Dance recital

Every May our girls participate in their dance recital. It's an exciting event that they work hard for.

 Mary was in 3 dances this year.

Her Spanish dance on pointe shoes was beautiful but I didn't get a picture of it.

Mary's 70's Jazz dance was hilarious. Unfortunately, her wig came off during the performance though. Mary played it super cool until she saw me after the performance and then the tears came. 

 Her ballet dance was my very favorite.

 Mary had a solo at the end of the dance. All of the other girls danced off stage leaving Mary to do her solo.

 She did an amazing job! The crowd went wild and I was in tears. Mary is a beautiful dancer. 

 Our sweet Sara was in two dances. She did amazing as well!

 Love these sweet girls!

 I'm also grateful for our 3 great sons who are willing to come to a dance recital to support their sisters.

Misc. May happenings

On May 16, our two oldest boys met at a restaurant with the outgoing and incoming SBO's and class officers. After dinner they found out which office they would hold next school year.

 Both of our boys received the secretary position. Michael is Senior class secretary. Ben is Sophomore class secretary. They are both really excited.

I went to the humanitarian center with some neighborhood friends to help tie quilts. It was a wonderful way to spend the day. So fun to chat with friends and be productive at the same time.

 Todd and the kids gave me this orchid for Mothers Day 2018. I am so happy that I kept it alive for a whole year and it is blossoming again! It's pretty much my favorite island centerpiece ever!

 Our Luke was chosen as Leader of the Month.

Way to go Luke!

 Lunch on the lawn turned into lunch in the classroom because of rain.

We've had the second wettest spring ever on record.

Turns out lunch in the classroom is super fun too!

 After lunch, I had the chance to see Luke's completed state report. He reported on the state of Washington.

It is a great report. I can tell he worked hard on it.

Nice work Luke!

Activity juggling

Often times we find ourselves juggling several activities on the same night.

One night in particular, we went to Mary's orchestra concert. Thankfully Mary is in beginning orchestra, so her group played first and we were able to sneak away after her performance.

 They did an amazing job!

 After the orchestra concert, Sara and I hurried to our Activity Days Mother Daughter Tea.

 We had a delightful time making headbands, eating snacks and doing an obstacle course. 

Meanwhile, Todd and the boys were at the Trek temple walk for our stake. Luke filled in for me helping his Dad at the water stations.

Whew! We managed to meet all our commitments.

Mothers Day 2019

Sara is almost always the first one to wake up in our house (especially on the weekends).

Early Saturday morning- the day before Mothers Day, Todd and Sara (since she was the only one awake) took me to the nursery to choose yard flowers and garden plants. It was a delightful morning. Then we went home and planted our flowers. They look beautiful.

 Later that day we visited my sweet grandma.

We visited our other grandmas graves and talked about how grateful we are so have such wonderful moms and grandmas.

Saturday evening we had my parents to dinner.

On Mothers Day after church I was spoiled with amazing notes and gifts from our kids. 

 We enjoyed the beautiful weather and had fun taking selfies.

We studied our 'Come Follow Me' lesson. This is my favorite part of Sunday. I love being together and learning more about Jesus Christ together. I have been blessed by our kids and their insights on the scriptures.

 This is what our boys looked like during our scripture study time. At first glance you might think they are bored and not listening but then they will speak up with something really insightful or ask a meaningful question. I know they are listening.

 Todd made a picnic dinner and we spent the evening at the park with family.

It was a lovely Mother's Day.

I feel blessed to be a Mother.

I feel blessed to have a wonderful Mother and Mother-in-law.

I feel blessed to have amazing grandmothers, aunts, and sisters too.

What a great day to celebrate all of them!

May home improvements

I'm finally ready to post the BEFORE and AFTER pictures of our kitchen.

This is what our kitchen looked like BEFORE we started our remodel in January.

Here are pictures of each phase;

Here is the AFTER picture of our kitchen.

Some of my favorite features of the new kitchen are;

the farm sink with the reverse osmosis water filter...

and the ice maker in the freezer...

I'm also really enjoying our new steam oven...

I made my first batch of steamed banana bread and it was amazing!

Hooray for our new kitchen! It was worth the long and messy remodel!

We had hardwood installed on our stairs...

 Todd and Ben removed our old family room carpet.

 Just yesterday our new carpet was installed.

I almost don't want to put furniture on it.

So, these home improvement projects are coming to an end.

A friend told me that life would get back to normal in 6 months after starting our remodel.

I thought, "No way! We will be done way before 6 months."

Well, she was right! It will be about 6 months from start to finish. Possibly even a little longer. Wow!

Ballet class

Ballet moms were recently invited to participate in a ballet class with our girls. It was intense!

I gained a new appreciation for ballet and how easy the girls make it look.

Go Sara!

Luke's art and pinewood derby

I helped in Luke's class during Meet the Masters. I loved his artwork.

 I was trying to take a picture of Luke and his Dad with their Pinewood Derby car but Luke was finishing up an Oreo cookie. Gross!

 There we go!

A great group of boys with their Pinewood Derby cars.

Springtime blossoms, relaxation and fun

Todd planted this tree a few years ago and it has become our favorite blossoming tree.

 Enjoying Springtime relaxation at the park.

 These guys have always loved climbing trees. I still have vivid memories of them high up in the tree in Woodchester Park in England.

 The flowers were stunning as I was leaving the temple this month.