Aunt of the bride

I ditched my family this past weekend and headed to California to go to my niece's wedding. It was so great! The best way I can describe my feelings is I was dabbing my tears away but trying to not smile too big! She and Ben looked so beautiful and peaceful. I can't say much more except that it was so great! I am so glad that I got to be there. So, so glad. I did not want to miss this day!

We spent the first night in a hotel in Oakland. These two cuties were my roommates. I served them breakfast in bed the next morning because that's what you do when you're an aunt. And who cares if you get chocolate muffin crumbs in the hotel bed sheets?!

After the sealing, they took pictures around the temple. It was a great day for pictures, which means it was cloudy. And it was cold. Karin was not the least bit phased by it all!

Always good to spend some time with my sister!

I just wanted one picture with the bride. I loved her dress. And she was so beautiful and happy. Love ya, Karin!

Oakland, the bay and my nephew Doug.

After the sealing, we went back to Merced for the reception that evening.

I fell in love with this little girl. I missed my kids a little less since I had some other kids to play with and since Emily and Kate are very close in age, it was almost like I had Kate with me. The first summer I stayed with Molly, Karin was 4. Emily will turn 5 in a few days. It just reminded me of playing with Karin.

Tommy loves to put on show. The morning after he snuck out to the dance floor and band stage and finished what he started the night before!

There was definitely some resting time on Saturday. When I saw this, I missed my little Kate. She often wakes up early and comes to snuggle in bed with me. If I'm lucky, she'll fall back asleep. If I'm really lucky she'll put her arm over me. I had a great weekend, but I did miss my family. They would have had a lot of fun too. I got tired of carrying my camera with me so I didn't get pictures of playing ping pong, or rock band or balloon soccer. You'll just have to trust me, it was a great weekend!

Someone is seven!

30 minutes before Matt got out of school on his birthday, the sky turned almost black with clouds. Not good when he has his heart set on miniature golf with some friends! After much debate and drama and asking him what he wants to do we go for it. A lot of times South Jordan gets the smaller amount of storm totals so I was hoping for that to happen despite the aforementioned black clouds and the storm warnings for other cities. Luckily, Matt is one to just go for it and the sky amazingly cleared up over us and we had a great time playing! The day after his birthday he finished up first grade! He's so excited to go on to second and we've got the same track and a good teacher! But that will have to wait until after our summer 0 fun!

I couldn't resist this one!

It's quite hard to blow out candles from this far up!

Wrap Up

Where has my time gone? A couple of Saturdays ago, Kate had her last soccer game. I was really proud of her improvement this year. She went from running the opposite direction anytime a ball was kicked near her, to actually trying to get a few kicks in, as long as no one else was around and she wasn't distracted by turning her shirt around backwards, or playing with her friend Mary. She was really quite cute out there and the first time she got some actual kicks, I noticed she really liked it. So we'll keep her in it and hope for some more fun and a few more kicks!

For the past two years, some kids in our ward that are Kate's age have had a playgroup. Each week is at a different house. It has been really fun. Kate has gotten to be pretty good friends with these kids. Luke, her prince, had a crazy preschool schedule this year so he didn't come and Kate was quite disappointed. But she now refers to Daniel as her friend enemy instead of just her enemy. Kate, Mary and Becca are BFFs in training!

Friday night, our friends wanted to go out for their anniversary so we had their kids over for a sleepover. Our kids all play really great together so I have to say, it wasn't hard at all. Kate and Sara were very excited to have their first sleepover. We set up beds downstairs, watched a movie and tucked in for the night. It was a lot of fun!

For the first time

At the beginning of this year, Matt's primary teachers challenged his whole class to read the Book of Mormon. They bought each child in the class a Book of Mormon and promised them a pizza party at the end of the year. Matt was thrilled at the idea of the pizza party and he set for himself a goal to read it. I am a very proud mama to say that last night, he finished it! The entire book! Every word, every page, all by himself. Thinking he might need a little motivation, Jerry and I both tried to "race" him. He blew our doors off! He was so excited with himself afterwards and I could tell there was some serious satisfaction in setting a goal and completing it. He really surprised me with how well he stuck to his goal. He was so focused on it. I asked him several times throughout what he thought of it and he said he didn't really remember much, but I was proud of him that he kept on going. He's a great kid!

He called his primary teachers last night to tell them and today they stopped by with this:

He was very excited and so it was great, but inside I was laughing. A few months ago I was called to be the Primary president and my first order of business was to send a letter out to the teachers asking them to please cut back on the treats in class. Matt's class is one of the worst! I mean we're talking like 4-5 treats each day. So, I laughed, but I let this one slide!

LOL

This has been cracking us up around here!

To you Matt

Dear Matt,
Thanks for showing me the ins and outs of the elementary school cafeteria. I had a fun lunch with you. I'm proud of your first grade work. You've grown up a lot this year and become very independent. It's fun to see you in your own little world. Thanks for letting me share it with you!

Love you,
Mom

Getting your fingers dirty

I love any activity with my kids that is fun, keeps them entertained, is easy and requires very little of me hovering over them. So today it was finger painting outside. I did this once with a playgroup of Kate's and there was one little boy who would not get his finger dirty. I made him touch the paint once and it was like he was touching poison and he wouldn't do any more. It made me laugh. These girls definitely have no problem getting dirty. It was a fun way to spend a nice morning outside!

Who am I?

In college, I bought this kind of laundry detergent:

I also frequently bought a surfing magazine. I got a clear checkbook cover and decorated it with pictures of girls surfing and snowboarding and this quote, "And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair." I did everything I could to somehow show I was a girl who liked to be adventurous and try new things and be outside. It was wonderful. And I did make it out surfing. If only I could get past the whole water/swimming thing I'd be awesome at it!

This time I bought this detergent because it was on sale AND I had a coupon. What does that say about me now?

What do you do to express yourself?