Dirt, water, and sunshine make the kids grow. I try to slow them down with lots of chores and a few vegetables, but it doesn't seem to help one bit.
We've been enjoying preparing for the end of the school year with all of its festivities. I had fun accompanying Leslie to her senior photo shoot, especially since she had been in tears after our shopping trip the day before, looking for just the right outfit. "Nothing ever fits and I never like pictures of myself, etc. etc." I laughed my head off and told her to just wait til she gets in front of the camera. Count your blessings, kiddo.
The photographer (Robin Simmons in Draper--thanks so much!) had told us to not be shy with the makeup and to wear heels and jewelry--good for confidence. I think it was good advice, but it startled my Mom who was stying with us that week. In fact, when Leslie came out from getting ready, my Mom burst into tears. I just laughed. I thought my own senior pictures were mostly dreadful, so I was excited to have a do-over vicariously, haha. I think Leslie was also pleased and surprised, and we laughed at the reactions she got after the shootwhen we showed up at Leatherby's ice cream with her dressed to the nines in black and towering over everyone. It was a fun day.
We thought about having one pose in her marching uniform but decided it was a hassle, especially with the hair, plus we have plenty already, so here's one for old time's sake.
Leslie's not our only grad. I hadn't realized that Luke would finish Kindergarten the same year.
I was laughing at my friend Ashli who also has a kindergartener. She (like me) was not going to purchase the photos that they make the kids bring home, but when she saw how cute they were she threw up her hands. Just take my money!! What a doll Luke is.
Before we started getting busy with all this end of the year stuff, we did manage to get away a few times, have a few birthdays, and mess up the house from all our fun--every day. Rosie is growing visibly, and we are all fascinated with "the youngest one in curls".
She tends to be a little bit of a tomboy, especially with the huge array of boy toys to choose from. She calls any boy figurines "Guy". Except for her favorite, Woody the cowboy from Toy Story. She calls him "Woody" which sounds a whole lot like "Wodie", which is what she calls herself. The last couple of days she has picked out a girl dollie that she carries around with Woody, hugging them together. Little matchmaker.
The curls just blow my mind--none of my other kids' hair was like this.
And that's what the bottom of a can of freeze-dried strawberries looks like, folks!
First thing we do in the morning is to pull her hair out of her face. It irritates her when it's out of contol. And that we laugh at how cute she is.
Macy had a chocolate fountain birthday party with some friends. I loved how messy their faces got--just as messy as the boys' ever did.
This is one of the attempts for a cousin picture--we also got together with several Day cousins on Macy's birthday for Greg's missionary homecoming family fireside. (He's the blurry one...)
Mark also had a birthday. His friend and coworker David Funk surprised him with some balloons--even though he decided to work from home that day.
This is how he worked from home. For his birthday he hired a repair guy to fix the faucet and replace the dead dishwasher (Bronco. LaVell is alive and kicking) and a few other honey-do's while he "got stuff done" on the couch. He did share a few of his cinnamon rolls with said repair guys. Hilarious. Usually I make dessert but I hate making cinnamon rolls--so messy--so he picked some up from Shirley's bakery and they were pretty dang birthday worthy.
He also got to go to a BYU game with Cooper.
Luke and his buddy little Cooper didn't want winter to end. Cooper's mom found this discovery. They must not have known that there was still plenty of snow at Sundance.
This winter, finally not pregnant, nursing, or doing chemo, I got to take some of the kids skiing. It was Leslie's second time (she did much better than her first time but still provided some antics on the pull rope...) and Cooper's and Macy's first. Maybe next year I can convince Boston and Luke to come.
Leslie, stuck in between the cables of the tow rope. And apparently proud of it.
Macy and then Cooper on the rope.
I couldn't keep a straight face talking to Leslie in this video after she had clotheslined herself, again, on the tow rope.
This was a special RED cake in honor of my new red-headed niece Brielle. My sister Brooke's family got to stay with us for a few days while Brielle was in the hospital and getting cleared to leave the state. This is the third time we've been able to host their family through the adoption process with their new babies. So fun and precious!
Brigham and Benson were happy campers. Luke loved having two buddies for the week.
And Rosie was not sure what to think of this other baby. I bet they will be friends someday.
We had a nice picnic on one of the "fake spring" days (which fit right in with our family scripture study about Jesus feeding the 5,000). Rosie was so excited to even just run around on the grass, and even Leslie had some fun on the playground.
Luke and Macy had end of the year concerts.
Cooper is showing some stirrings of entrepreneurship (Mark is elated). He wanted to earn some money and decided to throw a basketball tourney for his friends and classmates. He was the ref, and so cute with his whistle. We provided popcorn and candybars for prizes that I made Cooper pay for with some of the entrance fees. I think everyone had a lot of fun. Cooper did a great job and will probably host another one this summer.
Since the weather was good we decided to take a little overnighter to Cedar City and enjoy the view.
Leslie and Rosie took turns making a sour face.
Boston was a huge help, volunteering to carry Rosie for most of the hike. She also walked partways.
I love Rosie's face in this one. She was excited to have a ride.
We found a stream for Luke to throw some rocks. He could've done this all day.
Macy's class got to go on a field trip to This is the Place Park. She's gone downhill since Kindergarten, when she informed me that she was definitely the smartest one in the class since she was the only one who knew how to say "Who put the bop in the bop-she-bop-she-bop" fast.
Mark and I celebrated our big 2-0 anniversary. Both of us have less hair and more, ah, us. And who would've thought we'd have six crazy kids and our own company?
This is a fun big group portrait of the founding members they've got in the office now, by Michael Funk.
For Easter my brother Jake's family hosted us, my Mom, and my brother Duke's family at Rachel's Dad's lodge at Bear Lake. It was really fun to have the kids get to play for so long and to enjoy the generous Easter egg hunt put on by the local vacation club. Also to make good use of the hot tub. We left a few hours too early, though. Apparently once we were gone Mom and everyone else pulled a polar bear and jumped in the lake. Brrrrr.
I told Boston he was definitely too old for the Easter egg hunt, but they even had an area for teenagers.
The boys spent a lot of time on a neighbor's sports court and also shooting gophers with BB guns. Today Luke was remembering about this and told us excitedly, "I almost shot a golfer!"
We brought toys for Rosie, but she was mostly fascinated by these hat-like placemats.
And besides. Who needs toys when you've got Mom, Grandma, and a swing?
Easter Sunday we may have overwhelmed the local congregation. Hopefully we weren't too disruptive. We are so thankful for Jesus Christ and his Resurrection.
Macy and Addie found piles and piles of shells.
I decided that with Leslie moving out soon we need to spend a little quality time together. So we went to BYU Women's Conference one day. This was shortly after either our sushi picnic or our mad dash to the Creamery in between awesome classes.
Macy continues to excel in her piano lessons, despite Rosie's best efforts to mess up her songs.
I also decided that I wanted to give a little more priority time to hanging out in the backyard with the family, unplugged (I even put my novel away), so we got a portable firepit and a big pile of wood. We had been waiting for the weather to clear up for forever, and for everyone to be home at once--which never actually happened--so we just had our inaugural fire anyway. This is Boston burying Luke in the sandbox--he was happy to get home from babysitting the neighbors in time to participate as we were winding up.
I think at this point Luke was no longer happy to participate.
Leslie had her final band concert. She has served as band president this year and pretty much loved band all through high school. This is during the senior recognition.
This was a pretty fun piece Leslie participated in with some of her great friends (Gideon on the far left was at our kitchen table many times this year as Leslie's math buddy and--I think they are both getting fives on their AP stats tests, Lauren with the cello, and Elliot in the spotlight was her DC friend. I think these friends have also been in Science Olympiad with her for years.) Anyway, the conductor explained that this was a comical piece, not his idea, and that it was very mixed up. He sat down to conduct and even laid down for part of it. Throughout the song, kids were falling off chairs, arguing over music, breaking strings, losing their place, all kinds of antics, but the best part of the whole night was when Leslie, who was pretty dolled up, put down her flute and pulled out her cell phone. The whole place just roared. Then she turned around and started taking selfies with the ensemble while the rest of them played. I wish I would have videoed it, but it was pretty long.
We surprised her with a dozen roses and a card from all the kids--something we've never done. So proud of you, sis! Next stop, graduation.
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