Impromptu Dance Parties

The girls are both really enjoying dancing. Here's what I caught one morning...

Memorial Day

Our Memorial Day started with picking the rest of the oranges off our tree. The kids love helping. We filled our red wheelbarrow full by the end. While Chris was using the ladder he noticed we have a birds nest in the tree with 2 baby birds. We made sure to not disturb them in our picking. The next item on the agenda for the day was washing the cars. Amy and her kids (and her car) joined in on the fun. We let the kids wash in their swimsuits because the next activity was to go swim at Grandma's. It was the first swim of the season in the pool. It was a little too cold for me, but the kids don't ever seem to mind if their lips turn blue. Lunch was brought in (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!) and the kids devoured their cheeseburgers from In N Out... and getting out of the pool and into a little sun to warm up was a good idea. After swimming we went home for some quiet time. Because of all the fun and excitement and sun, the girls BOTH took a nap. I think we ended the day with pizza because I didn't want to cook anything, but there's no picture evidence of that!

Here's a short video of our day.

Katelyn's Recital Day

I have now experienced a Jeanne's School of Dance recital from the side of being a parent. Wow. What a day. What a long day. I actually don't remember most of the day. It was such a blur, and really I'm kind of trying to block it out so I can do it again next year!

The day started with a dress rehearsal in the morning. I had Adam and left Megan with Chris. The dress rehearsal ran until around lunch time. We were about 30 minutes from home and only had about an hour for lunch before we needed to get ready for the 3pm show. That meant we stayed out in Chandler and found a McDonald's for lunch. Then it was time to rush back to Dobson High School where the recital was and throw the first costume on and get make up and hair done.

Meanwhile back at home, Chris was finishing the last minute items on the year-in-review video that was to be played at the show. The video was done, except for a few pictures from the dress rehearsal that morning. But, of course, Chris ran into a few snags. He couldn't get his DVD burners to actually burn the DVD! He ended up working some kind of magic and he made it to the 3pm show on time, DVD in hand.

We really enjoyed the first show. Katelyn did a great job and by the end we had both Adam and Megan asleep. In fact, Megan just curled up in the auditorium chair and she was so tired she slept all the way through part of the first show, the intermission, and some of the second show. Chris' hands were tied with saving seats for the second show and holding Adam so he couldn't take a picture. He says it was priceless.

Then it was on to the second show at 6pm. I went backstage to help do a touch-up on Katelyn's hair and makeup. At that point I learned you NEVER go backstage at a recital. I found out that the parent helper during the first show was not planning on staying for the second show backstage (these little girls were in 6 numbers with costume changes!). I knew there wasn't anyone else, so I volunteered to stay. It ended up being a really good experience to be able to help, see the backstage stuff, and get to know her classmates...but, maybe not one I want to repeat anytime soon! So, finally at about 9pm I fed my kids dinner and finally went home for the first time that day.

Here's Katelyn in "Tiki Room." Enjoy!

Katelyn's a Preschool Graduate!

This day marks a first for our little family. We have now graduated preschool and will be moving on to the big Kindergarten in the fall. Katelyn has grown so much in the last year. She is my big helper around the house. She can hold Adam sitting down while I get things done, she is my gofer at times, she is my "informant" so I can know what thing Megan is climbing this time, and she is my expert laundry folder. She loves dancing (she is usually doing dance steps through the grocery store), singing, and playing with anyone who is around.

Preschool graduation was a fun experience for the whole family. Great Grandma-ma Long, Grandma Partridge, Aunt Amy with Brock, and our family (even Chris) were all in attendance. Megan was so cute acting like one of the big kids, sitting next to Katelyn on her mat. She actually did a really good job staying right on the mat even when Katelyn had to leave as part of her program. My favorite part of the program was a little poem that the entire class recited. Overall, it was a great day.

Mother's Day

Cassi said the only thing she wanted for Mother's Day was flowers. I'm good at a lot of things, but getting her flowers often isn't one of them. So, I was sure to grant this wish, and flowers were in a vase a couple days before Mother's Day.

For the first time, I got to take my family to the Nix Family Mother's Day Picnic/Reunion. This is a tradition my Great Grandma Nix started many years ago and wanted her family to continue after she died. It was fun to see some cousins I haven't seen in 10 or more years.

Utah Trip

At the end of April, we got to take a trip up to Utah with the whole troop (Grandma-ma included) to see Brett recieve his Master's degree; if you know Brett, it's a see-to-believe thing! :) I didn't get any pictures of the ceremony because I took Hyrum duty and let Stephanie savor the moment. The after-party was at Bamboo Hut. As always, it was D-licious!

Besides Brett's graduation, as always, there was a lot of other stuff going on this weekend. Brett and Stephanie recently bought their first house, so it was fun to go invade it, get a haircut, and assist with a little decorating. Brett's new 42" LCD with PS3 isn't bad either, even though Chase whooped me at NCAA Football!

My family took one day to visit Springville friends and Cassi's SLC family. It was Grandma McFarlane's first time to see and hold Adam, so we were sure to snap a picture.

Also part of the itenerary was Nathan's school carnival. We went last year, and this year's was bigger and better. Katelyn really enjoyed the rock climbing wall, and Megan liked the inflatable bounce house.

We celebrated both Ryan and Joshua's birthday's with a dinner at Winger's and then cake and presents at Ryan's house afterwards.

Sunday may have been one of the busiest days. We started early with attending Brett's new ward, where Brett's new baby (Noah) was blessed. On our way to the cars, we were astonished to find it SNOWING! Then we made it back to Provo to change and check-out of the hotel. Then we had one of the craziest "only-in-Utah" drives to visit Grandma Partridge. I don't think I've driven through harder rain before. Visibility was horrible and I was also trying to keep an eye on Amy behind me, since I was her navigation up to Layton. Somehow we made it up there and even found some sunny skies before it was all over. We had a nice visit with Grandma Partridge, and introduced Adam to her as well. I don't take enough time to call or write her, so it was good to take time to visit her.

After visiting Grandma Partridge, we made it to the airport and back to home. I'm glad our house is only about 15 minutes from the airport. By the end of the day, I think we were all pretty tired. This was our first trip as an official part of the "Arizona Contingency" of the family. Despite the craziness of schedules and weather and everything else, I'm certainly thankful for every chance we get to be together as one big crazy Partridge family.

There is hope!

I just have to quickly report that I got 6 whole hours of sleep in a row last night!!! I can't even remember the last time I had more than 3 in a row. You can probably tell I have more energy, by all the blog posts today! :)