My birthday and the last day of school

Since Sophie's birthday is in the summer, we decided to celebrate it at school on the last full day...which happened to be my birthday! It was fun to visit her class, as always. It is so hard to believe this little lady is going to be 5 and in kindergarten in less than 3 months!!

She has absolutely loved her teachers these past two years!  Mrs Solem is giving Sophie her certificate of completion in this little picture.  She also taught Weston his second year of pre-school and has interacted with Sophie on a daily basis for almost 3 years!

Mrs. Kimball has also been wonderful!

For the past couple of weeks, Jason kept asking what I wanted to do on my birthday, to which I kept responding, "see the young women!" I have missed them so much.  Luckily, I got invited to join the Laurels that night for mutual, which was so much fun! Rebecca, Emily, Makenzie, Kaitlan, Kira and Cami were all there at Jaime Wolff's house.  There was food and games, but mostly just visiting and reminiscing.

These two beauties are about to graduate from high school, so it was their last activity in Young Women's after 6 years.  I was so happy I got to be there with them.

Earlier in the day I was pleasantly surprised by a few visitors!  Curtis came by with some pasteries (gluten free) and a nice gift. After that I literally had visitors all day!  I was so spoiled.  The Crowthers brought me these beautiful lilies (and a gift card to my favorite restaurant)! 

The mini roses are from the Wolff's, and the beautiful daisy plant is from Julie!  Katie also dropped by with a lovely gift.  I am truly surrounded by wonderful friends!

The next day, June 4, was the last day of school.  Sophie's class did a water play day, so me and Brighton joined in on the fun.  Here are just a couple of Sophie's friends.  I love the sassy hands on her hips pose she's got going on in these pics.  That stance pretty much sums up her  no-nonsense attitude!

After Sophie's pre-k was dismissed, we headed over to Weston's class, which was watching Frozen and eating ice cream.  Brighton knocked over a bottle of sprinkles...but at least he was helpful and tried to sweep them all up!

Once Weston spent a moment sitting in the stroller, every kid in his class wanted to try it too...and they all wanted me to take their pictures!

This last gem was actually from my birthday, I believe, but I just had to include it...little Brighton looking like such a big boy!  He fell asleep watching Curious George, and believe me when I say that I really didn't want to move him!                                                                

And now that school is over, bring on summer!

A few little events

 On April 25th, Sophie had a field trip to visit a fire station.  Since Weston never got to do that when he was in preschool, I decided to let him leave school a little early to join us.  I'd love to say that it was an amazing tour and that we all learned a ton, but actually there were so many kids and parents there that it was hard to hear what was being said half the time! 

 Sophie and her classmates listening attentively...

 Taking a selfie with this little stud!

 Brighton was a little intimidated and extremely intrigued by the big, huge fire engine! 

 Sophie with her class in front of the fire engine

 If I want a picture with my kids, I usually have to take it myself...I really like this one of me and Brighton.  I especially love the way he is cutely gazing at me!

 So, the last Sunday in April we had some very special friends, the Beckstrands, visit us from Utah.  It was SO MUCH fun to see them!  Here is a pic of Sophie holding their newest addition:

 The next morning we did breakfast buffet and then the park later that day.  Why I didn't get a single pic of me and my awesome friend, Jolee, I will never know!  But here are a few of the kiddos:

 I love the candid expression is on Weston's face.  It's not often that I capture a real, un-posed moment like this on camera!

 Brighton really keeps me on my toes!  This kid is an adventurer.  Everything intrigues him; nothing scares him (except loud noises). He is 17 months old and I am absolutely LOVING this age with him (even though he has broken half the things in our house)!

 How can you be mad at a kid that gives you a look like that!?  His playful little smile is the BEST!

 Is this one great, or what!

 A few snapshots of Sophie and Brighton in the back yard...she likes to shuttle him around on her tricycle, which he likes, despite the high frequency of falls that result!

 That evening after we had been at the park with the Beckstrands, Jason, I, and the kids all went to the single's ward FHE.  The bishop was having everyone over to roast marshmallows and socialize (oh, and I think there was a spiritual thought in there somewhere, too)!  Jason normally goes every week to the FHE activity, but this one seemed like something we could all go to as a family.  Of course, we didn't consider in advanced the potential danger of having a curious and fearless toddler around three different fire pits!  Fortunately, Brighton has a new friend who was happy to hold him for nearly 2 hours!!  Jonathan is going to make some girl very happy and be an amazing father to boot.  I am glad I didn't have to worry about Brighton that night.  Meanwhile, Weston stuffed his face with an obscene number of roasted marshmallows, Sophie roasted marshmallows for everyone who would let her, and I actually got to visit with people!  All around it was a great evening.

 

 
The first Saturday in May, we surprised the kids by taking them to Disney on Ice!  Jason's dad got us tickets, and we decided to make it a surprise...as an added bonus, when we arrived, Grandpa was there already!  It was SO much fun.  I was blown away by the ice dancing.  It was truly impressive.

 

 Sophie with her Beauty and the Beast rose...

 Since Uncle Chris was in town, he came over for dinner that night.

 Sophie loves to dance with anyone who will dance with her!

 Uncle Chris is very loved in our home.  Can you tell?

 The next morning was Sunday, and the kids asked us to stay in our bedroom for a little while because they had something they were preparing for us.  For about 45 minutes we could hear them plotting and planning what they were going to do to make breakfast special...by decorating the table with tissue paper (although they did initially consider taping it to the walls or hanging it from the ceiling).  They also put together little gift bags for us, and we each had a plastic egg with a note inside that said "I love you mom" or "I love you dad."  Breakfast consisted of bananas, apples, string cheese, chips and cookies.  It was absolutely precious.  They were SO VERY excited about what they had done for us!

Sophie is super picky about her hair, so a lot of times I take a picture of it from the back to show her how pretty it actually looks.  She is always happy with it, but then proceeds to mess it up within minutes...so sometimes I'm not sure why I even bother!

Jason's dad got the kids a program book from Disney on Ice which they have loved looking through - over and over and over again!  Brighton especially loves to look at all the characters and thinks Pumba (the Warthog from Lion King) is a dog.  He will spend 10 minutes searching for the picture of him in the book and then excitedly proclaim, "Dog! Dog! Dog!" 

The other day as Sophie was watching Curious George, I realized that Brighton had become quiet...surprisingly, I found him relaxing on a big comfy chair, snuggling a baby doll and falling asleep while watching TV!  I thought it was pretty cute.

Brighton has had so many firsts lately.  I am thoroughly enjoying him, although he does usually give me a few mini heart attacks every day. :)