Summer First Half

Suddenly in the summer I take more pictures!

The end of school year is always busy for the kids 

Last day of school for this kiddo. 

Macey had her hip hop recital 

And then we headed to Lake Powell 

(First stop at Granny Annie's - because who doesn't need to eat out before you go eat "out" for a week;p )

This was one of those ideal years where the stars align.

We had a great spot and the water was warm, 

and for some reason there was less stress.

Probably my kids are getting older and are all great swimmers.

 Fishing! 

 Annual Talent Show 

Wakeboarding

Cody and Macey are getting so good!

And let it be on the record that I went wake boarding, jumped a little on the wake, and didn't face plant. Mission accomplished. Every year as the years pass I debate going or not. I just have a hard time convincing myself face plants and cold water are fun. But with the warm water on my side I was swayed. And Tyler's boat has a serious gentle and unintimidating wake. 

This was the year of the wake surfing.

This is Ben's first try and he quickly caught on.

My instructions consisted of "hold on to the rope, and go to the side of the wake."

I never really even understood the point of what I was doing when I tried it.

So, oh well, I tried it- it's pretty fun!

Amy had just had her baby so she was not on this trip this year. 

 Rex is a good kid, but get him in a crowd and he is literally the loudest human on earth. In a small confined space.

But he's so cute and entertaining. He did a head drag around the houseboat all week.

Waterskiing kids 

The kids' favorite and grandpa's least favorite activity: 

 Spearfishing and fish tacos, secretly eaten, and not around Sandy.

 Kevin and his video games - and the kids every time he played...

 Such a great year at Lake Powell, and so many memories my kids have and love at that place.

It's where my kids used to really get to spend time with their cousins

and truly learn the beauty of relaxation without distraction.

After we got home we went to church for the first time at our new ward,

and Elder Oaks visited!

I snuck a picture.

He is such an incredibly loving friendly human

and now one of my favorites:)! 

 Macey loves all animals, and really loves chickens. 

We got family pictures 

More coming...

Great month so far!

April Showers bring May Flowers

May Flowers for dance recitals

Ben had a conference for work scheduled in California and I had planned to go along

and sadly, Mackayla's dance recital was scheduled for while we were gone. 

I got to go to her rehearsal and see it at least.

They are darling!

Thankfully she had support from both grandparents, her brother and sister, and cousins.

Macey had a field trip to the Nature Center in Ogden and was the insect (a parent sent me this photo:))

 My parents wisely suggested that if we ever wanted to paint our new garage, the time to do it would be before we moved in.

We decided to move after the kids finished school up the first of June, so we stayed with my parents for the month of May and moved the last day of school! That commute is so much better for Ben especially with his on call hours (that he hates so much!!).

This picture is awkward in so many ways.

I'm trying to be funny, it just didn't work out!!

 My parents were the awesomest help and I would have taken a picture of my dad, who was equally as soaked in paint, but my hands were too messy.

He was with me the entire day.

We didn't do a crazy thorough job of sanding seams and all that, but...it's a garage. I'm not feeling any regret for that. 

 Soccer season started!!

This is Macey's cute team in Farmington. 

And this is Mackayla's.

Amy finally had her baby. I think it was a hard pregnancy for her, and we were all extremely glad when it was over. Devyn is the cutest sweetest baby ever!!

Ben and the kids love fishing at Ponds Park in Kaysville.

I love going and watching and taking pictures. It's always so pretty at sunset. 

 The fish are bitty!

Cody prob didn't want me to take his picture:) 

This is my favorite bread recipe of all time 

Since I'm writing this a year later, I can safely say having Mrs. Carr for Mackayla's kindergarten year was the biggest blessing in Mackayla's life. Her first grade teacher has been a nightmare. I didn't think it was possible for a kid to love school more than she did last year and I didn't know it was possible for her to hate school this much this year. But we're getting through it.

She talks about how much she loves Mrs. Carr all the time now!

Here's the end of year program:

 

 During that one particularly chaotic, school-winding-down-for-the-year week Ben and I flew to California.

Ben spent a couple of days doing CE for his vet license in San Juan Capistrano, in places with barns nicer than any house I've been in.

I spent my time doing things I loved doing when we lived there.

I for sure had to eat at Rider's Club Cafe.

It's the best burger in the world, everything fresh made. 

I spent some time with some of the women I love the most from Ladera

 And of course I went to the ocean

 and because I'm random, I toured an old mission.

I love some of the shops along the road to the beach. 

Our last day was super relaxing and we hit up one of our other favorite restaurants called Active Culture, that is only delicious if you have a little hippy in you. But they have the most amazing and healthy acai bowls and rice bowls.

  

Macey had the wonkiest tooth for the longest time:)!!

She doesn't like anyone to touch her teeth to get them out, she lets them come out when she's ready.

And since I've never pulled a kids tooth out yet, I wasn't about to make her! 

 Our bathroom was once clean and pristine 

 I don't remember if Macey wasn't there that day, but she must not have been since I don't have pictures of her!

My little buddy helped me pick out a couch!

 Memorial Day flower setting 

 The last day of school had a lot of parties:)

Double rainbow on the way home from baseball! 

Macey's dance performance at Christmas! Just throwing that in here:)! 

Baseball all day every day!! (at least it seemed that way:))