Little Buck-A-Roo's

On June 29th, we are able to get out as a family and attend the Riverton Rodeo with our neighbors and friends, Jason and Natalie Bradford and their boys. When I was younger my parents would take me and my siblings to the Rodeo in St. George every year. We looked forward to watching the Clowns, The Bull Riding, Barrel Racing and the Bucking Bronko's. My favorite event was the Bull Riding. I loved it! I also loved that we got to stay up really late- like 11pm. That was so late and exciting when you're a kid!

 Mark and I have never taken our kids to a Rodeo before and I wanted them to experience it for themselves. Kaleb and Karmindy were super excited and both wanted to wear their Cowboy hats. Karmindy had a Jessie Dress from her Birthday Party that was perfect and I let her wear that as well. They looked so cute! Before the Rodeo we were able to watch some Skydivers dive into the Arena wearing the American Flag. It was really cool to watch them. The kids thought it was amazing!!

The kids really enjoyed watching all the events! They even had a calf money event for the kids where they attached a ton of bills to a belt that was tied around the calf's middle and the kids in the audience could come down from the stands and chase the calf and try and get the money. I didn't think Kaleb would do it but he did and he did a great job. He is truly motivated by money so he was in the arena chasing the cows for all his life. He was unsuccessful in getting any bills and was quite upset about it. I told him when we got home we would put a few bills in Kozette's collar and she could chase her around the yard. That seems to pacify him  and calm him down until we got home. We still haven't followed through with that and Kaleb hasn't let us forget!

 It was so nice to be able to relive something that I did as a kid and watch my kids enjoy something that I enjoyed when I was their age.

Digging Dinosaurs!

One of my dear friends from Southern Utah, Marylynne Miller and her hubby, Nathan just moved up from Ivin's to Saratoga Springs. We, along with several of our other neighbors from our old Ivin's neighborhood  have slowly moved to Northern Utah. The Recession, job losses and better opportunities have been the reason for all of us moving to Utah and Salt Lake City Counties. I have kept in touch with Marylynne and It is so nice to have a good ol' friend live so close again.  She has always been a dear friend to me and I have always loved her company.

 On Monday, June 18th, we were able to get together and head to Thanksgiving Point  Dino Museum for an afternoon of fun. Marylynne brought her two adorable boys along- Mckay, 4yrs and Andrew, almost 1yr old.. We have always had this joke that McKay and Karmindy are betrothed because they are they same age and are so cute together!! McKay is only a month or so older than Karmindy.

See!

Match made in Heaven!!

Kaleb, Karmindy and Mckay had a blast hanging out and exploring the Dino Museum. It was so fun to reconnect with Marylynne and catch up with her. We all had a fun afternoon and me and my kids are really looking forward to when we can get together again!! Here are a few pictures of our adventure-

Happy Father's Day!!

Father's day was pretty low key around there parts. I took pictures of the kids holding wooden letters and assembled them in a three picture frame. The pictures spelled the word "DAD." The kids gave him the collage and we also got Mark a few pairs of shorts and a couple of casual shirts along with a nice work shirt. Mark requested that I make Spaghetti with the works - salad, garlic bread and Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cake for dessert. His wish was granted and he was one Happy Camper!! He loved the Photo Frame of the kids and proudly took it to work to display on his desk. I think he had a nice relaxing day!

Last Day of 1st Grade

Today was Kaleb's Last Day of School, it was a bitter-sweet day! Kaleb has loved having Mrs. Forman. I couldn't have asked for a better teacher, Mrs. Forman was truly the best fit for Kaleb this year. I also loved her and have never met a more invested teacher than she was. She was very organized and just absolutely loved each of her students. I could tell this every time I volunteered in her class, which was 2x's a month. 

Today after Kaleb left for school, I hurried and put together a "thank you gift" for his teacher. There is a website called Pinterest that features lots of  craft ideas and I found this teacher appreciation idea on there and tweaked it a bit. 

It says, "Teachers come In-N-Out of our lives, but will stay in our hearts forever!" We put a gift card for 

In-N-Out  in the gift bag for his teacher.

Kaleb was sad to say goodbye to his teacher but expressed how excited he was for Summer and for 2nd grade!

This year Kaleb has made huge strides in learning. He has become a great reader this year and catches on to things pretty quick with out much effort. I think he gets this from his Dad. Kaleb is also very outgoing and  made many friends this year. Some of Kalebs interests this year were reading Junie B. Jones  and Magic Tree House Books, playing/ reading anything Star Wars and doing Math Box activities.

We are so proud of you Kaleb and all that you accomplished this year in 1st Grade.

Cardiology Appointment Update

I keep forgetting to blog about Karmindy's heart appointment. On May 6th, we took her in for her annual heart check up. We are so lucky to live in Riverton next to the Primary Children's Extention/Riverton Hospital. It is 3 minutes from our house. Karmindy has been able to have several check up's here and it is nice to not have to drive all the way into Down town for her to see her cardiologist.

 For her yearly checkup's she usually does a sedated echo but this year the Doctors thought she would be old enough to hold still and let them get the pictures that they would need to see how things are going. Mark and I were very nervous about this because Karmindy gets really shy and tends to get very anxious when she is introduced to new things/ or things that she doesn't want to do. When she gets anxious she will close her eyes and pretend people are not around and will become very difficult by throwing a fit. Her fits are the worst!!

Karmindy surprised us and was a champ when they had to do the echo. She held very still and watched Dora for the Tech and  we were able to get the necessary pictures! We were so proud of her. The nurse also took her Blood Pressures in her arms and legs. When they did this, they found out that her blood pressures are all very close in all her extremities. This has never been the case and so we were thrilled with the news. Dr. Day, Karmindy's Cardiologist, was very amazed at this and feels like the Cath- Procedure that we did last year may have tweaked something to help all things work right now. We are still keeping an eye on her tricuspid valve as well as the narrowing in her aorta but for now things are great. Mark and I left feeling not so discouraged about Karmindy's Health. We are so excited that we got good news and are overjoyed that Karmindy's body is doing well!! We will take any good news we can get! We are so grateful for Karmindy in our lives and our so proud of our daughter!

Kaleb's School Field Day!

At Kaleb's Elementary School, they have what they call Field day. Each class does some outdoor activity to celebrate the end of the school year. This year, Kaleb's 1st grade class focused on "Going to Camp." Leading up to Field Day, Kaleb's darling teacher focused on a different activities for each day that pertained to camp. Each activity focused on giving the kids a "Summer Camp-like" experience. On Tuesday, May 29th, I volunteered to go and help in Kaleb's class and assist the kids in Tie Dying T-Shirts. Kaleb's class Nickname for camp was Mrs. Forman's Frogs, so they died their shirts Green. It was such a fun activity and the kids were so hyper with excitement. It was so fun to see how each shirt turned out. Each one was so original. The day before (Monday), the kids made their own binoculars and visors. Tuesday, the kids made their tie died shirts.Wednesday, they made dirt cups with chocolate pudding and worms and had a reading day under the stars. Mrs. Forman had stars hanging from the classroom ceiling and the kids were allowed to bring books, blankets, a stuffed animal and pillows from home. On Thursday, they made a Critter Cage for all of the bugs they might catch on their "hike" to the park. 

 Friday was field day and I was able to go and volunteer. On field day, we "hiked" to a near by park where the kids competed in relay races, had water fights, enjoyed playing on the playground equipment and enjoyed eating snacks. 

 Here is Kaleb competing in a relay race.

Kaleb sitting by his friend Lina, also found out later that they are 3rd cousins! Who knew!? I think there are some similarities!! :) Lina's Mom and Me are 2nd cousins! :) I Lina's mom on this day and will record later about our fun/weird meeting.

Kaleb had a super fun time with his classmates. It was fun to visit with the other parents and get to know Kaleb's classmates better.

Here is Kaleb's 1st grade class. Can you find Kaleb? Hint: He is standing in the upper left hanging onto the playground equipment.