Vacation!

We finally were able to make time for a family vacation to Washington this summer! The kids were so so excited!  It was also our first road trip in our new van, which was a treat with our built in DVD player.  Aunt Bethy was able to come along and help which was a huge help as well. The road trip went ok. I'd had a bad sinus infection, so that didn't make driving over hills very fun, but over all the kids did great. Finn wasn't a huge fan, but as long as Frozen was playing he did ok.


The first night and day I got to spend with my twin, Jana. We always have so much fun together and I always feel right at home when I am with her.  Addy stayed the night with me at her house and she and Ellie had a BLAST together.  We went to a Japanese restaurant and did a little shopping.The girls thought it was hilarious to hold the mannequin's hands. Silly girls. We then ventured into Portland and went to a famous ice cream shop called Salt and Straw! It was AMAZING.  Aaron then took us down to see the bridge that he's been working on for the last couple of years, which was so cool. He even gave Wes one of their project t-shirts and Liam a guide to Portland's bridges, which he loved because he's been super interested in bridges since their bridge unit in GT.  That evening we played a couple of intense games of Pandemic. It was super fun.  The next day, Aaron graciously offered to watch the kids so Jana and I could drive into Portland to do some fabric shopping and go to the Disney store and Panera bread. We had such a wonderful time together. I sure miss her but am thankful we got some time together!


 



















 
 

 

Happy Father's Day!

We had a lovely Father's Day picnic to celebrate my grandpa's bday and Father's day at Lazy 5 park. I only got a few pictures but it was a lovely afternoon.








We had a lovely Father's day at church with our daddy! The kids were so thrilled about the ties they made him!  xoxo.  Wes is an AMAZING daddy. I couldn't ask for a better father for our children.

King of the Jungle

At the end of second grade, the whole second grade put on a musical called "It's a Jungle Out There."  Liam was excited to tell us that he got the lead part, Leo the Lion, king of the jungle. He had to memorize lines and even had a solo to sing. I was so impressed- we didn't have to remind him to practice his lines- he did it all on his own and had each word memorized.  They did two performances of the musical and I was able to attend to both. He did so amazing both times! In fact, I really teared up when he sang his solo- he was perfect! He sang nice and loud and was very clear and put emotion and expression where it needed to be.  He truly was the king of the jungle!

GG and Grandpa-Great and Aunt Beth were able to make it to the performances as well.  Finn and Addy thought he was so cool in his costume! Finn couldn't stop staring. He was pretty cute!

A Princess

Grandma surprised Addy with her own custom made princess gown, in pink, of course, because it's her favorite color. :) And it even has sparkles. Addy thinks it's pretty special that her grandma turned her into a princess.

Party time!

We enjoyed having lots of family and friends coming over and celebrating Wes' success! Wes picked the menu and decided to smoke ribs. He did a killer job- they were delicious. I actually didn't get many photos of the celebration because we were having such a good time, but at least I got a few. We also headed over to Aunt Bethie's pool for a swim when Wes' family was in town. (Finn hated the pool that first time and spent the majority of the time screaming or sitting in a poolside chair with me)

Daddy Graduated!

We are so, so, so incredibly proud of Wes! He finally graduated with his bachelor's degree. He embarked on this journey 10 years ago when we got engaged.  He supported me and worked MANY hours of overtime to get me through nursing school.  The last couple of years it's been my turn to support him as he pursued his degree.  He worked so hard. It's not easy to obtain a bachelor's degree and in the middle of his schooling we got married, had three kids, bought a house, a couple cars, and I finished my degree. He obtained his degree in secondary education with an emphasis in English. He'll be student teaching this fall at Spanish Springs High School. Here are some photos from his big day!!






The kids weren't too entertained with the 90* weather and the 3 hour ceremony, so they entertained themselves. But you better bet when he walked across the stage we whooped and hollared like crazy!






























After the ceremony we all went to the Nugget buffet for a yummy lunch. It was also Chris' birthday so it was a fun way to celebrate. We didn't have Finn come to the ceremony because it would have been a little much for him. But he was definitely at the big BBQ celebration the next day. (that will be another post)


Again, I just can't so how proud of I am of my guy!  He's such an awesome example to our children of what you can accomplish with hard work and perseverance.