Blowing The Competition Out Of The Water!

Tonight Zachary participated in his first ever Cub Scout Raingutter Regatta! We did some research online and found a cool boat design that we thought would do pretty well. Zachary did a very nice job putting the boat together, and he had a really good time racing!

Blowing his boat down the gutter...

Zachary was doing really well during his races, and he hadn't lost a race, so one of the leaders tried to give the other guy a fighting chance by preventing Zachary from blowing his boat down!

Zachary won 1st place, and he didn't lose a single race! The first prize was a cool Cub Scout T-shirt!

Bracing for Change!!

Okay, so I know that the book is always better than the movie, but I was really hoping that Twilight the movie would turn out okay. However, today when I watched a trailer that I hadn't seen before, and they showed a scene that did NOT play out the same in the book. :( I suppose things have to change, and especially the ending (which is the scene portrayed), so everything isn't predictable and will better fit a movie script. I was just really hoping it would be exactly like the book...oh well, I am preparing for change, and I hope it is still entertaining and clean!! :)

Here is the link if you want to check it out!

What Time Is It? ...Summertime!!

Megan, our Elementary School Graduate!! For the last day of school all the 5th Graders had a Geography Bowl, and they were suppose to have WACKY HAIR! Pretty Wacky, huh? :) Megan is so excited to move on to middle school! :)

She was trying to finish some last minute assignment!! 3 minutes before school was out for the summer, and she was the last one to finish!! They had to write a letter to the future 5th Grade students :)

Megan's class had a Countdown to Summertime!!

Yesterday the school had a "Movin' Up" Assembly for all the 5th Graders, who will be in middle school next year! Megan was surprised to be 1 of 3 students who made the "All A's Honor Roll"! The last 2 trimesters she made the "A-B Honor Roll", so she was quite thrilled to advance to the All A's!

Anna completed kidergarten! Today her teacher had an informal graduation, and she made graduation caps for each student and presented them with a certificate of completion! :) On to First Grade!

You're Ugly and Your Mama Dresses You Funny!

I guess that title isn't really true because Amelia is not ugly, and her mama did not dress her today...she put together this little ensemble all by herself! Notice the sweater poncho without a shirt underneath...the too small pants that are inside out, with the underware poking through the top...and my favorite: the mis-matched footwear (one boot, one shoe)! Gotta love it! :)

Where The Wild Things Are!

Zachary had a field trip to NW Trek last week, and we had a really good time. Getting pictures on the tram was a bit tricky, especially since I didn't have a window seat, and we were moving, but I managed to get a couple :)

Concentrating on a game that requires matching textures by touch...that really captured his attention...of course he has always been a "texture boy".

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband and father of my children! He is a great dad, who really tries to have fun with them. This is a picture of Amelia and Brian making pancakes for his Father's Day dinner (that's what he really wanted, and he really wanted to make them too). Brian considers pancakes, food for the Gods! :)

Yesterday we had a family dinner at my dad's house to celebrate Father's Day! My dad was opening up gifts from the family in this first picture, and the second is a picture of him playing BBQ Chef...one of his favorite things to do. My dad has always enjoyed cooking, and we've always enjoyed eating his creations (as long as he doesn't go too crazy with the experimenting ;) We are very blessed to have such a wonderful father in our lives! He tries to be funny, and we laugh at him (I meant with him ;) He also loves his children very much, and we love him!

We were able to enjoy some time with Brian's dad, Grandpa Kayner, at his house yesterday. Grandpa Kayner has a big heart, and he is always willing to help Brian with different household projects. He is an amazing mechanic, and takes care of all our automotive needs! :) With Grandma (and sometimes without) he has time and time again taken care of our children whenever Brian and I go out of town! We are so grateful for sure a loving father! :)

"My Family" Mystery...TAKE a GUESS! :)

My dear sweet, Anna drew this picture in church a couple weeks ago, and I was mortified when I first saw it! Is that mad, angry woman waving a broom...me? Is that a child in the background, sad with tears because he is scared of his screaming, lunatic mother? Or perhaps an equally, mad, frustrated father, teaming up to dish out wrath upon innocent children?? I instantly realized that my role as mother was being portrayed very accurately by a 5 year old child, and I was so ashamed. Unfortunately, I do raise my voice (something that I have really been working on, for the last 10 years!) ...something that has obviously been ingrained into my daughter's mind!

I realized that I needed to find my daughter and ask her exactly what her picture was telling me! I asked her to "tell me about your picture". What do you think she said?? This is your chance to guess, before you scroll down to finish the story. Go ahead take a guess! :)

Did you guess yet what this picture is trying to tell us about her family??

I was surprised and thankful to learn that her drawing illustrated me receiving flowers (yes, that is a smile, with flowers, not screaming with a broom!), and Brian is behind me, jealous that he didn't get any flowers! I was so glad that she wasn't airing dirty laundry to all her friends at church!! :) However, I am still a little disturbed about the bra type shirt...what's up with that??

Missing the Sun!

Last weekend Brian and I went to Arizona for a wedding, and some time together! We were able to witness the sealing of Valerie and Daniel in the Mesa, AZ temple. When we lived in FL, I served as a YW leader for 4 years, and Valerie is one of "my girls". Valerie is a wonderful lady, and she is so very strong! She is an example to me, and we loved being there with her :)

When we weren't doing wedding stuff, we had time to hang out together, which was really nice. We ending up spending a day just sight seeing...we went to Montezuma Castle and it was truly amazing!

There was a lizard in a tree, and Brian had so much fun taking pictures of that lizard! He took almost 20 pictures! Here are two of my favorite! He was a pretty thing, but please, lets move on... :)

The Many Faces of Anna!

My friend Angie took some pictures of our children a few weeks ago, and I'm now just getting them posted! I think they turned out really good! I posted my favorites on the side bar under Spring Photos.

I do have to share some of Anna's Many Faces....she was quite a ham that day!

What Happened in Vegas....

My good friend, Dyan and I went to Vegas this last weekend and we really had a good time! I had never been to Vegas and I loved seeing all the amazing hotels and shows (KÀ by Cirque du Soleil was AWESOME!!) The weather was warm and we tried to make it a relaxing couple of days! :) Here are some of my favorite pictures from our hotel tours...

Caesars Palace front gardens with a hint of the Bellagio in the background...

The pool area at Caesars Palace...I love the columns and greenery...

I loved the hot air balloons at the Bellagio...

The "Eiffel Tower" at the Paris Hotel...

This was my favorite thing to see...the Fountain at the Bellagio...this was the view from the "Eiffel Tower" while the song "Time to Say Goodbye" (Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli) was playing!!

View of the strip from the "Eiffel Tower".