July: Taming of the Shrew

We went with the Ostermiller's to see a modern version of The Taming of Shrew. 

Arabella was asked to collect donations at the beginning of the play, she is the one on the far right. 

We loved the play and Arabella did a great job following the story line. I hope we get the opportunity to see another Shakespeare play. 

July: Fourth of July

The Fourth of July is like the perfect mid summer break from life and a day to kick back and enjoy the sweet summer life! 

 The boys helped with the flag ceremony at our ward's pancake breakfast.

 That is one pancake and yes, he ate almost all of it, and yes, he had already eaten a plateful of breakfast food. 

 Samantha with her best friend Savannah on their matching bikes. 

After the bike parade and shaved ice, we headed to the Ostermiller's for a fantastic afternoon of swimming and yummy food! 

Summertime I love you! 

June: Virginia

Peter and I did a crazy last minute trip to Hampton, Virginia the end of June. 

We enjoyed the chance to get away together but what few people knew and even as I type this now, know is that it was for a job interview for Peter. The company was fantastic and we loved the area but in the end the offer and what the move would entail was not what was right for our family. 

 Shortly after we arrived we were driving and realized the Atlantic Ocean was right there and we had to stop and put our feet in it. 

 We have officially stood together on both coasts. 

 I sure love this man! 

 There is so much coal in Virginia- I know duh?!

 We visited a few sacrament meetings and drove around enjoying the beautiful green.

We saw some great sights but at the above one, Yorktown, we took this picture and then it started pouring rain! 

 We visited Fort Monroe and it was really interesting! 

I wish we had spent a little more time sightseeing and less time checking out neighborhoods but we were doing our best to prepare ourselves with as much knowledge as possible so we could make an informed decision. 

 This was one of the most challenging things we have gone through together; right up there with being unemployed and searching for a job. Peter was still employed and had/has a great job but we decided to just see what might be out there where Peter might have the opportunity to do new or different things. And then, we landed ourselves in a difficult place but it became easier when the bottom line (or bottom dollar) was not going to work for our family. 

June: Father's Day

I love that we get to celebrate our dads in June! And I especially love a chance to celebrate and try to surprise this guy!  

He is what holds our house together. He supports me, helps me, loves me and is the best dad to our children! 

He impressed the kids with his amazing pick up sticks. 

 We enjoyed dough boys for dinner and dessert. It was really hot that day but we still had fun around the fire making dinner. 

 Our other fun activity on Father's day was that we were able to release the butterflies that we raised from caterpillars. We enjoyed watching them turn into cacoons and then slowly emerge as butterflies. There was one that did not make it out of it's cacoon. This was a good lesson to me on how delicate and intricate this process really is and that there are things that can go wrong but most often it goes right and it is beautiful! 

June: Swimming lessons

We loved having the blessing of swimming lessons with Ms. Sigler. 

Samantha showed so much progress. I think by next summer she will be quite the little fish.

Lily is brave and daring and able to hold her own in the water. This gives me so much peace. 

June: Summertime means Camps

The Sunday after the last day of school, Jon headed up to Oklahoma for a week of Scout Camp. 

He had a great time and felt it was a great way to start his summer. I don't have any pictures from his camp which is sad but I may try to track some down. 

The next week, Jon and Arabella spent 4 days at a Science and Cooking camp respectively, at the high school. I spent Tuesday through Friday night at our stake Girls' Camp serving as a nurse and lifeguard. I ended up not doing any lifeguarding because there were 3 other ladies there and they had it covered. I had a great time serving in the Nurse's cabin with Nicole Jones and a few other ladies who came for a day or two during the week. I laughed, provided care, talked, was sleep deprived at times and overall had a fantastic experience. 

 My ward was super nice and let me join them for the lip sync night. Such beautiful ladies! 

 My little cabin. We had bikes that we used to get around camp and it was a delight but I could not help but want to sing the "witch on her bike" theme song from The Wizard of Oz. 

I left on Friday night because Peter and I had an early flight the next morning. I hope I get to help again in the years to come. 

Joseph then left the Tuesday after I came home and was gone for 3 days on a backpacking high adventure trip in Arkansas. The boys hiked something crazy like 14 hours on the last day so they could come home a day early- they were moving! 

I am so thankful for the leaders and teachers who take time away from their homes and families to serve and teach my children. 

June: End of the School Year

The end of the school year is always so full of parties, recitals, assemblies and such, it gets hectic! 

I don't think I have pictures from all of the assemblies from the awards my kids were given this year. Each of my kids in school received an award for something from at least one of their teachers. I am proud of them and their hard work and consistent good choices and leadership. 

 We ended up doing shaved ice not just for the kindergarten and 3rd grade classes for our girls but for the 4th and 5th grades as well. It was so much shaved ice. Three of those grades had overlapping parties and it was almost chaos but we managed to pull it off. Alisa Webster had a son in 4th grade so she came and helped out, gratefully! 

 We did a little celebrating and were glad to welcome in Summer! 

I decided to welcome in summer by having my piano recital the Saturday after the last day of school. As I mentioned before, there was a lot going on and I did not want to add one more thing so I waited until it was all over. My students did great- I am so proud of them and all of their hard work!