First Day of School

Monday was the first day of school for Hannah and Janessa.  They both expressed some bad feelings about going back to school, but after their first day they were so glad they went. When I asked Hannah how her day was, she replied, "Great!" How could it be said any better than that, especially with their giant grins to back up the comment? 

Happy Birthday Addie!

Happy 4th Birthday Addie!  Because she is SO big now, Addie asked for cupcakes instead of a cake.  We did her favorite thing and went swimming on her birthday.  Addie loves to help Momma cook and is on the counter constantly asking if she can watch.  Besides swimming she loves to play with her big sisters and be in charge of Brynlee.  She is most excited to be four because she gets to go to preschool!

She scored a lot of neat gifts and had a great birthday.  Thanks to Grandma, Nana and Papa for your thoughtful gifts. She loves them...obviously!

Graduation...Finally!

 On August 5th, BJ FINALLY graduated from POST.  Hallelujah! It's been a long 10 months, but well worth it. Congratulations babe!

BJ's big brother Travis and his family came down for the ceremony and we were able to play quite a bit during their stay. We feel so lucky to have had family here for the big occasion!

BJ's Mom was able to come with her friend as well! It is always awesome to see Grandma!

                          Our proud family...the girls were so proud of their Daddy.

Too Cute Not to Mention

These pics speak for themselves...

I Love to See the Temple!

On July 2nd,  BJ and I flew out to Denver for the day so we could go to the temple with BJ's Dad for his first time through.  It was such an amazing experience.  There were at least 15 people from Burt's ward there to support him and the feeling of love we had from them was overwhelming.  Afterward we met up with my sister-in-law and her hubby and my parents for dinner. It was so good to see everyone even if it was short.

 It was such a wonderful day; one we will remember forever!  Thanks to Jennie for watching all SEVEN of our girls the entire day and night on her vacation!  She is an angel and truly performed a miracle (you can be sainted now)!

June

Happy 6th Birthday Janessa! June is her month!   We had our own quiet family party  and then the next weekend we celebrated with some of Janessa's  friends...the move didn't phase her! 

The Giddyup and Go Pony Santa wasn't able to bring her last Christmas...Go Mom and Dad!

Janessa's birthday crew with their plaster masterpieces

We had to plan it a month in advance, but we actually got to go on a short camping trip this summer.  We had a lot of fun and the girls learned to play baseball and become expert fishergirls!

She waited for this one for 30 minutes and reeled him in herself!

S'mores were a must as well and we loved sitting around the campfire, telling scary stories...and then stories to counteract the scary stories!

Addie proudly shows off her chocolate goatee!

Brynlee enjoyed her soccer ball, the dirt and throwing rocks up in the air...What goes up, must come down...at times on her head!

 

ADORABLE!  So's Janessa...

May

May was filled with the end of the school year wrap ups.  Part of that was celebrating any summer birthdays, so we got to go into Janessa's classroom and bring treats and then she got put in the spotlight.  She held a globe in her hand and walked around "the sun" once per year she has been alive.  At each year I had a picture to show her class and told them what she was like at that age.  It was so adorable and the kids were so respectful and interested.  It really made Janessa feel special! Thank you Ms. Debbie!  It made such a positive impact on Addie, I had to pick her up and carry her out of the classroom kicking and screaming!  She'll have to wait for Kindergarten another year!

Can you guess what these eggs are? Quail eggs.  They are really quite beautiful and each one is different.  These eggs were abandoned and didn't make it (especially after Addie and her little friend carried them all over the back yard....I think they got dropped a few times too!).  But BJ and I found another nest, this one with a momma carefully guarding her eggs. Hopefully we'll be seeing the adorable marching line of baby quail and their parents soon.

Our old next door neighbors and dear friends moved to Wisconsin at the end of May, but not before we were able to go ice skating and swimming together...all in the same day!  It was a great day, full of fun memories to keep forever.  Julia, we miss you!

At the end of April, BJ's Dad and Mom came out and we celebrated his Dad's birthday.  The kids taught Grandpa to play the Wii...it required a lot of patience on his part!  But he got quite good at it, even with Hannah  correcting his every move!

The adults even got away for an evening out.  It was a blast! I don't think we've laughed or heard such great stories in quite a while.  It was an evening never to be forgotten.

Grandpa and His Girls