Ryker's Senior Pictures and Grad Announcement

Lana created Ryker's Grad Announcement for me. I sent her some ideas of what we were thinking and we flagged some of the pictures we liked the best and she put it all together. The first version had a lot of pictures on the back which I thought looked too cluttered so I asked her to take most of them off and just leave three. I love how it turned out! The only frustrating thing about it was right after we got it printed MHS changed the date and location of Graduation. It worked out for the best since they could accommodate more people by changing it but it was wrong on the announcement which was irritating. Luckily we weren't he only ones who had the date wrong so I didn't worry too much about it. Those wanting to come to the Graduation knew the correct day and place and the Open House we were having for him stayed the same and that was a more important date for most people. 

Lana took Ryker's pictures in October and I couldn't be there but it was probably better that I wasn't because Ryker wouldn't feel so awkward with me watching his every move ;). I love how they turned out and think Ryker looks so handsome.

We wanted to get some senior shots of Ryker with his Golf stuff and since I didn't want to bug anyone about helping me and to make it no pressure for Ryker I just took him to the Spurwing Golf Course Easter morning and took some pictures with my phone. I am learning how to edit and so these are not great but I thought they were at least decent and workable. We were pretty quick too which was nice :)

 

Last Day of School!

Ryker's last day of High School was June 8th, he is ready to be done and move on with bigger and better!

The girls had to wait a couple of extra days but then their last day was June 10. School was extended a little bit this year since they started a week late because of Covid but finally the school year is over and we are ready to move on.

That night Ryker went to his all night Grad Party at Wahooz. He went with Matthew, Echo and Grace and had a really fun time doing all the fun things! Sonnet Gunter who was our Young Womens leader before the ward split was chaperoning at the Grad Night and sent this fun picture of Ryker goofing off with his friends. 

Echo, Grace, Matthew and Ryker

 

Happy Birthday Kefford!

We celebrated Kefford's 45 Birthday today! Kenedy put a really sweet Birthday message for him in her stories on Instagram.

I made him a chocolate cake and I bought the 4 and the 5 candle from the Dollar Store. It is really hard to get a good picture out of this guy, the one on the right is the best we could get, lol.

I tried to get a picture with Kefford and the kids at home and nobody could take it seriously.

A little better with me but he just likes to be goofy for the pictures

Kefford usually doesn't have any wants for his birthday but he has been wanting a new pair of work shoes so I bought him those and then a bag of mini boxes of theater candy so he can have some small treats to munch while he watches his movies.

we sure love this guy and are glad he was born 45 years ago!

 

Money in the mail, Hairstyles, Sunsets, Cheer uniforms and Meeting Elder Gong

Over Memorial Day weekend NeeSee's, an online boutique, was having a sale and as part of the ale they were including cash in every order sold that weekend. Anywhere from $1 to $1000 would be in every package. I was wanting to get a new dress for Ryker's graduation and since they had a sale ad were giving away cash I thought I would look. I found a really pretty dress that I liked and the package came on June 5th. When I opened it up I found an envelope that had a fifty dollar bill on it! I was pretty excited to have recieved that amount since I figured I would have received the one dollar. Yay!

Natalie Hope asked me if I would do her hair for Prom. She sent me a picture of what she was thinking and I was able to make it look pretty close to her inspiration picture. She looked beautiful and is such a sweet girl, I had a lot of fun doing hair and I am glad she asked me. She said it held up the entire night which I was super relieved about. I used bobby pins and I was worried about the braids not staying up, phew!

We get some really beautiful sunsets out here and this was one that Rylee captured with my phone, I love the pink cotton candy clouds.

Avynlea had uniform fittings on Tuesday the 8th and Varsity has new game day uniforms. Kara took a picture of these 4 girls and posted it on Instagram to show off their new uniforms and I think they are so cute, the girls and the uniforms!

Avynlea, Roree, Hailey and Dreya

Optional clothing items are always on the list for things the girls can get and I figured out during Kenedy's years cheering that if there was an optional item I liked I could order it for myself. This jacket was one I got during Kenedy's senior year and it was an item they had on the list again this year. I sent a picture of me in it to my cheer mom besties so they could see how it fit. None of them ended up getting it because it was $90! I definitely did not pay that much when I got it and was pretty shocked to find out the price. 

We had Stake Conference on June 6th and Elder Gong came and presided. It was excited to have a member of the 12 come and because of covid they originally limiting numbers of who could attend in person. We received an email saying that all of the youth 11 and up were invited to attend. We were supposed to go to Nyssa for Dylans baby blessing but we thought it was important for our kids to attend Stake Conference, being in the presence of a General Authority was a really big deal and they wanted to go as well. A couple days later we were told that there were no restrictions and per Elder Gong's instructions anybody who wanted to attend should and would be able to. With this announcement Kefford and I decided to stay as well and attend the Conference with our kids. It was a really great conference, when Elder Gong came in he came in on the side we were sitting on and shook as many hands as he could reach. I was lucky to get a hand shake while Rylee and Avynlea got fist bumps. After the meeting he stayed and anybody who wanted to meet him was encouraged to come get in a line to shake his hand. Since I already did that I want going to stand in line but the rest of my family went to the line so I went with them. It was special to shake his hand and talk real quick with him. He looked me right in the eyes and seemed to look deep into my should. Avynlea snuck a picture of Rylee shaking his hand which I m sure she wasn't supposed to do but I am not going to delete it! it was a really good conference.

Cheer Tryouts!

This week Avynlea had Cheer Tryouts. I cannot believe that she is going into her Junior year of cheer and it makes me so sad that we only have two more years with her and with cheer. I have loved having my girls involved with cheer and have loved going to all of their games and watching them. I do not know what I am going to do with myself when this is all over. 

Kara posted a picture on Instagram announcing a countdown to tryouts and I liked seeing Avynlea, she is the cutest!

Tryouts were Saturday morning and we were so happy to have things back to normal and they could do in person tryouts once again. Per tradition I took Avynlea's picture before she left for tryouts, such a cutie.

Results were emailed to the girls Sunday night and Avynlea got her letter letting her know she was on Varsity again! She was pretty happy and is ready for another fun year of cheer!

Elevated Dance Project Dance Recitals

This year Elevated Dance Projects recital came pretty late. In a normal year EDP has their dance recital the third Saturday in May, but because of covid issues it was scheduled for the first week in June. By that time I was ready to be done and wanting to move on with life but I was at least grateful that we were able to do a recital. On Tuesday the 1st was the dress rehearsal and it went as well as could be expected, nothing amazing or terrible, just a normal dress rehearsal. Wednesday June 2nd was the first recital and I had my Friday night Kinderstars in this recital as well as my Friday night Combo Kids. Both classes did two dances, one for the ballet which was Beauty and the Beast and one for tap for my Kinders and jazz for my Combo Kids. Both my Thursday and Friday Kinderstars classes had the same dances for the ballet which was really helpful for me, I have been having a harder time remembering choreography and so having two classes have the same dances was really nice.

For the recitals we were at Middleton High School and it was nice but I was getting really hot back stage. While my kinders were waiting for their turn to go onstage for the Ballet Violet fell asleep. Waking her up was pretty comical, I sat her up and she was going in and out and I just kept trying to wake her up, luckily she did right before we went onstage and they did such a good job. 

I have loved this class, having the boys in it brought such a different element to class and I was all for it! For the ballet they were animals at Belles Farm and there were the cutest! Their tap dance went really well also, they looked so cute and performed so well, I was really happy!

top picture:Ballet "At The Farm" Eloise(bunny),  Kaelan(Chicken), David(Chicken), Violet(cow), Mila(bunny), Dagney(Pig), Kinslie(Cow)

bottom picture:Tap "Un Poco Loco" Kinslie, Mila, David, Dagny, Kaelan, Eloise and Violet

My Combo Kids were the nest this year! I loved this class so much, I think I probably say that every year LOL, but they really were so fun! 

They performed their dances and it literally gave me chills, I have never seen them perform so well and I was so proud of them! This was their best performance, way to peak! For the ballet they were villagers and danced to "Bonjour", their costumes were perfect and they looked so cute! I really love these kids!

Ballet "Bonjour" Macy, Lillian, Sage, Emaline, Carlee, Roen, Samantha and Rachel

Jazz "BedHead" Rachel, Samantha, Carlee, Lillian, Macy, Roen, Sage and Emmaline

While I was out in the hallway with my girls waiting for their turn to go on I caught Stephanie taking pictures of me, I just love her and am so glad we were able to get closer this year.

I have made the decision not to teach after school anymore which is the right decision but it still breaks my heart. I have loved these Friday night classes and always have the best kids. Teaching after school has been hard with my kids getting older and being involved more and it has just gotten harder, I have missed out on some things and I am always feeling rushed in trying to get to games to watch Avynlea plus I often have to leave Rylee alone and while I know she doesn't mind so much it would be better for me to be around. I have had Roen for 3 years in my Friday nigh classes and have grown pretty attached to her and vice versa. It will be hard not to be her teacher anymore and giving her and her mom a hug goodbye was really sad especially when they said they were exciting to see me in the fall. I haven't said anything to any of the moms and it will be hard when I have to. I already let Kim and Melissa know my decision, I wanted to give them plenty of time to find a replacement, but after this night I am seriously rethinking myself. 

Elizabeth and Roen

Thursday night was our last performance night and I had my Monday TinyTot's and my Thursday Kinderstars on this night. Earlier in the day us teachers were sent a text letting us know the Air Conditioner was out at the school and it was so hot outside so I knew that was not going to be great. Kim and Melissa brought in coolers of ice water for everyone including the audience which I thought was pretty cool and they had fans for backstage which helped but it was still pretty hot. 

So this year I got stuck with the Mommy and Me class which I absolutely did not want. I am great with kids but throw the Mom's in and I am so awkward. I did it but I didn't like it. After about half a year I talked with the Mom's to see if they wanted to just make it a TinyTot's class because I felt their kids would do better without them in there. They agreed and we tried it out and it went so well, the littles did so much better without their Mom's in there and I was super relieved. They only had one dance for recital and because they were so young, 2's and 3's, I kept it super simple. When I took them out on the stage they started waving to the audience and calling out "Hi Mom!" it was so cute and the audience loved it! They did as well as could be expected and looked darling. None of them cried, none of them just stood there and they all tried to dance even though they were distracted by called out to their Mom's. They are the cutest little babies and I just loved teaching them. I definitely want to teach another Tiny Tots class in the Fall.

Tiny Tots "Tails" Amelia, Elizabeth, Isla, Rowan, Sophie and Braylen

I just had the best classes this year, and every year LOL. My Thursday Kinderstars were so cute and I had such a fun year with them. I had some younger ones who didn't do a whole lot in dance class but twirl and watch themselves in the mirror but I just loved them. I had them waiting backstage with me waiting for their performance, I also had the Tiny's with me just to keep them all together and I told the parents when the Kinder's were done then everyone could come get their kids at the same time. We were waiting backstage and had about 3 dances before it was our turn when suddenly the power went out. We were already dying because of no Air but now the power went out, nice. I texted all the moms and told the Mom's of the tiny's to come get their girls and had the other Mom's meet us in the holding room while we waited out what was happening. It was getting late and I had one Mom say that they really needed to leave which stressed me out even more. I didn't want to have her miss her performance but I didn't know how long we had to wait for the power to come back so we were in a pickle. I talked with Stephanie who also had one Kinder class that needed to perform and since they were little and needed to go we decided to have them go on stage and perform. By this time the generator was up and we had a spotlight which we put on the kids and we had a portable speaker so I had all the families of my dancers come stand right in front of the stage and my girls performed. They did such a good job and I started crying, it was such a mess with the power out and the heat and these girls were troopers and didn't let it faze them at all. I was so proud! Honestly this was the best year, the best kids, the best recital, the best everything. The recital was hard in that so many things were going wrong but the kids made it awesome by just doing their job and being so amazing! 

top picture: Tap "I Am Amazing" Cora, Raegan, Liv, Murphy, Bella, Mae and Liliana

bottom picture:Ballet "At The Farm"  Liv(Bunny), Cora(Bunny), Liliana(Chicken), Bella(Chicken), Mae(CowDog), Murphy(CowDog) and Raegan(Pig)

Elizabeth and Stephanie

We Survived!!!

I seriously love her!

Memorial Day

 I posted these patriotic quotes on my instagram stories for Memorial Day. I also included clips from two patriotic songs I love, the first is "Chicken Fried" by the Zac Brown Band and the second is "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood

For Memorial Day we went out to Camp HiCliffs with Kefford's family for our annual Memorial Day Weinie roast and waterslide fun. Ryker brought Matthew along so he could have a buddy and those two had a lot of fun with all of the little kids. and I think the little cousins liked having another big person to torment.

Ryker and Matthew going down with Hazel throwing a beach ball at them. We found the ball on the side of the road while we were doing highway cleanup and Kefford kept it, sanitized it and brought it along with us.

It was a hot day and the waterslide was used the entire time we were there. Lots of Cousin Trains went down and everyone had a lot of fun.

Matthew, Ryker, Asher, Brielle, Qiana and Brooke

Rylee gt a splinter in her foot which Kefford was able to get out for her, she was tough and let it happen and Avynlea had fun keeping an eye on the entire operation.

For a short time the older kids had a kickball game going but it didn't last too long, not all of the big kids wanted to play and the rest petered out.

Matthew, Rylee, Brielle, Ryker, Avynlea and Allie

As we were leaving Whitney had us hold Dylan so she could pack up her stuff and so I took some pictures  of my kids holding him. 

I got sent this cute picture of Rylee, Lainey, Sadie and Qiana and they all look so cute. Lainey especially looks pretty adorable with that big smile on her face being a big kid and going down the slide.

We had another great Memorial Day being with the Peterson Family and I am glad this is another tradition we have. I like doing things with family and the Peterson's are pretty fun to do things with