Another fun and full month has passed with all of the excitement this time of year typically brings. School will be out next week.... high adventure, girls camp, beach days, vacations and summer camps are all on the horizon. May is the best in so many ways. I love watching the weather warm up, celebrating the end of school, prom, Ev home from college, Mother's Day and Blake's birthday!
It's all so festive, and this year on top of all the classic May happenings, I also completed my 25 mile hike across the Grand Canyon and had such an amazing time accomplishing this goal with three of my close friends! It was a whirlwind- we drove in, woke up at 3am, hiked for 14 hours and then caught the shuttle back to the lodge for a delicious pasta buffet dinner. We drove home the next day to make it back in time for prom and a friends' wedding! It was a quick trip but it was a very special part of my month and I loved training and finding the strength to accomplish this goal.
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Loved helping Elizabeth with the flowers for the Wurtz's wedding! Jeff has been my kids' seminary teacher and he is the best and now Diane teaches too and they are just the loveliest friends so it was such a joy to help put on this wedding reception! The kids all had the best time celebrating too.
The office put on quite the show for Blake's birthday this year. Nancy sent us cute pictures of Blake growing up and they enlarged those pictures and scattered them all about the office. It was so cute and of course Blake LOVED it- ha! Blake's Bishopric came over with roses and chocolates for the birthday boy... and that was hilarious. We had a special birthday dinner with strawberry shortcake and made sure Blake knew how much we all adore him. It was a fun day.
The best Mother's Day ever! Blake and the kids spoiled me with the sweetest cards, flowers, Cafe Rio dinner and they even watched The Princess Bride with me before bed. I hiked with a few of my friends, Anna did my nails, and of course I made the crew pose with me! Love my job as mom to my four sweet kiddos.
Blake and I and the kids keep quite busy with church youth activities ! It is for sure a family affair at all times- ha! Amongst many other events, this month we enjoyed painting our Books of Mormon, a big combined BBQ in our backyard with all the kids, a fun Mother's Day game night, honoring the seniors for senior night and a new tradition for the 4th Sunday of the month: Bishop's devotional.... a huge success. The only fail was that so many kids came, I didn't have enough ice cream! All of these activities were so special and really make our lives more full. So glad to be a part of the youth program.
This month Anna has kept busy with her tutoring, tumbling, and spending time with friends as often as possible! That includes sleepovers, helping out at siblings' birthday parties, midnight in-n-out runs, watching friends' plays, and of course, doing nails for anyone and everyone interested. My little ray of sunshine is a little out of sorts lately. Dane asked yesterday: Is Anna going through puberty? Because she is quite cranky! Ha! She is a little on the cranky side but still the best kid on earth. She adores her dog and takes precious care of her- brushing her hair every night and bathing her once a week. Cuddling her and taking her out... their bond is tight. She loves the sister missionaries and had the best time going out with them for dinner and Crumbl cookies to celebrate one sister's birthday. Anna DREADED the 6th grade Olympics. She claimed she was not fast, not a good athlete, not eager to do any of these events. She even had trouble sleeping the night before... but she managed and pushed through her fears to do each event with pride. She even went through a round in the 50 meter dash. I'm so proud of Anna for working hard to be the best in all she does. She is a friend to everyone and the life of any party.
Dane just finished up his 3rd year of seminary! We enjoyed celebrating at the seminary breakfast where he presented his teacher with a fun gift from the class and enjoyed hanging with his buddies and both his mom and dad who were there helping.... not embarrassing at all! Dane's month has revolved around lots and lots of time with Kenzie! The pair went to TWO proms-- MoProm, and Poway High's Prom. They looked darling at both events and it was fun helping with the dinners and the pictures and watching these two cuties in a world of their own. Dane is a very thoughtful and kind partner and Kenzie is as sweet as can be. They are best of friends and it's just plain fun to have them around. I love seeing Dane think through what he can do to make her feel special. We celebrated her birthday and he hand picked 5 items he knew she would love, along with a trip to Sea World. For his promposal, Dane took Kenzie to the flower fields to ask- she loves flowers so it was a perfect fit. They watch each other's games and do homework together, watch movies, make slime, sunsets at the beach and cook pasta and brownies together. It's been fun to watch. SO proud of Dane for working hard in school, finishing seminary and all the soccer hours he puts in each week. He is playing so well! Currently looking for a job this summer... will keep you posted on that.
Cannot believe Grant is almost finished with middle school! He acts like a 25 year old, and yet I still struggle to imagine my little hyped up boy in high school next year. Grant is a pretty special kid. He wants to do his best and he is very disciplined. He has received straight A's all through middle school- something that is not easy for him... even in his Spanish class, which is a high school course. He studies hard and keeps up with everything! I always imagined I'd have to ride him with these things, but he is fully committed to his academics and schooling- as he is with all of his pursuits. Grant is considering changing club teams, as his new coach is not the greatest... it would mean a longer commute down to Chula Vista three times a week which scares me because he will also have homework and seminary and of course, Blake and I are so busy too! But when he sets his mind to something, it's hard to go against that! Grant just won the student of the year for PE at Twin Peaks- so out of 1000 kids, he was chosen! His PE coaches said to me that they don't know what they'll do without him walking into their office every day and asking.... "ok, so what's the plan for today?" They said he is really like one of the PE teachers and is everyone's favorite TA. Grant attended a "welcome to seminary" class this month and the seminary breakfast and he's super excited about it. He's been busy at physical therapy trying to repair his sprained ankle whilst still attending practices and training sessions on the side. Really proud of my cute little boy.
It's been SO nice to have Evelyn home this week! She will be here for the summer working at a children's music extension program and continuing with her on-line nursing classes. So proud of how hard she has worked this year and how well she is doing. Love seeing her with her old friends- tanning and country line dancing. So grateful for all her help with carpooling and dog care! She has grown so much and is such a pleasure to have around.
With so much going on...I have to admit, I've felt a little on the fatigued side lately. It might be my iron levels or just too much to do? But I have taken quite a bit of naps this month and that is NOT like me. The kids find this funny because they've never known me to take a nap and Coco usually lays with me so they'll snap a picture here and there- ha! Was so excited and grateful to Nancy for coming down to watch the kids while I hiked the Grand Canyon. She is AMAZING and so thoughtful to always be here for us whenever we need her! And look at the absolutely gorgeous front porch remodel she did! I've received about a million compliments thus far and it makes me VERY happy every single day. I'm continuing to hike with friends even though training is officially over. I have grown incredibly fond of hiking and I hope to always make time for this hobby! We finished up our morning skills class this week- we set a few goals, ate German pancakes and presented all the girls with necklaces to remind them of all they learned this past year. I have LOVED being a part of this group of girls.
I mentioned Dane and Mormon Prom but I don't think I mentioned that one of my very best friends- Elizabeth Judd- was in charge of the whole darn thing- for 12 stakes!!!!!!! So I was her assistant all week and had the best time ever with Sophie, blowing up balloons, working on flowers, setting up the silent disco, running the crepe station, and so on and so forth. It was SUCH a success. SO much fun.... A night in Paris was the theme and the back of the church was fashioned after a French market. I just can't say enough about how great a job she did and how fun it was to be a part of it all. Loved every second!
Loved celebrating Jess's birthday this month and little Sophie turned 4!!! Mom and Dad and J and Jason went on a European cruise for a few weeks- though I missed them, I adored seeing pictures of them having fun together! And Katie went to prom!!! Now on to June.... with 8th grade promotion parties, baby showers, Ortho Staff Appreciation week and girls camp to plan! A happy and busy time of year for sure.
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