Saturday, June 20, 2009

Camping Fun!

The weekend before Memorial Day we went to Capital Reef for an overnight camping trip. My kids told me that they were so excited for there first ever camping trip, but I quickly reminded them that we camp every year when we go to Lake Powell. In there minds it is just not the same. We only stayed one night, but we had such a great time.
Katie taught us how to roast Star Burst. They were a little messy but a actually pretty good.


I love this picture of Lilli and her Dad sitting around the camp fire.

I am not sure what Matt and Bonnie are doing here, but they have Jade's interest.

After a light and easy breakfast we headed out for what some of us thought was going to be a short easy hike. I love to hike and my family did pretty well, but it was a little much for Jack and Miles.
The rocks were beautiful, and so are the kids.
This was about half way. The arch you see in the background was are final destination. Lilli forgot to bring her hiking shoes, so we took a small detour to K-Mart in Richfield on our way their. I felt so bad when I saw her limping and took off her shoes to find some pretty big blisters.
Cassidy Arch was definitely worth the hike, it was amazing! This is a picture of Matt standing on the arch. Jade and McKinley were feeling a little anxious that someone was going to fall, but we all survived.
What a beautiful world we live in, and we hope to see a lot more.

Monday, June 15, 2009

End of School Fun!

Once again I have found myself a little behind on my blog, so even though we are into week 3 of summer I need to go back to the end of the school year. I was lucky enough to help out in Jade's class this last year. It was a lot of fun to be in her classroom and see her interact with her school friends. Matt even found himself in Jade's classroom every Friday during his lunch break. The first graders field trip was going to the Hogle Zoo, and we had a great time.




Jade with a few of her friends from her class.


Lilli loved going to preschool, but she is so excited to be going to the big school with the rest of the kids. My sister-in-law does such an awesome job throughout the entire year but graduation is always the cherry on top. The kids got a yearbook, cd full of fun pictures (which Lilli had watched at least 20 times), magnet board, reading blankets, and their ABC Rock guitars and sunglasses. Yesterday we were walking through the pumpkin patch and Lilli told me that she wanted to go back to preschool so she could go to the pumpkin patch on a field trip. I know that Lilli not only had so much fun but learned a ton from preschool, and we are so proud of her.




Lilli loved going to preschool with her cousin Isacc. They are the cutest graduates ever.





McKinley loved her first year of Junior High. She worked really hard and finished with a 4.0 GPA. I am willing to bet that she checked her grades at least 50 times throughout the year. Her Dad would give her a hard time, telling her that it was fine to get a B, but she was determined to get all A's. We are so proud of everything she accomplished this last year.



McKinley was so excited to hear that her school was holding the first annual Payson Junior High triathlon. I didn't realize that most of the kids that participated were doing it in teams of three, and each doing one event. McKinley had participated in a Tri before so she felt good about doing it solo, but I was a little nervous because of her broken foot. There were only two other girls that signed up to do the Tri solo.





McKinley had a so much fun and finished it in 32 minutes, which was first place for the girls doing it solo.

Gavin had his field trip at the first of the year but he also had a great school year. The fourth grader had a talent show that Gavin played the piano, and I may be biased but I thought his was the best (everyone did a great job). It takes a lot to get up in front of the entire fourth grader and perform, and I was so impressed. I was also able to play the Family Feud with his class, and that is always a great time. One of the questions that was asked was, what is your favorite fast food restaurant? Gavin's was Cafe Rio, he skipped right over Wendy's or McDonald, smart boy.

I can't believe another school year has come and gone so quickly, but I am so proud of each of my kids, and I hope we survive summer.