A Few Things From Spring

I have been terrible at blogging lately.  I have had these pictures in my camera 

for a few months now.  Here are a few things from Spring, not in any specific order.

 My 2 cute girls on Easter afternoon.

 Maddie & Kim on Easter

Keaton came down for Easter weekend as well. 

It was great to see him...which doesn't happen very often.

 Kenzie turned 19.  Only one more year of being a teenager.

You better enjoy it little girl!

 Kenzie's b-day

 Noah turned 12.  Dallin, Trey, & Alex came to celebrate.

They enjoyed time at Anti-Gravity & then Noah's favorite treat...snow cones.

 The boys enjoying their snow cones.

  Noah got a new basketball stand.  It took me & Mike 3 hours to put it together.

 

Noah's dessert of choice was oreo cheesecake. Yum!

Noah's end of the year band concert.  He played clarinet this year

& did AWESOME!  He played a solo at the concert.  He

also auditioned for baritone sax for next year & was

chosen to play it in 7th grade!

 Maddie & Moo as pets.  That's the closest Maddie will ever get to having a dog.

Noah & Maddie before their piano recital

Gage, Cameron, & Briceon burn school work!

Maddie's 10!

Maddie had a birthday! Her 10th. While I am not a mom that loves planning parties, Maddie loves them....so she planned her own party. She had 7 friends come over for a night of fun...pizza, treasure hunt, movie (Matilida), mint brownies, and a game of "fugitive".

On her actual birthday she and I went to lunch at Olive Garden, mmmmmmmmm. She had dinner with Dad at Chuck-a-rama, and then the whole family went to Cold Stone for ice cream. I can't believe my baby is now 10. I used to wish for the kids to grow up at times because I thought it would be easier, but every day I am wishing she would stay young. She is so much fun! Happy Birthday Maddie!

Mountain Man Rendezvous

A couple of weeks ago Maddies 4th grade had a mountain man rendezvous where they could buy & sale homemade articles. They had been earning "pelts" for a month. This was their "money" that they could use to buy from other students. We aren't very creative in this house, but we did come up with a few things to make from scraps & other things we found around the house. We didn't have to spend a cent.
We had this doll body which I made a dress for. Just so you know, I don't sew! I made the dress without a pattern and I sewed it on the sewing machine. I surprised the whole family.

Mike just had to take this picture of me using the sewing machine. Yea, really funny Mikey!

Maddie ended up taking these items to sell: 2 drums, 2 necklaces, 2 rainmakers, and the doll. Look, I even made an apron for the doll. I surprised myself.

Preference

A few weeks ago this was dropped off at the front door. Gage was being asked to Preference! It was going to be his 1st date & his 1st school dance.

He had to eat this homemade apple crisp to get to the bottom & find out who asked him. He shared it & it was yummy!

What service. Dad shines Gage's shoes just before the dance. Notice the black Nike socks Gage has on:)

The few weeks before the dance Kenzie gave Gage a ton of advice on how to treat a girl on a date. Mom & Dad also gave a little advice.

Look how big Gage is. Now he is taller than anyone in the family. Our little Gage is not so little anymore.

Of course I had to take a few pictures in the back yard.

Gage & his date Lauren. They both look great!
More pictures to come later.

Basketball

Noah & Mike finished up their basketball season a couple of weeks ago. They played with Washington Rec Center & lost only 2 games. Alex Searle also played & his dad, Todd, coached again as well. It seems that Coach Mike & Coach Todd are often the duo to coach their boys. It has been a lot of fun watching both the boys and they dads grow!

Happy Birthday Nana!

My mom turned 30 again yesterday! She & my dad are on a mission in Kansas so we weren't able to spend the day with her. We did skype with them and the whole family sang happy birthday. It is hard to be away from her and we miss her so much. She is such a great example to me and our whole family. I am so thankful for all that she has done for me and taught me. I am so lucky to have her be such a big part of my life! It will be great to have her home later this year. I love you mom!