FHE

A few weeks ago, Allie was in charge of FHE.  It's actually a fact that the only time we really do FHE (with an activity, song, treat, and all that jazz) is when Allie is in charge.

This time the lesson was about the differences in people and how we can all be different, but are still children of the same God.

She cut out little paper chain people and the kids got to color them.

Grandma Bonnie was with us too.

It was a cute activity and the kids all had fun.  Thanks Allie!

Last Day

The kids are out of school!  Summer...it's such a great thing!

Allie got up without any prompting and was ready to go out the door well before usual wake up time on the last day of school.  She was excited!

They've changed a lot in a year.

 This was the last pick up at the bus stop for Jake.  He will be going to a different school and riding a different bus from now on.  :(

 I gave the kids a little basket with squirt guns and a few snacks for the end of the year.
They also got some silly string, so they had a silly string fight.

Jason had a hard time getting his to work...

He ended up spraying himself when he could get it going...wonder why.

It was a fun 30 seconds or so.  Yay for the end of school!

Planting

The boys helped me plant the "garden" this year.  I plant stuff every year and most years, I'm disappointed because we get a whole lotta nothin.  Maybe this year will be different?

 Nate planted his favorites, cucumbers and zucchini.

 Then he planted the bean plant that he got from pre-school.

We'll see what we've got in a few months!

Memorial Day

We spent Memorial Day in Star Valley.  It was a beautiful day and the kids had a great time.  As I wrote before, Nate learned to ride a motorcycle and the rest of them had a great time on all the things with motors.  

 We took a ride up to the Smoot cemetery to see Uncle Steve's grave.  The kids did great on the road.
Small towns are awesome.

I wish I could have gotten to know him better.  Sometimes death is totally lame.

 We stopped at the park to play for a while.

 The old school park things are fun.

I didn't want to be outdone by my 5 year old (as I have already been passed up by my 9 and 11 year olds), so I learned how to ride a motorcycle too.  I've tried before, and could do it okay, but I knew I needed to practice turning and riding in gravel and all the things that stress me out.  I can shift now and everything!  I'll be riding as well as Nate in no time.  :)

It was a fun day and the weather was beautiful.  We were glad for a safe and happy day.

A Dream Realized...

When Nate turned 2, he was looking forward to riding a motorcycle all by himself.  When he was 3, we told him he'd have to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels and then he could ride a motorcycle.  He threw himself into that and finally accomplished the task.  When he was 4 we told him he had to grow tall enough to touch the ground from the motorcycle.  He has tried to do that to the best of his ability.  :)
He's still too short for our motorcycle, but Grandpa Joe has one that is just right...

Guess who is a professional rider at age 5?  I guess there aren't people paying him to ride, but he is seriously good.  He's got just the right amount of caution.  Mike set him on it and jogged by him for a second and he took off.  He didn't pin the throttle like the other kids did on their first rides.  He doesn't go too fast, but he also likes speed, so he knows when to speed up and when to slow down.  I just can't believe this kid!

 We were in Star Valley for the day and I don't think there was an hour when this boy wasn't riding something.  He didn't want to go home and he is already begging to go back.  He got a lot of practice in the field and even got to take a few rides out around town.  He's hooked.  Now he's begging for a motorcycle that he can ride.  He's a cutie.  Yay for Nate!