Gymnastics Recital

This year all 3 girls were in gymnastics with Melissa Pett.  She teaches in her home and is such a kind teacher.  All of the girls love her.  They had their final competition at an actual gym and competed individually in 5 different areas.

I think Molly was just so happy to be there.  She smiled the whole time.  Alissa has done it before so it wasn't quite as exciting and I think she was slightly nervous this go round.

She did a terrific job especially considering she tends to be shy. 

Molly tried so hard and had a blast. 

Molly and Alissa competed in the same skill group.  Each girl was awarded a metal at the end. 

All the girls in that category. 

Alissa won 3rd place overall which was pretty exciting!  Especially because she got a trophy.   

Molly got a ribbon for being 1st place in the rings. 

Alissa and one of her BFFs Lia. 

Her head dive into the foam balls which gave her a bloody nose.  lol 

Ella did a pretty fantastic job as well.  She spilled her water right on her shorts and had to take them off to perform so she was feeling a little insecure to start.  I was impressed at her eye contact and smiling at the judges especially for her first go round.  She knows how to do it! 

I loved watching her watch her friends and get so nervous for them.   

She got 2nd place overall and was THRILLED! 

Love my girls.   

Their teacher - Melissa. 

Alissa's Field Trip to the Zoo

Alissa got to go on a field trip to the zoo with her Kindergarten class.  I think the part she was most excited about was the bus ride and sadly I didn't get to ride with her, but I did get a picture of her getting off.

There was about a million mom volunteers, I guess we all love our Kindergartners.  Alissa's friend Marie's mom and I were watching out for 4 kids in our group.

I think they had a great time and were not a bit sad to say goodbye while they loaded back onto their bus.  Love these cute kids!  I can't believe Kindergarten graduation is a week away.  

Molly's Preschool Graduation

This past week we celebrated Molly's preschool graduation.  We invited all the moms over to our house and let the kids sing their preschool songs and we watched a slideshow I made of all the pictures from this year.  I always try to keep the songs upbeat however it only means I cry less not that I don't cry at all.  This is Molly with her friend Presley who did Joy School with us.

Molly has grown a lot this year.  She has learned to recognize all the alphabet upper case and lower case and say their sounds and can even sound out words to start reading.   She knows days of the week, months of the year, the Pledge of Allegiance and how to spell a bunch of colors.  She recognizes the shapes and can count to 59 before needing any help.  I think she has improved socially quite a bit as well.  She is still pretty rambunctious, but is getting better at having a bit more compassion and kindness.  She has just been a crazy little girl who loves to wrestle and play rough.  She can also be bribed to do just about anything for some candy or gum.  :) 

We sure love this Molly girl and are so thankful to have her a part of our family. 

She is such a happy, sweet girl.  

Happy Birthday Ella

Ella got to spend her birthday with her cousins at the Salmon River so she was super happy.  We gave her a few presents in the morning.

I went down to the river with the kids since they were not allowed to go by it all weekend - it was so high.

Grandma Carol brought cupcakes and ice cream so everybody sang to her.

She requested we go to Custer county and see the little ghost town there.  Boone and Alans family came with us.

This picture makes me laugh with Lincoln headed for the drink we picked up before we headed to Custer.

We saw lots of old things.

The kids got to mine for gold and a few of them found some specks.

Sitting in an old classroom.

Making crazy faces.

Lincoln loves his cousins.

As always it's fun to see the dredge.

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Before we left the river that day Uncle Boone brought out some fireworks for the kids to admire.

A few days later Ella got to invite some friends over for a "late night" birthday party.  Those girls ate some crazy amounts of food!  Makes me realize why our grocery bill is so high.  Between the amount of food my kids eat and the company we always have over ... we go through a lot of food.  They ate, watched a movie and played outside.  It was a great day.

McKenzie, Molly Jennifer, Ella, Dani, Kailey McKenna, Sage, Alissa & Lincoln

Ella has grown up so much this year.  She has learned some important life lessons about getting good grades and choosing good friends.  She has started to babysit the girls for me and after a few rough times I think she has the hang of it now.  She is a DRAMA QUEEN!  She is dramatic about everything and so emotional.  She has a lot of friends and quick to make friends.  She had such a hard time choosing who would come to her party because she wanted to invite her whole 4th grade.. and some 3rd graders and 2nd graders.  ha ha

It's hard to believe she is 10.  Love this Ella girl.