Memorial Day 2019

Our Memorial Day was full of friends, family, food, and fun! We spent it at our Ward picnic wading in the creek, conquering water falls, playing bocce, eating snow cones, and of course catching cicadas. The weather was perfect and we couldn’t help but pause and feel gratitude for all those who have gone before us and especially those who have sacrificed their lives so that we can enjoy the freedoms and liberties that we do.

Braddock managed to lose his shoe in the mud in the middle of the creek.  Thank heavens for kind friends who helped him find it again.

Every 17 years these guys emerge from the ground and pretty much take over.  Dean was on his mission the last time they came out and he was just 2 the time before that, so this is all new to us.  Some of us are handling the invasion better than others.....Tanner, not so much......Braddock and Bridger could catch them all day long! 

Piano Recital 2019

Tanner and Landon pulled off another great piano recital thanks to their amazing piano teacher....Grandma!!  This year Landon got to do a duet with Dean ("Bouncing Boogie") and a solo ("Dancing Thunderclouds").  Tanner did his duet with Grandma ("I Heard it Through the Grapevine") and a solo ("Cannon in D").   We're proud of the effort they put in to practicing and learning, even if there's a complaint or two once in a while. ;)  By next year Braddock will be participating too!

Oh Dear!

It’s been over a year since Braddock knocked out his two front teeth and we FINALLY have a new tooth poking through!! Woot! Woot! Bring on all the corn on the cob this summer! In other Braddock news he chopped his own hair this morning! Gah! 😩 Guess he’ll be getting a nice, short, summer cut this afternoon.

Totally Groovin'

The 6th grade was assigned to do decade projects for the end of the school year and Tanner was given the 70's.  On the day of their presentations they were supposed to dress the part.  I helped him pull together this outfit, but he's the one who really made it come alive.  He fit the part so perfectly and had us all rolling with laughter.  He also brought Jelly Belly's to share because they got their start in the 70's.  Who knew!?  I think this kid was born a few decades late!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was refreshingly wonderful this year now that Dean's not the Bishop and could be around ALL DAY to lighten my load.  They started the day off with a bang by bringing me a delicious breakfast in bed.  They also gave me roses and a weighted blanket to sleep with at night.  Landon and Braddock both brought sweet gifts home from school (Landon made a painted flower pot, and Braddock made me a painted flower dish). And the one thing I wanted most was some pictures with my boys and they were all kind enough to comply.  

For singing time we reviewed songs while kids took turns drawing their moms.  Here's a few portraits of me....

These four are my world.  It's a crazy world full of fights, messes, frustrations, endless laundry, homework, and dishes, but it's a world I'm honored to be a part of.  I'm so grateful to be a mother, and grateful that Dean and I were both blessed with incredible mother's as well.  Happy Mother's Day to all the women who influence me and my children for the better!

Landon's Harry Potter Party

The weekend following Landon's Birthday was his much anticipated Birthday Party.  We just did a repeat of Tanner's party, but man it still took quite a lot of prep.  We were still scrambling with finishing touches as the guests began to arrive.  He had a great turnout with 4 boys and 4 girls and other than the fact that I almost sent a few of the boys home we had a great time.  Haha!  Why do 9 year old boys have to be so obnoxious??  Anyway, we powered through and by the end of the party things were much calmer.  (for the record I have five brothers and four sons, so I'm used to boys, but these kids were NUTS!)  The party consisted of:

• Making Mandrakes
• Making Harry Potter Shrinky-Dink Keychains
• Making Monster-Book-of-Monsters Notepads
• Busting open a sorting-hat pinata full of goodies and their house sortings
• Having a potions lesson taught by Landon
• Having lunch in the "Great Hall"
• Opening Presents
• Playing Harry Potter Headbands that he got as a gift
• Eating cake before sending everyone home 
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   Landon made his cake to look like the one Hagrid gave Harry on his 11th birthday.
  
  
  
  
   Watching the Shrinky-Dinks shrink in the oven
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

Tanner's Spring Chorus Concert

It was a crazy night with overlapping baseball games and concerts, but everyone made it in time to hear at least some of Tanner's songs.  We sat through the 7-8th grade performance and they did fine, but man the 5-6th graders knocked it out of the park.  We even got their early enough to be on the second row and it was cool enough outside that we didn't completely melt in the Jr. High Gym.  Another year of Chorus in the books!

 

Another Testament of Jesus Christ

Landon made a goal in February to read the entire Book of Mormon by his birthday the beginning of May.  I wanted to encourage him, but wasn't sure his goal was realistic.   It would be several chapters of reading a day and he couldn't fall behind or he'd never be able to catch up.  I helped him put together a schedule to keep him on track with his goal, and sure enough with very little reminding from me, that kid finished his reading just as he had planned.  He prayed about the truthfullness of the book when he was done and said he felt so peaceful inside and knows that the Book of Mormon is true.  I've loved watching his sweet testimony grow and I'm so proud of the effort he puts into gaining a testimony of his own.  He was such a great example that Tanner decided to do the same and just wrapped up the Book of Mormon in June.  Landon also bore his testimony at Church and ended up getting a set of books in the mail from our friends, the Hills, to help him study even more.

Landon's 9th Birthday

This year Landon's birthday fell on a Saturday.  We started the morning off with donuts and fruit for breakfast and then we quickly scrambled to be ready for his baseball game.  He played well and we finished the day up at the baseball field by playing on the playground before heading home to video chat with Grandma and Grandpa Hilton.  They got him KanJam, so of course we had to spend the afternoon trying it out in the backyard.  He also whipped up some homemade chocolate chip cookies so we could have ice cream sandwiches that evening.  After a delicious birthday dinner of ravioli, strawberries, veggies, and bugles we had the local family over for presents and desert.  We were extra glad Janna was home for the weekend so she could help us celebrate too.  Landon got his traditional ear tugs from Great Grandma and he was spoiled like crazy with all of his gifts.  We sure love having Landon in our family.  He is growing so fast and he continues to amaze us with his love of his Savior and his desire to do good.  We love you Landon and hope you had a wonderful birthday!

 He was super excited about his ipod shuffle.  It's already loaded with Imagine Dragons and Twenty-One Pilots and he's used it a TON!

 Nothing beats sparkler candles and homemade ice cream sandwiches!

This kid made out like a bandit!