Sunday Outfits and Visits

Hudson came up from his room, sporting this outfit.  Before I sent him back down to calm some of the plaid-ness down, I had to get a picture of him.  (In case their is any doubt that he is Warren's grandson.)

 I think he was only compliant so he could leave the house with us to go and visit Betty.  The kids had been begging to go and visit her since the day she left (in April I believe.)  So a visit was finally made.  She showed us through her house and took us around her yard.  She is adjusting far better than we are.  The kids and I miss stopping by her house terribly.  She has a way of making you feel so good and special.  It was always a good pick-me-up to drop by.  Visits now are no different, besides the 45 minute drive.  She's got a garden started and has family close.  She still has taffy for the kids and asks about all of her old friends here.

Cress Creek Trail

Grandma had the Jensen girls one day, so we kidnapped them and took them hiking with us.  We went up to Ririe to enjoy the mellow Cress Creek Trail.  They were quick to soak their feet once we got to the bridge.  

 Little did they realize that it was really just the beginning of the trail.  Most were good sports.  Poor Nat had to go to the bathroom so bad.

 Let this picture of Dalanie describe her demeanor.

 Delsie rode is style with her water bottle label bracelets.

 We also crossed the road and walked along the river, just for fun.  :)

Slow Start

The summer got off to a cool and rainy start.  But who cares when you have a good brother that replaces the batteries in your phone so that it makes noises once again.

 We got some good use out of a cardboard boxed turned castle, complete with a draw bridge and all.  The first week of summer break, the kids spent most of their time playing in our garage.

 We went out to Riverside Cemetery with Grandma and Grandpa Hillman to put flower out for Pharises, Grandma Lane, and others.  Hudson got to operate the bent, orange handled screwdriver.  It is quite the honor.  Grandma would point out where she wanted holes poked for the flowers to go.

 Hailey was kind enough to share he jacket with Brent when he got cold in at the Shelley Cemetery by the Hillmans.

 We got caught in a downpour at Kesslers.  Nothing like loading up your groceries in the rain.

 Despite the weather, Dalanie opened up a burger joint for dinner one night.  They were pretty hard to beat.

Summer Challenge

The kids were still trying to earn their prizes from last year's summer challenge, so they started things off with a bang.  They logged nearly 15 miles in the first few days of summer.  Not only did we ride our bikes on a 6 miles run, but the kids wanted to walk up Pullin' Hill.  The excitement of bike riding wears off rather quick when it starts to get hot and kids start complaining.  It might not last for long, but anytime I can motivate 4 kids to go over 50 miles, that's a huge feat!

 We did a little experiment on one of our rides and counted the number of times each person had to pedal to make it a 1/4 mi.  Ruby was clearly the winner, pedaling 3x as many times as most of us.  And to think, she is always the one with the biggest smile.

 Dalanie was so insistent in walking Pullin' Hill with me, she got to bed early and woke up at 5:40 am to accompany me and my regular walking buddies.

Paunie's Class

Pain wanted a little recital for her gym classes so they could show Grandma and Grandpa's what they had been learning.  Since Ruby's class is a combo class, they also got to show us their ballet.  

It was a sweet little class with only four little girls (there are more pictured that came for the recital.)

Ruby worked really hard to please Ms. Paunie.  Gymnastics makes them so strong, but because it is such hard work they sometimes say they don't like it.  Paunie put up her sign in the gym for all to see.

I can't imagine how many hundreds of girls that Paunie has taught over the years, but she still has a way of making each girl feel special.

The crowning accomplishment for Dalanie this year was getting her back handspring.  Wahoo!  That's what I call determination and persistence (and guts too!)

Field Day

There never seems to be a shortage of traditions, but we tried out my old tradition of riding our bikes to school.  Of course, it changed to golf carts once I got into high school.  Ruby wanted to come along and I knew she could probably out pedal the other two, so she got to tag along.

The kids were working on perfecting their tricks on the way there.  I was just glad we made it without too many scrapes.  Ruby was whistling dixie the whole way there.

We were there before the school doors opened.

Ruby and I stayed to help out with field day.  Since the weather had been pretty rainy, they started the day off inside for the lower hall.  I got to help out with the obstacle course in the gym.  It's always a favorite for the kids.

The Tug-O-War is hands down the loudest and most highly anticipated event.  They pull and scream for everything they've got.

It was a great year of 2nd grade with Mrs. Johnson.

Hudson finished up the year with Mrs. Nelson.  (Turns out she took a job in Blackfoot and kind of snuck out of Firth.)

Upper hall went outside.  There are more class competitions which were a lot of fun.  

Hudson ended up jumping twice for his class.

As always, the Tug-O-War was intense.

There happened to be a tie between classes, so their teachers had to hula hoop while the kids cheered.  The loudest class won.  Bless the teachers' hearts, they were such good sports.

Hudson's class came away as the winners.

Once again, I manned the obstacle course.

All of the teachers and staff go outside to wave goodbye to the kids as the buses pull away.  I love having field day on the last day of school.  It keeps them entertained and is a fun way to wrap up the year.

Liza Lou and Awards

Dalanie had her part as the aunt memorized in no time."Liza Lou if you will take this soiled Sunday, go to meeting finery and boil it up and scrub it all real nice and clean for me by next Friday I will bake you a pe-can pie all for your very own.  But get on home real quick so as not to be in the yeller bellied swamp after dark."  She held the microphone close and spoke nice and slow that you could hear and understand her.  

Of course Adam Hilder had everyone laughing as the Globbity Glook.

Ann, Marsha, and I got together to help Mrs. Johnson sew up all the skirts and bonnets for the girls.

Again, Dalanie won the Physical Fitness award.  Only one other girl in 2nd grade earned this award.  She seemed disappointed and wished that she had gotten a different award like the reading one.  She is a tough girl.

Hudson came up shy on a few events, so he walked away with a National Fitness award.  Still, quite an accomplishment.  I get emotional on awards day because so many kids have worked so hard.  It's great to see them rewarded.