The end of another school year

May 2009

The school year is wrapping up for the girls. This year they both got to go to Idaho Arts Charter School. Katlyn was in the orchestra, they both had dance classes, art and drama. Of course they had the other, not so fun classes like math, science etc.. But they seem to have really done well this year. I am so proud of how hard they work and all that they have learned. I really feel that this school has been a blessing for them both.

Katlyn's orchestra had their final concert in the park in Nampa. It was a nice out door amphitheater. They played a few songs and it was a beautiful evening. The week after that Katlyn's class did a class play as a project for the 13 Colonies. They did a real cute skit and lots of songs and dancing.

MacKinzie's 1st grade class "went on a trip to South Africa". They learned about the country they would be traveling to, got their required "7 shots" and "passports".

This was such a fun project for the kids! Each kid was then assigned a region of South Africa and did a report on that region. MacKinzie did a book on Namibia. Last night they had a "museum" setup with all the 1st and 2nd graders' projects in the multipurpose room. Then we went out on the lawn and the kids sang about 5 songs with the South Africa theme. It was a lot of fun! The girls are so lucky to being going to a small school in a large town with talented teachers!

Memorial Day Weekend - CJ Strike

May 22, 2009

Our first camping trip of the year! We went to CJ Strike. It's about an hour and 20 minutes from my house. We didn't take the kids on our first trip out, but we missed not having them there. We did take Kaiser, and he was such a good "camp dog"! We got there Friday night and set up camp. The camp sites are new, so the grass hasn't had a chance to grow yet, actually I don't think it's been planted yet. They did have REAL restrooms, that was one of the only accommodations I asked for! Of course the camp ground was PACKED with people! Saturday Charlie, my friend Jamie's boyfriend, rented a party barge for us for the day. We cruised around the lake, some fished and others swam. Jamie and I took a little hike on one of the shores, until we saw a rattle snake! I had never seen one in the wild before! We got back on the boat quickly! Sorry, no pictures of that! That night we had Shish Kabob's for dinner and Smores for dessert! The next day we rented a ski boat and did some tubing. That was fun! The water was VERY COLD, but who cares! We were out on the water! Tony and I went out for a spin on the tube. It was a lot of fun! Charlie took it easy on everyone to be sure we had fun, thank you, Charlie! It was a lot of fun! I had to talk Jamie into getting on the tube, she hadn't done it before. By the time we were half way done with our ride, we were both laughing and standing in the tube!

That night the storm started rolling in again. The last night I didn't sleep for more than a few hours. I was worried first about the "neighbors" who were up very late having a party and being loud, until Tony had to "politely" ask them to keep it down. Then the wind was a steady gust all night long. I had to get up a few times to see if the tents outside were still there, and if we were still in the campground. So when we saw what we were in for again Sunday night, we rushed off the lake and packed up camp. I told Tony we should have timed ourselves! I'm sure we set a record! We were out of there and back home by 6:30 Sunday night. That gave us time to get a shower, a movie, BBQ our dinner and get a restful night's sleep!

Monday was another "yard work" day! We got the yard mowed, the camper put away and the pool set up! I think we are both ready for the week to start so we can recover from our weekend!

Another busy weekend

May 2, 2009














We had another busy weekend. It started off mid-morning with MacKinzie's birthday party. She had 11 kids here for the party! We played games, hit the pinata, opened gifts, and had cake and ice cream! Everyone had fun!




Then we had just enough time to get the house cleaned up before we were out the door and headed to Meridian. There we stood out in the rain for about an hour until the "Take Charge Wedding Proposal" started. We had lots of friends and family there to support me and my other friends in the contest. Tanya, Jamie, Rena and I were all selected as contestants. Once the contest finally started, it only lasted about 5 SECONDS! I didn't win the ring, but I think I won the cake fight.... maybe not.





After the cake fight was over we headed home to BBQ with the family. Grandpa Young, Ron & Penny, Stephanie & Jerry, Mom & Dad were all there by the time we finally go home! I took a quick shower and then went to help get everything ready for dinner. It was wonderful! We had the best chicken, marinated and cooked by Tony, potato salad (Penny makes the best!), broccoli salad, beans (by Mom & Dad), fruit and dip (Stephanie's special) and yep, more cake and ice cream!

Sunday was a little more relaxed, kind of....we at least stayed home and enjoyed the sunshine, when it was out. Tony put together Grayson's Basketball hoop while the kids rode bikes, collected "rolley pollies" (the are actually bugs, but don't tell Hannah or MacKinzie), threw the ball for the dog, and played the swing ball game. The sun would shine for a few minutes, then it would sprinkle rain. Overall, it was a very good day! No cake or ice cream today, thank goodness!