Bryce's Bday

 Bryce finally turned 7. He's been waiting all month, counting down the days. He was so excited. And so when I told him I only do parties when you turn 5, 8, 12 and 16 he was heart broken. And then Camille came to the rescue. 

Camille planned the entire birthday party. She and Hash made the invitations. She planned all the games and activities. She made the cupcakes and prepared every needful thing. I wish I had kept her notes. 

And the party was a major hit!

They played chair soccer, which I'm still not entirely sure how that works. I think each person has a chair and the chairs are placed in a wide circle and then you try to kick the ball under anyone's chair except your own.

They also did a couple of relay races. 

Bryce was in heaven!!! He didn't want it to end. We finished the night with his requested dinner of Corndogs and played outside with the new soccer goal net that he got from G'ma and G'pa.

Bryce is such a fun, vibrant boy. He was so shy in his early early years. Then after he began school, he has become more and more outgoing and clever and is a ball of laughs! Happy 7th Birthday HashBrown!!!!

May stuff

The middle of April, we got new chickens.

So we put our old chickens (3 yrs old) on the classifieds for free-

-to make room for 9 new chicks.

In May, we put the chicks out in the coop. They like it a lot better out there. But it is not even close to the joy I feel not having them in my house anymore!

In the chicken picture you may notice cousin Cooper! I was lucky enough to babysit Cooper, Milo and Coleman while Sarah and Dallin took an overnight trip. Saturday turned out to be quite eventful. 

Yes, the chickens went into the coop. 

Also, Sydney had MORP! 

And then, just as Sydney was coming home to get ready for her dinner date and the boys were ready to go to their home, I sliced my finger on a very dirty metal chicken feeder. 

I rushed to the Instacare and got 6 stitches, just in time to throw a messy dinner together and leave for a book signing. Whew!

So the book signing was fun. Mostly just us authors and a few family members who had already purchased books. So there were no sales. But it was fun to be together and read an excerpt from our stories.

I was first and I completely forgot to even introduce myself and went right into reading my story. All the authors after me introduced themselves, talked about the genesis of their story and read a longer excerpt. That was kind of embarrassing but I learned a lot so I guess that's good. (And thank you mom for coming to support me!)

Bryce left this note on my bed. It is soccer season right now and most of his friends are playing on teams. We usually don't start sports or lessons until 2nd grade. But he really wanted to play soccer. He informed me that he plays World Cup every recess and he knows all the rules and all the good plays.

For teacher appreciation week, I totally dropped the ball. I had an idea to make crochet bookmarks just for fun and thought, "Hey! Why don't I make them for the teachers?" They only take 15 minutes to make. So the morning of the last day of teacher appreciation week, we put together these little cards and they turned out awesome. I was pretty proud of myself for the pun. 

Book Mark my word. 

You are the GREATEST!

And then Rachel translated it for the spanish teachers. That makes me so proud!

LDS Storymakers Conference was May 11-13. I really enjoy going to this conference but oh my, I was on the biggest roller coaster. Thursday workshop I felt like the worst writer. Thursday afternoon I had some great ideas and knew how to fix everything. Friday, I decided I was finished writing. Saturday, I was totally motivated. I know I'm not the only one and most likely, every writer or the majority of writers feel this way. 

And every year I wish I had taken pictures. And I didn't. It was so fun to see Amy Wilson from CO again. We had the nicest dinner (with Tanya) on Friday night on Provo's center street. 

But this is the only picture I got. This is Nikki Trionfo, the ring-leader of the social side of Storymakers! 

She also published a book this year, "Shatter." I reviewed it on my Bookworm Wednesday blog. Its a great book and she's a great person. 

We had our end of year piano recital. It turned out great. Short and sweet at 30 minutes. 

Camille and Rachel talked me into doing Performing Arts Camp again this year. Yikes. One week to prepare! And notice the typo?!?!? 9:30am-11:00PM. What?!?!?!

We had some visitors on the front lawn. Ducks! They reside in the canal that runs through the subdivision and raise a family there every year. But they've never ventured this far from home before. 

Eagle Project: Delivery #1 Beehive Homes

Look at these benches! They have taken up space in my garage for two months. 

From being raw lumber to these masterpieces!

And this guy has made it all happen.

Parker has been planning and preparing his Eagle project for a long time and its been so great to see it come to fruition.

(A longer post about this is coming.)

Parker had the help of a lot of friends in his scout troop, as well as help from our neighbor, Sal. 

Friday afternoon, we loaded two benches into Sal's truck and took them to Beehive Homes (a care center for the elderly).

Parker placed one in a gardening area and one on the patio. 

Parker received two Thank You cards from the residents. So sweet!

He dropped off two more benches the following Tuesday at Abbington Manor. 

I'm so proud of this boy. He is a hard worker. A good leader. And a great scout. (Soon to be Eagle!)

Now for all the paperwork. Ugh!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day started off with a family run. Some of us ran. Some of us were on bikes and roller blades. It was a nice way to start the day as a family.

Then, we worked in the yard and on the shed. And we discovered that one particular bird was extremely upset that we kept going into the shed. And it was awfully noisy with chirping in the shed. Lo and behold, we discovered that the bird built a nest deep int o the eaves where we couldn't see the nest but we sure could tell it was there.

When we left to visit cemeteries, the parent bird was very very happy!

First, we went to Orem and visited G'ma and G'pa Dewey. 

Look at the beautiful mountains in the background. 

Then we drove to the Salt Lake City cemetery to visit G'ma and G'pa Gabbott. My mom met us there and told us about her parents and her grandparents, who are also buried there. And my G'pa Gabbott's sisters.

I love visiting cemeteries on Memorial Day. I feel so connected to those who came before and set the groundwork for our family. I love hearing their stories!

After the cemeteries, we went to my parents house for dinner and a wonderful lesson that every one contributed to about Finding Joy! It was awesome. I love being with my family and when we are all happy and together all day, its even better.

Horse Tail Falls

To celebrate the end of school, we headed to the mountains and hit the trail! Our first hike of the summer:

HORSE TAIL FALLS

(4 miles roundtrip, Alpine canyon)

These two stuck with me at the back of the pack. They are awesome hiking buddies!

This was my second time to these falls and both times I've had a hard time sticking to a trail that takes me right to the falls. But Sydney found the perfect place to see the falls and have lunch. 

The falls were amazing, running fast and furious over rocks and boulders. We were actually quite a ways away from them but could still feel some spray.

Last Day of School

The last day of school is always marked by the dance festival.

I was too far away from Hash to get a good picture of him. He finished 1st grade. 

Here is Ray, who finished 3rd grade. 

And here is Camille, who finished 6th grade.

And finished ALL of elementary school! Whoa! When did that happen?

Here is video of their dances.

After school, we went with Sydney to work at Thanksgiving Point Gardens and played for a while. 

Look at these beautiful origami cranes!

My favorite part is the "Light of the World" exhibit. I happened upon Camille looking at the first vision and snapped this picture before she knew I was there. With her standing there by Joseph, looking up at the Father and the Son, I couldn't help but think how personal spiritual experiences are. Joseph was called by name by his Heavenly Father and his brother, Jesus Christ. And Camille (and all of us) can have deeply personal experiences with our Heavenly Father and brother, Jesus Christ. They know our names. And when we pray, they hear us and answer.

7-year-old Spy!

For talent day in music class, Camille wanted to make a movie trailer. She used the iMovie app on my phone and with the help of Bryce and his friend, Jaxon, made an awesome trailer.

A couple of years ago, a neighbor made a similar trailer.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's day to my mom, to me and to all the other wonderful women out there who care about other people. I really ought to write something about how I feel about mother's day.

Let me just say this - Adam called Eve a mother before she gave birth to anyone. Eve is the mother of all living and was given that title from day 1 (or Day 6 :)). All women are/can be mothers. So ponder for a minute about what characteristics make up a mothering heart. 

OK- enough of that. We had dinner at mom's house and it was so fun. The bachelor brothers were there and Sarah and her boys. Wish I would have taken pictures before the cousins left. These pictures are the ones we cherish for years to come.

I love being mom to these clowns!

And plus, isn't this the cutest picture of father and son. I'm so grateful for the loving relationships we have in our family. It takes effort, patience and forgiveness. And its worth it!

Day

Sydney's MORP

MORP

with this group of friends. 

Sydney is a lucky girl to have such a good group to be with!

Sydney invited Evan to be her date. 

They went to top golf and hit a bucket of balls. Then played in the arcade. Lunch at In & Out, which seems to be the place to go! Dinner at a friend's house and dancing all night long. 

I love the tie-dye shirts. They looked so cute!

I included this picture because these two friends behind Sydney reminded her she is a PINK starburst, not a YELLOW! And that is important to Sydney!

Life is a lot better with good, supportive friends and Sydney has them.