Summer Time 2016

I was reading through old blog posts and realized I have not written a thing since school got out.  It seemed overwhelming to catch up with everything that we've been doing but I thought I would highlight a few things together.  Sammie and Abby participated on a rec league swim team this summer.  It was such a fun a fulfilling experience for them.  Swimming is amazing!  They got so strong and improved on their swimming incredibly.  At the first swim meet they didn't really try that hard.  They didn't know what to expect.  Then they found out that there were ribbons awarded to those who placed in their heats at the meet.  This motivated them to swim harder at the next meet and they did so much better.  It was crazy how their times improved and they got lots of ribbons throughout the whole season.  Sammie's favorite stroke was the butterfly and Abby's was the freestyle.  I loved watching them swim.  I hope that we have time to do it again next year.

We had a fun movie night outside on the trampoline and we projected the movie onto the house.  On a cool night of course.  I can't even imagine attempting this now in the heat wave we are having.

Mostly I just loved the simple moments of June.  Since Joey was teaching 3 weeks of summer school, we didn't have any plans to leave town in June.  We spent lots of time playing and being home, swimming with friends, and helping Joey out.  

Olivia spent a few afternoons working for Joey by grading binders for his summer school class.  It's nice that he is so close to home that we can drop in on him.  Last summer we were helping him set all of this up.  I'm glad that we are not doing THAT again this summer.

June ended with a family trip to the Los Angeles Temple.  I was thinking about what a fun memory for my girls to have.  "Remember when we would go to the temple and stay in the apartments for the night?"  Sometimes it really does feel like a trek to the temple for us, but it makes it feel extra special.

We stayed Friday night and Olivia had baptisms with out ward on Saturday morning at 8am and then our ward had a family day at the temple and session times for the adults with baby sitters for the kids.

Afterwards, we headed to the beach for a couple of hours in Santa Monica and our good friends the Brown's joined us, even though they weren't beach ready.  They went home in a very wet and sandy car.

Last Day and Awards!

The last day of school came so quickly and so slowly at the same time.  We are enjoying summer so far, except for Joey who is teaching summer school for the first time ever.  He has 3 weeks and then his break will start.  But his Master's degree is all done and he won't be going away or working on his thesis this year.  It's the first time in 5 years, so it feels a little strange but also a huge relief.

Sammie and Abby had such great teachers this year and they had made some great friends too.  I think Olivia is happy to see 7th grade come to an end.  She did well and got wonderful grades, but the junior high atmosphere isn't her thing.

I'm looking forward to a sort of quiet June mostly here in town at home.  Sammie and Abby started swim team and are getting lots of exhausting exercise.  They've been writing lots of stories, reading, and playing together, and not to mention some summer boredom as well.

The last week of school meant two long awards assemblies for me.  Olivia received an award for having a 4.0 every quarter and a special award from her History teacher for "Student of the Year."  Olivia loves history and she loved her history teacher, so it was a very fitting award for her.

Sammie first received a sportsmanship award from the PE teacher for the last quarter of school.  We laughed about that because Sammie is not a good sport at home.  She can be, but not usually.

Then for the final awards assembly, she received her school letter for participating in school sports, having good grades, and getting good citizenship.  It was a lot of hard work, but she did it!  She also received a medal for being on the Principal's list all 4 quarters.

Abby got her 50 point AR tag which she was so thrilled about and from her teacher received the"Writing Wizard" award.  

I'm so glad that my girls do well in school.  It makes my life easier. 

Sammie's 4th Grade Performance

Sammie's 4th Grade performance was all about the "Wonders of the Earth."  The songs were so cute and we always are entertained watching Sammie sing her heart out.  She did great.  I love these performances that our school puts on.  They are simple, but all of the kids try their very best in them and they sing out so well.  The last day of school is tomorrow and it feels like so many things are going on right now.  My brain has been churning and thinking and thinking about how we are going to spend our time this summer.  I'm looking forward to a slower schedule.

American Girls Store: A 7 Year Old Tradition

 I remember taking Olivia to the American Girl Store for her 7th birthday and it seemed like such a big deal.  It was new and different.  I thought how fun it would be to do this for each of the girls when they turned 7.  And now here we are already with the last.  We took the girls out of school early on Friday to head down.  This was a real treat for them since we never get out of school to do something fun.  It was nice and quiet at The Grove for a change.  We were there before the evening crowd and not there for the Saturday crowd.  We didn't have any plans except for shopping at the American Girl store so we were able to relax and take our time.
Abby felt like a queen.  She had already decided that she wanted the doll, MaryEllen.  Now that we are reading the books, she is actually a lot like Abby.  Abby also had money from her Grandparents to spend at the store, so this really was an American Girls birthday.  She loves her new doll and really loves that she has matching pjs to wear with her.  It's been fun to see all of the girls excited about their dolls again.  Playing with their dolls is one of my favorite things to see and hear my girls doing.  After we meandered around the store for awhile, we wandered the book store and then ate at the Cheesecake Factory.  We enjoyed the fountain and live music before we hit the road to head back home.  It was a sweet afternoon with the family and I think Abby was pretty excited about the whole day.

Happy 7th Birthday Abby!

 Abby has been counting down for her seventh birthday since, well, her sixth birthday.  She feels like she has to wait so long for her birthday because it is at the end of the school year.  I remember when Abby was born.  Olivia was in kindergarten and I hauled my post c-section body and baby (with the help of my mom) to Olivia's last day of school festivities.  Abby has brought so much joy to our family.  She has such a great attitude and confidence in herself.  I hope that it will take her far in life and that she will always carry that confidence with her.  She tries and tries at things until she succeeds and is satisfied.
I just love talking with Abby.  She loves to chat and chat about anything and everything.  She has always been this way.  It's been great having her as the youngest.  She definitely keeps me on my toes and motivated.  She has a contagious energy about everything.  We love this girl!  Happy 7th Birthday!

Sunday Afternoon

Every now and then, when life is quiet and still I can just feel my Heavenly Father.  I know that He is watching over and I know that He is aware of every trouble that I have.  He is aware of my happiness and also my struggles.  He knows when I cry and when I need comfort.  These feelings always come to me in the simple moments.  Sometimes they are just fleeting feelings.  They come over me for just a moment and make me stop and think.  I'm grateful for these moments.  He knows how troublesome life can be for us and these moments when His Spirit whispers in my life are treasures.  I had one of those moments last Sunday.  Abby and I were sitting out on our little rocking bench and the thought just came to my mind that my Heavenly Father is ever aware of the things that I go through.  Abby was chatting away about the things that happened at church and the things she was learning.  My heart just seemed to fill to the top and spill over.  I felt that I was doing ok and not just ok, but far better than I felt I was doing.   I feel that motherhood is a constant feeling of "Am I doing enough for my children?"  I'm glad that my Heavenly Father lets me know that my best is enough.

Open House 2016

We had another successful Open House at the elementary school.  Sammie and Abby have both had great years and great teachers.  I kinda wish this year could just  keep going.  With our school being so large, sometimes it is hard to make friends each year.  By the end of the year, they are finally settled with a group of friends and then summer comes.  I have so many pictures with Abby and her friend, Mia.  Those two just can't get enough of each other.  I'm glad that they have been friends this year.  I feel like these school years are just going so fast!

Our Middle Schooler had Open House too.  We didn't take many photos, but she had lots of her art on display in the library.  I think she did great this year.

Abby's Super Exciting Field Trip

To say Abby was excited for her field trip is an understatement.  She was so excited that she woke up super early and had herself up and ready before Joey or I even had our eyes open.  

I woke up to a gentle tapping on my arm that just felt like Abby.  I feel like each of my girls have a different way of touching me to wake me up.  I knew immediately it was Abby.  At first I thought it was the middle of the night and she was waking me because she couldn't sleep.  As my eyes adjusted, she started blabbering away.  Then I noticed she was wearing a hat and she was saying, "I'm all dressed and I even have my shoes on already and I put the foot spray in my shoes.  I got my hat and all I have to do is make my lunch." (She had her whole outfit laid out the night before and had already labeled her lunch sack with her name, school, and teacher)  She just seemed to keep talking, "I think I've been up since 4 something because I came in here and I could hear dad snoring."

I encouraged her to get back in bed with me.  I think it was only 5am.  Joey had just gotten up and was in the shower.  She didn't last long sitting on my bed.

Her field trip was all of the fun that she hoped it would be.  They walked to the High School where there was an Ag event.  She got to ride a donkey and be in a group with her very favorite friends from her class.  She told me all about it when she got home--how the mile walk didn't even seem that long because they were having so much fun and how she walked so much that day.  Abby has more energy than anyone in our family combined.