Look Who's 7!

This is Grace and she turned 7 this year.  I know...it's weird to think that my kids are getting so big!  But, I'm not going to focus on that; I'll just focus on enjoying that they are still small for all they are so big.

So, Grace wanted a friend party this year and I have NEVER done a friend party.  I suppose that is shocking but hey, there we are.  I figured I could pull it off IF it was held entirely out of doors.  Accordingly we planned a slip 'n' slide party, and Grace's only request was that it include a pinata.  Done and done!  I fiddled with some different ideas for birthday cake and eventually settled on cupcakes as being easy, festive and tasty.  Heather came over and helped me to decorate the out of doors as best we could and to frost said cupcakes (thank you!!).  Then I threw open the back gate wide and we had ourselves a friend party!  WHOO!

The decorations were simple but fun.

Cupcakes with two types of frosting and the pinata!

We were a slippin' and a slidin'!

Taking a break!

We did the friend party during the week and then celebrated later with family.

She blew out all her candles...

and got a round of applause!

Presents, presents...

and more presents!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACE!!!!!!!!

To The Zoo With You!

We love the zoo, we really do.  We like the bears and otters too.  We like to see them splash and dive, we're so glad the new exhibit's arrived!  The seals do tricks, the polar bear too, it's worth it to drive down to the zoo, so come along...just do it you!

A seal and its trainers.

Our own little zoo animals.

This polar bear would swim out, dive under water...

and pop up right in front of us!

The otters are adorable.  They are so quick in the water.

Four birds in a nest.

A Portrait

6:45 am...our house...early morning scripture study.

Best way to start the morning!

Ummm...Really?

I found this in Grace's backpack among the many things sent home from school.  It's a little composition notebook and there was a really interesting entry.

Bwah ha ha ha ha!!!!!!  I sure hope at least one of these is NOT a word she'll use when she writes.  I love how she just trails off and then does some addition at the end.  Way to stay focused!

Memorial Day Pics

Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays, not because of the bbq or the campouts or the trips to the lake that make it a memorable day for so many, but because we visit graves, clean them, and remember our loved ones.  And then we have a bbq!

Everybody's ready to work!

Grandpa Joe meet your namesake!

WE HIT A DEER!!

Yes, it's true.  We hit a deer...on the way to the temple no less!  We were tooling down the road around 9am.  I was reading something to Chad when he suddenly said, "Oh no!" and the car started to swerve.  I looked up in time to see a deer flying over the hood of our car.  It smashed into my side of the windshield with an almighty CRASH and then continued its flight off into the bushes where it died...poor thing.  I give full kudos to Chad for preventing us from hitting the deer head on - our air bags didn't even go off because it hit on the front corner of the driver's side before flying up to bash into the windshield and decorate me with tiny shards of glass.  We were even able to drive home, after we assessed the damage and took some deep (hyperventilating) breaths.  We called our insurance agent, got the ball rolling to fix everything up and then climbed in the van and went to the temple anyway!

Yes, that's deer blood.  Sorry to be gross!

A Double Dose of Merritt

Merritt had a very busy end of the school year, so I have lots of pictures from all his activities.  First, he earned his Bear Badge, which was fun and exciting.  He actually earned it back in March, but it was after pack meeting and since April's pack meeting was the Pinewood Derby, that meant the award ceremony was pushed into May.  First, he gave me a Bear Pin.

 Then, he got to drink Bear's Blood!!  Dum-dum-duuuuum!!!

The verdict?  It was pretty tasty!

Finally he had his badge.  Now if only I had time to sew it on...

Every spring the fourth grade puts on a program celebrating the State of Utah.  It was developed for the centennial celebration of Utah's statehood held in 1996 and the slides are exactly the same as they were 16 years ago.  Someone needs to fork out the dough to update the photos cuz it was pretty sad.  Anyway, I only got a couple of photos because the children either stood up to sing or sat down to sing, so not a lot was going on.  Merritt actually sang, which I thought was excellent.  Singing is not his favorite thing to do.  He must be related to his father or something.  :)

All the kids were supposed to wear white shirts.  I remembered to send him out the door with a white shirt on the SECOND day!  I had to run one over to him on the first day...at least I remembered eventually though, right?

He's a good boy!

Here's Merritt and his best friend Riley.  On to 5th grade!  Sheesh...where does the time go?