dance festival

Our school does a huge dance festival at the end of the year.  Each grade does their own dance for all to watch and be amazed.  Brennen's class did a cute little penguin dance.  He did pretty good and he just couldn't stop smiling.  I think he was just happy to be there. 

William's class did a very upbeat African song.  I was really proud of him and his effort with his dance.  He really did a great job and it was a fun song.  

Good job boys I love you guys.

Memorial Day 2013

This year was my first official memorial day.  I say that because this is the first year someone really close to me has passed away. We decided it would be a good Sunday activity to go visit my dad's grave.  They didn't have his headstone placed yet but we needed to be there.
I was prepared for this day to be really sad. I feel like my dad's passing is still very fresh.  Anyone that know me knows I hate to cry.  I am sometimes called the woman with a heart of stone, or "the Borg" (half robot/ half human).  It's not that I don't feel, I just prefer not to share my emotions.  Although I realize I am getting better the older I get. So, I prepared myself to be able to deal with the sadness.  Some could say I am good at compartmentalizing.  However when we pulled up to the grave site to me it felt a little more like a family reunion.
My dad was buried near his parents and other siblings in a tucked away in a quaint little cemetery.  Walking across the grass we met family that was already there. We talked, laughed, and shared stories of past and present. It was a beautiful day full of thankfulness and gratitude.  I felt completely at peace.  That is until I looked around the cemetery and noticed a young family kneeling next to a headstone.  There was a dad and his children but no mother.  I didn't dare disturb this sacred moment between a family but I couldn't help but realize they were visiting their mother.
The heartbreak I felt for them as they silently cried over this headstone.  How tragic to loose a mother with so many young children.  As I looked back over to my family and  the contrast between the too, I was again filled with an overwhelming sense of peace and gratitude.
Jenni was super cute.  She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled to the ground "WE LOVE YOU GRANDPA"  When her dad mentioned that he is in heaven now she changed her direction and yelled into the sky "WE LOVE YOU GRANDPA"  these little ones are so sweet.

Scottie's kids brought grandpa little notes wraped around flashlights.  The Reeves brought a tomato plant, the rest brought various flowers.  All so fitting for my dad. We will visit again for Father's day to see his headstone.  Thanks again for everything dad.  We love you.

Pacific Island festival

 We love to expose our children to different cultures.  Since moving away from California to a place less diverse we are searching out for different festivals and things to let them experience and appreciate all people. We found the pacific Islands festival and packed up the kids for a very entertaining afternoon. Although it was a little small as far as festivals go, it still had all the important things, dancing being one of the main form of entertainment.
In fact my kids loved the dancing so much they just had to join in.
Scott and Will got some shades to ward off the sun and everyone got some Hawaiian shaved ice yummy. We really had a great time walking around and enjoying the island life.
The only bad thing was when we left I was ready to go to the beach.  Sadly there was no beach to be found.

This is the Place Heritage Park baby animals.

We are finding with a lot of these activities we do and places we go, if we think there is a chance we might go again within the year. Its worth it for us to buy a family pass.  It is usually just a couple of dollars extra.  One of those such passes we got was to "This is the Place Heritage Park". This is a pioneer park filled with historic buildings and activities that pioneers did, complete with educated instructors on all things pioneer.  They are so willing to help and explain how life once was. This is a really great place for families to go.  Even if you think you've heard it all, its still fun.

We had a day during spring break so I decided to take the kids to go see the baby animals.  (This was actually the day before my dad died.) I almost didn't go but I thought the kids needed a break for their spring break.  In the end I was glad I took them.  They tried everything they could.  

Its amazing how fun a chore becomes when its a little different.  They loved doing the laundry the old fashioned way, but I have to beg them to put their clothes away.

Pulling weeds is a death sentence but using an old plow was entertaining?  Kids are crazy.  But I loved that they were learning and appreciating their modern life.

Of all the things the baby animals were of course the favorite.  We literally spent 30 minutes just playing with the baby chicks.  Then we moved onto the bunnies, goats, and lambs.  Oh how they loved the animals, now they want to live on a farm and take care of all these creatures. I told them I would ship them off to a farm for a couple of weeks first and then see how much they want to do these chores everyday.  Peter couldn't get enough of the lambs.  I lost him for a minute then found him snuggled up next to a brand new lamb.  He said "Oh mom, isn't he just so adorable!"  As I watched my baby enjoy the baby sheep I thought, "absolutely Peter"  what an adorable site. My favorite was the darling baby goats.  They are so stinkin' cute I could hardly stand it. After I tore them away from the babies we took the train around the park and over to the panning for gold.  

This was the end of the day but my kids were still begging for more time.  They were so excited when they found  little nuggets of gold (fool's gold).  We had so much fun and it was such a nice day my kids were begging to come back.  This time I could say yes because we still have our passes.

Peter couldn't even push the plow

William loved beating the rug, too bad he hates to vacuum

my personal favorite