It so happens that a whole slew of document-worthy things came and went before that last school bell rang.

And since I feel compelled to document life, here you go:

Elle did some research and picked out an awesome camera on Craig’s List. So after a fair amount of thought and deliberation she plunked down her hard-earned money and finally took the plunge to buy it (we pitched in a little as an early birthday gift).
To say she is excited would be a serious understatement.
She’s getting in the groove with it and I love to see the shots she comes up with. (Click on her blog here to see a few.)

Our friends came to visit from Utah and we celebrated with a few families.

It was so fun to see them which makes it too bad that the only shot I happened to get of the adults was one where everyone looks bored to tears:Don’t they look just ecstatic to be together??
The kids are a little more energetic.
My teenagers: (well, Elle’s ALMOST there).
There we get a smile:
Let’s look at that handsome guy a little closer:
Yeah baby.

(I’m sure this will be gone as soon as Dave realizes it’s here and I’ll be in trouble so soak it in while you can 🙂

Here are some of the kids:

I was taking a picture of Elle’s dive and Lucy was suddenly on top of the wall where there is a steep drop on the other side. This photo was taken in the split second before we all realized that and freaked out a little:
Nice dive, though, right?

Claire got her stinky cast off.
I couldn’t resist doing a little “cast photoshoot” before we left for the doctor.
I know I am a photo nerd.
…but seriously, check that thing out.
Nastiness.

The face is pretty cute though…
She was pretty nervous about the whole cast removal ’til the guy showed her how his saw couldn’t even cut his hand if he tried.

She held her arm weird for a couple days after the cast hit the trash can:
But then it was back to normal, all ready for the stamp she got on a continual basis from school because I forget to give her lunch money:

We had a couple pets for a day:They were baby birds that fell out of a nest and had mercy taken upon them by our girls.

We tried to nurture them according to what it said on the internet, but alas, we didn’t realize they were supposed to be fed hourly until about a day into it.

Luckily their mom finally came to get them and they lived happily ever after (at least that’s the story Dave gave the girls when they came home from school and found they had disappeared).

We’re not so good with pets.

I just liked this picture:
It was during FHE. Yeah, those kids sure aren’t very reverent.

This is all but one of our Young Women board at church:I’m sad Amanda wasn’t there to document as well, but man I love those ladies.

Lucy completed two sessions of swim lessons.Loved her teachers and I’m SO happy they helped her get so excited about swimming.

(She still can’t do it too well, but I feel a lot better about her water skills.)
She couldn’t quite keep that extra cheek in there…

The Beehives had a swim party where they decided to spend their time in cramming in the hot tub:
I’m excited to spend more time with these girls and their leaders (below) at camp in a few weeks.

Josh (my brother) had his annual after-school party for his class at our house:
Our pool and yard were packed with such outstanding families. I love that the parents come too. It goes to show how much they all love their great teacher.

And I love that Josh is always in the middle of those kids. It’s so fun to watch how he interacts with them and how much they adore him at the end of each school year. (See him in the middle taking pictures below?)

The girls had their dance recital:
They both LOVED that class.It looks like she’s comfy as can be in those splits, right?
Claire was SO excited because I gave in and let her and Grace wear mascara for the performance.

The kids had their piano recital the same night as the dance recital:I love that Max and Elle do a duet each recital.
Could you picture a sweeter piano teacher?Josh came along…
…and so did my sweet friend who happened to be in town from England.
I met her when we lived there when we were freshmen in high school and we’ve stayed in touch ever since. She is SO sweet and has won my kids over with her kindness and the fact that she ALWAYS brings them thoughtful gifts when she comes.

We watched some of the Young Women in their choir performance…it was AWESOME.
Grace took Dave on a Hawaiian Daddy-Daughter Date:
She was beaming from ear to ear that she got to have her dad by her side.

I don’t blame her.

So that pretty much wraps up one more school year under our belts. I’m not sure how that happened so quick!

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7 Comments

  1. Another lovely post! I always love looking at the beautiful pictures in your posts. I especially love your backyard – it looks so peaceful by the pool!

    Your paralyzed friend,
    Heather

  2. Caught a glimpse of Elle at 16 in those first few pictures. What a budding photographer! Love your adventures and your beautiful life!

  3. LOL @ the part about Dave…on soaking it in before he makes you delete it. 20 years from now..we will all wish we looked as good as we do now.

  4. Wow! I am in awe of how you fit it all in! What a busy but blessed life! You are a great sister letting your brother host such a party at your house, and he is an awesome teAcher for doing such a thing!

    I love how your family always look so fresh and well groomed. Who chooses the outfits at your place when it shopping time? I am sure Lucy would have some opinions 😉

  5. Ok, your backyard looks amazing but please explain it a little. Where is the entrance to that slide(drainpipe looking hole in the wall) by the pool? And is your trampoline (spelling?) dug into the ground or have you just taken the legs off it to make it safer with all those kids there?

  6. Oh my gosh, I'm SO sad that I missed all this and SO happy that you are such a "let me give you a peak at what happened" photographer. Just loved ever picture! It's not quite, but almost as good as being there! By the way, how in the world did you do all this?

    Love you forever!

  7. You have such a beautiful backyard!!! Would you mind giving us a li'l tour of it? It's fun to dream about having such a lovely backyard like yours someday 🙂

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