No, really- the last of the end of school year pictures

I'm not sure why this week seems like the longest in history, but it has. We're finally down to the last day, though- the kids officially have 1 1/2 hours of school left for the year. Tomorrow at 10:15, they'll be done with 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 8th grades.

Yesterday the elementary kids had a fun run and field day. Here's Ethan, when I finally got him to turn around- he was ignoring me intently, but his teacher finally told him to acknowledge me. It's nice to be loved.

Emma was much more willing to have her picture taken- after I snapped this one across the track, she motioned me over to sit with her class while the other kids ran.

Here's the 6th grade boys' race-

and Josh running by. At least he's happy!
I was really impressed with all of our kids- none of them were the fastest in their grade, but they all ran the whole thing, and had a great attitude- they were awesome!

That night, we attended Rebekah's 8th grade completion ceremony.
She's in there somewhere- lots of 8th graders!

Here she is- honor roll, citizenship award, and department award for stage crew. She's a pretty amazing kid!

Now if we can survive one last school morning...
and the weekend...

then we're off to Moab on Monday!

Wrapping it all up

Warning:
Billions of photos ahead.
Proceed at your own risk.

Okay, to start out with, what happened to the weather on Monday?! Yes, this picture was taken this Monday, May 24th. It's the last week of school. There's just something wrong with that.

Here's Ethan's soccer game- they had their last game of the season on Saturday. Ethan scored his first ever goal! Thanks to his coach for making him play forward for the whole game to give him the best chance. Ethan had a great experience with soccer this year, and he's already excited for next season.

Next on the agenda, Price and Josh graduate from 6th grade. This is their amazingly awesome teacher, Mr. Nelson- here you can see him in 6th grade, with long hair, and with his hair cut. He grew it out all year, and then cut it in front of the whole school in an assembly.

The kids voted on a theme for graduation- "Alice in Wonderland" won, so the kids all had Mad Hatter hats to wear.

A blurry Josh gets his diploma.

And here's a slightly less blurry Price.

Moving their tassels.

Look how tall these guys are getting!
I have a feeling they're going to pass us both pretty soon.

With Mr. Nelson. They are going to miss him!

And now on to the dance festival. Here's the 1st grade (including Emma) with their elephant dance. She's in the front row, long sleeved brown shirt and tan capris.

Ethan and the 3rd grade with "You Can Fly". He's in the back row, second from the left.

Price front and center with "Prince Ali."

Josh was on the other end of the field- you can barely see him there at the end of the front row.

I love the dance festival every year. I'm sure I wouldn't if I were in charge, but as a parent I love sitting in the sun watching all our cute kids dance!

Finally today, Annie's preschool graduation. Here she is looking cute with Alli.

"Step, together, step, together."

"Annie wants to be an animal doctor when she grows up."

Girls and chocolate. They're learning young.

With her teacher, Miss Melva. Annie will miss her!

Faith

For the last few days, Annie has been super excited about her last day of preschool. This Friday, they are supposed to play on the slip-and-slide and have a picnic outside. When I saw the weather forecast, I got a little worried.

We were driving in the car today, and when Annie brought up the subject of her preschool party, I said,

"Annie, the weatherman says there is going to be a storm on Friday. I don't know if your party is going to work."

She didn't get upset- just told me,
"Mom, the weatherman doesn't control the weather. Jesus controls the weather."

Then she went back to talking about how fun her party would be.

The forecast changed today- Friday is supposed to be sunny and warm.

It's nice to know that He loves her as much as I do!

Rebekah is 14?!

The friend party:
How many teenagers can we fit on the trampoline before it touches the ground? We didn't find out, but they came pretty close!

The tape ball was a major hit (thanks for the idea, Jenni!). I bought a bunch of dollar store toys and candy and wrapped it all up (one thing at a time) in a big ball of packing tape. The kids roll the dice- if they get a 7 or doubles they can start trying to unwrap the ball, until another person rolls doubles or 7. They get to keep anything they liberate from the tape. It's way harder than it sounds, and NOT a quiet game- at least not with these guys!

Brownies/Butterscotch brownies and banana splits.

Blowing out the candle after surviving (barely!) the amazingly awful "Happy birthday" rendition.

Heart attack from the Mia Maids- she's moving up in the world!

Family party- Rebekah requested red velvet cake, which I had never even eaten before.

It looked great...

very dramatic red vs. white...

but not my favorite cake ever. But hey- we tried it, and now we know!

No pictures of presents- Rebekah got jewelry, clothes, and iTunes gift card. Pretty standard stuff for her lately- at least she's easy to buy for!

I am so glad we have Rebekah for a first child. She makes us look good- and she makes parenting seem pretty easy. She is growing into an amazing woman- I can't wait to see what she accomplishes in the next few years!

Spring! A mishmash.

It has taken me awhile to post these... but the blossoms in the orchard were spectacular this year! They are mostly gone now, but look how pretty they were:

Josh and Price had their NOVA graduation- apparently this is the reincarnation of DARE- men with guns in the school. Pretty exciting.

Price and Josh again, this time receiving their 1st class scout awards.
Maybe I should start dressing up for courts of honor. At least when I'm going to have my picture taken!

One morning, we woke up to this in the newspaper:

This was not an assignment for class; in fact, we didn't know she had sent a letter to the paper. I think she sounded quite reasonable and articulate.
It was pretty exciting to see her name in print!

Annie's hobo day at preschool. She's pretty cute, isn't she? It's a good thing she only has half day kindergarten next year- I think I'll need to ease into this!

Rebekah was in a concert with the bands, orchestras, and choirs at the jr. high. They all did an amazing job- we really enjoyed the performance. At the end, they came together for a final number, Mack Wilberg's arrangement of "Come Thou Fount". It was amazing- I am so grateful for great music programs and teachers.