Happy Times

Saturday May 24th we went out to the Farm for Tristas Graduation BBQ. We got there early enough that it gave the kids time to play with their cousins! Yay! Before we went I needed to do the girls hair since it was a little messy because we hiked again to TableRock. I am trying to make it a Saturday morning tradition this summer and am glad that we are already on a roll. I did not take pictures this time round but probably next time I might do it.  

Anyway I was doing Rylees hair and since she has bangs I very lightly flatiron them so that they lay nice and not all wonky. When I ran the flatiron through, the result, before I combed them out was pretty funny. I told her I was going to leave them that way and she said Ok. I took a picture and then combed them out so she wouldn't look so silly even though she apparently wouldn't have minded so much. I think she just wanted to show the neighbors her funny hair.

Once we got out to the farm the kids immediately found cousins to play with. Always a happy thing. 

Rylee read stories to Audrey and Jenna.

Avynlea had to hold Sadie who is getting big way too fast.

While Kenedy took James to hold.

Later that evening we went to Tristas Graduation BBQ which was fun to hang out with family. When Ryker and Avynlea found out that we were going to Nyssa they immediately started asking if they could stay the night. Once they called their Grandma and got her OK I said it would be fine. When Rylee found out about this plan she was not happy at all. A lot of crying might have started happening. She was only consoalable once we told her that we would ask Kelsey if Brielle could spend the night with us. We got that confirmed and all was right in the world. Phew! During the day at the Farm Kenedy and Mikayla asked if Mikayla could come home with us and stay the night. I was fine with that and so we left Ryker and Avynlea but brought home Mikayla and Brielle. Brielle was staying two days since Kelsey and his family were not going to the graduation. We planned on taking her home on Monday.  

The next day we left church early so that we could go to Tristas graduation. We dropped the kids off at Grandmas house so Kenedy could watch over them while they played with cousins some more. Kefford and I got a ride with Jeremy and Gwen into the graduation. After that was over we went back to the house for lunch and to relax and visit. It was a good day. 

The next day being Memorial Day I had the kids clean up the bathrooms and their rooms with the promise that if they did we could go to Sonic for Happy Hour and get half price slushes. They did a pretty good job and got their work done while listening to Newsies, surprise, surprise. :) Kefford had to take a fridge into work and we needed to take Brielle home so we all went with him to Emmett and the kids and I hung out at Brits for a little bit while Kefford, Ryker and Kelsey took the fridge into work. On our way home we stopped for the promised slushies and everyone was happy. We did not do the typical Memorial Day things which was fine with us. Later that evening Kefford and I went on a date for Chinese food and to watch the newest X-Men movie. Any time spent together is good time. I was so happy to come home later to the kids in bed and a clean house. So thankful for my kids and for all that they do!

Mom sent me these two pictures with a Happy Memorial Day text accompaining them. I don't think I have any pictures of my Dads grave and I know I don't have any of my Grandma and Grandpas so I downloaded them so I could have them. I am glad that she sent them and if I were in California I would have gone with her to put flowers on their graves, I really wish I could have. 

Pops Concert and some exciting news!

Kenedy had her Pops Concert Thursday night which also happened to be the last Middle School Choir Concert of the year. The Lovely Ladies were doing Phantom of the Opera and were required to get a red, white, or black fancy dress to wear. Kenedy and I hunted at the DI and Goodwill for a dress and found a cute one at the Goodwill for $9.99. It was pretty big on her small frame but I was confident that we could make it work. 

Fast forward a month or two and now we need the dress to be fitted so she can wear it. I decided during those months that it was going to take skills beyond my own to alter that dress, it could cost money to get the dress altered and that I was not feeling the altering vibe anymore. So I did what anybody with  some creativity and safety pins would do. I had her put the dress on inside out and I safety pinned it to fit her. Once she turned it right side out again and put it on it was looking pretty good. She also needed something to wear to cover up her shoulders and rather then going out and buying a shrug of some sort I had her wear Rylees little sweater. Worked out great! Kenedy also had me do her hair in a cute little updo and then she was good to go. 

Avynlea had activity days to attend so Rylee and I went to the concert to drop Kenedy off and to save seats. Kefford and Ryker stayed home so that they could pick up Avy and then come to the concert. When I saw the program I was suddenly worried that this was going to take forever. But I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly things moved along. First the jazz choir came out and did songs from Grease, poodle skirts and all, the the manly men choir came and did Newsies, suspenders and newsboy hats galore. I loved that one seeing as how Newsies was once upon a time my favorite movie, I had a hard time not getting up on the stage and singing along with them. Obviously when I got home I got the soundtrack from iTunes and proceeded to play the heck out of those songs. So much so that my kids have been singing them all weekend. We even did our movie night friday night and watched Newsies. We had the VHS but Kefford bought it for me on BluRay so I could watch Christian Bale singing and dancing in High Definition. It was fantastic!

Anyway, after the Newsies, the lovely ladies came out and did their Phantom of the Opera. They also sang at the end of their set Let it Go from Frozen and then per tradition for the end of the year concert sang You Raise Me Up. It was a great concert, I loved it and am glad that Kenedy was able to do choir for all three years of Middle School. She has really enjoyed it and has had great experiences.

Shelby, Hannah and Kenedy

The Phantom gave all of the girls roses at the end and so I had Kenedy do some posing for pictures with it. 

The week of the concert was also the week of High School cheer tryouts. Kenedy decided she wanted to try out and has been going to cheer open gym and practicing a lot. It was a three day process with learning routines on tuesday and wednesday and then the actual tryout on thursday. Kenedy was so nervous and worried about it but I kept telling her to try really hard and do her best. As I dropped her off on thursday she was really feeling the nerves so I told her good luck, that I loved her and then gave her a little love note of encouragement to boost her up a little bit more. 

When I picked her up later she said that she felt like she did good but was not sure. The results were being posted online but she was not sure when. So after we got home from her choir concert I told her she might as well see if anything got posted. She found the site and sure enough there were the results, she scrolled down a little and saw...

her name!!!! She immediately jumped up and hugged me and was so excited. Yay for Kenedy!!!! It was a really happy day!

The face of a new JV Cheerleader!

Golf Date

Last Saturday Jeremy called to see if Kefford and I wanted to go golfing with him and Gwen that evening. I was not about to pass up an opportunity to hang out with them and we said yes. They were thinking about going to the Ontario Golf Course but we were not up to driving for an hour and a half and so Kefford found one in Caldwell that was more in the middle. 

I am not a golfer, at all, and the one time I have gone was super bored and did not have a lot of fun. This time I decided to have fun no matter what and to really try to learn the sport. Is golf a sport? Jeremy brought me Baileys clubs to use and Kefford was really good to tell me which one to use at what time. Jeremy and Kefford both gave me really good pointers and were really helpful. I actually hit the ball and did really good for me. We only played 9 holes which was good because by the time the 7th hole came around I was going down hill really fast with my hitting and was getting a headache. I was pretty much over by this time. Not because I wasn't having fun I just had a headache from lack of food and that was not fun.

Driving around in golf carts is really fun and I want Kefford to get me one so I can drive around the neighborhood in it. I would look really cute and it would be a really good investment. ;) I had to laugh when we crossed at the crosswalk in our golf carts.

I took some pictures of Kefford hitting the ball. In the pictures that it shows him swinging yet the ball remains grounded that is because he was taking his practice swings. He is really good, rusty maybe because he has not done it in a few years, but I could see how good he is. 

I like that I took all these pictures of Kefford yet when I asked him to get pictures of me golfing he took, one, of my backside. Into photography or capturing memories this one is not. Oh, and also my ball remains on the ground even though I was swinging because I too was taking a practice swing. I was forced to do that a lot by Kefford. He claims it is helpful. 

I was playing with the cutest little lavender golf ball that Kefford bought me. I was doing good with spotting it and keeping it safe until I hit it into super long grass by a canal. I was so sad thinking my ball was lost forever but Gwen saved the day and found my ball! She would be a good one to take along on an easter egg hunt as the egg spotter. I was so happy she found my special ball.

After our game we went out to eat and we requested to sit outside, it was a really nice evening. Wouldn't you know five minutes after sitting down the wind gusted up and it picked up my laminated menu and smacked me in the face with it! Yeah it hurt, a lot! Thanks a lot Mother Nature! So we went back inside and ate indoors. Food was good, company was good and hopefully we can do it again! Always happy to get out and do things with family!

Dance Fun

Kim, ?, Kristy, Courtney and Elizabeth

Hike to TableRock

Saturday morning I had the last minute idea to take the kids on a hike up to TableRock. I have heard people talking about it and have always wanted to do it. I was not a bit hesitant to take the kids since they did so good at the fun run. I did wonder if this would be too much for them though. Kenedy was going to the Temple to do baptisms for the dead so she opted out and Kefford stayed home to get some other stuff done. So it was just me, Ryker, Avynlea and Rylee. After stopping at the store for some water bottles we headed out to the other side of Boise to go on this hike. 

We picked the trail that I thought was the easier trail but turned out to be the harder trail. Oops. No worries though the kids and I did great! There was no complaining, there was no saying they wanted to quit they just hiked. We hiked and talked and had a lot of fun. It was the perfect day to hike because we had such a nice cool breeze blowing on us the entire time. We got sweaty but not bad sweaty and we were not too hot because of that nice breeze. Once we made it to the top we enjoyed looking out over Boise, it was such a beautiful view!

Ryker went hiking up to TableRock before with his Scout troop and so he showed us around and where the little caves were. After we had enough he took us on this little trail to get back to the original trail to go back down the mountain but this trail he took us on was really sketchy and not all that safe. Especially for my girl with the broken arm. We made it through and decided to not take Rykers advice on trails ever again. :)

This is our before picture.

At one point Avy needed a rest and so I stayed with her while Ryker and Rylee kept on walking. I was so excited to look up at them a minute later and see them holding hands. How cute is that? So precious.

Ryker and Avynlea both about fell off the mountain but were saved just in time.

Just kidding they were standing on a hidden ledge.

At the end of the hike I asked them if they would do this again with me and all three of them without hesitation said yes. I was so happy and have decided that more hikes to TableRock are in our future!