May

Stockton wants to make cookies? Yes, sir! He made oatmeal chocolate chip and they were yummy. I left to go to a meeting and Stockton struggled a little with the last couple of batches and they got a bit too crispy. I taught him the whole cookies-continue-to-bake-on-the-pan trick and that made sense to him. And all those crunchy cookies were eaten in the end so it turned out okay.

I savor every moment like this that I can because they just don't happen too much anymore. It was a fairly decent Sunday night and the kids piled on the tramp doing who-knows-what. I relaxed on the deck and read while enjoying the sounds of their giggles.

A sweet and heartfelt note from Ivy to her teacher for teacher appreciation. "Dear Mrs. Call, you are the best 1st grade teacher I could ever even name, also you are my favorite 1st grade teacher. I love you. -Ivy" She hid hearts for her teacher to find on the page, crafted a bouquet of hand print lilies and gave her some chocolate as well.

Ivy showed off her cheer moves one morning. She really wants to take cheer and I am doing my best to guide her into something else. We'll see how long I have success with that. She is also more flexible on her left side which seems opposite to me.

Mother's Day-

Justin canceled meetings for Mother's Day and got up and made me breakfast. I stuck with what is familiar to him and had him make French Toast, buttermilk syrup, with berries and whipped cream. The little girls made homemade gifts at school which were so sweet and Brynn made a freezer meal for me at activity days.

We went to church. The priests took over Primary so all the women could go to Relief Society. We went to Plain City for dinner. Eric shared some old photos and I stole this one of me and Brynn. Being a mother is the hardest and the greatest. My kids are growing up way too fast for my liking. This is probably the busiest season of my life and I am trying my best to enjoy each and every day. I hope my kids know that I am their biggest cheerleader in all they do.

Ivy and Raylie play most days after school. One day they made up a skit of sorts and performed it for me.

Ivy, Raylie Anderson

Piano recital! After having it in my home last year and not having one at all the year before, it was nice to get back to a normal recital. I had 16 kids perform (two were missing) and two of my piano kids do violin as well...so 18 numbers total. They each did a memorization piece then a duet song and a fun song of their choosing. It went really well and I was so pleased and proud of all of them.

Maya Treu, Emma Stinebaugh, Lily Chappell, Haley Knowles, me, Mallory Pearson, Chloe Mitchell, Tristan Treu, Taylee Baird, Ivy, Raylie Anderson, Avenlea Mitchell, Verity Phelps, Reese Allen, Tessa Baird, Alina Quinn, Nora Owens, Blain Mitchell

Brynn rediscovered her snow cone machine. We actually thought it was broken but we pulled it out and it worked fine. As soon as I could, I got some Koolaid and helped them make the syrup and they had snow cones every day until the syrup ran out.

Raylie, Ivy, Corbin Anderson, Brynn

Another thing I am so happy to have back is field trips. Ivy got to go to the aquarium and I got to chaperone. That meant a bus ride down and back and a packed lunch at the park. But worth it to spend time with Ivy who finds excitement in everything. I chaperoned a group of six cute kids, with Ivy's best friend Hannah in our group. It was a fun day.

Hannah Reynolds and Ivy

Ivy, Owen, Easton Boone, Hannah, Nadia, Ella

Ivy, Nadia, Owen

It seemed like it took forever for it to warm up and then the warmth came and went. It snowed twice that second week in May and then all of a sudden it was 70+ degrees and the kids thought it was warm enough to make a water park. That consisted of this water challenge where they fill the wagon up with cold irrigation water and see how long they can sit in it. They also spray the tramp down with water and jump on it.

Ivy and Raylie

Brynn spent this entire Saturday on the four wheeler with Corbin. I was so happy that they could spend a carefree Saturday entirely outside. They were sufficiently covered in dirt when they got in the tub that night and I think that is just what kids need!

Corbin and Brynn

Brynn and Ivy helped me peel, wash, and chop potatoes for Sunday dinner.

I went to seminary graduation with Justin. I thought I was going to sit by him but he had to sit on the stand and hand out diplomas to the kids in our ward who were graduating. Justin has been with Parker Webb since he was a deacon and they went to scout camp in Bear Lake. Parker dislocated his knee on the climbing wall. It has been a special thing for Justin to watch these boys grow up and now a lot of them are graduating and moving on to missions and college. These are the moments that are so rewarding to him as a bishop and they help balance out the heavy and hard things he deals with.

Parker and Justin

**Raavyn and Reeves Ellingford also graduated from our ward that day.

Justin is always the one taking pictures of sweet, sleeping Ivy. I am always the one getting them off his phone.

Field trip #2: Bee's Game with the 5th graders. Since it was Brynn's last field trip I wanted to make sure I could be there. This meant another trip on the bus, another packed lunch. But 5th graders are much easier to keep track of since they can be more independent. They had the concessions open and my group went back and forth and back and forth to get treats and food and souvenirs. We also lucked out on the weather and it was a beautiful day!

Briley Smith, Brynn, Mari Freeman

Brynn on the left

The very next day Brynn got to go on another field trip (although she won't call it that) to tour Timpanogas Middle School, where she will be attending next year! This is such a fun group of kids, it will be sad to see them split up after all these years.

Brynn is on the floor in the middle

To be Molly's friend is lucky indeed. She spent a long time planning a surprise party at our house for her best friend, Jackie Bingham. I took her shopping for food and she had another friend come help her put everything together the afternoon of the party. They were successful in keeping it a secret from Jackie so she was really surprised when she came over thinking she was just going to be hanging out with Molly but saw a whole gaggle of girls there to greet her instead. They had a fun night talking, eating, playing Nintendo, and watching a movie.

Molly on the left, Jackie in the chair

A lady in our ward invited me and Brynn and Ivy to a service project that she had organized. The organization is called Special Dollivery and their goal is to place a gently used American Girl doll with every foster child. Christine (from our ward) had seen an article in the paper and used her amazing sewing skills to make doll clothes. She also helped gather dolls for the organization to fix up and get into good enough shape to donate them. The girls would choose a doll, pick out an outfit and shoes, dress the doll, choose an outfit bag (5 additional outfits and a pair of pajamas), and put them in the carrier bag. Brynn and Ivy loved doing this-some of the homemade outfits that had been donated were so adorable!

Ivy and Brynn in the front

Brynn was lost for a few weeks with no cheer. They finally had tryouts mid-May and had a fun reveal party a few days later. (Everything in cheer is an event.) The coaches had gift bags all over the gym floor and the girls had to find the bag with their name on it. They turned out the lights and on the count of three the girls reached into their bag, found a glow stick, broke it, shook it up, then found the other girls with the same color and that was their new team. Brynn was so excited to make it to Elite Junior Level 2, which is the highest level at her gym. She was ready to get back to practice that very night!

Stockton loves playing baseball but he often has to resort to playing on his own. I think he probably does this on a daily basis. He had Justin help him make some wooden bases so he'll get those out, pitch to himself, and run the bases. I've caught him calling the game like a broadcaster and fist pumping to the "crowd" when he hits a dinger. My brother did the same thing as a kid as did Justin.

Ivy had her dance recital. She was excited and not nervous at all. She knew all the steps and did so good!

That night went as follows: Ivy recital at 5:00. She was the 20th number and we left right after even though they don't like you to do that. Stockton had a percussion concert at the middle school at 6:00. We were able to catch the last half of that. Molly had a soccer game that was also starting at 6:00 so as soon as Stockton was done we ran over to her game and were able to catch the last half. She was playing with the older team and they won 7-1! It was a great way to finish the season. My parents were so happy they were able to see 3/4 of our kids perform that night!

Easton Andersen, Kelton Webb, Stockton

I was able to help for the first half of Field Day at the elementary which was the younger grades so I was there with Ivy. I manned the frisbee/water relay where they would fill up a frisbee with water then run to the other side and dump their water in an ice cream bucket. The first team to make it to the red line was the winner. It was a chilly morning so the kids were not too keen on getting wet. I wasn't there but later in the afternoon all the kids went outside and got sprayed by a fire truck's hose. My girls got home that afternoon soaking wet and shivering!

Mrs. Call's 1st grade class-Ivy is front and center

Parent-teacher conferences that night. I've been doing them on Zoom this year, not out of fear but convenience, but I did go in that night for face-to-face meetings. Their teachers have been so great. We have loved Mrs. Vanhouten for all three of our older kids and Brynn learned so much and grew so much with her. Crossing our fingers that Ivy gets her too! Mrs. Call is cute and young and fun and did a wonderful job with her class. Ivy's scores were sky high and shockingly way beyond where they want them at them end of 1st grade. It was such an awesome year for both of them.

Brynn and Mrs. Vanhouten

Ivy and Mrs. Call

That day had been packed with field day, piano, RS at the nursing home (I was doing the music), more piano, conferences. There was not a minute in there for me to get dinner ready. I justified taking the girls out to Dairy Keen as an end of year celebration and reward for doing so well. It was a little chilly but they wanted to eat outside on the train. We took enough food home for the rest of the family so they didn't feel left out.

Picture #2 of sweet, sleeping Ivy.

Bedtimes get a little later when it feels like an early summer night but it's still a school night. Especially when the yard chores begin in earnest...planting, weeding, watering when there's a minute. Two more school nights!

The end of school was Friday the 27th but both Molly and Stockton had their last day on Thursday the 26th. Molly hadn't been to much school all week. I would get her up and off at the normal time but then she would usually leave to go somewhere with friends. They weren't taking roll and they had turned in their computers so there really wasn't any point. She got a 4.0 all year so she deserved the break. First year of high school was awesome for Molly. She had a great year and I am so proud of everything she was able to manage and accomplish!

First and last day for Molly. I feel like she changed the most over the year.

Stockton had also turned in his iPad and they weren't doing much. He went to the rec center with a group of kids (as a school function) on Thursday and they would have done more fun things on Friday but Stockton had a baseball tournament Friday morning. He was fine with missing the last day and probably rather relieved. He is not a fan of school at all.

First and last day, 7th grade:

The girls were having a bike rodeo during lunch that day. Brynn didn't think she wanted to do it because her friends weren't but we talked her into it. It is her last year of elementary after all! I drove them over with their bikes in the back of the truck in the morning and went back sometime after lunch to pick the bikes back up so they could ride the bus home. Brynn was glad she decided to do it. She does have that awesome, new mountain bike.

The last days of elementary school are fun. Brynn made a breath-mobile, which is a car powered by breath.

?, Mrs. Gary, Brynn, Taylor Judd

Stockton was invited to play in the iconic Cooperstown tournament this summer with the younger team that he has played with before. If you are a baseball fan, you know what this is. If you're not, then just know it is a big deal. Cooperstown, New York is where the baseball hall of fame is located and every summer they host a little league baseball tournament. This is the last year this team would be eligible, next year they will be too old. To get in you have to submit your team name years in advance and then it is a lottery drawing. So when Stockton was invited, Justin didn't really even think twice about it since it really is an amazing opportunity for Stockton and one that he will never forget. They are both looking forward to going this summer.

Anyway, they held a car wash one afternoon to try to raise some money to get them there. They made posters at one teammates house and then did the car wash the next day in Lee's parking lot. I think they had a fairly steady business!

Will Winterton, ?, McCoy Titus, Ben Mahoney, Karston, Jackson Allen, ?, ?, ?, ?, Stockton

The little girls had their last days on Friday, the 27th. I was excited, they were excited, but maybe less than I was. They have loved their teachers and their friends so it was a little bit of a hard good-bye for both of them. Brynn got to do a walk through the school while the other students and teachers clapped them away to middle school. She said goodbye to her teacher and friends. She had people sign her school T-shirt. It was a little harder for her since she is done with elementary school but she was happy when she got home. Ivy cried to leave her teacher but knows she'll be able to pop in and say hi next year since Mrs. Call is staying at Daniels Canyon. Yay for summer!

First and last for Brynn:

And Ivy:

Brynn gets to join Stockton next year. Ivy will be solo from here on out.

Brynn is on the floor in the front

Mari on the left and Brynn

I also had my last day of preschool that morning. For a year that I had thought I wasn't going to do, it was so good. This group of kids was just golden. It was so much easier to manage this schedule with Ivy in all-day school.

Bode Anderson, PyperJo Navarette, Kayden Provost, Kenzie Pitcher, Tate Iverson, Carter Black, Simone Wilson, Case Washburn, Zoe Powers, Miss Megan (me)

Of course the kids partied all day. Ivy went to a play-date right after school. Molly was who-knows-where with friends. Stockton had played a couple of baseball games in the morning so Justin had a free afternoon since he didn't go to work after the games. We actually managed to squeeze in a quick temple session in the afternoon and were back in time to take Stockton and Brynn to a party at the Freeman's that night. Such awesome groups of friends.

Stockton is second in from the right, Ethan Pearson on his left

Brynn is in the middle with her arm around Clarissa Blain

The girls and I got up the next morning and headed to the cabin. Justin and Stockton still had baseball games but they were planning on meeting us there on Sunday afternoon. The whole family was going to be there to celebrate my mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary! It was a pretty rainy and drizzly weekend so there was a lot of playing inside. My mom had bought some small beads and the girls literally spent the entire weekend making bracelets and anklets and necklaces.

Grace and Brynn

Tessa, Abby, Chloe, Molly, Grace

The rain did let up enough that we could play outside that night. We got a good game of kickball going. Jeff and Ali had some fun frisbee games that they had set up. We had a campfire and roasted marshmallows. It was a pretty perfect night.

Brynn, Josie, Lucy, Ivy, Tessa

Harper, Grandma, me, Brynn

Ivy, Grandpa, Josie

Grant, Harper, Brynn

Grandma, Molly, Grandpa

Sunday was the day we had set aside for celebrating the anniversary. We had decorated the living room with some Hawaiian garlands and a balloon banner so they saw it when they came down in the morning. We had also had T-shirts printed for everyone. They turned out so cute! The middle of the shirt says Lynn and Kay 50 Years 1972-2022, the inner circle has all the kids and spouses names, and the outer circle has all the grandkid's names. Ali had also put numbers on the back of the kids shirts in age order, from Ben #1 to Josie #16. My parents loved that and the extra on the back of their own shirts said: Together 19 on my Dad's and Since 72 on my Mom's so that when they stand together, it says, "Together Since 1972."

Surprise!

Harper and Brynn

Lucy, Ivy, Josie

Abby, Molly, Chloe

We went to church together that morning then came back for dinner. We had a Hawaiian luau theme dinner with shredded pork sandwiches with coleslaw, hawaiian rolls, macaroni salad, chips, green salad, grilled pineapple, and watermelon. We had a cake made with their wedding photo printed on the top and Erin made dole whips as well. It wasn't a big party with lots of friends and family but it's what my parents wanted. They were surprised and happy.

My mom had hired a photographer and scheduled pictures for that night. They had even reached out to a family they know with a house on the beach to let us use their property for family pictures. Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy so my mom ended up canceling and rescheduling. We did get a neighbor to come out and get some photos of us with our matching t-shirts. We were freezing and so glad we didn't try to tough it out for a couple hour photo shoot.

Christopher, Erin, Ali, Stockton, Jeff, Grant, Gavin, Spencer, Tessa, me, Ivy, Justin, Harper, Molly, Josie, Grandma, Grandpa, Brynn, Abby, Chloe, Lucy, Grace, Erin, Bryce, Seth, Ben