Memorial Day at the Cabin

May 24-27, 2013

We spent the long weekend up at the cabin.  Jacquelynn's family, Mom, Dad, Grandma, and the twins were all there.  When we arrived, we got the big news that Bo and Abigail had gotten engaged up at the pond the day before, and were spending the weekend nearby with their ward.

On Saturday, we went hiking to Red Canyon.  It was a fairly short hike and we stopped for the cousins to climb around on some rocks.  Jacquelynn tried to set up a nature scavenger hunt, but it just incited bickering about who held the paper.

After the hike, we found a little picnic spot and made sandwiches and had a nice lunch.

At one point, some of the kids went fishing, so we snuck away to get ice cream.

On Sunday, we took a little hike to the creepy doll house. This picture doesn't show it,  but there are really weird things in this yard, including mannequin heads.

Bo, Abigail, and a friend came for dinner.  We got to ask them all about getting engaged and their future plans. We also had our traditional Talent Show.  The kids showed off what they were doing at the school show. Jolynn and Paul showed up that night and we roasted marshmallows, played games and stayed up late talking. 

Monday included a little yard work, archery, and cleaning before heading home.

End of the Year Busy

May 2013

May is a busy time of the year.  We started off the month with the NYRA party in the library.  Students who had read at least 4 of the nominated chapter books got to come to an ice cream party, receive prizes, and have ice cream sundaes. 8 students earned the party and they voted for Out Of My Mind, which won for the state. I read the nominated picture books to the whole school and had the students vote. Memoirs of a Goldfish won for both our school and the state also.

For the last several months of school, I ran a Storytelling Club on Thursday mornings.  We worked on the stories the kids wanted to tell, played games, and sometimes had donuts for breakfast together.  We had an assembly for the 3rd graders, where each of the girls performed their stories and the teachers evaluated them and gave them a score. The top 2 scores were Camryn (telling Falling For Rapunzel) and McKenna (telling The Emporer's New Clothes.) They went on to represent our school at the District -wide Bristlecone Storytelling Festival.  The girls both did a great job.

Camryn also participated in the Honor Choir at school. They had an end of the year performance.  They sounded great, especially when they sang Colors of the Wind.

We also had Career Day at the end of May.  Several cars & trucks came.  Seth loved the firetruck.  They also had a limo, a hearse, and a police car.

The end of the year always feels rushed and busy!

Hollywood Kids Got Talent

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Camryn's Hollywood Kids class had a talent show, where each kid performed a song.

Camryn sang Cups from the Pitch Perfect movie.  We had found this little table on the side of the road and set it up on blocks for her.  It is a song that you sing without music just the beat of the cups.  The song sounds a little folky and fit her voice really well.

The class also performed Hark Knock Life, one of the songs they are working on for Annie.

Fong Field Day

Friday, May 10, 2013 

Friday was a busy day at Fong.  I helped organize having the STAR Lab come to our school.  It is a huge inflatable dome where you can project stars on the inner surface. The GATE teacher had a presentation about the constellations that she gave to classes that had signed up. It was a little old for the younger classes, but still fun. 

The students who had reached all 5 of their reading goals got to come to a special AR Party.  My mom brought pizza and we had punch and talked about books.  After lunch we went to the STAR Lab and looked at the constellations and also at a projection about the moon.  We finished up the party with this cake that went with the year long Reach for the Stars theme and each kid received a gift bag with candy, a pencil,  and a reading light.

While I worked the STAR Lab all day, the rest of the school had Field Day. The kids played games, got wet, and had popsicles. Seth class all had matching bleached Dragons shirts that I had made for them.

After school, McKenna and Cayson came for a sleepover, that included some Slip n Slide time.

The Allens will be moving to Logan, Utah soon.

Our kiddos will sure miss them! They have been great friends to us.

Daddy Daughter Date

Friday, April 12, 2013

The ward planned a daddy daughter date at a climbing facility. Cam made it to the top!

Alexis climbed with one shoe because her other foot was supposed to be in her walking boot.  Her ankle was still not cleared for physical activity.  Dave forgot to send me this pic, thinking I would be mad.  I found it on his phone later.

Seth and I spent the evening with April and the Peery boys.  The boys swam at their community pool, while April and I caught up and chatted about books.  Later we went to Yogurtland, where the boys piled tons of candy on top of their yogurt.  It was a fun night for all.

It's All About the Chair

April 27, 2013

Dave turned 37 this year and although he had something done to the exhaust pipes on his truck that makes it conserve gas and vroom louder the previous month (for his birthday). I thought he needed another gift.  I got his and hers zero gravity chairs for him.  When we got them, we set them up in the family room and sat in them there for about 2 weeks. 

Other birthday celebrations included Donna taking the family to Macayo's for dinner and a date night to Outback and the new Galaxy Theater to see Iron Man 3.  Dave fell in love with the reclining chairs at the theater. Obliviously comfy chairs were a bit hit with him this year.

Egg Hunt

Saturday, March 30, 2013

We had our annual egg hunt at Ryan's house.  Seth was the youngest and got to go out first. There were so many eggs some were really not hidden - just out in the yard.

Cam showed everyone how much she is like her Dad with her crack showing most of the time.

And here you can see how much she is like me.

Just when we thought the hunt was over, the cousins came out with the eggs filled with confetti and made a giant mess.  It got in my hair and I have found it around my house even months after.

After the egg hunt we took a few pics and had a barbecue. As always, we ended up with too many eggs (I turned them into deviled eggs to eat at Amazing Race the next night) and too much candy.

A Week With Grandma

March 25- 28, 2013

While Dave & I were getting in some alone time in SF, the kids stayed home with Grandma Hill.  She took them to the new Children's Discovery Museum,

dyed and painted Easter Eggs,

went out to eat quite a bit,

went to the movies,

and the girls talked Grandma into a new dress each and Seth got a big ball.

They had a great Spring Break and probably had more fun with Grandma than they would have had with us.