Moab

We took our first camping trip of the summer to Moab. We stayed at the Canyonlands camp ground on Main Street and I highly recommend it. It was really clean, had lots of shade, and the pool there was fabulous, the kids spent hours swimming. We actually had to drag them out of the pool because I was sure they were going to turn into fish, haha.   It was a very low key, relaxed trip.  We went to Hole in the Rock and visited the petting zoo, the kids really enjoyed kissing the camel and Rory even convinced me to do it.  Connor was appalled because the camel slipped him the tongue! 

We also visited the Moab cemetery to show the kids where their great grandparents were buried, got shakes at Milts, visited Potato Salad Hill and the other hills that they have jeep safari on, swam, swam, and swam some more.  Saturday night we walked Main Street and checked out a few shops then went to the rodeo. The kids loved watching the barrel racers and bull riders.  After the rodeo there was a dance outside the facilities.  Kinlee and Matthew danced their little hearts out.  We had to drag Kinlee away and the only way we got her to leave is I promised to take her to a concert sometime this summer. 

My favorite part of the trip was our hike to the Mill Creek Swimming Hole.  A friend of mine told me about it, then when I brought it up to Rory he remembered that his grandma had talked about swimming there as a kid.  Rory's grandpa Denny did construction in Moab (he and grandma Rhea met at a dance while he was working there) and the motel he was staying at didn't have running water, so he would hike to the swimming hole to wash up.  The hike wasn't very long, but the first part of the trail was washed away by the high water, so we had to climb a few rocks, then we had to wade through a pretty swift running river and 2 small streams to get to it.  When we got there the girls and I soaked our feet in the water while Rory, Connor, and Matthew, jumped off the cliff into the water.  It was a beautiful place to visit and I anticipate we will go back the next time we are in Moab.

 

Sunday evening we visited arches and were able to watch the sunset from the delicate arch viewpoint.  It was an amazing view.  We also visited the turret arch, north & south window arches, balance rock, and a couple others I can't remember.  I'm so glad we went in the evening, it was much cooler and we didn't have to deal with any crowds.  I am forever in awe of my creator.  This beautiful world that was created for us is such a blessing.    

Families are Forever!!

These past few days have been some of the best I can remember.  Saturday I threw an 80th birthday party for my grandpa and his twin brother, Verl.  Although I'm sure grandpa doesn't remember or even know why he was there, it was a wonderful day to pay tribute to 2 of the best men I know.  We had a wonderful turnout, they even had a couple they went to high school with come and visit for awhile.  I looked around at all the wonderful people that were there and the wonderful legacy these men have created and was overwhelmed with happiness.  I even teared up a little talking to Verl.  He and his wife put in their mission papers, at 80 years old!  He also told me a few stories my grandpa had told me before his dementia got so bad.  My favorite story of the day was the story he told of the day they were born.  My great grandpa was working out of the area when their mom went into labor.   She had Verl, so they sent a telegram to her husband telling him he had a healthy baby boy.  The man who send the telegram returned and they said, turn around and send another one, there's another boy!  At the time it was $25 to have a baby, but since the doctor was already there he only charged $15 for my grandpa, so my Uncle Verl always jokes that he's worth more.

Tuesday we had the opportunity to go to the Manti temple and get sealed by Rory's uncle Rodger Branch to Matthew.  I bought Matthew a book 10 Days Until Forever and had read it to him a few times, so everyday for the last 10 days we had a countdown to forever.  When we arrived in Manti and the kids could see the temple they were ecstatic.  The ladies in the nursery were so sweet to them, actually, when I asked Matthew what his favorite part of the temple was, he said it was the crackers and juice in the play room.  After we dropped the kids off there Rory and I had an opportunity to sit and visit with each other. It was such a beautiful, sacred experience.  We were sealed in the Persian room, which was the same room Rory and I were married in almost 14 years ago.  It was also Rodger & Elynn's wedding anniversary, so it was a special day for all of us.  The spirit was so strong and I was worried Matthew was going to be the wild and crazy boy he usually is, but he was so reverent, happy, smiling, and calm the whole time.  He was very excited to see grandma Bet in the sealing room and kept tapping Kinlee to try and get her to look at grandma Bet.  Holding his hand and Rory's hand at the altar and knowing my other kids were right behind me was the best feeling in the world.  I cannot think of a more perfect day and am so grateful to have regained my testimony.   I love the Savior and am so grateful and so blessed.  I don't know why I am so blessed and have been given so much, but I am eternally grateful.  The picture below isn't the only picture we got, but I haven't gotten the other pictures from Laurie yet, so this is the only one I have at the moment.       

Last day of school

We've had an eventful couple of days. Last Wednesday the kids had their last Musical Majors performance.  We went around to all the local nursing homes and the kids sang some of their favorite songs they learned this year.  It was a really neat experience for the kids because they got to see a lot of residents that used to live in Wellington.  A few of them even remembered the kids and hugged them and were so happy to have them there performing.  What a great way to end the school year!  The picture above is Shalyce, Gavin, and Connor with Fawn Wilder, one of Debbie's neighbor's. 

Thursday was field day.  They decided to do an old school field day so they had potato sack races, tug o war, ball throw, etc.  It was fun, but it started to rain halfway through the day and got super cold.  We ended up spending the afternoon in the classrooms watching movies. I didn't get many pictures, actually I only got the one of Kinlee in the potato sack, but it was a really enjoyable day.  

Friday was the last day of school and it truly was a bitter sweet day.  We are so excited for summer and a break, but Kadee is going to be a big 5th grader and Connor is going to the middle school.  I love the people they are growing into, but I hate to see them grow up so fast.  The morning started with signing yearbooks, a quick picture of the kids with their teachers on the last day, then an assembly.  Connor FINALLY won the Warrior Award!  He has been working all year to earn that award and I was so proud of him.  His teacher wrote him a letter to go with it that said he had worked extremely hard to be an example to his classmates and she was so proud of him for standing up to them when they were doing things they weren't supposed to.  He also spoke to the student body and passed the torch to the new student council.  It was really fun having both him and Kadee up there, Kadee as the future historian and Connor as the President for the last time.  They handed out more awards and did the final drawing for Road to Success.  RTS is a reading program our school participated in this year.  The kids recorded their reading and won small prizes, and then were put in a drawing for a larger quarterly prize.  Well the final drawing was done and Kadence's name was called!  She won a certificate for a new bike and was beyond excited!  As soon as school was out we took her to pick out her bike and then she got to go to an end of school year pool party and sleepover at her friend Kloey's house.     

Student Council and the Ambassadors

Finally, the best way to start summer is with a messy face, but happy boy!  Matthew insisted I take his picture with the worm he found.Later I had to drag him off his bike to come in and take a bath.  #boyswillbeboys #alittledirtneverhurt  

Dance Recital

This weekend the girls had their Dance Technica Dance recital.  They were so fun to watch!  They are such beautiful dancers and have improved so much this past dance season.  Kadee performed 4 routines: Hip Hop, Jazz, Ballet, and Tap.  Kinlee performed 3 routines:  Jazz, Ballet, and Tap. Kadee is so excited to continue on with dance and gymnastics and is begging me to let her take an additional ballet class and do a trio next year.  Kinlee said she is going to do dance again but if she doesn't like it she's quitting, haha.  That is definitely a Kinlee thing to say.  

May Craziness

We have had a lot happen this last week. Tuesday Connor & Kadee has their field trip to the Curiosity museum at Thanksgiving Point. It is a really fun place with lots to see, but I think we would have a lot more fun there with just our family. It was a quick trip, but I'm so glad I was invited to go and spend the day with the kids. Actually, I think I'm going to add Thanksgiving Point to our Utah bucket list.  I was with Kadee's group the whole time so I didn't get any pictures of Connor, but I assure you he had a wonderful time!

We also had Matthew's preschool graduation for the second time, but not for the last time, haha.  He graduated from the 3 year old class and will be in the four year old class next year.  He has grown so much this past year and his speech has improved tremendously.  They sang some adorable songs and Matthew was so excited to have a cookie while we watched the slideshow.  He loves to play dad's phone, loves to have me read to me, and LOVES chocolate milk.

Lastly,  Kadence ran for Student Council Historian against one of her good friends.  She did such a good job on her speech and was a nervous wreck the day of elections.  When they announced that she had one her excitement was short lived because a few mean girls accused her of cheating.  She was so upset to think that someone would think she was capable of something like that.  The teachers handled the situation really well and talked to the kids about treating others with kindness.  She is now really excited to take pictures and to be apart of Student Council and, her and Ayva (the girl she ran against) are still good friends.      

Kadence for Historian!

Kadence won the primary votes and is now running against one other girl for historian.  She is super optimistic and excited for the elections.  She's made some awesome posters, stickers for kids to wear, and wrote an awesome election speech:

Hey everyone my name is Kadence Bradley; I am running for historian for the 2016-17 school year. Do you want to hear a joke? What did the pencil say to the pen, so what’s your point? My point is that I will be the best historian for Wellington Elementary. The reasons I am the best historian for the job is that I have some fun spirit Friday ideas.  I also have some really fun ideas for the yearbook. Finally, with all my talents and fun picture taking ideas you can’t go wrong voting for me. 

A few of my ideas for Spirit Friday are FFF (Fabulous Fun Friday) were we will all dress us as movie stars.  Next, how does face painting sound?  I’d like the student council to go around the school one Friday and paint everyone’s faces.  Finally, it would be so fun to have a Hawaiian Friday.  This is a day we can dress up, have a luau and wear leis.

On to the yearbook, I feel my job as historian would be to make the yearbook the best ever.  I’d like to make it bigger and have more pictures of everyone.  I really enjoy taking pictures and have some really great ideas for different poses and backgrounds so we have the best pictures ever.

Vote for me for fresh ideas, a bigger yearbook and fun spirit Fridays.  Be a pal and vote for this gal.  Kadence Bradley for historian.  

           Fingers are crossed, elections are this Wednesday, hope she wins!

Happy Mother's Day!

     I know Mother's day isn't until Sunday, but my kids have been spoiling me this week so I decided it's ok to celebrate a little early.  It started out as a yucky week.  I've been battling our insurance company over my Humira.  I must admit I've said some pretty nasty things about them, but it is out of my hands, so I'm going to have faith that it's all going to work out and I'm going to be able to get my medication for an affordable price.
    The week started to improve yesterday, Kadence and all the 4th graders at Wellington elementary got a visit from the Junior Weather Specialist at KSL.  He talked to them about weather and then took a picture of them for the news that night.  Kadee watched and was so excited to see their picture on t.v. She kept rewinding it because the weather man said, "What a great group of kids at Wellington Elementary."  She was so impressed that he would compliment them like that on t.v.  They really are a great group of kids! Kadee is running for historian this year.  She wrote an awesome essay about why she would be the best choice for historian and will find out tomorrow if they have to do a primary vote or will just do one main vote.  I'm so excited and nervous for her.    

On to the next kid.  Connor is getting so close to getting his second class scouting rank.  Last night he went to scouts hoping to get things wrapped up and came home with a frown.  He said all they did was work on lashings and he was so disappointed.  I told him to keep practicing and he would get it.  Then he said, "Just kidding, I passed off lashings, I made you a mother's day gift!"  He made me leave the room so he could, "get it ready."  I came into the kitchen to see a beautiful wood vase with glass bottles in it and fresh flowers.  He made it all by himself and did an amazing job.  His scout leader later sent me a text saying how careful he was putting it together to make sure it was perfect for me.  I was super impressed and excited to display it on my table.  After a LONG couple of months Connor is back to playing baseball. We are trying to be super careful with his arm and ease him back into it.  He is excited to be playing again and is looking forward to his first game back next Monday.

 















Today Kinlee had her Kindergarten Mother's Day program.  It was so wonderful!  Kinlee and Tadd were the door greeters.  They handed out programs and welcomed everyone as they came in.  The kids sang the cutest songs and Kinlee wore a nurses hat and said, "My mommy's a nurse who fixes and patches all of my hurts, sores and scratches."  She also got to play the bells with a small group of kids and they did 2 adorable dances.  At the end of the program they gave us our mothers day presents.  Each mom got a self portrait their kids painted for them, a necklace they made, coupons for chores, and book they made about moms.  It was a bittersweet day.  I loved watching the kids and the end of year slide show, but my heart broke a little knowing that our year in Kindergarten is already almost over.  She has learned and grown so much this year.  She is green in dibels, knows her first 100 sight words, is reading on her own, has improved her handwriting tremendously, and has learned so many new life skills.  I love, love, love her teacher and am so grateful for the love and hard work she has shown her students.