Boys Weekend

Kefford and Ryker got to go to Washington to visit Bob's brother, Uncle Mark. Kelsey and Asher went also. Every other week Kelsey and Kefford work out of Baker and on this particular Friday they brought Asher and Ryker with them so they could leave from there after work and go to Washington. I was a little concerned about how Ryker and Asher would do all day while the guys were working but Kefford said they did pretty good and never got in the way. 

They had a lot of fun their weekend in Washington. Ryker loved riding the Razor and Motorcycle and could not get enough of them.

Mark took them out to eat a couple of times and took them for a leisurely ride on his boat. They were able to go to church with Keffords Aunt Juli and that was nice for them. 

Overall they had a great weekend with some much needed boys time. :)

Memorial Day Weekend

My Uncle Roy, my Dad's brother, posted these photos he took at my Grandparents gravesite. I do not have a picture of their tombstone and so I was really happy to finally have one.

Donald F. Lutes

SGT USAAF WWII

Feb 19 1922 Jun 22 2004

Charlene Eden Lutes

Nov 7 1924 Dec 14 2006

This is my Uncle "visiting" with his parents

Avynlea headed out to the farm after church on Sunday and late that night Kefford and Ryker made it in from their trip to Washington. Sunday evening I asked if we could do a fire pit and roast hotdogs and marshmallows the next day. Whitney suggested we go up to the church camp to do that and then  the kids could go on the waterside. We all did a slap dash job of pulling food and things together and then we were on our way. It started raining after we first got there and it was a little cold. Luckily Trista had a plethora of extra jackets in her car for those of us who did not bring one. I did pack a sweater for the weekend but Kefford and I drove to the camp in his Mom's car and so my stuff was left behind. I was pretty sad about it but then I got one of Tristas jackets and everything was great. The rain stopped and the sun came out not too much later and we got to roast our hot dogs and play some games. I started to play catch with Kefford but after a little while he must have been bored with my poor skills because he suddenly started throwing the ball to Bailey and Ryker. So I sat back and watched and then watched the kids playing on the water slide. It took some of them a little bit to warm up to going down the slide but once they did they had a blast and stayed on it the entire time

Dustin, Madison, Asher, Tayvia, Kelsey, Xander and Brit

Ryker, Kenedy, Brielle and Rylee

Rylee going down the slide in a trash bag. I was informed it made them go faster but it didn't seem like it made a real difference to me.

Ally and Avynlea eating up the yummy watermelon!

At one point Bailey and Ryker strung Ryker's shirt on the flagpole and when that was not exciting enough they decided to try and see if they could rope up Ryker and get him to the top. He did not get very far off the ground before they realized it was not going to work. 

Next time we do this it will be with better planning so that I can have a bathing suit on hand to go down the slide with my kids, they were having so much fun and I was a little jealous not to be able to join in on the fun. What a great end to a fun weekend!

Avynlea and Mom Day

Kefford decided to take Ryker with him to Baker on Friday because after work he and Kelsey with Asher decided to go to Washington to visit his Uncle Mark. I thought this would be a fun time to have a girls weekend and then Saturday morning Trista called asking if she and Alison could come by and take Kenedy and Rylee for the weekend since they didn't get to go the last time when she took Ryker and Avynlea. I thought that was great and told Avy it would be a fun Mommy and Avy bonding day so she would not feel bad about being left behind. She was totally on board with that idea and even decided to stay when Alison said she could go with them too. It was a little after noon when the other two were picked up and gone and Avynlea and I headed out to the mall for some wandering around. Of course our first stop was for some pretzels and lemonade at Wetzels Pretzels, we love that place!

I got some new shirts and leggings for the girls since they were on sale and I had an extra 20% off. Because of that when we got back home Avy and I cleaned out their closet and dresser to make room for the new and get rid of the outgrown. We ended up with two garbage bags full of things to pass on to their younger cousins. It was a successful venture. Avy and I then changed so we could go out to dinner. She wore one of her new outfits and looked super cute. 

We decided to go to the Cracker Barrel because we have never been and I have wanted to try it out for a long time. It was a cozy little restaurant and Avy and I had a good time chatting and eating.

After dinner we stopped outside to play some checkers where I got creamed by Avynlea. I was not trying to let her win at all and she beat me bad. I guess I am not going to win any checkers tournaments anytime soon.

I had a fun one on one day with my Avynlea and have decided I need to do this with all of my kids. Have a day where it is just Mom and one of them all day long. 

Girls Run the World

My family has been doing virtual 5ks with flex it pink for a while now. I have been interested but not super motivated to do them alone but finally I signed up for the Girls Run the World one with Kenedy. How these virtual 5ks work is that you sign up online and they send you a race packet with a bib, a shirt and a medal. You have between certain dates to run your miles and then instagram or Facebook screenshots of your run with pictures of you with your medals. Part of the money goes to a charity though I cannot remember what this one benefits. I started running on the treadmill a couple of weeks before we were going to do this and every week upped my miles so that I could be ready. 

On May 22 I got Kenedy up so that we could be ready to go by 7:30. I wanted to take advantage of the cooler weather and get it done in the morning. 

My make-up-less pre-run selfie. Keeping it real and looking not so cute at 7:30 in the morning.

I had Avynlea cleaning out the flower beds wile we were off running to get them ready for more flowers. When we got back she showed me what she had done and I saw that she had pulled out my daffodil bulbs. She thought she needed to take them out to make room for new flowers. I patiently explained to her the concept of annuals and had her replant them. I really hope they are ok and will still produce next spring. Silly Avy!

Our before picture

 We started out good running the first mile but then Kenedy got a pretty bad cramp so we walked the second mile. She felt really bad saying she was slowing me down but I told her I would rather walk the entire way with her then run by myself, and its true, I signed us both up for a reason. I like doing things with her and seriously in the blink of an eye she is going to be leaving for college, we need more Mother/Daughter bonding things. We ran the third mile and I feel really good at what we accomplished. It was fun and even though Kenedy says she will never do it again I know she will. I am going to sign us up for the next one which will happen when we are in California and we will do it with all of my sisters and some of my nieces, who can say no to that?

stress balls, girl time and beautiful girls

Rylee came home talking about 2nd grade market day that was going to be happening soon. Each child who wanted to participate came up with an item to sell with parental approval and then had to price them and make a sign with their brand name on it and an open and closed sign so that they can shut down if they want to go shopping. They also have been earning money at school to spend on this day. Rylee really wanted to make stress balls and so I bought her 60 balloons from the dollar store and Kefford and I doubled them up for her and then had her fill them with flour. I really thought she would not last long with this project but she spaced it out over the week and worked on them each done and never complained about it, she did great. It was pretty messy with flour getting everywhere but she just sat there super into it. She originally wanted to sell them for $1 each but I told her to up it to $2. Her store name was called "Rylee the Great" and she ended up with 30 balls to sell.

Tuesday night was our Extra Relief Society Meeting and it was a Mother/Daughter night with crafts and a yummy ice-cream bar. I encouraged Rylee to ask her friend Carma Hamp if she would like to go with her and she did so Rylee was picked up by Carma and went with her. Kenedy and Avynlea and I went together and had a lot of fun visiting with friends and making magnets and sugar scrubs. It was a good night.

Kenedy had a drama banquet to go to and the theme was "A Night At the Oscars". They were supposed to wear formals and since Kenedy has yet to be at a Prom she did not have a formal and I was not about to spend money on a dress for a banquet. Luckily she was able to borrow one from her Aunt Whitney that fit really great and that Kenedy loved. I did her hair and let her borrow some shoes I bought from the DI a couple of years ago but hardly worn. Of course the buckles broke on both shoes and so I had to Jimmy-rig them with safety pins. She looked so beautiful, I can't believe how much this girl is growing up. 

Rylee is getting so that she does not want to sit still for snuggles so much anymore so I will take it when I can get it. 

Market Day arrived and Rylee was so excited to sell her stress balls and go shopping. She had earned almost $100 and so had quite a bit of spending money. When she came home she told me that her balls sold pretty quick and boy was I surprised by the loot she brought home. Cookies, cupcakes, rice crispy treats galore plus lots of other odds and ends. She had so much she had two grocery bags full of things. I would call it a successful Market Day!

4th grade rendezvous

A couple of weeks ago Avynlea brought home her permission slip for 4th grade Rendezvous and asked me if I would go with her as a chaperone. She really wanted me to but I was not thrilled with the idea. I went with Kenedy when she was in 4th grade and it was so cold and not fun that I swore I would never do it again. I knew she was really wanting me there and I also know that my volunteering this year has tapered off and as a 5th grader next year there really won't be any volunteering on my part. So I checked the weather for that day and saw that it was going to be in the low 70's, I totally can handle that so I said I would do it. As the days went by I would check the weather for that day and every day would see the weather forecast dropping,  I was not happy but really could not back out. Finally the day arrived complete with rain clouds, 50 degree temps and rain. Ugh! Not excited at all, but Avy was and so I put on a fake brave face. 

In 4th grade our kids learn all about Idaho History and Rendezvous is when all the 4th graders in the district come together at Meridian Middle School and go to different stations having to do with Idaho History. It is actually really fun and a cool thing for the kids to participate in. I think I heard that there were about 3,000 4th graders there! yikes! It started off cold but not rainy and the kids got to rope cows. 

 soon after the first couple of stations the rain had arrived. Us smarty pants wore rain boots! Me, Avynlea and her friend Paige. I am so glad we were at least smart enough to do that because everyone else had cold and wet feet by the time the day was done.

They got to throw spears with an atlatl. The kids really loved that one. They also got to pan for gold, listen to High School Drama students role-play Lewis and Clark, that one was pretty funny, Learn about canal and boat safety by a coast guard who was there with his boat, see the skins of mountain lions and bears and other animals, buy items at the trading post and lots more things. I was cold and complaining in my head about the weather but the kids were such good sports and just went with it and had fun. 

Rylee, Paige and Avynlea

Unfortunately ;) I had to leave right before lunch to go to a "Dance Meeting". We needed to debrief about the recital and go over some things while we ate lunch from Costa Vida that our boss brought us. Then she took us to get pedicures as a thank you for all of our hard work. Definitely I have the best boss in the world!

The next day Kenedy and I went shopping with the gift card she got me for Mothers Day. I found these adorable sandals among other things. 

Ryker and Avynlea went to Nyssa for the weekend and so Kefford and I took Kenedy and Rylee out to eat for a fun treat. Rylee cracks me up with her posing.

EDP Dance Pictures

The week after the first set of Dance recitals was our Dance Recital for Elevated Dance Project. Avynlea and I danced on Thursday and Rylee danced on Friday. It made for two long nights but again we got through it and it was fun.

I again helped teach the PreTeen hiphop/ jazz class and the Elementary Hiphop/jazz classes. Both had kids from previous years and new dancers so it was a lot of fun. The older girls danced a hiphop ad jazz combo to "Another on bites the Dust" and another more jazzy song I am not aware of what the title it that was mashed in to the other one. It was fun and the girls did awesome!

Rylee, Paige, Maddie, Emery, Ella

Gracie, Evie, Allie, Sydney and Addy

This year our adult class did our dance to a song called "We Don't eat" It was a really pretty lyrical which is always my favorite to dance to. We also danced with chairs this year and that was a new and fun experience. I loved this dance and as always an so, so, so happy that I not only get to teach dance but that I can continue taking classes for myself. It is the best!

Tammy, Elizabeth, Heidi, Kim

Courtney, Brandy and Sami

The younger kids did their Hiphop and jazz mashup to "Everything is awesome". They were always pretty unpredictable in class and so I was not sure how they would perform but I was pleasantly surprised. They did the best I have ever seen them do their dance! What perfect timing for them to peak. Rylee was awesome and did so good. So proud of these dancers.

Brooke, Norah,  Rylee,

Avery, Genevieve,

Mylee, Reese and Emma

Layla, Dakota, Alorah, Hayden, Ella, Bella and Maddie

This was such a fun Kinderstars class. I loved these girls and teaching them was always enjoyable. They did their dances to "When will my Life Begin" from Tangled and they were cute little glow Fairies in the Maleficent ballet that was performed this year by the ballet classes. So fun!

Avynlea was in with a different teacher this year and she loved her experience. SH wis really bummed that this is the only year Isabelle will be teaching. She would have loved to have taken from her again. Her dance was called "Waterfall" by Coldplay and she was beautiful as always. I love seeing those dimples shine on stage.

Ashley, Maddy, Lauren,

Emery, Kristen, Ryan,

Avynlea, Isabelle and Ella

This is my little buddy Maddie. I danced with her Mom Courtney in our adult class and Maddy was always their with us and then in my class right after. Over time she grew pretty attached to me and liked being with me where ever I was. The feeling was reciprocated and I sure did enjoy being with this cute kid. 

Me and Kim. My friend and teaching buddy. I love this Lady, I love taking classes from her and I love teaching with her she is my inspiration and I love her!

Kristi I have taken classes with for the past 3 or 4 years and we have become really good friends. I was sad that she could not take class with us due to scheduling conflicts this year but was I ever so happy to see her at the recital. It was so nice to talk and catch up. I love this girl!

Alison, Trista, Makayla and Ally came on Thursday night to watch and support and Alison came also on Friday night. I am so grateful to my in-laws for being so supportive of my and my girls. They brought flowers for all of us and it was so awesome to have them all there. Kefford Ryker and Kenedy, of course, came as well. Although Kenedy could not come on Thursday night due to Cheer tryouts. Another great year of dance!