Junior High Dance

After 8th Grade graduation the Junior High kids have a fun dance.  This year Payton was able to join since he is in 6th grade.  I loved hearing all about the fun he had for the first hour until the 6th graders were sent home.

Payton looked sharp and had so much fun dancing...he already can't wait for future Stake Dances.  I'm in shock that he is growing up so fast, how is this possible?!

AR Field Trip

The kids work hard throughout the year reading books and taking quizzes in order to meet their goals and go on the AR field trip.

Gavin and I decided to catch up with the crew for lunch at the park.  Gavin liked the geese, but they were kind of too close for his comfort at times.

Gavin and Brielle feeding the geese.

Payton and Kenzie had a fun morning at Flippin' Family Fun before meeting up at the park.  Taylor and Brielle went to a museum first. 

Kenzie and Riley.

Taylor was having a great time.

Gavin enjoying a Dilly Bar later while the big kids took off to go swimming.

Brielle is getting better at swimming all the time.

Payton in the pool and Gavin was slightly jealous of all the kids in the water.

Looks like Kenzie is having a great time.

Payton liked the obstacle coarse.

Taylor had a blast.

Fun times, in the background I spot Payton helping Mack through the coarse.

I love this!

Melts my heart.

Brielle was in heaven.

Another mom took this picture of the bus ride home.

They snapped this one as well.

Looks like a fun reward for their hard work!

Memorial Weekend 2018

We decided to head to the cabin for Memorial Day weekend.  It  was nice to get away for the night and spend some time as a family.  I love that summer is nearly here and look forward to spending more of our time together.

Grandpa helping Taylor get his fish in the boat.

Taylor was the only one who caught a fish and he was feeling rather lucky!

The rest were determined but came up empty handed.

Cute Kenzie trying hard.

Taylor and Kenzie fishing off the boat.

Gavin had a good time on the boat and likes to go fishing too.

It is so nice to be back enjoying the great outdoors!

Fishing is one of Payton's favorite things to do.  He is always game to go fishing with whoever is going, even if it is early in the morning.

Brielle was trying her hardest to catch a fish, looking cute.

Taylor's nice rainbow.

Later when we were back home, Grandma piled a bunch of grand kids onto the new golf cart.  It amazes me just how many can fit on!!

They love this Sunday afternoon activity with grandpa!

Another Batch of Kittens

The kids are always delighted and on the lookout when our cat Lilah gets skinny again.  We know right away that there are kittens around somewhere.

Gavin is so cute with the kittens.  He adores them!

5 happy kids!

Can you spot the kitten.... Gavin got creative and wanted to give the kitten a ride.

Sleepy snuggle time.

Kids and kittens seem to go together so well!

Brielle's Un-Birthday at School

Brielle had an un-birthday at the school.  It made for an opportunity for Gavin and I to come to lunch with the kids as we took treats for Brielle's classmates.

It also means that Brielle got to wear this party had for the day!

We enjoy this small school and the open door policy, we feel so welcome every time we just show up!

Taylor's Bike Safety Field Trip

I love this time of year as the school year comes to an end and I know summer is almost here and that means more time with my kids.  The kids like that some of the last days of school are filled with fun and field trips.  Taylor got to go to Choteau for a bike safety field trip and a picnic at the park.  Mckay, Gavin, and I met up with him for part of the time, it was great!

Looking good Taylor!

Kolbe's Mission Call

Recently Kolbe received his mission call in the mail so we ran over to his house for the surprise party to be there when the call was opened.  It was neat for my kids to see this and we were all laughing when he got the same call as his own father!

Our family with Kolbe.

He has been one of Mckay's Young Men for a long time and it has been neat to see this kid progress!  We are so happy for Kolbe and his family!

New Bishopric for the Fairfield Ward

On Mother's Day we had a new Bishopric put in.  Mckay and I had recently gotten back from a trip to Mexico when Dick, our Stake President, invited Mckay and I over during lunch break.  We knew some sort of change was about to happen (Mckay was in no hurry to give up his calling as Young Men's President, it made for a few moments of anxiety).  Then we were out of town the following Sunday so we had to wait another week holding in this information.  This means Mckay won't be sitting by us in church for a while and I'll be leaning on my older children for extra help.  Mckay is looking forward to working with these great men and is excited to still be able to interact with our youth.  We had the opportunity to attend the temple as couples before hand and it was a great experience with neat friends!

Craig Holmquist, Bishop Keith Giles, and Mckay

It is going to be a learning experience and time for growth for our family.

Lamb at the Library

Gavin loves to be on the go!  He is great to run errands with me and I enjoy my time with him.  He also enjoys our trips to the library.  He was loving the day there was a Lamb at the library.  It was super cute, Gavin loves animals!

It had been cleaned and looked so soft.

Melted my heart!

Cub Scout Cake Auction

Taylor is in Cub Scouts and we had a cake auction to help the boys earn money for Day Camp this summer.  I found a Chocolate Andes Mint cake recipe that became a new family favorite.  I had enough ingredients to make the recipe twice and it was fun to learn from my first cake and do better the next time.  Bet you can't guess which cake I made second!?

The one on the left is the second one...we actually ate the one on the right!

This may be a new birthday request...yummy!  The kids have been staring at this cake and were ready to bid and buy our own cake the moment it popped up, it was funny!

Fun Weekend at Lagoon

The Dudley girls were clogging again at Lagoon this year and we headed to UT for a fun weekend together.  Last year we weren't able to go because we were tied up with Oli and McKell's wedding.  This year the kids were thrilled to be returning to Lagoon and ride some of their favorite rides again, as well as spend the weekend catching up with family.

We loaded a lot into one weekend.  The first evening we picked up some groceries at the store, ate dinner with some of the family, ran to a nearby wedding reception for Sage, swam at the pool, and then the guys went out to a late night movie.  They did so in style with these reclining theater seats!

Braxton and Gavin are becoming such good buddies.

Payton, Taylor, Kenzie, Brielle, and Gavin waiting for the park rides to open (we were there early since we watched Allyssa clog first).

Mckay and Payton ready to go on a ride.  This ride spooked Gavin a bit, he was a little unsure of the dropping feeling.

Gavin absolutely loved Lagoon and went from ride to ride having a great time! 

Riding a dragon now.

His sweet little smile warms my heart.  You can tell he is enjoying himself.

It is easy to get picture of Gavin because his rides are slow and easy, the other kids are harder to capture since they are fast and intense and most of the time we have to keep our own phones in our pockets.

Brielle is also all about adventure!  She was going on some big rides this year and had so much fun.

This roller coaster is great and actually intense for kids!  

Gavin went on this one a few times with the other kids and loved it.

He was cracking me up!

Taylor and Kenzie waiting in lines.  These two went on some serious rides this time too.  The kids are at such fun ages.

We are on the big wheel, man that thing is high!  Payton goes on any ride he can!

Here we are going on a train ride.  Gavin was looking forward to the ride and enjoyed looking at the different animals.

On the train.

On the ride that drops and goes back up, Gavin was unsure of it once he got started.

Bumper cars were a hit.

Buckling himself.

Gavin is ready to go!

Brielle was excited to go on the train ride.

Here are some pictures from my mom's phone:

Bathroom breaks. 

Cute girls.

Eager to go on some rides. 

The kids always look forward to the trips to Lagoon.

They are dare devils. 

 Sisters. 

Buddies.

Fun times!

I love the looks on their faces.

Pure JOY! 

 It was a great weekend packed with a lot of fun.  The kids had so much fun and already talk about future trips back to Lagoon.  I think it is one of their favorite places to go!  We had a good time and made good memories!