Ariana is now officially a 1st grader! She is thrilled!  But before she moves on, there are a few things I want to always remember about my kindergartner! I knew she would love love love everything about school and she did! There was nothing wrong with anything that ever happened! If anything surprised me, and it really shouldn’t have, was how much all the other kids love Ariana! It would take me forever to leave the school everyday because Ari had to hug and say good-bye to everyone! It wasn’t just kids in her class it was 1st graders, 3rd graders, 2nd graders and even 4th and 5th when I picked up Ammon! It was crazy to see how many kids just love her!!

Everyday Ariana got hurt at school! Either she tripped, got hit accidentally with something, or she bumped into something! She is quiet a klutz so it isn’t too surprising, but my poor girl!!

Another thing that I always want to remember about Ariana being in kindergarden is how dirty she was every single day when she would come home!! Her face, her hands, her clothes!! She went through 4 pairs of shoes in a school year!! She totally thrashed them! And she was always dirty!!

This is a normal Ari outfit! A skirt is a MUST with leggings or shorts and a short sleeve shirt! Here her socks match but she often had mismatched socks, on purpose!!

It is kinda hard to see in the picture, but there is food on her face and marker on her hands! Her shirt and skirt are sooooo filthy!! I know these are white so dirt stands out, but no matter what color she has on it looked like this!! I would laugh everyday as she would come running up to me filthy and a huge smile on her face with a story about how she got hurt! I already miss that!

On the last day of school Ariana brought home a HUGE envelope filled with all her creations! She traveled the world learning so many new things!

As we went through the envelope I took pictures of all her projects since I can’t keep them all. Here are a few of our favorites!

Her cute penguin from the South Pole!

Her amazing and colorful butterfly!

This is Ariana’s self portrait!

I love knowing what she thinks!

I love that no matter how much fun she has at school her favorite thing is to come home to her Mommy!!

This is Ariana’s fishy that swims in a lake!

Although Ariana is friends with everyone, she bestest best friend was Piper! One day after school she told me that her and Piper would be best friends forever and ever and ever! They would be best friends when they were Mommies! They would be best friends when they were Grandmas! They would even be best friends when they died! They would be eternal best friends!

So now she is a big first grader! She has the same teacher and it so excited about that! She is sad that summer is so long! I love my big 1st grader!! But I can wait to see what next year holds! I just want her to stay this little forever!

I know I am behind on getting this (and many other) post up but I have to write again what an amazing Daddy my kids have!! Adam is always there for the kids no matter what they need! He is loving and always full of kisses and hugs for them! He is just what they need!

The kids loved spoiling their Daddy for Father’s Day! They made him a huge sign and had a song and dance, that they made up, all planned for him when he got home!

Tori loves loves loves her Daddy!!

Ariana thinks her Daddy is the greatest!

Kalixta filled out a cute questionnaire about her Dad. She says that for fun her Daddy likes to play Barbies! Her Daddy always tells her to come here! And her Daddy laughs when she writes something funny! She likes to tease her Daddy and didn’t want to give him her present!

Ammon’s questionnaire said that he likes when his Daddy gives him candy! His Daddy is always telling him don’t hit! And his Daddy is smart because he knows a lot!

Zoe made her Daddy a hilarious book that she wrote and illustrated called “Who Wants A Cheap Rhinoceros?” It is all about the fun and funny things her Daddy does! It is so creative and so true!! Adam and I laughed and laughed as we read it!

Nik and Michael picked out a handsome shirt!

Britain loves her Daddy because he is the BEST Daddy in the whole world!!

We had another party for the birthday boy on Saturday! We had a great time spending the day with family!

Michael loved rocking on this little horse!

Michael did a great job opening presents! He was a little distracted because there was so many people and noise around! I love all those little faces so interested in what he is getting! And you gotta love Britain! That girl is always aware of the camera!

He got a lot of help opening them this time!

Michael loves his new chair!

Grandma Sylvia made him the cutest blanket! It is so soft and cuddly!

Michael got a number of super cute outfits!

He also got some fun toys!

Michael LOVED his birthday popsicle! I tried to give him a white one, but he didn’t want it! He stole the red one from Zoe!

THANK YOU to everyone who made his 1st birthday a special one! Both family here and in Utah!! We love you all!!

It is so hard to believe Michael is one! This year has been such a whirl wind and I can’t imagine a day without him!! Michael is a sweet feisty boy that never stops!!  Michael hates to nap because he does not like to miss a thing! He is constantly on the go and always into something!!

Michael loves loves to eat! His favorite it any type of noodle, so his birthday dinner this year was spaghetti!

Michael loved opening presents! Zoe wrapped them in tissue paper so they were easy to rip open! Sadly my camera is not working well and I didn’t get many good pictures! They are all super grainy!

Michael’s cake was 1 big ice cream cone!

Michael really liked the fire on his cake! He wasn’t to interested in the cake, but the candle had all his attention! He could not wait to get it!

He actually grabbed the candle before it got blown out and figured out that fire is hot! Once he got a cupcake he really enjoyed that too!

We are so excited to have Jeff and Kylie close so we were able to celebrate with them!!

Michael got lots of books! This boy loves to read and be read to! I love love to see him plop down anywhere and open a book and look through it!

Grandma and Grandpa gave him a tractor book that makes lots of noises that he loves!

Tori gave Michael balloons! It is hard to tell which one liked the balloons more, Michael or Tori!

Happy happy birthday to my sweet, wonderful, silly little man! I love you Michael!!

Ammon got to participate in another Pinewood Derby!! He was so excited to race! He loves planning and building his car! He chose a simply design his year…..Batman! He cut the car himself with a hand saw and then sanded it down! Once it was spray painted we found the perfect stickers!

Ammon was lucky number 13!

I love all these cute scouts talking about their cars!!

Lined up and ready to race!

Watching the races with his good buddies!

Ammon loves origami! He is constantly making it! He sets up little stores and makes them for the whole family! He is very good and can make a lot of different things.

He often makes origami as gifts for birthdays and such! On Mother’s Day he made Sis. Lovstedt an origami heart box! Sis. Lovstedt was his teacher last year and he loves her! He is always bringing her little origami treats to church! She was so pleased by this latest gift that she called and asked if she could give him something! She came over with her hubby and talked to the kids about the importance of talents and sharing those talents with others! Then she shared her talent with him! She gave him a quilt she made that looks like origami! It is beautiful and represents hours of work! Ammon LOVES it!!

I am so grateful to Sis. Lovstedt for making Ammon feel so appreciated and loved! It is amazing the influence others can have on a child, for good or bad! I know Ammon will remember this experience his whole life! I hope he always strives to cultivate his talents and share them with others!!

And a huge thank you to Sis. Lovstedt and all her hard work! Thanks for sharing your talent with Ammon!!

We moved into a gated community that has a pool! This might be the greatest thing that has ever happened!!! We go to the pool every chance we get! Since we are still in baseball season that hasn’t been as much as I like but we have been there a few times!! The kids all love love the water!! The weather has been very nice and beautiful for the most part but the kids don’t care! One Friday is was super windy but that didn’t stop anybody! They were all in the pool having a great time!

Michael loves the water! He plays in and out of the pool! He loves to splash and kick the water!

He also loves the hot tub!

Nik and Michael have such a special bond! I love it!

She had to have googles! Tori enjoys the pool a little. She will sit on the steps and play or let someone hold her!

But she LOVES LOVES the hot tub! That is where she spends most of her time!!

Ariana is a little fish, swimming everywhere!!

Nik spends most of his time in the pool throwing the kids all around or being climbed all over! Good thing he loves it as much as they do!

Britain and Kalixta and Ammon are all over the place!

I can’t wait to spend all of our summer at the pool!! Like I said, this may be the best thing that has happened to our family!!