The highlight of the month was certainly the wedding of Troy and Catie. It was so incredibly special to be a part of their day! We loved every minute! The kids had the greatest time as bridesmaid (Evelyn), flower girl (Anna) and ring bearers (Dane and Grant). Blake was the best man and delivered an adorable toast. The rehearsal dinner was delicious and fun and charming in every way. Nancy's landscape artist designed all of the succulent centerpieces and we got to keep them at the end! The kids had a blast rehearsing their walk down the isle. We loved being together as a family and feeling the excitement for the big day! And then of course, the actual day was one to remember! Getting our hair styled and make up! Dressing up so fancy! Eating an amazing dinner, dancing, seeing extended family, listening to Catie and Troy's vows and just feeling so happy for them. It was a special weekend we will not soon forget.
Another highlight was the amazing visit we enjoyed with Dave and Jen and their kiddos! A cousin bond is pretty intense. Our kids were inseparable the entire week. We enjoyed so many fun activities... swimming in the pool, playing with LOL's and pick me pops, beach days, Seaworld, watching the Greatest Showman, Handel's ice cream, Pick up Stix, late night chats, and so much more. We truly enjoyed the Stevens visit.... it was so nice to be with them and to spend quality time with the cutest cousins ever. Little Chris and little Mary were just too cute and the apple of our eyes. Man, it's sad not having any babies in our house! Luckily we will get to see these guys soon for our Seattle trip coming up because it was hard to say goodbye. Anna kept bursting into tears for a week! And Dane and Grant were also quite bummed. Even Evelyn is still missing the babies! So grateful they spent their vacation time with us!
Loved celebrating mother's day. It was a little hectic with the Stevens leaving the night before. Wasn't sure Blake would have it all together... but he did. He and the kids fixed me a yummy Hawaiin haystack dinner. I relaxed all day reading funny memes and talking to my own mom and mother in law on the phone. Loved the notes and sweet gestures from the kids. And loved celebrating the happiest part of my life-- the opportunity I have to be a mom!
We had a great time this month with friends! It's starting to get warmer and so we've been swimming up a storm. Evelyn invited her buddies over for a fun study date and swim party. She organized the menu and helped make fruit kabobs and candy dessert. We were thrilled to have the Bachmans in town for tournaments! Whenever their kids play down in San Diego- we get to spend at least one night together, and it's always a joy. Can't believe how big and tall their kids have grown! So much fun to think about how when we first met, Kai and Ev were 3!!!! And Addie and Dane were 6 months old!!!! Love the Bachmans!
We enjoyed celebrating Memorial Day with our good friends here in town. We met up at the park, ate dinner and played a big family kick ball game. Of course it was kids verses adults and the kids were pretty much in heaven the entire time. Haha... kids love playing sports with their parents. Every time we do it, I recognize what a big deal it is to them and I think-- we need to do this more often! We really have such fun friends and we enjoyed celebrating the holiday together.
I've been thrilled to see Evelyn become more socially engaged as of late. This month her social calendar has been filled every weekend! And it's so fun to have Blake as the Young Men's president because he's always there with her at all of the youth activities. I think she had a wonderful time at the temple last weekend. She enjoys a few of the girls so much, so it's been fun to watch them come up with plans and ideas of getting together. Evelyn is wrapping up her school work-- she created an awesome presentation to teach her history class about the Mongols and Kublai Khan. She even worked out a coding project for her class to do! So proud of her hard work in school this year. And she was nominated for Best Lead this year in the junior division! Though she didn't win the award, the nomination itself was an honor, and so was a kind text from her director that said she felt Evelyn should've won! It was such a blessing for her even to have the chance to be a lead and so she wasn't disappointed in the fact that she didn't win. Evelyn is all set to begin ballet and guitar classes this summer-- along with piano and voice. She has a full schedule!
Dane's had quite the month!! Tournaments always. And with his new team-- it's been really fun for him! He's learned to be more aggressive and quick moving. Blake and I have been thrilled watching him! Dane continues to take care of our garden and to be the best brother in the world. He worked hard this year learning the violin and it was so great to see him perform at his orchestra concert last week. He was pretty shy about it all-- yet he was fantastic. Dane and Grant have started guitar lessons and we are excited to see where this will take them! Hey, it's always a good idea to know guitar! They are both very excited about it. Poor Dane had his tonsils and adenoids removed this past week and it's been torture for recovery. Torture. Can't even begin to explain how much pain he's in! It's been 5 days and he hasn't eaten a thing. But thankfully he's drinking. What a brave kid and a kid that doesn't whine. Only two times he broke down and cried for a minute at how hard it's been. So proud of him. And his friends have really taken good care. Braxton and Aidan have been over to visit and sit and watch TV together. Dane can't talk, so it's been nice to just have a friend to sit with him! Cant' wait till Dane is recovered and his old self again.
Grant similarly has enjoyed many a soccer tournament this month- ha! He is also very fond of his new team and coach and we've loved having soccer closer and in town! Grant's biggest passion these days is listening to Harry Potter on audible. He listens before bed and in the car wherever we go. He knows once we finish a book, he gets to see the movie and this is great incentive for him. He currently owns TWO wands from Universal Studios. Proud of Grant's desire to learn guitar and work hard in all he does. Last week, his primary class was misbehaving, so the Primary President told the kids she'd need to check in with their teacher to see how they were doing the following week. When she did, the teacher mentioned that the class was still struggling but that one student was reverent and obedient, setting the example for the rest. Yep... you guessed it! Grant was that kid. So proud of him. I know he's eager for summer to be here and yet, he never complains about school. He's been doing all of Dane's chores for him the past week while he recovers and he's been an angel!
Anna has also been enjoying her soccer class along with trying out hip hop and ballet classes! We think we'll stick with ballet for now. Hip hop was a little much for her taste-- ha! But Anna has been her usual self-- a social butterfly to the max capacity. Lots of playdates, lots of tagging along with mom and dad to everywhere under the sun. She always has her little bag full of toys and snacks and she's happy. She'll play in the car, on the field, in a store-- wherever you have to go- she's there with bells on. She's enjoyed her Girl Scout experience this year and has loved the little girls she's spent time with. It's been so fun to watch her learn and grow and try new activities. I simply adore Anna and feel like she's a special gift from Heavenly Father. She makes every day happy. The girls and I typically go out together without the boys either on Friday or Saturday at some point. We attend plays, see movies, get our nails done, shop! It's so fun to have two special girls to share my time with. Of course, I love all of the sporting events and such... but our girl time is special!
Now aside from all of these activities, I'm wrapping up the teaching I've done at the kids' school. Loved receiving thank you notes from the kids-- so cute. It has really been fun to be a part of Dane's classroom and to get to know these kids who are off to middle school! I'm still enjoying my singing time calling and can hardly believe I'm so lucky as to teach music to these darling kiddos. Love all the ideas out there. We've recently done - character lip sync, and pretended we were fans at a sporting event for father's day practice. We've played mystery singer and four corners. It's all so fun and I love every minute.
I think that about wraps it up! Full fun month and now we are ready for summer! In fact, next week alone-- we have THREE pool parties to celebrate the season's arrival ! Haha!
