May- Week 3- Nelson Fam Party, Mary, Swim Lessons, Mantua, My BD

Monday, we attended the monthly Nelson Family BD party celebrating MAY birthdays (that's me!). :)  The weather and traffic made attendance pretty low, but it was still a fun evening!  

Tuesday, one of my best friends (since 4th grade!), Mary, came for a visit from Maryland!   She brought her sweet 3.5 year old daughter and some delicious Kneaders for lunch.  I so loved talking with her and catching up!  

 Wednesday, I went visiting teaching and got visit taught.  Dan was also in a little car accident.  An older gentleman was making a U-turn and Dan was apparently in his blind spot when he made the turn. Just a little whiplash, but thankfully Dan was fine.

 Thursday, the kids had their last day of swim lessons.  I was pleasantly surprised by how much Ben improved.  McKenna is still quite timid when she gets in water where she can't touch.  But overall, they had a great experience!  The rock climbing pictures were after the lessons.  

 Funny story about Anna.  I got out of the shower one day and it was really quiet.  Ben was watching a show and I noticed Anna's bedroom door was closed.  I opened it to find her sitting reading books and snuggling her blanket with her binki in.  She knows she is only supposed to have her binki and blanket IN her crib when it's time to sleep.  Busted! The room also smelled like she had pooped and she waved at me and said in her own little words, "Go -way."  Such a funny little peanut.  She also continues to have a love for "heh-bans" (headbands) as you can see by her wearing 4 and holding another 3.  

Friday, we went up to Mantua with 4 other families from our ward, the Jensens, Roths, Lewises, and Walkers.   The kids had a blast playing with each other; we hardly ever saw McKenna and Ben!  The evening everyone arrived, we had pizza and some were brave enough to go swimming even though the temperature outside was in the upper 60s.

Notice the jackets.

Saturday was even colder with more rain, so we tried to do fun indoor things, like painting nails while listening to Disney songs.  :) 

There were also Ranger rides.  

More time with friends.

Saturday also happened to be my 31st Birthday and Ryan Jensen's birthday as well!  So I bought myself an ice cream cake and our friends sang to us.  

These cute sisters had a selfie session!

Saturday, after cleaning up at Mantua, we headed home and my sister babysat while Dan and I went on a birthday date!  We had dinner at Farmington Station (Parkstone Wood Kitchen), then a little shopping, and then we ran errands to look for some bedding for Anna for her big girl bed.  

May- Week 4- Memorial Day, Gymnastics Show, Field Day, BD date

Sunday after church we headed back up to Mantua for Memorial Day with the Webster Fam.  After a BBQ dinner we took a rainy walk to the cemetery to visit Dan's Webster Grandparents.  

It started raining pretty steadily on the way back to the house.  Some people still walked, some rode in cars.  We saw a beautiful rainbow too!  We also celebrated May birthdays, so I opened some presents and blew out candles.  :)  The kids stayed up way too late playing, watching movies, and singing "Let It Go!" for us.  We also played Farkle and I won!!  

Lovely picture of me, eh?

Monday, Memorial Day, we ate breakfast, the kids played, and we pretty much tried to kill time to see if it would warm up enough to go swimming.  

Anna loves playing with her baby cousins!  

Some went for walks around the lake.  

It did finally warm up to the high 60s* low 70s*.  Many went swimming, though I sat this one out.  

There were ranger rides to the "candy" store too.  

 We cleaned up and left around 3:30.  The kids were certainly worn out on the drive home.  ;) 

The rest of the day at home was yard work, grocery shopping, a little laundry, and an early bedtime for all of us.  

Tuesday, I had a doctor's appointment and all looked well.  That evening, McKenna had a gymnastics show/demonstration.  She did great!  (I'm kind of relieved we're taking a break from gymnastics for the Summer. ;))  

Check out her bars routine here.

Floor routine here.

Vault routine here.

(I only got pictures of her beam routine.  No video.)

Awards here.     

As per McKenna's request, we celebrated at ColdStone.  Yummm!

Wednesday we went to the park with cousins.  In the evening, Dan's mom came to babysit so I could attend the combined YM/YW activity with Dan (they invited the Bishopric wives).  They played fun games and had a chocolate fountain for refreshments.  Later that night, Dan and I spent about an hour filling almost 200 water balloons for McKenna's field day the next day. Gotta get those volunteer hours somehow. ;) 

Thursday, I volunteered at McKenna's school Field Day.  

For one of the stations, the students got to throw water balloons at their teacher.  BUT, if she caught it, she was allowed to throw it back at them.  McKenna's teacher just kind of tossed whatever she caught back into the crowd.  

That evening, Dan had a few appointments, so I pawned Ben off to a neighbor and took the girls to a wedding reception for our sister-in-law's sister.  A very lovely event with Ugurt catering!  :) 

Friday, Dan's parents took us out for my birthday date.  We went to dinner at Farmington Station again (this time Twigs Bistro).  Then we went to Hokulia for their grand opening luau!  

They had some shave ice eating contests and some professional hula dancers.



Both Dan and I enjoyed helping with the audience participation.  

Saturday, we did more yard work, grocery shopping, then headed to a reunion with a few of Dan's good friends from the Institute Council when he was at UVU.  McKenna came down with a mysterious fever that night, so I stayed home from church with her the next day.  

Anna started quoting me..."What the heck?" : /  Pretty cute though.  ;) 

Sunday evening, we had dinner at my siblings' apartment.  I captured this nice squish-face snuggle from Anna. 

May- Week 2- Mother's Day, Preschool Grad/Zoo, Hike, McK Concert/7 Continents

Ben has been crawling under our bed lately and he found Dan's remote control helicopter, so Dan's been teaching him how to fly it.  It's all fun and games until it gets too close to your head/hair.  

 Sunday-Mother's Day!  This is Dan's mom and dad loving the new picture of all the grandkids! 

30 Weeks Pregnant!  

 Here are some of my cute notes/cards I got from the kids.  They both wrote they really like it when I "play with them."  

 They were so cute and took me in the (at the time) empty bedroom, set me up with a pillow and blanket, then gave me my presents.  I got a new step stool, a Family Home Evening job chart, and this poster decorated with each member of our family. 

And these beautiful flowers!  I also got to FaceTime with my mom down in Chile.  I'm so thankful for her and all she sacrificed/sacrifices to be a wonderful mother and grandma!  

(A little out of order)  Tuesday, Dan took McKenna on a hike with the Young Women of the ward.  They are "training" for their bigger hike they will do during their summer camp.  

 

Monday, we had lunch with Dan at his office.  We like to do this about every 3 or 4 months... just enough time for his co-workers to forget how disruptive we can be to their work day. ;) 

That evening we hosted Ben's preschool buddies and their families for dinner and a little graduation ceremony.  We watched a slideshow of all the pictures we took throughout the year.  It was so fun to be their teacher (every three weeks) and see him love his letters and love learning.  

 

 

 We also discovered the "dubsmash" app. :) 

Tuesday, while Dan was on the hike, we helped babysit the YW President's son which happens to be one of Ben's preschool friends.  They had fun with our dress-ups.  And miss Anna was acting a little like McKenna Jr. "talking" on her phone and having some princesses talk to each other.  

Wednesday, I ran a bunch of errands and in the afternoon the kids played outside with friends a lot.  

Thursday, we had our last preschool event-- a Zoo day!  They loved the dinosaur displays.  

I loved seeing Ben try to put up "two fingers" so he could touch the back of a turtle's shell.  And the train ride is always a favorite! 

Thursday evening McKenna had a Spring concert.

"Can't Spell Hippopotamus"

 

McKenna even had a little speaking part.  She thanked her parents for choosing LPA (Legacy Prep Academy), "I love learning here." Then she asked everyone to exit through the East doors. :)  Everyone got a good laugh about that.  

Then we headed to a "soft opening" for Dan's brother's shave ice shack, Hokulia, in Sugar House.  It was so delicious!  Can't wait to go there all the time this Summer! 

 Dan's also been working on this project in our yard.  We want to turn this "flower bed" (really a weed bed) into grass.  So the railroad tie border needed to be pulled out first.  Thanks to LOTS of sweat and pain and help from a few neighbors it's done!
Before

After

Now to fill in the trenches, grade, and grass!

 This was Anna's set-up one day while I was getting ready for the day.  I gave her the pillow, but she brought everything else: books, blanket, and milk.  

Other cute pictures of Anna: She's been asking more frequently for a book to read in her crib.  One day when I went to get her up from her nap, she was just chillin', waiting patiently and reading.  

 Friday, I got to volunteer at McKenna's school for the Kindergarten 7 Continents Culminating Activity.  I volunteered to be in charge of the Australia station.  The kids had a "passport" and a suitcase for souvenirs.  I gave the kids a paper boomerang to color and I made some "Anzac Biscuits" (cookies) for the kids to try.  I was surprised at how many of them turned down the cookies.  (History: They became popular in Australia during war time because their ingredients were inexpensive and easy to find.  They're made with honey, coconut, oats, butter, brown sugar... but no eggs.) *The bottom picture is from the night of McKenna's Spring Concert/art extravaganza.  This was her art that was on display.  It's a beautiful fish! 

Friday evening, we had a lovely family night with dinner and a movie.  

Saturday, I had another all-day class for teacher relicense points and then we had pizza and finished the movie we started the night before.  

Sunday, after church, naps, and a nacho dinner, we went for a walk around the neighborhood and delivered some treats to some neighbors.