Summer Zoo Fun

We do an activity once a week with other moms & kids from our church. This week was Zoo Day. We met there at 9AM (so as to avoid the heat) and spent a lovely morning there. We'd had one day home from our camping trip to pull ourselves together and get out the door on time. It was a challenge, but we did it! It was a fun day full of animals and herding our own animals through the zoo. Here are some highlights from the day:

Jackson LOVES the elephants - they're his favorite! Logan with the zebras. Lizzie with the llamas.

Trevor got a sting ray to hang out for about 5 minutes right under his hand. And the last picture is of our whole group. They were a little squirrely for this last group picture, but you get the point.

Family Camp 2009 "By the numbers"

This one picture is a preview of what was the greatest moment of an incredibly long week. It started out great, but quickly went downhill. Here's the breakdown:

THE GOOD:
32 children
18 adults
15 fish caught
10+ fishing poles
7 kayaks
7 fabulous home cooked dinners
6 equally delicious breakfasts (mmmm.... ebelskivers....)
3 easy ups
2 cooking stoves
2 nights of Smores
1 boat, raft, & knee board
1 water trampoline
1 karaoke night - complete with 4 dads singing YMCA
1 glorious night of fireworks on the lake
500 waterballoons + 2 launchers = a great fight

THE BAD:
11 sick children
6 sick adults
6 COLD nights
3 doctor visits

THE UGLY:
5+ sleepless nights
1 case of pneumonia
1 car accident
1 set of keys locked in the car
1 flat tire

The video will be posted next week - wait for it.... (it will surely look like we all had a GREAT time - which, for the most part, the non-sick people DID have a great time).

Bye-Bye Reids

Last week was great. Jeremy's sister came into town - well, to be fair, both of his sisters came into town, but Kristen ended up staying for a full week. They were here for the whirlwind that was last weekend. There was a baby shower, 2 birthday parties, a baptism, a dinner party, a wedding luncheon and reception, confirmation the following day, a baby blessing, and one final luncheon. Whew! What a weekend! Did you count? That was 10 activities in a 2 1/2 day period! Goodness!

Anyway, the point of this post was not to gawk at that crazy schedule, but to reminisce about the lovely week that followed the madness. Kristen's two boys are the same age as our Lizzie (5) and Jackson (3). These cousins had an absolute blast hanging out all week. Ryan and Lizzie were thick as thieves playing dress-up, Wii, and planning sleepovers.

Jackson and Tyler would also probably call the other their BFF (if they had any concept of the term). Those 2 boys were 2 peas in a pod. They played trains, watched Wall-E and Thomas the Train to their hearts' content! Kristen and I both commented on just how well they play together for 2 boys their age. They rarely fought and genuinely enjoyed the other's company.

It was great to visit with Kristen too. She's 8 months pregnant and you all know how I LOVE the pregnant belly! She looks so great pregnant - I just hope we get to see her pregnant belly several more times. And we can't wait to meet baby "Sally Sparkle" in another month or so. Here are some great shots from her family baby shower.

That evening was so fun to hang out with just the girls! Kristen got so many fun pink things - I think her head was swimming a bit from it all. That baby girl is already so loved.

It was great to have you guys at the houses for a week. We'll miss you guys!

Joy School End-of-the-Year Par-tay

It was a great year for Joy School. Lizzie had a great time learning with her 2 friends Preston and Sarah. They worked all year on writing their names, learning their numbers, shapes, colors and letters. They are ready for KINDERGARTEN!

We celebrated at the park with an ice cream party and lots of playtime. Benny was our special guest this week and the younger siblings (Ashlynn and Jackson) got to join us as well. We were a lively bunch eating ice cream in the freakishly cold, overcast, slightly sprinkling rain weather.

Enjoy a slideshow of our last fun day together.

And heeere we go!

I think we're officially ready for summer!

We have our chore list. Check.

We have our "what to do if you're bored" list. Check.

We have our schedule in place. Water Polo. Swim Club. Tutoring. Piano lessons. Check. Check. Check. Check.

Our daily and weekly incentive programs are set. Check and check!

Let's do this thang!! ("This thang" meaning summer vacation of course.)

Chimp Lips

When Jackson puckers up....

...he PUCKERS UP!

This is Jackson's face whenever I ask for a kiss. He is not shy about it. It's always wet and smoochalicious! Sometimes he plants a good one on me and does not let go. He wraps his little arms around my neck and keeps his lips pressed against mine for a good 10 seconds. Whew! that's some love right there!

Does he not look like a little chimpanzee?

Logan's Baptism Day

This day was long anticipated by our now 8-year-old Logie Man. We've been having many discussions about religion and answering several of his deep questions about the meaning of life these past few months. Most of the discussions were sparked by his questions - not mine or Jeremy's. Here's a sampling of some of our topics:

1. What if 1,000,000 people are all praying at the same time? Can Heavenly Father really hear all of them?
2. How old are you when you get the priesthood?
3. When I get baptized will all the bad words be washed out of my head?
4. What does the Holy Ghost look like?
5. What does the Holy Ghost feel like?
6. Where is the Holy Ghost right now?
7. What happens if I sin after I'm baptized?
8. Where is heaven?
9. What did it feel like when you got baptized?

A few of his questions had to be answered with, "We won't know the answer to that question until we can ask Heavenly Father face to face." But most of them we could give him a good solid answer that he could wrap his head around. It was great to be able to have that time to bear our testimonies to him and watch him grow in the gospel.

And he was ready by the time his baptism interview came around. By this point, we'd been over the reasons why we get baptized many times:
1. to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
2. to follow Jesus' example
3. to return to live with Heavenly Father

And when the day arrived he was prepared as best as he could have been.

Here are several pictures from just before the baptism. They look so good in their "whites".

Daddy and Logan



Logan & Mommy

Logan & parents



The cousins got baptized on the same day! Congrats to Maddy too!



What a great moment...
two brothers baptizing their kids on the same day.



The special musical number by all the cousins - don't they ALL look thrilled?

Logan did perfect in the overly warm water. One dunk. One big grin. Perfect. Even his spiky hair was perfect. Jeremy didn't even have to comb it after they got dressed!

The next day takes the cake for my favorite moment of the weekend. Everyone returned for our sacrament meeting to see Logan get confirmed. He was so nervous to be up in front of the entire congregation, but we convinced him it wouldn't be so bad - he'd be encircled by family members and it would be like he was in his own little room during the whole thing. He thought that was pretty cool. After the confirmation was finished he sat down by me and leaned over to whisper, "Mom, I feel all tingly." Oh, melt my heart! He'd been waiting for that moment for so long! In that moment I knew that he knew what he had done was right.

The proud Ward Family

Logan, you had so many friends, family members and even your primary teacher there to see you get baptized and confirmed. You can look to any of them as an example to follow. They can all answer your questions about the gospel and Heavenly Father's plan for us.Logan, you were such a great example to your younger brother and sister on your baptism day. They look up to you and will follow in your footsteps. Keep choosing the right and they will choose the right too! You made the right choice to be baptized and Heavenly Father is happy you chose to follow the example of our Savior.

"What time is it? Sum-mah time!"

I loved Rebecca's post about their last day of school so I thought it would be fun to do the same and take some pictures of the boys before they headed out the door this morning. These boys were so excited for the last day of school today. Can you see the excitement flowing through their faces? That semi-tanned skin, the wrinkled shirt, the lazy grins - they are in summer mode already. Awesome.

Note the hair-dos here... no spikes, no nervous half smiles. So much less pressure from the first day of school. Who knows if they even brushed their teeth before they left...

Here was Trevor's face when I showed him the two GINORMOUS gift bags full of cute teacher gifts he was going to have to carry all the way down the street, to the bus, and onto campus in front of all his friends.... oh, the humiliation! I could hear his mind screaming at me, "Mom, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

And here are the gifts I made yesterday (thank you again to Rebecca for this idea - although I think hers turned out cuter than mine):

It's been a great year. The boys got lots of support from their teachers and finished out great. The awards assembly was last week and both boys got 2 awards. Both got perfect attendance for the 4th quarter - without even trying! Logan got the highest Physical Fitness Award/golden medal. And Trevor received High Honor Roll for the first time ever!

We are proud of you boys for trying hard and always doing your best. We're going to have a great summer!

WOO HOO! Last day of school! Bye-bye 2nd grade! So long 4th grade!

kids say the darndest things

We're driving in the car and I start singing to Jackson (to the tune of "Danny Boy"):
Me: Jackson, I'm going to sing your song. Oh Jackson boy, my Jackson Jackson bo-y. My Jackson boy -
Jackson: No mommy. I like to move it move it!


The kids are playing in the playroom upstairs and I hear someone rip a good one.
Me: Who cut the cheese?!
Ammon: What cheese?
Ryan: String cheese!

The Award

Jeremy worked his buns off this year putting together his school's application for the California Distinguished School Award. He didn't do all of it on his own - there were many others on the staff that also helped with the paperwork. There were many late nights and lots of energy put towards this application.

Here are some interesting tidbits about this award if you've never heard of it before (I took this info from the award website - click HERE to read more about it: "The program identifies and honors many of the state's exemplary and inspiring public schools with the California Distinguished School Award. Although participation is voluntary, the award is highly sought after by schools in all regions of the state. Approximately five percent of California's public schools are selected each year."

The California Distinguished School representatives always make a visit to the school to check things out and see if the school really does all the things their application says it does. The staff all came together and put together an awesome display of student work samples. They cleaned out the library and the entire room became a display area for project after project. The representatives were totally impressed with this excellent display.




The Vice Principal also organized a lovely catered luncheon and spiffed up the staff lunchroom for the occasion.

We didn't get any pictures of the outside grounds, but the custodial team did a great job prepping the aesthetic curb appeal of the school as well. They spent many hours planting flowers and scrubbing that school until it sparkled and shined.

The California Distinguished School team was impressed by all the efforts made to make their visit so comfortable. Two days later Jeremy got the phone call that, yes, they officially received the award. Woo!

Here they are at the awards ceremony in Anaheim. The first picture is of several staff members, Jeremy, and the superintendent of Fresno Schools. The second picture is Jeremy posing with the Fresno Unified Superintendent and the State of California Superintendent.


Good job to Jeremy and his staff for all their hard work.