Nicole has a goal to complete the Young Women's personal progress program by the end of the year, basically finishing it all in a year. This has taken a LOT of planning and work. She has been trying to teach Diana ukulele for one of the projects.
The school hosted a walk for a student with a difficult illness and many in her grade all dressed in purple to support the student.
John likes a big breakfast. This is a morning where he couldn't decide what to eat, it all looked so good!
Chocolate fondue! The service was SO slow that by the time we got to the fondue it was past my bedtime haha
Caleb was in a Church Newsroom photograph of when President Nelson visited Fiji!
End of school year cupcakes for teachers
More of same
I had the kids write notes to the individual teachers and give them a box of cupcakes. There were 20 boxes that went out! It was a lot of cupcakes.
The missionaries held a chapel tour and had youth by different paintings with a small part to share and their testimony. Nicole and Kiersten got the temple and really loved the opportunity to share their testimonies.
I loved seeing her in action at the tail end when I came to pick her up.
For Memorial Day we headed to Jordan Lake! Finally felt like summer was here! The weather was wonderful and the lake temperature just right. I tried stand up paddleboarding but between the wind, waves and wake from the many boats, it was a joke!
Jim watching Diana out on a kayak.
Found a shell!
Nicole knee boarding with her cousin! She had so much fun and her arms were like jelly after!
Love to see everything blooming in summer.
The kids version of corn hole is very entertaining. Katy magically beats me every time!
Josh came for a visit and got to watch the girls play volleyball!
We had the biggest hailstorm I've ever seen. The ground looked like it had snowed!
Nicole and her cousins playing volleyball on a Saturday after their games are done. They really love the sport.
I had my Valiant 10 class come over to make armor and go through a water obstacle course trying to stay protected.
They had a wonderful time being creative and we had a good gospel discussion after.
We had hot dogs and watermelon after to celebrate!
The girls wanted to document their beauty parlor. They love it when I make them twins with their hairstyle and when the dresses match too they are in heaven!
Diana's primary teacher made a craft and when Diana came home she wanted to make more of them! Very inspiring lesson :)
We had our laundry room moved back so the front loaders weren't sticking out into the hallway, plus the air duct opening wasn't right. Anyways, that meant over a week without laundry. Here was the lineup right after we were back in business!
End of school year field trip! These twins live across the street and are great friends with Diana.
End of soccer season! Since we had a concert that night we were glad they didn't get farther in the tournament and have to miss the games later that day.
All winter long we have learned new songs- we had 5 songs and learned 6 more! We've added more instruments and more difficult pieces that a year ago I would have said were impossible. The forecast said the day would be a total washout with a high percentage of bad thunderstorms. After much prayer that it wouldn't rain until 8pm, we feel it was a total miracle that the storms held off. Everyone had started leaving and when it hit 8pm the lightening and thunder went off and it started pouring!! Since we'd prepped for rain, our equipment was safe but it was amazing to see the literal answer to our prayers.
Jim even persuaded me to sing! I love being in the background so this is not easy, but loving music makes it fun.
I took this pic after we were done playing and had been talking for a while. Since there are 70 people in the pic, I'm guessing even more were there for the concert. What a fun time!
We sold snow cones and Nicole sold cookies she'd made.
Grandma Kathryn came for all of this end of year crazy. We loved having her there for the concert and for the awards assemblies the kids had.
I made this 10 inch chocolate cake for the teachers and it was gone before lunch. Guess I need to make a sheet cake style next time!
Diana's birthday cake. She had about 20 different iterations of cakes she wanted, and I can't tell you how happy I was with this simple design request.
Diana is rocking it this year in swim team. We've never been as fast as the year round swimmers so usually swim the heats. Diana wins first or second in every race for the main events! Her birthday makes her probably the oldest one in her age group and somehow her legs have a super powerful kick. In fact, the only race she always gets second in-breaststroke-has a different leg stroke.
Jacob cashed in with end of year awards. He is such an amazing young man and besides his good behavior and grades really is quite cute! Michael is like me- I never got awards either!
Nicole has started learning guitar! She is going to be part of her school's band- they have Modern Band- and is excited to learn more and contribute. She'll be doing drums, solos, ukulele, guitar, and duets. Stay tuned!
Roxy and Luke came to visit as well! It was such a joy to have Roxy visit, every single one of the kids wanted to be a part of whatever she was doing! Nicole also got a bunch of awards, she is so dependable for these teachers and just a good girl. One of the teachers pulled her and a handful of students aside and thanked them for being so good. That really meant a lot to Nicole and I loved hearing about that.
Roxy and Katy walking home from an assembly.
Roxy likes baking and Kathryn had some ideas so we had a lot of fun! These were churro cupcakes!
They got to choose the colors for their meringue cookies!
Diana had a habitat walkthrough and was so proud that her cousin came!
Diana absolutely loves her teacher. Her teacher Ms. Banda told me that Diana reminds her of herself at that age and that she wishes she could take her home. It has been such a blessing to have a teacher who embraces all that sugar and spice!
Field day fun!
Jim packing for the beach. Only the oldest four went with Jim, Kathryn, Luke and Roxy but John was quite interested in joining.
First and last days of school! They've really grown this year and I look forward to 5/6 being in school in August!
Diana is something else while camping!
They went to the Outer Banks
They caught lots of sharks, spot fish, and sting rays.
These two were sad to be missing the beach, but loved being able to go to the Pigfest! Beignets are a tradition for us to eat while waiting for the pig races to start.
Bounce toys and ball toss games.
Pretending to be a weatherman.
The best part for the kids is all the freebies. They garnered at least 5 pairs of sunglasses, bags, water misters, water bottles, a Hurricanes flag, and lots of other stuff. It was like Halloween :)
My favorite bag they got!
In preparation for my dad's birthday at our reunion, I made a peanut butter cup cake.
Poor kiddos have a very late tooth fairy!
Plus a vanilla strawberry cake!
A client's cake for a grandson's baptism.
Family reunion time! Marian and I split the shopping list- dry goods and dairy/produce/meat. Our half of the list completely filled Jim's truck!
Ready for action! I'd not been to the Outer Banks before. It was a longer drive than normal, but still under four hours. Because we had so much gear with the paddleboards, surfboards, kayaks, and fishing supplies we drove separately from Jim.
We made it with minimal stops and when I got to a pizza place right by the rental house I asked the waitress for the biggest pizza they had, and a salad for me. Someone eating nearby paid for our meal anonymously. It was SO kind of them and really started the trip off on a sweet note. Of course, after that the kids were still starving so I had to order another pizza :)
As soon as we unloaded, Nicole found a hammock!
Our first view of the ocean. I love that feeling- all of vacation ahead of me to look forward to and the smell of the ocean and feel of the sun!
We stayed a week in Kill Devil Hills at a beach house that fit over 30 people! The kids were never bored, the beach provides endless entertainment!
We checked out Jeanette's Pier nearby.
I've never seen so many skates (stingerless rays). The fishermen on the pier were NOT happy when they saw this huge group of them swimming past.
We ate at Jake's favorite OBX restaurant "Sam and Omie's" for dinner. So fresh- crab, shrimp, scallops, fish!
That night Jim set up for fishing with Jake.
Lots of tickly crabs that first night
After catching a ray! Nicole carried around the rubber mallet used to pound in the fishing pole stakes. I think she felt safer with it lol
Jim holding a crab. It pinched him pretty good, but Jim eventually was able to hold it and told the kids "look he's friendly now. anyone want to hold him?" Suprisingly no takers on that one!
Sunday after church we got a family picture! John was the wild card, but we managed to get a shot without any sticks or rocks!
Sunday lunch
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Family devotional time
The theme for the reunion was The Armor of God and Benjamin sang an incredible version of the song and Mom put on a great lesson for the kids. All week long they made armor out of cardboard.
Sunday was a wonderful time to learn from Grandma and Grandpa!
Each morning I felt compelled to rise with the sun. It was like I couldn't sleep in because I wanted to see the sun rise over the ocean and breathe in the newness of each day. So I would work out and Jim would go fishing. It was SO peaceful and really jumpstarted each morning.
We went down to Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and fished for a few hours. The drive was so scenic and more wild.
I like how you can cast your line and play in the sand while waiting for a bite. Jake caught 3 sea mullet and Devin caught 1. All the adults caught nothing :)
Jim stayed with the youngest two since he'd already hike the lighthouse.
The 12 stories was a lot of stairs and Nicole led the way with me bringing up the rear. She never stopped and it was quite the hike!
The view was incredible! The wild land and absolute beauty of creation was breathtaking.
By the time we got to the bottom it was interesting to see my legs were a little shaky/jumpy!
On the way back we stopped at where Jim and Brandon took kiteboarding lessons and go to watch someone go out. It looked so hard! I had tuna steak fajitas and they were incredible!!
A morning fishing session while I get to working out. Jim and I loved this time together. It was like a different world from the family beach days- both of which we love!
Friendly crab on our way back to the beach house to get the day started.
We visited Roanoke Island Festival Park! They had a ship just like the early settlers had. I cannot fathom being "Brave" enough to cross the ocean in one of those!
The blacksmith gave Mike a nail he made right in front of us. It was a hot day and his job was not easy!
Diana doing a little woodworking
John taking a rest, it was so hot that even he wanted a breather!
Doing the hokey pokey together.
All the cousins lined up oldest to youngest. I'm proud to say NC still holds the greater number of grandchildren 12-6 :)
John loved tracing the route of early voyages to Roanoke
The hands down favorite part of the museum for the kids was this fishing boat. They played here with great excitement for 45 minutes nonstop at quite a loud volume.
Making armor in preparation for the "Armor-geddon"
Another picture perfect morning.
Peace for the soul.
Joe came out Wed morning and he and Jim went kayaking to fish. No bites since it's just not a great time of year to fish, but they had a great time.
We visited Jockey Ridge state park to fly kites! Such cool vegetation.
It was a bit of a hike but just fine so early in the day.
The soft sand made it hard for John, who at this point decided crawling would be faster than walking for him!
The kids went ahead of us ridge after ridge!
The sand got super hot as we were leaving at about 10.
Michael surfing!
John would hit the waves with the shovel.
Katy loved throwing the boat as far as she could and watching the waves bring it back to shore.
Jim very patiently gave surf lessons to Diana and Jacob. They each caught waves in, although Diana did have a head over heels wipeout that she was not happy about!
All ready for battle! The adults threw balled up paper at the kids and we didn't really get them until Grandma made them take some armor off. Great lessons and lots of fun!
John all tuckered out from a long day. I didn't bother with naptime but some days he just crashed.
He did wake up for ice cream but it was slow going haha
Katy loves her Grandpa.
Diana was very happy to have ice cream 20 minutes before dinner haha
Hawaiian music and dancing with Nicole playing ukulele in the background. They were so cute and Diana wants to wear her grass skirt everywhere!
Jim took Nicole, Kaitlin and Kiersten to Girls Camp on Thursday morning, so that was the end of my early morning workouts. But the sunrises were gorgeous as ever.
They made it to camp!
We visited the Wright Brothers Memorial and had fun learning about the absolute determination and perseverance that made the way for flight.
Site of the first flight.
I had the kids run from the start all the way to the first four flights markers. It was quite the run and pretty hot!
We then hiked the long hike to the memorial and it was so hot but they did it!
View back from where we came. Right about now was when Katy said she had to use the restroom, but the closest one was back at the museum. Love it.
Ice cream with the cousins!
Friday morning was so beautiful.
The water temperature was much cooler at the start of the week but was perfect for most of the trip. The wind was light and the surf was perfect for boogie boarding.
We treated the family to Duck Donuts on Friday morning. Yum!
On the last day, we were at the beach from 8am-5pm, with a short break for lunch. The kids play so hard it's wonderful, and sweet Johnny boy totally crashed right around 3:45, he fell asleep sitting up!
It was so fun to have a pool to swim in as well. Many long games of Marco Polo with Uncle Brandon will be a memory for sure!
Saturday sunrise before I started cleaning and packing up.
My parents gave Diana money to contribute to her mission fund. She wrote them the sweetest thankyou note.
So that was our last 6 weeks. Whew! Love this family of mine and all of our adventures.
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