Getting Caught Up!! Part 1

WOW!!! It's been a busy summer, School has already started back up again and I never finished blogging about the end of the school year. May was a busy month with Ashleigh in band and piano and Jared played t-ball this year and graduated from pre-school. Ashleigh loves playing the clarinet and was able to play with the Advanced Band at school for the last half of the year. I was really impressed with how good they were for an elementary school band. The teacher prides himself on having The Best band in the area, the kids put in a lot of work, but it definitely pays off!!




Jared LOVED playing t-ball and can't wait for next spring so he can get back to the ball field again. He especially loved playing on a team with some of his friends from pre-school. It is so much fun to watch all of these 5 and 6 year olds running around the field, not really sure what they are doing. It makes for an hour of great entertainment!!




School ended just in time for Memorial Day and we headed to the mountains to escape the heat. It was a great time, aside from Austin's many accidents which I have previously recorded!! Sally and I took the kids to Pinetop for a beautiful nature walk along the rim. As usual the kids all had a blast playing with cousins, hunting for critters, feeding the birds, playing in the treehouse and working in their clubs.









Summer is always a busy time and doesn't usually feel much like a vacation, but keeping the kids busy prevents them from complaining about being bored all summer long. Ashleigh and Jordan both took summer band, Ashleigh continuing with the clarinet and Jordan following in his dad's footsteps and trying out the trumpet. They both enjoyed that very much and each day we went straight from the school to the pool for swimming lessons for all four kids. All of them love the water, although Austin did not care for his mommy and me lessons, but was happy as could be when we would just go swimming in the afternoons. He did great with arm floats on and was happiest climbing out and jumping in.

We continued our annual tradition of heading to the cabin for the 4th of July holiday. We had a great time in the cool mountain air and hangin' out with family. We had a parade around the ranch, treasure hunts and pinata, then fire works that night. It was a great weekend.






Then it was time to celebrate Austin's 2nd birthday!! My how time flies, my baby is growing up so fast, especially since he has older siblings who he is always trying to keep up with. He is still a mama's boy, but he is definitely learning to be a little more independant and his personality is so fun!! He is a ray of sunshine for all of our family!!