Kinder Play and Promotion

McKinley had her Kindergarten musical and promotion ceremony today. The play was so cute...it was about vegetables and the garden. McKinley was a french fry and she was very good. She had a speaking part and she delivered her lines well. She also sang in all the musical numbers. After the play the teachers handed out the graduation certificates. This was a great year of a dual language program. McKinley and her friends spent every other day fully immersed in Spanish. All her lessons were taught in Spanish and she did classwork in Spanish. It wasn't easy in the beginning...but she stuck it out and will be moving on to dual language first grade in the fall. Here she is with one of her wonderful teachers, Mrs. Schraeder.

And of course we had to capture the moment as parents. Here is McKinley with her daddy!

And another photo with Mom...we are so proud of her!

Pretty Ballerina Girl

It's that time of year again...time for the dance recital! But first we had picture time! Miss McKinley really hammed it up for the camera this time. I told her I'd give her an MnM for every picture we took. And I'm going to have to pay up!

Cute friends...Kendall and McKinley!

And then there is the tap dance outfit. Our cute little nurses.

The most important thing is she's having so much fun. She loves to dance and she does a good job!

Dave's New Toy

This year David celebrated a big birthday and has planned to compete in a triatholon with some buddies from highschool this summer. In preparation for this event David researched and picked out a great road bike to start training on. It was custom fitted to him with all the components he wanted and needed for the training and the race. He's also started swimming and has learned a completely new style of swimming, from Total Immersion. It's been interesting. Of course, he's still running and he's enjoying it tremendously. The big day is August 7th in Midway, Utah. Good luck!!

Hppy Muthrday!!

The sign McKinley made for me and had everyone sign!

Today of course is Mother's Day and it's a great day to celebrate mothers and all they do for us. I like to think of it as a mother's vacation. Today is the day that I don't do all the things I usually do...just to remind everyone that I'm important! I don't do laundry, I don't cook, I don't settle arguments, I don't pick up the family room/bedroom/kitchen/bathroom/outside/anything, I take a nap in the middle of the day, and it's all great....until about 3pm...and then I start to miss it. I like to do the dishes (control issues I know), I like to pick up as I walk through a room (so I can walk through it), I don't like to sleep during the day (I miss things), I like to cook (so I know what I'm eating). I guess the only thing I don't miss is settling arguments. It's a good day to remind me what I love about being a mother and what a blessing it is to be a mother to 4 special kids!

This morning I woke up to the scent of french toast and sausage. The kids were eager to see me and we all went to church together. The talks were about mothers and how lucky we all are to have learned from and be loved by our mothers. The primary kids sang about how flowers remind them of mothers and how they want to be good for us. The priesthood came to Relief Society and sang to us. Then we came home from church as a family and the kids and Dave gave me gifts. The best ones are always the one's the kids make for me. Evan gave me a photo with dried flowers and 20 free foot massages. McKinley gave me a flowerpot with her picture as a flower. It was perfect!

Happy Mothers Day!

My baby boy is 9!!

Boy did this year go bye so fast. Just last year Evan was being baptized and finishing up 2nd grade. Now he's 9 and finishing up 3rd grade...so big. Evan is an amazing boy...I can sum him up in one great word...intense! Evan is intense in everything he does. He plays hard, he works hard, he thinks hard, and he is such a lover boy! Each day when I drop him off at school he comes to my window and gives me a kiss goodbye. Every night before he goes to bed he wants a hug and a kiss and to be tucked in. I absolutely love it!!

This was Evan at 6am on his birthday...a little excited!

And later that day I met up with him at school for lunch. His pick? Chicken nuggett, chocolate frosty and fries, with a chocolate milk!

And his cake that night...chocolate cake with peppermint chocolate chip filling! He loves his chocolate!

Happy Birthday Evan....you've really grown up a lot these past few years...into a fine young man. We love you!

Western Districts Spring 2010

For the 5th time in 6 seasons our boys team headed to Western Districts for some big soccer action! This year we went into the tournament undefeated and as the 1st seed. The tournament was a round robin event where all 6 teams there played each other. That made for 3 games on Saturday and 2 on Sunday! It was a hot and breezy day in Corpus Christi for our 3 games on Saturday. The boys played good hard soccer for their first 2 games and came away with to ties. The third game on Saturday the boys dug deep in the hot (95 degrees) humid coastal weather for a 1-0 win, with Austin scoring the winning goal!! It was beautiful. I didn't get a picture of it, but he was right there at the goal line for the cross and a beautiful left footed score!!

We left the team in third place and ready to play their Sunday games. They were in for a fight as they were going to be playing down a player (with no subs, obviously) for their two games. (Why do they insist on playing on Sundays these days??!!) We anxiously awaiting word and heard that they were up 1-0 at the half in both games, but sadly were unable to hold the other teams off and ended up losing both games on Sunday. With all the crazy outcomes of the games, we still ended up placing 3rd in Districts! What an accomplishment for the team! They played hard and fought hard and had a good time.

We're going to miss soccer and really miss our team as the club is changing this next Fall and our team will be split up some. It's been quite a ride with these boys since they were 10 years old! We are so proud of them...I'm especially proud of my two...tough defensive Ethan and head-smart Austin! Good job boys!


Look at that stride...that ball is outtaaa here!!

Watching the ball and ready to pounce!

Go get 'em Austin!!