Happy 3rd of July!!!

Many thanks to my fabulous Holman family for gathering in Gilbert for our epic 3rd of July Party (since many of us had plans with others on the 4th of July.) Fun was had. Chickens were fed. Water balloons were tossed. All in all, it was the best 3rd of July Party I've ever been to.

 I learned form my mom that to make any family trip/vacation legit, all you need to do is have matching shirts. Done.  Our crew was joined by Preston's girlfriend. We debated wether to have her shirt read "3A" or "3 1/2" but just decided "3" would be easiest. Team Preston.

The party was at my sisters new ranch dream house. She boards courses, and Norman loved feeding the horses and chickens. My lovely carrot giving sister.

He also found a drum set. I think his cousin might be giving him pointers.

Water ballon toss. My mom was about to catch a balloon that was lobbed pretty high.

What a lucky picture. Taken milliseconds after the balloon exploded on my mom. Fantastic!

My darling nieces showing me a Grasshopper.

Gathering around to pet the kitten.

And people think i'm the nutter in this relationship.

I love that it looks like both Calvin nd Preston are Ryan's shoulder angels.  Which son is more likely to be whispering to their father "Make this silly face!"..?

My twin and her two oldest daughters.

My brother. He likes to make that face at dusk.

Mom and Dad, rocking their 3rd of July outfits.

The expression on my sister in laws face makes me wonder what my brother is saying...

Night swimming.  What an excellent set-up, with a covered hot tub cave, doubling as the waterfall, tripling as the cliff jumping point. Epic night with fantastic people.

Calvin Says Goodbye to MP Junior High

After three wonderful years of partying at Mueller Park Junior High, Calvin Smith is headed to greener pastures. He enjoyed band, track, walking to school, his engineering, english woodworking and art classes. During his 7th to 9th years, I personally enjoyed his kind nature, calm demeanor, honest and forthright work ethic, and the note he left me regarding his complete an total loathing of German Pancakes. It was seriously a work of art. I have it saved, but don't have a picture of it on hand... Calvin is now taller than me, can eat a double bacon cheeseburger in one small bound, and is loved fiercely by all of his siblings. He's not a regular guy.

Following the promotion ceremony, the kids had an epic dance party, complete with matching t-shirts. My good friend headed up the promotion committee and she nailed it. Black light dance party.

Good times. Calvin with one of his best pals.

Unlike most students who transitioned from jr high to high school this summer, this particular group experienced a fellow classmate in their grade, shooting a 12 gauge pump action shotgun in their school in December. It happened during Calvin's first period, in his science class room. Thank heaven (literally) there were no injuries, and the situation was contained rather quickly. It was a sobering day. Calvin was interviewed by the news after being interviewed by FBI. Mercy. Just to make it official, I'm not a huge fan o guns.

He's the handsome one in the white shirt and skinny black tie.

Calvin shaking hands with the vice principal.

What a guy!

Graduation Pics

Preston's High School Graduation from Woods Cross in Bountiful Utah on June 2nd at 1:00pm was an event that will forever be celebrated, and therefore must be properly documented.  Here goes.

He did his announcement all on his own, handsome boy!

He gets his braces off in a few months. Until then, we're not going to see a smile with teeth.

My parents came into town for the special day, so the ladies went to get our nails done to celebrate.

Pictured above: My mom, me, Annie, and Abby (Belle in the schools musical "Beauty and the Beast" that won best in state, Preston's smoking hot girlfriend, a graduating senior, and an all around high quality individual.)

My parents with their 2nd oldest grandchild: Preston Edward Albert Smith. He's holding up a new journal... what will those pages contain over the next few years?!

I made the sign! And the boy in it! From 6lb12oz to the giant he's become.

Decorations mean you really care.

He sang in the choir which put him near the front of the ceremony, and had him sitting close to friends. Lucky.

After the graduation.

Preston and Abby. I seriously love this picture.

The whole crew (minus our Norman, who's two, and won't be invited to events of import for another 2.8 years, a policy which is set in stone.)

Proud parents.

Good looking crew.

Love my oldest man-cub!

Happy, hungry kids! Let's go eat!

Last Song

Preston Edward Albert Smith made the most of the arts during his high school years.  Choir wasn't always his most favorite class, but he loved to sing, and especially loved the friendships he made (and the trip to CA didn't hurt either.) As an interesting side note, his choir teacher, Mr. H, isn't just an amazing teacher, he's also the voice of a movie production tarzan yell... at least that's the legend.

4th from the left. Pensive look. Excellent posture.

Choir of 32 members, all exceptionally good looking and all the children are above average.

Preston with his best pals.

Their casual choir clothes.

Ryan, Preston and Abby. Final song, and some tears were shed.

These two have the voices of angels.

Permit Passing Party

My fabulous son, Calvin, is now a proud permit carrying member, which grants him the privilege of driving an automobile, whilst being heavily supervised (and cheerleaded) by his legal guardians. What a red letter day! In a little over 6 months, that permit can morph into a bona fide drivers license. Pretty dang exciting. Well done Calzone!

Thumbs up. Waiting in line to get his permit printout.

Celebrating at Panda Express.

Seemed like the right thing to do.

Uninvited Campout on Mother's Day Weekend

Instead of being avid campers, we're not. In an effort to give moms the weekend off (I'm guessing), our congregation planned a campout for mother's day weekend. Fathers and kids were invited (which basically meant moms were uninvited.) But since we hardly ever go camping I totally wanted to join in the fun. Ryan assured me that a few moms usually come anyways, so I decided to join my herd. Long story short, I was the only woman in sight, and felt out of place and entirely ridiculous.  We played games for a bit, hiked around a bit, and cooked some hot dogs and smores. Even though it was mid May, it was still pretty chilly. After dinner, Norman and I headed home to sleep in our own warm beds.  As long as I live, I will never crash a Dad and kids campout ever again... and I will always support family campouts, you know, where the entire family is invited:~)

Simon setting up the tent. We forgot to bring our stakes, so he whittled some sharp sticks and stuck them into the ground. MacGyver. It was crazy windy. so the tent would not have stayed in place without his help.

So many friends to play with.

Look at all those dogs! We brought brats.  There is something magical about the taste of a brat cooked over a campfire in the fresh open air.

Norman loved the cliff with sand and sticks and other boys playing king of the hill.

Mother's Day was lovely bc I got to spend the day with my children. I missed being close to my mom, but was glad I would get to see her in just a few weeks for Preston's high school graduation.

My family gave me many treasures, but this doll was a highlight.

I've made a New Year's resolution to swear more. I think it's just so touching that my family is trying to help me keep my goals.

Belated Birthday Boy

My 4th son is officially 9... as of May:~) He loves baseball, watching basketball with his Dad, took piano lessons this year, just finished his 4th year in our elementary school's Chinese immersion program (Mandarin) and is basically a fantastic person. Of all my 6 children, Owen was the only one eager enough to come to our family arriving 3 weeks before his due date, and is actually usually early/on time in general. He's a high quality individual, and I'm super glad that I get to be his mum. Happy birthday, Owen!

His birthday request: breakfast in bed.

Pancakes, bacon, strawberries, scrambled eggs, and milk in a goblet.

9 years old is going to rock.

His class was assigned to do a presentation titled "I'm an expert" where each student taught the class about something they know how to do well. Owen taught the class how to turn themselves into a turkey using a sweater with a hood. Basically, I could not have been prouder. Gobble, gobble, Owen. Gobble. Gobble.

End of the year class field trip to the nearby park for popsicles and play time.

10 points to Owen for sharing his popsicle with his younger brother. What a guy!

Baseball season went very well. He was even invited to play on the Allstar team after the regular season.  

Piano recital. He played the song from memory and did us all very proud.

Happy belated Birthday handsome. My this year bring you many chicken tenders from Chick-Fil-A!