PRESCHOOL GRADUATION

It's official! Chunkabear is a genius! JK. He had a fun time this past year in Miss Kathy's preschool. He worked really hard to learn his letters and the sound they make, numbers, and some fun songs. I was so proud of him today at graduation...he actually sang with the group! It was adorable. Way to go buddy! I'm so proud of the progress he has made. I think he would be ready to go to Kindergarten in the fall, but his birthday is just 2 weeks before the cut-off, so I think I will keep him at home and reiterate the things he learned and add to it. He'll go to Kindergarten in 2009.

FIELD DAY

I had so much fun yesterday at Pal's field day at school! It was a riot to see the fun games and relays the teachers came up with to make the day fun for all. There were bubble game relays, obstacle courses, ride the "pony" (a swim noodle), water balloon toss, sack races, be a burrito relay (wrap up in a blanket and then unroll), and my all time favorite elementary school P.E....the parachute, and much much more. It got a bit cold and rainy near the end, but overall was a great success. Here are the two pictures I got before my camera batteries died.
Bubble gum relay...no hands, get your gum out of the whip cream, chew it up, and blow a bubble. First one wins!

The "pony" relay. Teams of 4 line up, the first one gallops with the noodle down and back and picks up the next rider and heads back down, and so on until all the 4 kids have had their ride. It was so cute! I'm not sure why I snapped a picture without Pal in it. Oops!

This one was fun. They took turns pulling this guy on the sled, and then took turns being pulled. They then competed to see if the boys could pull the girls and vice versa. It was cute.

POP-POP AND GAMA

We have had the wonderful priveldge to have Ace's dad and step mom up for a visit this past week. Unfortunately we had a not so welcome visitor as well...the rain. It rained almost all day every day that they were here, so we were unable to do a lot of the fun things we wanted to get to do. But we did the best we could with the weather we had. We ate out a LOT. Some went swimming and bowling and fishing. Pal got a haircut (FINALLY). We also did a bit of shopping, played a little Wii, and took a great "walk" at the gardens on the BYU-I campus on Sunday when the sun finally peeked out. Pop-Pop and Gama (as Mei called them) also threw a little combined birthday party for the 3 kiddos since they won't be able to be here for them throughout the summer.
It was a lot of fun to see them again. Our visits are far and few between. I know we value the time we share with them beyond measure and hope that they do too. We can hardly wait for the next visit whenever that may be. We love you guys and miss you already. (And we promise to get those railings up on the stairs just as soon as possible!)

I HOPE THEY CALL ME ON A MISSION

I'm not so sure that this familiar primary song is a song that my mother has always kept in the back of her mind, but I know it must have been for my dad. After years of asking my mom to serve a mission with him, the day has finally come when the timing was right and they decided to give it a go.
Yesterday my parents received their mission call. YEA!!! I can't be any more delighted and over joyed with their choice to serve a mission. It makes me so happy to see my parents choosing the right by serving the Lord. So the question all are asking...where to? They will be going to Stockholm, Sweden this August. Again, a big YEA!!!
My dad's family originates from Sweden and he also served his mission there as a young man. It's all coming full circle, isn't it?
I love you Mom and Dad. Thank you for the amazing example you have always shown me and continue to show me and my family. I love you!

MILE RUN/BACKYARD FUN

We got the majority of our garden planted on Saturday. We planted potatoes, corn, beans, carrots, lettuce, spinach, and onions. We'll probably plant the pumpkins, peas, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers this Saturday. My yard delights me. I hope to get some nice flower beds cut in by next year to brighten it up even more.




Mei was having a blast playing on the playset this morning. She says "Weee!" going down the slide and then says "es fun!" as she runs to do it again.

Chunkabear enjoyed sitting on the back porch this morning practicing writting his letters. He is getting pretty good.

Pal had his mile run at school today. It was pretty tough for him, but with a little help from us, he made it! (Despite his pleas of "I gotta stop" and "I'm gonna DIE!" as we ran/walked the laps together!)




I think his favorite part was enjoying the victory popcicles at the end with some friends.


When we got home, Chunkabear had a friend come over. They showed me some of their mad skills on the trampoline. (I promise Chunkabear didn't land on his head.)


So far it's been a great day! I love spending time with my little bumpkins!

WE GOT OUR GIRLS!

I stopped into Valley Wide Co-op today and to my surprise they had 9 Rhode Island Reds in stock...so I bought them all. Hooray! In about 20 weeks (yes, that's a long time, but well worth the wait) we will be getting sweet, wonderful, fresh, delicious eggs. I wish some of the nieces and nephews were here. These little gals are so mellow and easy to handle. Well, here are the girls. (at least we hope they are all girls. Don't want any roosters. Only time will tell)




Here are some pictures of our coop and run area. The coop still needs a window cut out, a chicken door made, and the siding put on. But it is housing our meat birds right now. They are pretty lazy and like to lay in the back corner most of the time. That's okay by me...the get fatter that way!

The coop/run

The roosts...these birds are too heavy to get up there, but the new ones will love it when the get bigger.

Nesting boxes to hold all those beautiful eggs

Ventilation window...identical one on the other side to let the nice breezes blow through.

Two of our birds. The bigger of the two (in the back) loves to be pet under his neck.

The ugly one. Probably a female.

THE FACES OF ACES

So Aces tells me I never get pictures of his face...just his hind quarters. So, here they are! Pictures of Aces Faces.

I love your face Aces!

EASY BLOG DECORATIONS

Thanks to Jody for the heads up on the cute blog backgrounds. So much easier than what I used to try to do! Here's the site for anyone who may want a blog pick-me-up!
http://cutestblogontheblock.blogspot.com