May 2018

May is always a rock solid month for us.

I am on a high the entire 31 days.

First and foremost....  school is almost over.

I have a love/hate relationship with school.

But, I really love when it ends and there is that sense of accomplishment that we 

have done it again and we can check off another grade.

THIS year however, brought tears to my eyes.

When Raleigh and I were driving to the hospital

on that cold December night back in 2011 to have Ryker...

I said...  "Only 6 1/2 years and we will find true parental happiness"

The end of our Kindergarten Days marks the beginning of real parenthood.

Now the fun begins.

May began with our wonderful trip to New York.

We had an unbelievable time.

We left our babies with these two.

I was a wreck.

Literally no one was in town to help them if there was a problem.

I called our former Home Teacher, who is awesome and put him on call

in case there was a flat tire or a flood or a broken bone.

He only has 7 of his own kids under the age of 13.... whatever, what's 5 more to be in charge of?

The big girls did a extraordinary job though...

 They took them to the Town Center Splash pad

 And had a picnic

 Then they went to the Children's Museum and touched all the germs there.

 Morgan sent me this picture 

"This is my wing and my chicks are under it."

Don't mind that they look like they are homeless chicks.

Their appearance was NOT what was important to me at the time.

The kids told me that Morgan was a "way more funner mom than you"

"She let us stay up late and watch movies.

She let us eat whatever we wanted and in the living room too.

She never made us clean up even once.

She brushed our hair way softer than you do".

Hmmmmmmmmmm.........

My first day back to work, we had a life style photo shoot

out at the Village.  

Models were needed, so I took my kids out of school early and

made them swim all day and roast marshmallows and play water volleyball.

I don't think they were too sad about it

Who's the funner mom now?

I also locked my keys in my car for the 87th time.

Nana saved the day this time.

 Kindergarten Graduation was a total success

I didn't cry one sad tear.

And Ryker's exit interview was the best ever.

He's reading at an almost 2nd grade level.

His math scores are off the charts and

his behavior is exemplary.

His teacher often pairs him up with the kids who are struggling

because he is so kind and he helps them learn.

What a good little boy.

 He kept his hands in his pockets the entire show and he 

got waaaaayy into the movements. 

He was super serious about getting all the words correct and

his actions were on point.

He has a ton of rhythm like his dad.

Allie bravely ventured up to Salt Lake with her choirs

so they could compete on the State level.

This. Was. Huge.

She does not like to travel.

Or be away from home.

Or stay in hotels.

Or go on busses.

Or wear her gospel church choir robe in public.

 But she did it and she survived.

 They even went to Lagoon in the rain.

This. Was. Huge.

She doesn't like Lagoon.

Or the rain.

A side story about Miss Allie:

Allie has a beautiful voice. 

I haven't heard it's equal.

Not surprising....  she is literally perfect at everything she tries to do.

So, I strongly encouraged her to try out for Trilogy (the a Capella choir at the high school) knowing that there was NO WAY she wouldn't make it.  Unless the teacher was tone deaf.

So she did.

And she didn't make it.

I was in total and complete shock.

And she was devastated.

I laid in her bed for three hours listening to her sob.

It was heartbreaking.

I couldn't believe that she wasn't chosen.  There must be something seriously wrong with this teacher, like seriously wrong.  

She was in so much pain, she was making emotional decisions like...

"I'm going to walk into his office and tell him that he can think again if I'm going up North to help his stinkin' choir win state.  Good luck winning without me, I have a solo."

AND

"I'm quitting all of his stupid choirs and I'll take an F for the year, because I am not showing up to class ever again."

I talked to her extensively about integrity and how she needed to hold her head up high and continue what she had started, even though it didn't make sense.

It was very painful, put she showed up.

3 days following the announcement, she was called out of class and given an invitation to be a member of Triumph.

An all girls 4 part Trilogy.

She is one of the 2nd Altos in the first ever all female Trilogy at Pine View.

And the reason that she was chosen was because she maintained a positive attitude in the face of disappointment which proved to him that she was a leader and a team player.

And he was testing the girls to see how they would react to see who was mature enough to be a part of this exciting opportunity.

The all girls Triumph will be amazing and she is SO excited to be a part of it's maiden voyage.

This was a wonderful learning experience for her whole life and mine.

I am so proud of her.

Peyton's last soccer game.

She is such a good soccer player.

I was so impressed with her.

I am so excited to see how she will improve this next year.

I can close my eyes and see her playing in high school

and that makes me SO happy.

She is even more of a tom-boy than Allie was and Allie was 

just like a boy.  Peyton walks like an athlete.  Dresses like a boy.  She is aggressive.

She is defensive.  And she has natural skills....  the ones that can't be taught.

 I really enjoyed watching her play.
A big thank you to Papa and Nana who didn't miss one game.
Even in the rain.
Even in the extreme heat.
Faithful and True.

The next performance was Peyton's Second Grade

"Three Piggy's Opera".

She was little pig #1

(the pig that wasn't the "sharpest pencil in the box and built her house out of straw")

She played the part brilliantly.

Nana was SO offended that she was cast as the "not so bright" pig.

"obviously, she was mis-casted"  she said

"obviously she was put in that role because she IS the sharpest pencil in the box and

also has enough self esteem to handle playing a character with diminished intelligence."

 She has the skinniest legs I have ever seen other than KK's legs.

I swear they both eat.

The "shorts squad"  

Her BFFs Charles and Kelton

Mother's Day

My kids spoiled me.

Raleigh and the little kids bought me the cutest White Nikes

which I am afraid to wear because they are so white and perfect.

And the Big Kids bought me White Vans High Tops 

so I can bring back the 80's.  Which I am also afraid to wear.

80's socks and high tops is by far the 

best look of the 20th century.

 Nana with the daughters

 Nana with all the granddaughters

 A house FULL of people

Raleigh and Nana found the LeVains recipe on line and challenged each 

other to a cookie bake off.

Each of them took the competition very seriously.

The recipe is a no lose recipe, so a winner could not

be determined.

Quincey and Vince came to our Mother's Day party. 

We were talking about Plan Bs.

Like if Plan A doesn't work out for someone, you should always have a Plan B.

And Kami said "how sad if you are Plan B.  No one should be Plan B.

And Vince goes....  I am just happy to be part of a plan.

I thought that was the cutest thing for him to say.

He is the greatest guy.

He is responsible and easy going and he really likes Quincey.

He is always dressed immaculately and he always looks so clean.

#siblings

                            Poor little Peyton had just nearly broken her arm on the tramp

just seconds before this picture was taken, thus the dramatic sad face. 

Allie is in the bell choir.

And I think that is really cool.

We went to her performance and were very impressed with

how cute the little songs sounded when played with bells.

She looked so cute when she rang her bells and she also

bounced her head to the silent beat.

Peyton and KK are so sad that early out Fridays at Nana's are almost over.

What will they do all Summer long with no Friday afternoon activities planned

and all the food you can eat?

The next performance was Kaleigh's First Grade patriotic sing-a-long.

They started off with the school song that gets me 

EVERYTIME.

Then they sang Proud to be an American

And "I'm in the 1st grade the very best grade"

When I wasn't actually crying, I was making an ugly face trying to hold

in the tears.  I don't know what was wrong with me, I could not get a grip.

I think part of it is that she is so dramatic and into performing.

She is by far the most animated one up there and she has 

this little angelic grin on her face the whole time.

Plus she is so darling with her actions and she knows every word

and I just know what is going through her head when she is up there.

She makes me so happy.

Raleigh and I were on the very back row and he was doing 

the actions right along with them and she kept laughing

and acting embarrassed.

I am so glad that she still lets me put bows in her hair

Unlike her SISTER.....  

Peyton had Egypt Day the last week of school.

I was told that I COULD NOT post this picture on Instagram.

But, she doesn't know about my blog...

Soooo  here it is

DOCUMENTED

She is the cutest thing ever.

Fathers and Sons is in May.

Ryker LOVES Fathers and Sons.   It is most definitely one of the highlights of his year.

They left at 4:00 and stopped at Marv's for dinner.

It was drizzling and cloudy when they arrived, so they set up the tent and then jumped in the 

Rhino and drove around on the trails for an hour and a half.

Ryker was worn out.

They fell asleep quickly and nearly froze to death.

Raleigh was on a cot.

Ryker was on the old mattress from the crib.

Sometime during the night, he managed to fall off of the mattress and 

fall out of his sleeping bag.  When Raleigh woke up at 5:00, shivering and miserable,

he found Ryker curled up in a ball with no blankets in the corner of the tent.

Needless to say, they were home at 9:00 on Saturday Morning.

Really don't need to say more about that.

Meanwhile, the Mothers and Daughters had a fabulous time.

We went to Chick fil A for dinner, to Yogurtland for dessert, we went shopping at 

Target for bathing suits.  We went for a walk.  And then Morgan and I arm wrestled.  

I won.

Only because Morgan got tired and gave up.  

I was exhausted after that.

Our cute nephew, Grant received his mission call to the

Argentina, Buenos Aires East mission.

Russ, was in Cuba fishing. 

Grant thought that he might be able to wait for him to get home 

before he opened it...  (for 5 minutes, he thought that)

and then he called his dad and said, sorry but you're just going to have to 

hear where I am going over the phone.  

 Here is Morgan with her BFF, Alex who incidentally just got her mission call to 

Las Vegas, Nevada.

She is so excited.

She says "my mission is so lame, it's cool".

She leaves in June.

Morgan will drive down everyday and meet her for lunch.

 

For FHE the last week of school we went to 

The Tilted Kiln to make gifts for our teachers.

Ryker worked so hard on his gift for Sandra.

Our wonderful Sandra has been such a blessing in our life.  

She has been there for us every day for the last 2 1/2 years.

She has loved Ryker so much and has taught him so much.

We could not have done this crazy life without her.

They turned out so cute. 

We will definitely do this activity agin.  

It was so fun.

We celebrated our three day Memorial Day Weekend

by starting off at Sand Hollow.

Raleigh rented jet skis and kayaks for us.

We dropped him off at the dock so that he could launch the skis.

And we went to the beach and set up camp.

First,  I nearly buried his truck trying to park it.

Second, we had to carry extremely heavy items through the fine, hot sand

half a mile from the truck.

It Was So Hard.

I was literally exhausted before the day had even began.

We set up a lovely camp.

And the day was going so well

\

I wish we could find a life jacket that fit him.

Good thing he didn't fall in the lake...  this thing wouldn't 

have helped too much.

"Raleigh, come push this out for us while we pose for pictures

for our snapchats"

PUSH 

 Morgan and Allie took the kids on the skis and Raleigh and I

were sitting on the beach enjoying the sun.

He was in a chair.

I was deep sleeping on a towel.

And all of the sudden out of nowhere came

this burst of wind...

And by burst of wind I really mean...

Hurricane Katrina.

In 2.3 seconds our lovely campsite was destroyed. 

Our canopy blew down beach.  And broke to bits.

The table holding all of our delicious food

toppled over .... oreos and potato chips went everywhere

and Raleigh started yelling at me to help him

and I leapt up and started helping him gather all of our belongings with

one hand while the other was trying to adjust my suit that was all off kilter.

It was super awkward.  

But no one noticed because the entire beach was a frenzy of 

people running amuck, gathering their various items.
It looked like the zombie apocalypse.
What a disaster. 

After the gale force winds calmed down to a category 3, I finally got brave enough to go 

on the jet ski.  It wasn't really the jet ski I was afraid of....  it was the ice cold water

with chiggars in it.  I didn't want swimmers itch for sure.  So I tip toed to the ski like

a princess.

 And stood on it while Raleigh pushed it out of the sand

instead of jumping off and helping him.

 I am not an adventurous wife.

I didn't hide this information from anyone in the beginning either.

My husband knew this going in.

He knew exactly what he was getting himself into.

Maybe he thought he could change me over time.

Introduce me gently into the life of motor sports and camping equipment.

Sadly.... I am proudly set in my ways.
And I don't intend to budge.

I don't like speed or getting wet or dirty.

I don't like rough rides.  Or critters.  

Or sharp turns.

Or splashing water that feels like cutting glass on your face.
Or being miserable in general.
Outdoor Activities=Misery

 Nevertheless, I let him take me for a spin.

And I was okay in the bay, when we had to go 5 miles an hour.

But, as soon as we cleared the buoy, he gunned it like we were running from the law.

And the breath left my body and I never really got it back.

I squealed and let out high pitched screams that only dogs could hear.

I held on for my life to the back of his life jacket.

And tried to shield my face from the waves of water that were churning up.

And he cracked up the entire time like it was SOOOO funny. 

He purposely turned violently, left and right.
He purposely followed speed boats so that he could catch their wakes.

And there were very few moments that my bottom was actually on the seat.

He kept yelling back to me things like

"isn't this fun?"

"you'll get used to it, the longer you do it"

"you have got to experience new things"

and other absurd phrases. 

It was just thrilling.

I couldn't breathe correctly for 30 minutes following Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

What is fun about that?

I am old.

I need to just stay on the shore gathering flip flops and beach umbrellas.

That's my job.

That's where I belong.

We rounded up our month like we always do...
In Pine Valley.
At Thomas Forsyth
and this year was every bit as fun as the all the others.
This year the weather was cold.  We huddled around the fire.
And wrapped ourselves in blankets

 We celebrated our birthdays...
Me and Savanna.
Savanna turned 17
Me... 27.

 Raleigh Dutch Ovened.
This year he did potatoes and cinnamon rolls

 And he really liked what he made.

We had a wonderful time.
We had a wonderful month.
I loved May with all of my heart.  From beginning to end, I loved every minute of it.

I am so happy that summer is upon us.
I enjoy summer very much in our backyard.
I love summer food.
And summer activities.

I would consider this month a total success.
We had a fabulous vacation.
A very productive school year.
A lot of meaningful family time.

I truly do love this family of mine
Each and every member.
It's a pleasure to be a part of the plan.