PHEW!

Well, tomorrow is the last day of school, and I have never been so happy for a school year to end. It seems the older my kids get, the more crazy MY schedule gets. I feel like I have been in a whirlwind and I am ready for a big NAP! This past month has been filled with:
dance concerts, school projects, soccer games, dance tryouts, soccer tryouts, more school projects, all kinds of performances, end of year banquets, end of year assemblies, nursing teenagers with mono, yard work, planting, more school projects, etc., etc., etc. I know many of you can relate and probably have even more on your plate than me. But I for one am burned out and so are my kids and we are so ready for ...

SUMMER!

Yeah baby! Here are some of the things I LOVE most about summer:
Swimming, camping, Snowies:), sister activities (starting Monday, are you guys ready??) parks, gardening, Palisades (oh man, I can't wait!), walking with the morning crew, 4th of July, picnics, playing dodgeball on the tramp, playing hide & seek outside (even though I almost pee my pants doing the last two) BBQ's, neighborhood parties, homemade icecream, Cherry Hill, spending time with the fam!
Summer is the best I say!! And in exactly one week we will be in the happiest place on earth. What a way to start out the summer- things are definitely looking good!

On a completely different note, I have to give a shout out to my studly Jace. Yesterday was the awards assembly at his elementary school and he was awarded the "Future of America" award.

Trying to act like it's no big deal

Nice! And if you're wondering, yes he is taller than me:(

Then today was 6th grade commencement and he was recognized for scoring in the top 10% nationally on his CRT's.

Good job smarty pants Jace!

Mother's Day, Dance Concerts, Lavender?, and 20 years of Bliss!

Well, May has been a busy month so I have a lot of catching up to do!



First, a confession: I have had many comments on what a nice mom I am to make my family breakfast in bed on their birthdays. It is a tradition and I do have fun with it, but, the truth is... I want a turn! And I always get it (not always with a great attitude, but nonetheless).

So here I am in all my glory getting my breakfast in bed on Mother's Day. You can tell how excited my kids are that their dad made them participate. And now you all know about my selfish motives and can feel much better about yourselves as mothers.

All joking aside, I had a great day and I'm so very thankful to be a mother. I know without a doubt that it is the most important thing I will ever do. I'm also so thankful for a wonderful forgiving family who loves me despite my many shortcomings!





Next, we had another successful dance concert at Shellie's School of Dance. It was especially fun this year because Jordan got to be in it this year. He was asked to be in the couples dance with one of the graduates (Brittany Flandro) and did a great job. And as usual, I was proud as can be of my beautiful talented girls!

Jordan, Marquie, and Makenna


Tessa, Shenay, and Marquie


Our concert was "All you need is Love" and we did a Beatles Anthology. If you are a Beatles fan and didn't come, you truly missed out. It was fabulous. I didn't know I was a Beatles fan until we put on this concert, but now there is no doubt!

Makenna danced to "Octopuses Garden". Marquie danced to "Get Back" and "Something In The Way She Moves". Jordan danced to "Baby You Can Drive My Car"



Makenna just turned 10 and is finally old enough to try out for Jazz Attitude. It's the performing team at our studio. We decided to stop at the studio on our way to Arctic Circle after the concert to see if by chance the list of who made it was up yet.

She made it! The only person more excited than her was her cousin and best friend Sadie who is already in it. They are so excited to be in the same class!


The day after dance concert was Senior Ball at Hunter High. Jordan was pretty much on his own to prepare for this dance with it being concer week and all. He was a little more excited than usual when he came home from renting his tux with his buddies...

Yes, lavender, and yes a cane to boot. If you know the Jordman (and his friends) you are not surprised right now. However, he never ceases to surprise me.

I have to admit, he looked pretty sharp. And he knew it too!


And lastly, this may be a little icky for some of you so you might want to stop reading now.

Wade and I celebrated our 20th anniversary on May 20th. I can hardly believe it, it seems like yesterday. The day of our anniversary was extremely busy so we decided to wait for the weekend to celebrate. But as I backed out of the driveway to take the kids to school, this is what I saw....

Very sweet! I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband. He is so good to me. He is an amazing husband and father and he is so unselfish. And then on our postponed date he surprised me with a trip to Disneyland! Woohoo! That's where we went on our honeymoon, but this time is gonna be even better cuz we're taking the whole fam!!!!! I'm so excited!!! Okay the icky is over:)

Makenna enters double digits!

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl! Makenna turned 10 years old yesterday and I'm feeling a little bit sad. Makenna is the baby, and like most babies of the family, we don't want her to grow up. She was such a mommas girl when she was a baby. She didn't like anyone but mom (not even dad who is still a little miffed about it). At the time, I remember thinking she was so hard because I couldn't do anything without her, but now I miss it and I love that she was that way.
Makenna wanted a ham, cheese, and mushroom omelet for her bday breakfast, with toast, fruit, and milk. She was very specific.

Anyway, some fun things about Makenna:

-She is always happy. I'm not sure when that happened because when she was a baby she was a stinker, but now she is an absolute joy to be around.

-She can bust a move like nobody's business. The girl loves to dance and she is one funky diva!

-She is sooo responsible. At home and school, if she is asked to do something, it will get done.

-She is a candy freak. You wouldn't know it to look at her, she's as skinny as 6:00 straight up, but she loves sweets!

-She's a girly girl. Loves clothes, fashion, hair, makeup, doing her nails, etc... but... she can play soccer just as good if not better than any boy her age!

-She's a smarty farty pants!

-My favorite... she has the cutest freckles in the world. I love them. They are sooo Makenna.

Happy Birthday Kennie-girl. We love you sooooooo much!

Jr Prom & Sweet Aunt Sara

So here are some pics of Jordan & adorable Sammie from Jr. Prom. It was on the same night as the David Archuleta concert so it was a very hectic night.


They went to the zoo for their day activity. The group: Jared & Keisha G, Valerie & Seth, Sammie & Jordan

They went to Biaggi's for dinner and then the dance was at the Airport Hilton. Fancy Schmancy!

It was funny because the kids were all meeting at our house at 5:30. Sara was picking me and the girls up at 6:00. I thought no problem. I'll take pics and get the kids off by 5:45 and be ready to go when Sara comes. Duh! Teenagers are not on time, how did I forget this? So they all show up at about 5:45 with most of the parents in tow because we all want pictures.

So finally we get all the pictures we want and Sara should be here like right now and of course I still need to change. So I run into my room and am hustling like crazy. In walks Sara with huge tears just streaming down her face. My first thought was that someone hit her car as she was coming in our circle cuz there were so many people coming and going and everyone was in a hurry and there were so many cars parked everywhere. I said "Oh no, what happened?! She says "Jordan's going to Prom." Cute huh?

I wish I wouldn't have been in such a rush and would have thought to take a pic of Sara bawling her eyes out. That would have been priceless!

Happy Birthday Jacey-boy!

Jace is 12 years old today!

Lucky for him his birthday is on a Sunday this year and since it's General Conference today he got to sleep in. He wanted cinnamon rolls for his birthday breakfast in bed.

We are having a birthday party tonight for all of the cousins who have birthdays in April, but we let him open one of his presents this morning. Just some summer clothes but the funny thing is that Wade said "Those are stokin' shorts Jace!" and Jace said "Did you say stokin? What the heck does that mean?" Well, FYI, that was a very cool word back in our day. I guess that shows how old we are!

Lovin those cinnamon rolls!

A few of Jace's favorite things:

hanging out with friends, football, soccer, sleeping,eating, reading, the color green, warm weather, Christmas, school, and family vacations.

My favorite things about Jace:

1. He is the sweetest boy you will ever know. He always asks me if there is anything he can do to help me.

2.He is very quick witted and has a come-back for everything.

3. He is a perfectionist, if he commits to doing something he always finishes it.

4. He has more friends than anyone I know (and more girlfriends than any kid his age).

5. He is always happy and being around him makes others happy.
6. He is a read-aholic. We can't buy enough books to keep him busy.
7. He is very creative and smart and musically talented!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

David Archuleta ROCKS!

My mom got all the girls (except Olivia who opted to go to the Monster Truck Show instead) tickets to David Archuleta. We have been counting the days!!! It was so much fun and he was so incredible!

Sara picked us up and we all met at my sister Denise's house and then headed to Costa Vida to eat before the concert. This is Sadie, Makenna, and Marquie in the back of Sara's car.

I was so excited that I forgot to take pics at Costa Vida. It was packed in there and I got a little distracted. Plus, David Osmond was there- another distraction. I'm really mad at myself- but we weren't there for long because the kids scarfed down their food in like 2 minutes cuz they were so anxious to get to the E Center. Anyways, this is a poster Sadie and Mak made for David. They weren't allowed to take it in. They were crushed!:(

All of us just before walking in.

So our seats were in the nose bleed section, but they actually were pretty good. We were on the first row so the kids could see great. We were just worried they were gonna fling themselves over the bar when David came out, they were so excited.

Marquie & Sadie patiently waiting.

Goofy Bam-she can't control her excitement to see David.

So we knew there would be an opening act. And he was pretty good and not too long. But about 10 minutes after he finished a second opening act came out- oh man:(. She was okay too but we were so ready for David by then. When she finished, the whole place started screaming DAVID! DAVID! DAVID!-- including us. Me & Sara

Shandra & Halee

Sadie & Makenna

Shenay & Marquie

AND HE FINALLY CAME!

Need I say more?

During "Touch My Hand"

Halee singing along at the top of her lungs.

And so were the moms!

Shenay & Marquie- How do you really feel about David Archuleta??

We had a blast! It was a first concert for Sadie, Mak, Halee, & Shandra. I think they're gonna remember this for a loooong time!

Happy Valentine's Day

This was such a great Valentine's Day because it was on Saturday, so the whole fam was home, except for Jordan who went snowboarding with his friends.

After we all slept in, Wade made his traditional heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. Yummo. Marquie and Shenay are not happy about the picture so soon after they woke up, but I still think they look great!

I forgot to mention that first he had to take the YM around and pick up food for the food drive, and he still came home and made everyone breakfast. What a guy!!

Woops, I forgot to turn the picture before I downloaded. This is Makenna showing off her heart shaped cake she made at Activity Day. She has the funnest leader. Thanks Cynthia!

All the girls showing off our Valentine flowers given to us by our Prince Charming (aka-daddy). Fun day!