Happy Father's Day!

We really enjoyed spending time with our "daddy" on Father's Day this year. We did several things to let him know how much we love him. First, our ward has a really cool tradition. On Father's day they have "Pies for Pops" where women in the ward bring a pie to have the guys eat during the last hour of church. So..I of course made Mark's favorite: Bannana Cream Pie. He is so funny about this pie. He only likes it the way his grandma makes it..so that's how I do it: with vanilla pudding that you cook.

It is becoming a tradition in our family that we do candybar boards on fathers day, mothers day and birthdays...so the kids had a great time doing this for Mark. They made up sentences using the candy bars. It was hilarious. I also think their favorite part is when we get to the end and they have extra candybars that we can't fit on the board that they get to eat!

Then I made a salad per Mark's request. I was surprised that he didn't want steak or something...but Mark has been exercising like crazy and wanted something "lighter". So, I made my black bean salsa chicken salad. YUMMY! The kids ate it so fast that I think they enjoyed it too. We also got him some running clothes. Happy Father's day Mark. You are such a great father to our kids and they love you so much!

Miscellaneous and our Daycation...

I have a few random things I need to blog about, so here we go. I never talked about what an awesome job Mark and the boys did for Mothers Day. I don't have any great pictures, but here is one where it shows off the big candybar board that they made for me. It was so funny. I loved it. They had also made me several coupons like: I will clean my room without asking, or I will make you breakfast in bed. I always get those and then forget to use them. You're on notice now boys...I'm going to use them this year!! :) Mark grilled my favorite vegetables and had an AWESOME dinner. He also got me a new charm from James Avery for my charm bracelet. It was a heart that said "mom." I love James Avery and that was a big surprise. I was able to take a long nap and didn't have to lift a finger. Now I need to do something fun for Mark for Father's day this year. I have a few ideas......

One night I tried to put a few curlers in Rachael's hair. Surprisingly, most of them stayed in and the next day at church her hair looked TOO CUTE! She is so funny in this picture how she is "talking" on my cell phone. Hmm...I wonder where she gets that from!

Today we just got back from Dallas. It was a quick 24 hour trip and was, for the most part, fun. We left yesterday for a wedding reception last night in Richardson for one of Mark's YM that he really enjoyed years ago. Unfortunately I remembered my camera, but LEFT THE MEMORY CARD behind. argggh. But I can tell you it was so worth the quick trip. It was a totally casual Texas-style reception held in a BBQ restaurant and included brisket and cobbler. Mark and I loved the food. The kids thought that the meat was raw because it had that pink appearance from being smoked. What's up with that!!!?? They wouldn't touch it. Needless to say, we made an unscheduled trip to Chick Fila on the way to the hotel. It was so fun to see old friends and feel the love from people that we truly admire. Plus, as an added bonus, our hotel was free because we used some of our points. The kids got to go swimming a couple of times, too. It was a great time.

Also, I want to talk quickly about going to the drive in a couple of weeks ago. This was my brother's idea and it was SO FUN!!! We saw UP and liked it, but I think the kids didn't enjoy it as much as I did. We are definitely doing that again.

Last Day of SCHOOL and relay races

I know school ended over a week ago, but I have to write about when the kids came home. I have talked about my neighborhood before and how much I love it. Well, a tradition they have is on the last day of school all of the parents and older/younger siblings wait for the kids to get off the bus and ATTACK them with silly string. It was a pretty serious amount of silly string that was used on this day and I couldn't believe how many cans were used just at our bus stop! Here is a picture of Rachael and Kayla patiently waiting for the bus to arrive!

Finally the bus rounded the corner and you could hear the kids on the bus screaming with delight when they saw the crowd waiting for them to get off. Then....ATTACK! It was so hilarious. The kids loved it and really made the last day of school memorable. Also, as a side note, this neighborhood also attacks on Winter Break with marshmellows. So fun.

I also wanted to write about Jonathan. He was one of the top racers in his class on field day and was able to run in the 5th grade relay race against the other 7 classes. His team took first place! WAY TO GO JONATHAN! Also, Austin was able to run in his relay race, but I wasn't able to watch it because I was at Jonathan's graduation. However, his team took first place too! SUPER JOB AUSTIN!!

Our Aquarium Outing!

Last Saturday, Mark's company sponsored a day at the aquarium for a fraction of the price that it normally is ($15.99 regualar..we got in for $5 a person). I really wanted to take advantage of this and so Mark and I took Jonathan and Spencer (Rachael and Austin stayed with a babysitter). Catherine and her girls came along too and we really had a great time. Here is a picture with Jonathan, Spencer, Allison and Sarah.

Here are the boys in their "diving" outfits. Spencer is being his usual self while Jonathan thinks to himself.."Um, Mom, I think I'm getting too old for this!"

We saw a lot of cool fish, (including a fish that was HUGE and had a nose that looked exactly like a chainsaw), but my favorite display was the White Bengal tigers (at the aquarium???!!!) They were SO COOL and we stared at them forever. They are kept indoors in an A/C display. Gorgeous and so ferocious at the same time.

Mark and I on the train to see the sharks.

Spencer and Jonathan on the train, and then later they got to ride the "lighthouse ride" (similar to the Maliboomer from Disneyland)

Here are the boys clowning around with their sticker bracelets. We really had a great time and were able to go to "Cold Stone Creamery" afterwards. It was a fun outing and even though it was HOT we were glad to get out and do something different.

Celebrations of Learning, Graduations, and Last Day of School!!

What a BUSY and fun week we had! The last day of school was Thursday, June 4th and before that we enjoyed several "completion ceremonies", a graduation, a couple of parties, and let's not forget our first swimteam meet...but that will be another post. So first up, is Jonathan's graduation from 5th grade (which is a BIG deal here in Katy). Yes..Jonathan was in the 6th grade in Utah, but here in Texas 6th grade is in Jr. High and after much prayer we decided to put him in the 5th grade here. This was the best decision we made moving here! Curriculum wise he was still studying the same things here in the 5th that he was in the 6th. He has also made many great friends and is now one of the oldest kids in his class instead of one of the youngest. I have seen him grow so much since our move and I am so proud of him. For Jonathan's graduation the kids dressed up in their Sunday Best (Jonathan FOUGHT me on wearing his tie, but I was able to talk him into it!). It was like a real graduation where we all stood when they came walking in and then when their names were called they went up and shook the Principal's hand. (there were 7 classes, so this took a while!) Jonathan received 2 awards from his teacher: The Math Wizard award for having one of the top two math scores in his class, and then The Musician Award for being an outstanding student during his Music Class. He really is talented in that department and plan to help him excel his performing abilities. We are so proud of him. My baby turns 12 in 2 weeks and I can't believe how fast he is growing up. W

Next is Austin's Kindergarten Completion Ceremony. Austin has completely excelled in Kindergarten since our move here. I was worried how he would adapt from going from a half day to a full day, but Austin did a great job! He is now reading on a 1st grade level and Ms. Thrash (his wonderful teacher that reminded me of Snow White..except with red hair) LOVED him. In fact last week I sat in a meeting with his teacher and the speech therapist and the therapist was talking about Austin's evaluation on how he does in the classroom. She mentioned that she had never seen so many "Exceeds benchmarks" on an evaluation. Ms. Thrash has helped Austin so much and we truly appreciate all she did this year.

And finally we have Spencer's "Celebration of Learning". This is a tradition at Creech Elementary for the 1st-4th grades. The parents get to come and see what the kids have done all year and the teacher hands out all of the awards. Spencer got "The Most Optimistic and The Hardest Worker" award. This is his teacher, Ms. Olson. This was her first year teaching and she really did a great job with him. He worked SO HARD this year to catch up to where he needed to be from being in Utah. He passes all of his Texas State tests which really stretched him. We are so proud of him and are grateful for him being a part of our family. He continues to make us laugh all the time with his sense of humor.

Here is Spencer with all of the boys in his class. His fav was William, in the front and center..white t-shirt. They love to play together.

Well boys, Mom and Dad are so proud. We have survived moving here and starting a new school. Now it is time to PARTY!! Look out summer...here we COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!