End of School Year/Beginning of Summer

May might be busier than December! All the sports and activities are still happening along with all of the end-of-the-year school activities.

I had a good Mother’s Day. The kids made me breakfast and dinner and we watched a Golden Knights playoff game-which is one of my favorite things to do with them!

The youth in the ward had another hard hike in preparation for their BIG hike next week. Kayli has done them all even though they haven’t been easy.

Beau had his piano recital with Mrs. Caroline and lots of friends and she invited Kayli to play in it as well. Now Kayli, Beau, and Trey are doing piano lessons with Kathy who is in our ward.

Kayli finished 6th grade. She earned straight A’s and the Principal’s Honor Roll Award. She had lots of Yearbook responsibilities at the end of the year and stayed busy with studying and all of her activities.

Beau graduated from 5th grade and elementary school. I was very sad about this. He had a great year as well and his teacher has become one of my good friends since I helped her for two years in a row (she had Kayli the year before). He had a good group of school friends but they are all going to different middle schools and so that was sad too. Also, he was just a good kid who made the school better. Kindergarteners loved him and I heard from multiple parents how great he and his friends were to the little kids. They would fist bump them and say hi to them all the time. We would constantly be waiting on Beau after school because he was saying goodbye to all of his little friends. That to me is the greatest thing about Beau. He is a friend to all. He was one of three kids to earn the Great American Award. He had to memorize the Gettysburg Address, the Preamble, label on a map the 50 states and capitals, name the U.S. Presidents in order, say the Star Spangled Banner and write out the Pledge of Allegiance. It wasn’t easy but he (and I haha) did it! He also earned A/B Honor Roll.

He also had a fun 5th grade BBQ the last day of school. I think the moms there helping were more sad than the kids but the kids were also sad to be leaving elementary school.

Trey had an incredible year. I am so grateful that his teacher pushed him and helped him reach beyond what they were doing in class. He was never bored because she challenged him. I also grew close to her and am sad that we won’t have her next year. Trey tested into GATE which he is very excited and he scored really high on all standardized and classroom tests. We didn’t really know that he was testing so high until the end of the year and I credit his diligence and his teacher with his incredible growth. He earned straight A Honor Roll and his teacher even chose him for the Aviator Award. This is given to one student in the class who demonstrates all the characteristics of an Aviator: Always Do Your Best, Volunteer to Better Your Community, Initiate Good Choices, Act as a Team Player, Take Responsibility for Your Own Behavior, Respond to Others With Kindness. I didn’t know he was getting that award when she invited us in for the classroom awards assembly. I was surprised but also not surprised. He really worked hard and his teacher said he was so deserving of this award. He also got the Ray of Sunshine award. I’m excited for him to be in the Accelerated class/GATE next year. I think he is ready and excited for the challenge!

Sami also had such a fun year and I was sad about her graduating from Kindergarten. No more Kindergarteners and helping in Kindergarten anymore for me. It makes me sad! I got to sub her class towards the end of the year and I loved it so much. I almost wonder if I should teach Kindergarten when I go back to teaching! She had the cutest class and I’m sad that they’ll all get split up next year. Her Kindergarten teacher was in her 44th year of teaching and retiring this year. She was a fantastic teacher and Sami grew a ton. She had to leave for a family emergency the last 5 weeks of school but they had a wonderful sub who I got to help a lot. Between the two of them and her cute class-Sami had such a great year.

Last day of school…

Memorial Day jeeping was awesome. The weather was so perfect and it had been a long time since we had all been jeeping together. I loved it.

Soccer seasons ended. Sami loved playing soccer! She didn’t score any goals the first few games but once she did she scored lots! She’s also aggressive and not afraid to get in the action and fight for the ball. I love it! She is also getting the hang of passing the ball. It was a little crazy at times coaching but for the most part Lindsay and I had a lot of fun coaching this little crew. We’re going to do it again in the fall!

Trey is fun to watch. He has a great kick and really turned it up the last few games. He had some incredible games and goals.

The football season ended as well and Beau is so fun to watch. His whole team is adorable and so passionate about sports so they are so much fun. Bennett had some amazing throws to Beau who had some good touchdowns. I think his favorite thing about football (and hockey) is playing defense where he can stop the other team but also go score! He loves when he gets a pick 6 or dives and pulls flags. I love watching him play sports and his passion for everything he does is so much fun.

Our Monday nights consisted of little kid soccer practices (Sami and Trey practiced at the same time) and then Beau’s football practice afterwards at the same park (the perks of organizing teams with friends who coach). I thoroughly enjoyed sitting out there watching football practice with the other moms after I coached Sami’s team. The weather was perfect most nights and the little kids would play at the park.

Beau is still playing hockey for the Minions although the team was broken up by the league and we’re still a little sad about it. He finds himself in the penalty box more often than last season not because he’s a dirty player but because sometimes he is left to stop a breakaway and he dives or does whatever he has to to stop the player from scoring and sometimes that means that on accident it’s a penalty. He’s made some amazing saves and although it’s harder to score this season he does have some goals. He’s also been doing early-morning practices with Bennett and some other Minions with a really good coach. He works them and they are exhausted after. He thinks it’s pretty cool that Jonathon Marchessault’s (Beau’s favorite Golden Knights player) boys come to the practices too. They asked him if he’s #81 because of their dad and Beau was like yeah totally.

Speaking of Golden Knights… they are in the Stanley Cup Finals! We love cheering on our Golden Knights. The games are so much fun and we love keeping up on the team. Beau plays at their practice facility so it’s fun to see everything decked out for the finals.

Sami finished Singers Company which was so fun for her. She loved doing it with Livi and Elise and I enjoyed hanging out at the library for an hour each week while they practiced. They did some cute concerts all about Summer.

We’ve had lots of pool days already between our clubhouse pool and the Cahill’s pool. We are very lucky. The weather also hasn’t been too terrible in Vegas yet. We’ve been able to play outside and we aren’t dying anytime we go anywhere. I’m not sure how long that will last but it sure is nice when we can hang out outside especially at night- we love doing that with neighbors.

We’ve been playing hard this summer. Lots of playing with friends, Sky Zone, hockey, swimming, movies, and it’s been great so far.

Kayli has been babysitting lots and keeps busy with all of her hobbies. She is playing beautiful songs on the piano and is currently at Girls’ Camp where I’m hearing she is being hilarious. She has quite the personality!

Beau is so much fun. Hockey is life is Beau’s motto but he takes everything he’s doing at the moment so seriously. If he’s making perler beads and he likes the way it turns out it’s, “Let’s gooooo!”, if he scores a goal on an NHL 23he freaks out and it’s the best goal he’s ever scored. He is passionate about all that he does and I love it. He is one huge Golden Knights fan and we really hope they win it all! He is also kind and friendly. I love that about him.

Trey is about to turn 8 and get baptized and I’m sad that my little Trey Boy is not so little anymore. He is almost as tall as Beau and is also still so friendly. He loves to learn and is curious and creative. He wants to play flag football and has been working with our neighbor, Big Trey, who is the Arbor View quarterback. Little Trey thinks that’s pretty cool. He’s also becoming a good piano player! His smile right now cracks me up. He looks like a little jack-o-lantern.

Sami loves playing with her friends and keeping up with the big kids. She likes to play barbies when friends come over and she likes to help me make dinner.