End of school

It is always sad to say goodbye to another great year at the school. My girls have had nothing but wonderful experiences at school, and I hope every year is as happy as the last. Their teachers were perfect for them, and Lilly in particular was sad to say goodbye. Both girls did really well this year in school, and improved in almost all subjects.. Unfortunately for Lilly, she takes after her Mom. She struggled in Math, but toward the end of the year she had improved quite a bit more, but is going to need some extra help. It breaks my heart because she takes it so hard that she isn't the "best" at something, so in some aspects it is a good lesson for her to learn. We will get a handle on it, so hopefully next year will be better.

End of year activities are always so much fun! I think I was at the school every day that last week helping with something. I love volunteering at the school & being involved with whats going on. I was offered a job to work in the front office, and decided a few weeks ago that it would be really fun, so I said yes! I am really looking forward to it! When I took the job, everyone was SO sweet and wanted to welcome me to the "family". I was so worried about getting depressed with my girls being in school, and me being home alone all day...so this is going to be great. I will only work 2 1/2 days a week, and it is the same hours of the girls. Wish me luck!

Lilly won this award for reading the most Beehive Books in the class. I was so proud of her!!

Lilly's class had a book report day, and it was so cute. I went in a few days before and helped the kids put their boards together, so it was fun to see it all set up. Lilly chose to do her report on one of The Never Girls books that she loves. Sometimes I am reminded of how little she still is, and it warms my heart. I love her more than anything!

Claire had something every day the last month of school. They went through the alphabet, so each day had a different theme. This day was something about wearing a funny outfit...and this is what she chose. I love this girl!

Field day is the best!! The kids love the games, and the PTA goes all out with snow cones, music, games & they have the fire dept come and spray all the kids with the hose. It was Claire's first time participating in Field Day, and she had a blast. One of the other moms said to me that she wanted to cry it was so fun...that made me laugh. But it is true, I love how the school tries to make the best experiences for the kids. It is a great school!

Afterward we had to do our traditional snow cone run after school!

Phone Pictures from May

Anton's parents were so sweet, and came into town for Lilly's baptism. We took them out to dinner, and had such a great time. The girls were in heaven!

On the day of our family picture, Lilly woke up like this. Great. Pink eye in both eyes and sick as a dog. Luckily, I just got the proofs back, and the pictures turned out great! I felt terrible for her though!

My years of being a life guard and not wearing enough sunscreen has now paid off. I went in to have a little bump looked at, and the dermatologist was certain it was nothing but asked me if I wanted to have a biopsy done on it. I am glad I chose to have it biopsied because it came back as cancer. They had to remove a lot of tissue and skin. I was surprised how much they took out. The bummer is now that I have had one skin cancer, I will most likely get more, so I have to go to the doctor every six months to have them check for them. Anton was out of town, so my mom kind of stepped in because I couldn't move my arm much for fear of opening up the incision. She brought dinner, chocolate cake and my cute Dad brought flowers. I have a good scar, but thankfully it is fading quickly!

I had to take this picture because it was one of those "What am I going to do when you start school" moments. I can't handle her cuteness!

One of my very favorite things to do is walk the dogs up to the school and pick up the girls. The puppies are always SO excited to see the girls, and it is so fun to chat with them about their day on our walk home. Life is so sweet!

Our favorite girl got engaged!! We love this couple so much, and are SO excited for them! They came and showed us her ring the night it happened. Claire is a little bummed that Chandler is taken now :) 

We are so excited & the girls are looking forward to being flower girls!

Baby Charlotte is our favorite! We were so excited to babysit her for a few minutes!

Lilly's baptism

My heart is full of love and gratitude for these two. Lilly's baptism was such a special day. Even she felt it, and became emotional. She looked so beautiful and just radiated happiness! We were missing so many people, and even though we were small in numbers, it was really sweet. Both of her Grandma's gave the perfect talks, Anton did a great job with the baptism, and my Dad gave her the sweetest blessing. Afterward he told me he was trying so hard to hold it together, and not get too emotional. It was hard to not get a little misty eyed during & afterward. 

We will never forget this special day!! 

Lilly turns 8!

Lilly is 8! Oh man, this was a milestone birthday - and one I hope she will never forget. She cried and cried when I put her to bed because she didn't want her birthday to end. It was such a perfect day!

That morning we woke up, had breakfast and opened some presents. She was super excited about her radio, and has used it non stop since! She didn't have a lot of presents to open because she chose to get her ears pierced, so that was one of her gifts from us. She got to take donuts to school - they had pink & orange sprinkles - her favorite! And, I checked her out of school and took her to lunch, she chose bagels. It was short day at school, so as soon as she got out of school, we took her to go get her ears pierced. She was super nervous, and thought it hurt a little bit, but afterward she was all smiles! After that, we went and picked Anton up from the airport and let her choose where she wanted to go for dinner. We told her she could go anywhere she wanted and she chose Del Taco! Such a funny girl! Right after dinner, we headed to Jungle Book. As soon as we got home, we were all stuffed from popcorn so we didn't even have any cake. But, we did have to light the candles and sing to her...because you have to do that on your actual birthday! It was such a fun day, and I am so thrilled she had such a happy day. 

My Lilly is truly one of the sweetest little girls. I am so proud of the person she is growing up to be. She has some quirks that make us laugh, but truly, she is the sweetest, happiest and most fun little girl. We constantly talk about how lucky we are to have healthy and sweet little girls. We are certainly blessed! She is one of my greatest blessings. I love you Lilly Bug!!

Soccer & Skating

Claire really really really wanted to try out soccer, so I signed her up through the rec center, and no surprise....she absolutely loved it. She smiled about 80% of the game, the other 20% she was seriously focused. One thing we thought was funny about Claire when she played is, she never ever placed offense, but was always on defense. As soon as the other team would start heading to our goal, she would rush up and play goalie. I am pretty sure we were the worst team in the whole league, but hey, that didn't stop the kids from having a blast. There was only one day where the weather didn't cooperate, which is saying something for it being spring soccer. She really wanted me to sign her up for summer soccer, but with all the other activities going on in the summer, I think we will wait until fall. I am glad she loved it so much!!

The day of Claire's first soccer game, was Lilly's ice skating competition. It was her second one she's participated in, she wasn't as nervous this time around. She is turning into such a beautiful skater. We still only have her going twice a week, but that may change. She graduated from all the lessons, and now we are trying to figure out what the next step will be. Every once in a while I ask her if she still loves it, and if she wants to still skate...and she always answers with a big yes and a "I will never quit skating". I hope that's the truth! I love watching her and seeing how much she improves. Her coach texted me after the competition and told me that she got emotional watching Lilly because of how much she has improved and how beautiful she is getting on the ice. It made me feel so good. 

She came in 2nd place, and was as happy as could be. She had some friends and family come to support her, and was so excited that they came! It was a fun day!

Austin

Anton and I got to sneak off to a little business trip to Austin a couple of weeks ago. I was really excited to go since I have a love for Texas (don't know why!). It was so nice of my parents to offer to watch the girls for us, and the girls were so excited to go to their house, so it made it easy to leave. It was such a relaxing and fun trip. The first night we went to a little get together, and then snuck off a little early to grab some dinner and walk around the city. While we were walking down 6th street we found this donut place, and decided to get some to take back to the hotel. Those donuts were worth every minute we had to wait in line - which was about a half hour!! Probably the best donuts I have ever had. The next day while Anton was in meetings, I went on a long walk around the city and then met up with him for lunch. After lunch, I went out to the pool and enjoyed a cold diet coke and read my book. It was a slice of heaven for me!!! That night we went to a nice stake dinner and a show. I couldn't put my finger on why I loved this trip so much, and finally realized that it is because Anton and I never get to travel with just the two of us. We either go with other couples, or have our kids with us, so this was a special treat to just have it be the two of us. Even though it was a business trip, and there were other people there, I didn't have to coordinate with people about what to eat, or what to do and didn't have a schedule. It was SO fun and so relaxing. I can't wait till next year. Another really fun thing that happened that we weren't expecting is Anton won a big award....Agent of the Year!!! I couldn't be more proud of him & am so grateful for how hard he works for us. I love him so much and am so happy for him. 

She's 6!!

 I think it is safe to say that Claire had the very best birthday!!! First thing when she woke up she got to open up her presents. She got one or two of the things she asked for, and a couple of surprises...including a new bike. She was so excited about all of her presents! For the second year in a row, she asked for a cheetah cake. Yikes. I did the best I could, and it turned out pretty cute. It included two of her very favorite things: kit-kat's and cheetahs! I let her choose somewhere fun to go, and she chose to go to Classic Fun Center. They took their scooters and had so much fun riding around and playing video games. Even though I don't love that place, it was a fun little outing. After that, Nana took her and Lilly to Build-A-Bear. I've never taken them there before, so they were pretty jazzed. And, if there is one thing my kids love, it is stuffed animals! Since both girls have birthdays close together, they each got to pick out a stuffed animal and then Nana took them shopping and they picked out a new swimming suit for summer! They are matching suits, and about the cutest things I have ever seen! Once we were done with the mall & Build-A-Bear, we came home and had a little bit of cake and waited for Anton to get home from his road trip. It was literally a perfect day for a perfect little girl! I can't even begin how to explain the love I have for this little girl. She brings so much joy and laughter into our home, and I must admit I cried when she went to bed that night because I don't want her to grow up. If I could freeze time, I most certainly would! Everyone who knows Claire, loves her and finds her so funny. I am so blessed to be her mommy! Happiest birthday Clairey Bear! We love you!