Just cute

Bailey and Kayla decided to bathe the dogs and then have a dog fashion show.


The cat really liked this balloon.


So she carried it around for awhile.

Brownies Investiture

The Brownie's End of Year ceremony was touching, sweet and especially important to our family as Kayla made her investiture.
She recited the Girl Scout Promise and Girl Scout Law and was pinned!
Grandma and Papa came to see it.
My favorite part was when Kayla's Girl Scout buddy grabbed her hand and whispered, "Good Job Kayla!" and then held her hand the rest of the time.
So sweet!

a week in review

Kayla lost her 5th tooth!


Collin is a Dragon Slayer! He started a Reading Club that meets on Mondays with a retired reading specialist. It's a group of 5 to 7 year olds that runs in 9 week sessions. This session is "How to Train Your Dragon" themed. Miss Kathy reads to them from the book and does comprehension exercises. They do a fun craft and then she works with each kid individually at their reading level. They have two books a week to work on at home. We hit the jackpot with this teacher!


I started reading this book and it is teaching me SO much. We saw Lisa speak at our church and now I am doing a mini book club discussion with a good friend.
I feel like I've been given the tools to be a better friend to my friends while also learning to stop putting energy in to friends who don't give back.
Friendship is give and take, not just GIVE. It is amazing what happens when you start nurturing friendships with people who really care about you.


Kayla had her costume fitting for Annie Get Your Gun. Very exciting day!


My friend Brandi made a skirt for Kayla out of material that Kayla picked out.
We love it and love that she took the time to make it for her!


Arizona Golden Retriever Rescue brought us a much anticipated Golden for us to foster. Marley was adorable, sweet and cuddly. And absoultely AGGRESSIVE with other dogs. After much snapping he finally bit Abby. Our introduction and getting to know eachother time ended abruptly and the sweet women from the Arizona Golden transport team took Marley away to another foster home without dogs. Wouldn't you know that we are the first case in all of AZ Golden Rescue history where a Golden attacked another dog.

Dolly Steamboat

We spent a beautiful Sunday in Canyon Lake on the Dolly Steamboat.
We were surrounded by amazing scenery, canyon walls, caves and some wildlife.
In particular, the blue heron and big-horn sheep were fun to see.
The guys enjoyed a couple of beers on deck and we all relaxed and took in the day.

June fun

Kayla caught her first fish!


Just a cute couple in love...


More love...


Cute lil' swimmers


Pool fun


Lego Robotics camp


Peach picking



My fresh peach pie

Out of Africa

Out of Africa park was wonderful. Every now and again I like to get away with just the kids. No computer, phone calls or people I know around us.
It's my way of freezing time and just staring at them.
We relaxed and played in Prescott and spent the night there.
The next morning we hit the road and went to the Out of Africa Park.
Wow- zeebras walked right up to us, giraffes stuck their necks in to our bus.
We watched hyenas laugh and tigers chase grown men in to the water.
The kids ended the day with feeding tigers.
It was truly an incredible amazing fantastic out of this world experience!

Fishing

Memorial Day weekend was full of relaxation, fun and friends. We had two dinner parties with family and friends. And on Sunday we went up to the mountains and went fishing. Little did we know that we'd create a fishing monster.
Kayla fell in love with the sport and she begs to go every day now!
Collin enjoyed himself too but he had more fun chasing bugs, cutting bait and exploring. :) We enjoyed the beautiful location we found off the side of a road. There was shallow water for the kids to play in (and get soaked in) and we fished off a little cliff with a waterfall. One of the nice things about Arizona is the fact that you can drive from our heat and resort-like towns to rustic mountains and CO type weather in an hour! We love Strawberry and Payson.

Our preschool graduate

We are so proud of everything Collin has accomplished this past year at preschool.
He loves his teachers and he has made wonderful friends. He is reading and tackling concepts that have him so very prepared for school.
Most of all the character that his preschool ingrained in him is priceless.
We were so sad to say goodbye to Miracle of Minds Preschool but so excited to congratulate our new kindergartner.
With the help of Kayla and my friend Brandi, we got the cars and the house decorated and ready for our preschool celebration party. We had fresh lemonade, snacks, pizza and cupcakes on the way. The preschoolers sang some songs and received "awards" and then we had our tearful goodbyes. We headed back to our house for the party and just as we walked in the door Collin ran, tripped and hit his face on the train table which turned out to be a bloody mess. So I had him at urgent care getting stitches (just one thankfully) while the party went on. The kids were so nice when we returned and took turns playing and sitting with him since he couldn't go in the pool. The Moms were all very helpful and sympathetic and somehow the day turned out to be great after all!

The kids sang some sweet songs.


Collin holding his diploma.


I think Kayla cried harder than anybody.


We had lots of fun with window paints!



Lots of people fit under my umbrella. I love it!


The stains did not come out of his swimshirt so we saved it in his memory box. :)


After a couple of days of healing