School's Out...Scream and Shout!

That is how we feel around here about the end of the school year! I survived my first year teaching full time and the kids got wonderful report cards. Michael even got straight A's! We all had a great year, but now it's time to PARTY! We are so excited to get to spend some time together as a family!

(I'm experimenting...if you got an email notification about this post, please email me back and let me know. Thanks!)

My Teenager!

Rachael has been gone for 4 days now! She went with her friend Marja's family to their houseboat on Lake Powell. I know that she is a teenager, and that sometimes she is moody, hormonal and the world revolves around her...but I miss her like CRAZY!!! About 5% of the time we call her "The Beast" but the other 95% of the time she is a joy to have around. She is such a good girl! I'm so proud of her and the choices she makes in her life. She is talented (this picture was at her band concert) and funny, and smart, and beautiful, and such a great help to me. I know this sounds a little like a "brag" not a "blog", but oh well!

Here she is with her best friends Marja and Scarlett. They are great girls!!!

Our French Anniversary!

So...I always blog about my kids because I think they are wonderful and my whole world revolves around them. However, this one is just about me. Exactly 1 year ago my family embarked on an amazing journey to France and Switzerland. My dad served his mission there and has been a French professor for 35 yrs. He has always dreamed of taking his children back the place he loves so dearly. Last May that dream became a reality. 12 of us packed up and headed for Paris. After a chaotic journey there, (that's another whole story) we finally arrived in Paris and began the trip of a lifetime. We saw all the tourist attractions...the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triumphe, the Louvre, Versaille, etc. Then we headed north for some out of the way places and drove through some beautiful country to the Normandy Beaches and Mont St. Michel and many more. After an exciting ride on the high speed train to Geneva, we visited the mission home where my dad had served. We got to see where he lived and where he tracted, and where they sang in the park to attract investigators. It was a wonderful opportunity to share those places that had meant so much to him. Of course this is only a handful of places we went to and things we saw. The 10-day trip was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I will forever be grateful to my parents for taking us on that journey!

Now, to explain the picture above...to celebrate the one year anniversary of our glorious trip to France and Switzerland, we went out to a new french resteraunt in Suprise called Amuse Bouche (is that spelled right dad?) Anyway, we ate great french food and talked all night about our incredible memories of that trip. Truly, the trip of a lifetime!

My Little Star!

Many of you know that Nicole performs with a showchoir called Sunshine Generation. They had their awards ceremony on Thurs. and she received her 2 yr. trophy. She has been anxiously awaiting that trophy for...2 whole, long, years. She is very proud of it and shows it to everyone! She has great teachers-Miss Cami and Miss Wendy. They had the opportunity to perform Saturday for the Peach Festival at Schnepf Farms. They did a great job! She has really enjoyed having her girlfriends, Jessica and Jenna, perform with her this year. Then we took advantage of all the fun things to do at the festival...great food, shopping booths, the petting zoo. We had a really fun day, but we missed Michael too. (He was at the Father's and Son's with his friends.)

P.S. Notice that Nicole is missing her front tooth. She pulled it out HERSELF this week. I was so proud of her because she usually makes somebody else pull them out for her! EEWWWW!

Dylan is Sooooo 2!!!!

I was asked to play the piano in our stake conference last week and I needed a few minutes to practice. With a 2 yr. old around, I knew I needed to contain him in one place while I practiced so I put him in the high chair with a chocolate pudding cup. He absolutely loves chocolate anything so I expected him to lick the little plastic cup clean, allowing me some great practice time. However, about 5 minutes into my playing I realized it was super quiet. (As a mother of 4 children, I know that super quiet means somewhere, someone is up to something!) As I walked over to the kitchen he must have see me coming because he said, "dat so naughty, huh Mommy!" I laughed so hard for so long. Since I was the only one around I had to grab the camera so I could document the "naughtiness" of it all. He is so stinkin' cute!