Busy April & May

I helped chaperon Jonah, Ezra and Esther's classes when they went to the bowling alley to celebrate doing 100% of their homework for the 3rd quarter.  There were a lot of gutter balls for Esther's class until they put bumpers down!

 We watched Hannah on pointe for the 2nd year in Sleeping Beauty.

I helped out at Noah's 6th grade dam field trip.  The entire 6th grade, 200+ students, were at the dam from 8:30-2:45.  Noah's science teacher had organized the 6th grade teachers to each be in charge of different stations in and around the dam that the kids would spend 30 minutes at each.  It was so well organized and the students were interested and engaged in learning.

I have loved having Hannah work on one of her Personal Progress value projects because she is learning to make 10 different recipes.  I love to cook and bake and it is fun sharing this with her.  She made my sheet cake twice in one week!

Noah's first band concert and Hannah's last.  Noah played the trumpet this year.  Hannah has played the flute the last three years and will not be taking band in high school.  It was a hard choice for her but you can only take band at our high school if you are in marching band which practices after school.  Hannah is planning on playing volleyball with after school practices, so it was one or the other.  I don't know what Noah is going to do without Hannah in Middle School.  Hannah makes sure she keeps tabs on Noah and his friends.

Another field trip.  Jonah and his class on their dam trip.  Not all day like the 6th graders.  The last 3 weeks of school are really fun and games, I think it should be spread throughout the year.

Noah and Jonah played on a traveling baseball team.  They had tournaments in St.George 3 Saturdays a month for April and May.  Scott and I would take turns taking them but this weekend we went as a family and cheered them on together.  It has been a good learning experience, they have a good coach who has taught them alot.

We played in a 12 and under league.  Our coach asked Jonah to be on the team after one kid was injured, so Jonah was by far the youngest and smallest but he fit right in with the team.

I am usually behind the camera so I made sure Scott took my picture on Mother's Day.  I love all the cards and things my kids make for Mother's Day, it is better than any present. And I love Jonah, Ezra and Esther singing, Mother, I Love You, with the primary.   At church I was surprised when our Bishop asked the youth to come up to say a few short words to their mothers.  Noah was the first up and it was so sweet to hear him say how much he loves me and what I've taught him.  Hannah also got up and shared her feelings.  I was crying and felt so blessed to have wonderful children.  Scott surprised me with black silk pjs and a gift certificate to get gel nails.  It was a perfect day.

Jonah's 4th Grade River Trip

Some of Jonah's class before we went on the pontoon.

I had a blast being with Jonah and his friends.  Jonah took good care of his mom.

Jonah and Brycen have been friends since preschool.

Jonah and Mrs.Smith enjoy teasing each other.  We were a little disappointed not to see any condors but the view is incredible at Navajo Bridge. 

Jonah's Birthday

Jonah celebrated his birthday with his favorite meal of all time: hoop-a-nanny pancakes.  Jonah can eat a whole 9X13 pan of these pancakes. 

Cub Scout Fun

Jonah took 2nd place out of the Webelos.

Ezra took 1st place out of the Wolves.

We had so much fun with two cubs to cheer for.

On pinewood Derby night, Ezra received his Bobcat.

Esther's Kindergarten Play

Esther, Ryan and Zoe in Mrs.Fisher's class.

Esther and Isaac

Esther was one of 5 kids in her class that had a short part on stage and she helped make stone soup.  Every grade has a musical performance and the Kindergarten did Stone Soup.  Her teacher made all the girls aprons and they did a lot of work.  I remember Hannah's kindergarten play, Henny Penny.  I can't believe this is my last kindergartner! 

Our Easter Traditions

Finding their hidden Easter baskets

Our newest tradition, the Easter egg toss.

Dying Easter eggs

Taking turns hiding and finding eggs.

Our Spring Break

Our hotel in Newport Beach was beautiful with an amazing view of the ocean.  The best part for me was that it had a washer and dryer and full kitchen!  We were there for 5 nights.

Jonah and Nicole had a good time playing checkers and ping pong by the pool.

Even though the water was freezing, the kids still got in.  Esther loved having the waves chase her.

This is Crystal Cove beach that is across the street from our hotel.  It had several tide pools and we found hermit crabs and sea urchins.

Here we are watching 4 dolphins.  Scott spotted them.  It was amazing to see dolphins in the wild.  They were jumping and following each other.  When I told my mom we saw dolphins, she was surprised since she grew up in California 30 minutes from the beach and had never seen any.  We were lucky.

I wanted to be sure and get in line early for our first day at Disneyland.  We were the first ones there, notice it is still dark.  A security guard came by and told us to go over to security first, then we were the first in line again. Jonah and Scott dropped us off at 6:10 am and went to park the suburban.  We ran to Fatasyland and did most of those rides in an hour.  Esther did not like our 2nd ride, Mr.Toad, and refused to go on any others that were "Too dark".  Scott took her on the carousel, then I took her to the Princess Faire, where we got 3 princess autographs for her book.  She LOVED meeting the princesses.

Esther and Aurora

Hannah, Esther and I went to eat lunch at Ariel's Grotto.  It was a wonderful meal and 5 princesses came to each table to visit and take their picture.  It was a highlight of Disneyland for us.  We had a wonderful time and everyone got along.