A very busy month

It's been a very eventful, exhausting, fun, and busy month.

Here are some of the things we have been up to.

Linsey was chosen by one of her teachers to earn a PRIDE award at her middle school.  Way to go Linsey!

Linsey participated in track this Spring, it was fun sharing running advice and cheering her on at her track meets.  She loved it!

Emma participated in the most adorable dance recital I've ever seen.  She has been taking lessons from the Pacific Ballroom Dance company.  It's so cute to see these little ones dancing ballroom style.

Emma and Hunter had a piano recital that same day.  They both performed their songs perfectly and we celebrated with yummy dessert!

Linsey takes from a different teacher and had her piano recital on a different weekend.  This was probably the most entertaining recital I've ever been to.  It was movie themed and every piano student played a song from one of their favorite movies and had some sort of prop to go with it.

Linsey played a song from the Hunger games and dressed up as Katniss.

The end of the school year brings all sorts of fun our way.  Lots of field trips, a parent BBQ, field days, the school carnival and so much more.

Emma's class went to the zoo.  Hunter's class went to the state capitol (no picture.. sorry)

Wacky Hair Day

This was all Emma's idea.

Wacky Hair Day was also field day and a Sub Zero field trip.

Preschool graduation for Austin. (we still have one more year thank goodness...)

Emma has had such a great year in second grade.  She has had one of her very best friends in her class and to top it off has had one of my all-time favorite teachers, Mrs. Miller.  She has had all of my kids and we just adore her.

Hunter earned an award for his high math scores at the end of the year assembly.  So proud of this kid and all of his hard work even though he claims that he does not like school.

My favorite part of the assembly was when the fourth grade sang goodbye to the fifth graders.  Hunter really got into the dancing.

Linsey also had an orchestra concert, Emma had a second grade program, we had company visit for Emma's baptism, we travelled to Tri-Cities for an open house for the happily newly married Anthony and Elina, and we survived Linsey's painfully stressful first EOC in her Algebra class which we all celebrated when the school year ended last week!!!

In the middle of all the crazy fun.. we got the keys to our new house!!

We built a home not far from our current house so the move wouldn't be too difficult you'd think, but boy that statement could not be more wrong.  I felt like I just needed to hit pause on the rest of our life so we could "just move", but everything just kept going on around us.  I guess that's what happens when you move right in the same neighborhood.  There is no ending, no goodbyes, and no new start, just moving and trying to stay caught up.  It's been two weeks now and I'm still surrounded by at least a few boxes in most rooms and it will be awhile before we can park in the garage, but I can't complain too much.  We had lots of help from our family and friends and we could not be more grateful for all of them.  We love the neighborhood and love that we did not have to say goodbyes.  The day we moved in we were awarded with this most beautiful rainbow.  (Our new house is the gray one on the right end in the above picture.)

I worried that my kids would be so sad and bored leaving their fun backyard to an unfinished backyard full of dirt, rocks, and straw.  Nope, they are awesome like that.

Even Milo has adjusted to the new house just fine.  We bought a brand new rug to go in our living room and he thinks it's a giant dog bed for him.  Funny thing is it's the same color as he is so he really just blends into it.

Yesterday we decided to celebrate that school had ended, summer has started, and we all needed a break from the packing and unpacking.  We went to Wild Waves with some of our good friends!

 The weather started out fine, but a rain cloud hit by the afternoon soaking us with a warm rain.  I love that it didn't phase the kids and we still stayed til closing.  True Seattle kids.

And that's why I say it's been a very busy month.

Emma's Baptism Day

Emma's baptism was beautiful in every way.

She looked absolutely beautiful in white.  There is something extra sweet about seeing her all in white with her daddy who adores her so much.

Three little girls all in our ward got baptized on the same day.   

Part of what made Emma's baptism day so special were all of the cousins, family, and friends that came to show their love and support for her and for our family.

To introduce the children at their baptism, we were asked to fill out a questionnaire about Emma.  This was Jared's response to the question:  Tell us 5 things about your child that you love or that make them unique.

1.  Emma loves to dance to music, especially when no one is looking.

2.  Emma easily makes friends.  She is really lucky to have a lot of girls her age in the neighborhood and ward and they all love playing with Emma.  She is very agreeable and has fun doing almost anything that someone else suggests.

         

3.  Emma has a wonderful imagination.  Every morning when she makes her bed, she leaves stuffed animals on her bed in some kind of “scene”.  Examples, everyone swimming at the beach (with a blue scarf as the ocean), animals all gathered around a bigger stuffed animal listening to the teacher teach, or a bunch of animals playing on a playground.

         

4.  Emma is very obedient.  She agrees to do everything you ask her, even though she gets distracted by her dog Milo or something interesting to make an adventure with.  She is always quick to say “Yes Mom!”

         

5.  Emma loves animals.  She is really good at pretending to be a dog and has a great bark.  She loves dogs and wants to be a veterinarian some day.

Emma loves to play outside with her good friends Natalie, Eliza or Lauren.  They have all kinds of adventures using stuffed animals and the secret spot in the hedge.  She also loves watching movies!  Her favorite is to make a bed in an out-of-the-way place in the house and watch Dad’s Ipad.

What I'll miss

We've lived in this house for over 8 years now.  That is longer than I've lived anywhere, my entire life.  It holds many, many fond memories and although we are very excited for the new home we have watched being built from the ground up, there are many things we will miss out this house.

 

 I will definitely miss this blooming tree out front.  It has the most beautiful rose like flowers.  My kids love climbing that larger tree by the driveway. I've even caught Emma up in the tree doing her homework.

 

I love just walking through the front door, knowing that my family is near and all is well.  This is where I send my kids off to school every morning. We have a prayer right here by the front door before we give hugs and say "I love you."

This is where we sit to have family home evening, or visit with our home teachers.  And this is where we end up when the kids have their birthday parties.  The birthday child sits on the piano bench and once they've opened up each gift, they displayed it on the piano.   Emma loves to set up her CD player in this room and then she dances her little heart out.  I'll miss that.

This is where we sit when we don't all fit at the kitchen table.  We've been creative and have added multiple tables to this room for holiday dinners and parties, and quit often we squish 10 people around this table.  I love that I can sit at this table to work on my crafts or sewing, but still be part of what is going on downstairs. We found a new table for the new house that seats more people.  I'm excited, but I will miss this one. I love the simple style and dark color.  

This room is where our family spends most of our time.  Lots and lots of fun memories here. I'll miss so many things ...

In our new home they boys room is a bit larger so we are thinking their bunk beds will be side by side instead.  That will be really nice in a lot of ways, but it makes them seem more grown up.  I'll miss those bunk beads.

Our girls have shared this very small room and are super excited to have their own rooms in the new house.  I'll miss hearing them laugh and giggle together at bedtime.



I'll miss this playroom where the kids have spent countless hours playing with their friends and cousins.

 I'm really going to miss this backyard.  I took these pictures last night.  The kids were happily playing in the sandbox, dinner was on the grill...

...Milo was running around chasing birds, and Jared was working in the garden.  It was just a perfect evening.  I'll miss all the yummy produce from those garden boxes, the raspberries, strawberries and blueberries that will be ready to pick this Summer.  I'll miss the swing set that all of our kids have learned to swing on and the backyard movie nights.  I'll especially miss all of the neighborhood kids playing with our children.  I'll miss the great friends we have on this street, especially the Hatches who are our number one go to family for any need or just for fun. 

Thankfully, we are not moving far.  Just around the corner really.  Hopefully all those neighborhood kids will still come and play, and I'm sure Jared will make our new backyard just as amazing.  He's really good at that kind of stuff.  I'm sure we'll make new memories in our new home and soon it will all feel perfect.