Week #20: Shenanigans at the BOGO Book Fair

This Week...

...we celebrated Lainey's birthday with Minion Madness. Aunt Cherice and Aunt Shelly were in town and took a Minion picture with us! Lainey loved decorating her cupcakes and eating them afterwards. ;) 

We celebrated Lainey's birthday with Jason's family. She had a good time getting a double dose of partying. 

...we went to Brannan's graduation celebration. Can't believe these nephews of mine keep growing up. They are great examples for my kids. I'm so excited to see where Brennan goes and what he accomplishes after high School. 

...Naya and I had a blast at the Book Fair. They had more copies of my favorite book - My InstaAwesome Life. I took to trying to sell it. I called out to all the kids mingling among the books that it was a hot item and was going fast. Before the shift was done, we sold two! This was also the year of story time. To bring a little fun, and keep us from going crazy with all the volunteer hours, I started reading the books out loud. Ok, it started with reading the backs of the books with lots of feeling to see if they were worthy of Naya's mountainous purchase stack and it grew into actually reading some of the shorter children's books. I acquired quite the gathering of little kids. We quickly learned witch ones kept their attention and witch ones didn't.

...I went to Silverwood with Emma and the other 4.0 GPA students. It was a lot of fun! Emma had a good group of girls to hang out with -Emma Pitzer, Alex, and Alicia.

The girls went on a lot of rides. I did not.

They ate a lot of lunch together from the BBQ Pavilion. I did not. (Just the normal portion)

They got really wet. I did not. (I was left watching all of their bags)

They ate a lot of ice cream. I did not. (I had a small one.)

Good bye Silverwood! Until next time!

...we had our first additional Relief Society Activity as a presidency. It was a missionary themed activity. We had so much fun! We made a Smile box for our 2nd Ward missionaries, made a body scrub to give away as a neighbor/friend gift, and wrote letters to the missionaries serving from our ward. We also played a super fun missionary relay.

Lainey and Maddox helping with set up!

...I went with Claire and Benjamin on their class trip to the Hanford Reach Museum. It's so fun to hang out with these two. Ms. Flannery was kind enough to let me tag along as a chaperone. :) These two twinners are sure good, respectful kids.

Native plant identification

At the Playground of Dreams...

...we helped out with the McGee Read and Run Fiesta. It was a lot of fun! I helped at the 1 mile turn around. Our neighbors were nice enough to let Lainey tag along with them so she could run the route.

...I took the kids to the Law Enforcement Memorial and luncheon in Columbia Park. It was free lunch for police officers and their families. They had some military/police vehicles on display and we did a little bit of exploring.

...we stopped at the bird feeding pond on the way out of Columbia Park. We didn't have any bread, but stopped to see the birds anyway. Some nice people shared their bread with us. We used a little and then shared some with other visitors that didn't have any. It was crazy to have the birds so close and a little unnerving when they moved suddenly. 

Week #19: Austin and Lainy Get Married

This Week...

...my nephew Austin got married!!! He and Lainy are starting out on a wonderful adventure! It was great to be part of their special day. The day was filled with a lot of events in their honor. First, the Temple Sealing, then pictures on the grounds. Then it was off to the church for the family luncheon and then the ring ceremony. I was asked to give the prayer and felt honored to be part of that special ceremony. They had refreshments after the ring ceremony and Austin and Lainy's first dance. Then the reception began. We saw an Administrator from Emma's Middle School and our dentist. Small World!

...Softball continues this week. We are loving it!! We never would have thought of her at catcher, but we are so thrilled she likes it and is doing well!

...I played in the first softball game of the summer league season. With my new calling, I'm not sure that I'll get to play a whole lot. I was feeling the weight of everything and so I decided to play in at least the first game. We got new shirts this year. We're not the pink ladies anymore. Haha! The game was just what I needed. It felt so good to crack one over second base into the outfield. 

...Marty is looking handsome with a new haircut!

...we set up the BOGO Spring Book Fair this week. Whoo. (Can you tell we're excited? ........No, really. We are excited!) We helped get everything set out and took a sneak peak at the books sent in the shipment this time around. Can't wait to earn some volunteer vouchers!!!

Week #18: May Day Flower Baskets

This Week...

...we watched Emma play softball again this week. We are absolutely loving this sport! She is loving this sport! She comes home excited after practices and games. She sees the area she needs to improve on, but uses it as motivation instead of discouragement. I am so glad she's enjoying it so much!

...Emma left some May Day baskets for a couple neighbors. She's doing Random Acts of Kindness as a school project. 

...I came home from several hours out of the house and found Marty on the picnic table. I don't think he could get down. He was really skittish when I helped him get down because of the sound of his claws on the table and how his feet slipped around.

...Jason came home drenched because of the heat of the day. Jason worked with his buddy Raleigh, the CEO of Tri-City Orthopaedic, to get trauma kits donated for the Sheriff's Office. He went to a media event at the Orthopedic offices where the kits were donated to Sheriff Hatcher. It was a cool event, but a very hot day.

...we put on our first funeral luncheon as a Relief Society presidency. Phew! It was a little stressful, but it turned out really well. Carol Lynn and her daughter took care of the vases of Lilacs for the tables. She also had beautiful tablecloths to set out as well. We had lots of people sign up to help with salads and desserts and we served pulled pork with BBQ sauce on the side. I went early because I was feeling a little antsy. I sat at one of the tables in the gym to write in my journal and review my upcoming lesson. It was so peaceful and wonderful with that bouquet in front of me as I studied.