TableRock Hiking with Family

Ryker, Avynlea, Rylee and I have been going every Saturday morning on our hike to TableRock. This third time we went Gwen and her kids came along with us. Kefford didn't come because he had things he wanted to get done around the house. Kenedy did not come because she was "Kidnapped" by the Varsity cheerleaders for a team bonding breakfast at IHOP. They were supposed to arrive between 5 and 6 and so I slept on the couch so that I could hear them when they came and hopefully keep them from waking up the other girls. Kefford and Ryker were in the backyard sleeping in the tent and the three girls were sleeping in the Family room. I did not get a whole lot of sleep that night because I kept waking up to check the time and wonder when they were coming and trying to figure out how to do this without waking up the other girls. When 6:00 came and went without any cheerleaders arriving I figured maybe I misunderstood the email and tried to go back to sleep. At 7:00 i heard a car pull up and then a knock on the door. It was one of the cheerleaders apologizing for being so late saying they didn't wake up in time. We went in and woke up Kenedy and I sent her on her way in her pajamas with her wallet. She was pretty confused about what was happening but went willingly. 

Meridian High Cheerleaders Breakfast Bonding in Pajamas

Since it was 7:00 I didn't worry anymore about the girls waking up which they did. I told Gwen we were going to leave our house around 9 and at 7:45 I got a text saying they were about ready to leave. I waited as long as I could for Kenedy to get back so she could go with us but when the time hit 8:55 I just had to go so we would not be late. Halfway there I got a text from Kenedy saying she was home. If I could have only waited 10 more minutes. :( 

We had so much fun hiking with Gwen and her kids. It is a fun hike in and of itself  but add in cousins and it makes it even more fun. The kids quickly paired off with Ryker and Bailey quickly taking a far lead and Avynlea and Mikayla not too far behind. Rylee and Ally stayed with us on the way up but on the way down everyone was spread out in their pairs with me and Gwen behind everyone. At the top the kids had a lot of fun exploring and showing their cousins the fun little caves to climb up and through. 

After we got back down we parked on warm springs road to walk the street and check out all the yard sales happening. The street is filled with really nice houses and one of them is even a smaller version of a castle, seriously! That is one house I want to tour so badly! We didn't buy anything because unfortunately these rich people did not have any good items that we wanted to buy. Rich peoples yard sale items look just like normal peoples yard sale items. Not at all impressive, I was disappointed. 

Bell Choir, Girls night and Father son camping

Friday was a pretty busy day. After going with Rylee on her field trip all I wanted to do was come home and take a nap. I did get to lay down for a little bit but all too soon I had to go pick up Kenedy from school and then get the other three. Ryker had his final Bell Choir concert that night and it was also the night for the Father's and Son's campout for our ward. RYker's concert wasn't going to be done until almost 7:00 and if they did go up to the camp it would be too late to really do much of anything. Kefford decided he didn't want to go and Ryker was really disappointed but Kefford promised to have their own campout in our backyard. 

Ryker did a really great job at his concert and it was fun to listen to the bells. He didn't always like going to practice and (story of my life) complained about having to do it but I just reminded him that he wanted to do it and when we make a commitment we stick with it. That will sink in one day, right?  

After the concert I took the girls for our girls night to go see "Maleficent". We were supposed to go with Gwen and Jeremy and their kids but we couldn't go till later because of the concert and they had to go earlier because Jeremy had to get back to do water. So that did not work out which is OK we had fun with just us. The movie was so great and I love that my youngest is now old enough to sit through a movie and not be wiggly or complaining. We all loved it and I loved how they took this classic story and flipped it on its head. It was awesome and we all look forward to seeing it again!

While we were at the movie Kefford and Ryker drove around and got dinner. They went to Wal-Mart to browse around and drove past this big mountain of dirt. Kefford parked by it so that Ryker could climb up it. 

When we got home the guys were in the backyard hanging out by the campfire and so us girls stayed inside and watched an episode of Full House and them I had them turn the TV off and go to sleep. I am glad that despite the circumstances Kefford and Ryker still had their Father and Son campout and that I was able to spend time with my girls. It was a great night!

Field Trip!

Last week Avynlea and I went on a walk around the neighborhood. We were talking about some land that we wanted to buy and I was telling her that there was a lady who lived close to it who owned a lot of animals. I let her know that this lady had told Kefford that the kids were more then welcome to go and visit her animals any time they wanted. Avynlea was getting so excited about this and her grin was getting bigger and bigger. I was naming different animals that she might own and Avy was squealing with so much glee. Finally she begged me to stop she said that if I didn't stop she was going to bust with happiness. She was so funny and really looked like she was going to turn inside out with happiness. My Avy is such an animal lover and it was so cute to see her react so strongly at the possibility of living so close to lots of animals. She is adorable!

Friday I went with Avynleas class on her field trip to the MK Nature Center. Miss Hixon had asked me a couple of weeks ago if I would be willing to go with them to help and I was totally OK with that idea. What I did not realize was that I was the only parent coming along with the class. All of the first grade classes went and when it was time to split into groups to go on their different tours I was left with 15 first graders! These kids are cute but a little crazy, it was hard to keep them together and quiet and listening. Our tour guide was super patient and really sweet and we got through the hour and a half tour without too much trouble. 

I am glad that I got to go so I could take pictures of Rylee, that is always a good thing for me! :)

Miss Christine (our tour guide) had the kids dig through the compost pile to find some worms. The kids were not having too much success at first but after some good digging they managed to find a few. I dug in it with a stick and found a couple and was happy that I had that stick so no compost got in my hands. Rylee found a worm and was so proud I had to take a picture with her holding it.

After the tour we went to the park so the kids could play while we waited for the other half of first graders to go through the tour. Three classes went in immediately while two classes went to the park and then halfway through we switched places. It was 12 and we were not going to eat our lunches until 1 but the kids were so hungry and so we ate lunch earlier then planned. I was happy for that situation because I was getting pretty hungry myself. After we ate the kids played some more and I was getting so tired. I was really glad when it was time to go so that I could get home and take a nap. 

Very happy to be with Rylee on her field trip, she is lots of fun to be with and makes me happy!

Spring Piano Recital

Wednesday the 28th was Ryker, Avynlea, and Rylees spring piano recital. They worked really hard on the songs they were performing and did such a great job. Kenedy had Mutual that night so she missed out.

Ryker was up first and he played "Frozen Heart" from the movie "Frozen". He had practiced so much that he had this long song memorized. He said that he was thinking about singing along with his playing and asked me if he should. I said I haven't heard him practice with the singing and was not sure that he should do it. He opted not too and his playing sounded just fine without the added singing. I loved watching him play and thought he did such a great job, so proud of him!

Rylee played "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" and she too did a really good job. She couldn't stop moving during her performance and it was really cute seeing her playing her song while nodding her head and swaying. Her first year of playing the piano has been a success and I am really glad that she has started learning. She is well on her way to being a great pianist!

Avynlea was supposed to be playing a different song but then she broke her arm. I wasn't sure what to do and so I called her piano teachers Mom and she said that she actually has a special piano book for kids with broken arms. So Avynlea played "Broken Arm Blues" and it was a special one-handed song for kids with a broken arm. Avynlea also practiced this song so much that she had it memorized. She gave her music to her teacher just in case and then proceeded to play one-handed the heck out of that song. She did so good and looked so cute with that one arm!

So proud of all my kids and their willingness to learn the piano. They fight me sometimes but hearing them play in the recitals makes it all worth it!

From Keffords Phone

Kefford found these pictures from the past month on his phone that he never gave to me so here are a couple of random pictures from the month of May.

While at the farm one day the kids had fun taking advantage of the breezy day and flying their Grandpa's kite.

While helping at the Emmett youth appreciation day Ryker got to hang out in this fun Truck.

Here is a picture Kefford took of Rylee wearing her barbies dress. Kefford set the dress up on the stairs and then somehow managed to position Rylee just right behind it so that it looked like she was wearing the dress.

Kenedy was supposed to go to the YMCA to go swimming with her friends but they couldn't at the last minute. So Kefford took her along with Ryker and Rylee to go swimming. Avynlea had a birthday party to go to and couldn't go. They had a blast and want to do it again soon!

Rylees First Grade Authors Reading

For the past couple of months Rylees first grade class has been working on their "Someday" books. Now that they are completed, parents were invited to come to an Authors Reading. The day before Rylee came home from school and announced that she was going to wear a dress the next day and her fancy high heeled church shoes. She immediately went upstairs and laid out her fancy dress and shoes all ready for the next day. The next morning after she got dressed she suddenly expressed her doubts. She wasn't sure if she should wear a dress because she was worried about being the only one to dress up. I told her she could wear her maxi dress which was still nice but not as fancy and after thinking it over she decided to stick with the original outfit. 

I got to the school about ten minutes before the start time and when I got into the classroom I saw that the front row already had people sitting there and the empty chairs that were left had what looked like reserved papers and some had cute little packages. I didn't know what that was all about and decided to head to the third row. As I walked by I tried to spy on the papers and packages but couldn't really see what they were very well. A minute after I sat down I had another couple sit right in front of me and I thought not very happy thoughts about that situation, made seeing very difficult. A couple minutes after that Miss Hixon saw me and informed me I had a seat saved up front. What!? Sure enough there were two seats that had reserved for Elizabeth Peterson papers and one had one of the cute little packages I was trying to spy on. Apparently Miss Hixon rewards parents who have volunteered throughout the year by saving them front row seats. I love that idea, what a great thank you for all of our helping. Plus the extra thank you in the way of a cute little package with lotion and soap was really excellent. I loved the "helping Hand" thank you and I don't have it pictured but all of the kids had signed the back. What a sweet idea!

Since I had two seats reserved for me and only one of me I let my friend Jessica Mortensen, who's daughter Claire is in the class, sit next to me. This proved to be really great when it was time for Rylee to do her reading as I had Jessica take pictures with my camera while I video recorded. So nice not to have to juggle the two which is what I usually end up doing. I also returned the favor when her daughter got up by taking pictures with my camera since Jessica was too slow with the camera on her phone. 

After the kids were all done Miss Hixon pulled out an extra book for each child that she had made for them compiling school work and pictures from throughout the year. Another fun and fantastic idea! 

While we sat together and looked though her books we got to eat cake and I was definitely a fan of that. Rylee did such a good job on her coloring and stories. I loved everything about this book and am so happy that they have the opportunity to record things that they "dream" about as first graders. Some of her things really made me laugh!

I am not sure that this is necessarily a dream since we go every year to the beach and play in the water. :)

I absolutely love this picture she drew of her future family. How cute is she with her husband and three kids, one being in a carseat. I also like that she will not get her drivers license until she is married with three kids and they celebrate by going out to eat. 

OK this picture and dream made me laugh so hard. She is going to make a beautiful cake and eat it all by herself! Where did she learn that from? ;) It is hard to see but in the picture she is so happy with her cake meanwhile two of her kids are watching her and crying! So sad. Plus there is her Husband looking for something in the basement. I love the spiders and that he has a flashlight.

Interesting that she cannot buy food until she is rich. Nice that she will share the food she buys with her children though, unlike the cake she eats by herself. :)

Hey, walking without a cane is a great dream to have for when you are old!

I included just a couple of the pages from her Keepsake book.

Loving the cute little Rylee Elf so much! She is already such a great example to her parents!

This page was awesome. Miss Hixon had an app that would age the person 100 years. So on the 100th day of school they took pictures to see how they would look at 100. Rylee will have some very lucky Grandkids because she will make an adorable Grandma!

To see that Rylee will be the class of 2025 is so crazy to me. It seems so far away yet so close. I know the years will continue to fly by, not sure how I feel about that situation happening! She wrote that she wants to be an artist when she grows up. Considering how much she likes to color and draw that is not a very big surprise to me. I am just so happy that I get to be the recipient of so many of her drawings!

Loved all the work that went into making these books and am very grateful for all the memories they hold and am glad that Rylee will have these to look back on for a very long time.