to be even busier than December. With performances, recitals, games, school programs and graduations. It's all good stuff, just busy. This Saturday we had two stars shine brightly!

Jake played Rec. soccer this Spring. He's found something he loves! Before the season began, we got a call telling us there weren't enough coaches for all the kids signed up. Rory was great and jumped right in (with little knowledge of the sport), to coach Jake's team. They had a great season! Jake loved to be right in the middle of it all and even played goalie a few times. My boys both did a great job this season! Way go, Menn!!!

JAKE DOING WHAT HE DOES BEST!

GOALIE (aka JAKE) AND COACH (aka DAD) DISCUSSING THE GAME

Arianna had her TaVaci concert in the evening. She started with the first solo of the night! Unfortunately, all of our video clips are long and I don't have the ability/knowledge to put them on the blog. She did a wonderful job and certainly in her element on the stage. Thanks for keeping us entertained, Arianna! We love you!

HERE THEY ARE PERFORMING THEIR BILLY JOEL MEDLEY

JERI CHENEY HAS BEEN HER TEACHER FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS. SHE'S LEAVING THE PROGRAM AND WILL BE GREATLY MISSED!

ARI AND HER PROUD MOMMA!

Five Reasons to Celebrate Mother's Day

To My Beautiful Children,

I find it impossible to describe in words the ways I love each of you. Merely putting my feelings on a blog or writing them down makes that love feel trite because of my inability to describe the depth to which you fill my heart. As each of you were born I worried that I'd have less love for the others, but what I found was not that my heart was to be compartmentalized into pieces, but was given the ability to stretch, expand, and grow with each set of blue eyes that joined our family.

I look forward to the day that each of you hold your own babies. I pray that I will be there to look in your eyes when you finally begin to understand the love I have for you and the eternal gift you have given me by calling me "mom".

Love,

Mom