Thursday, May 28, 2009

Last Day of School

Yesterday was the last day of school. No more rushing to get to the bus. No more homework. No more rushing to get to bed on time. No more packing lunches. No more spelling words. Ahh...all is well (at least for 2 or so months).

All ready for the last day of 2nd grade and 4th grade

When the kids got off the bus we sprayed them down with silly string

Kate and her buddy Connor


These are the little teacher gifts I made. It is a stcky note holder. I had the girls write a thank you note on the top paper and slid in a gift card too. I wrapped it up with some sticky note refills and called it good. Here's where I got the idea.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The last day of seminary for Kent...

...means I get to work out in the mornings again!!! I know it sounds crazy, selfish, insignificant... but I love getting my workouts done before the kids wake up and Kent loves sleeping in so it works out for both of us. So, at least for the next couple of months, all is well in the Carlson household.

Though, I do have to say that this last year of Kent teaching seminary has been a wonderful blessing for our whole family. Kent loved the kids in his class and loved teaching the New Testament. It was a challenge but a great blessing!
Here are some pictures from the breakfast we had at our house on the last day...

just a few of the fabulous Sophomores and Juniors in his class

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Kate's baptism pictures

I just had to post a few of the pictures that my friend Joyana took of Kate in her baptism dress. Thank you Joyana...I love them all! I can't believe my beautiful Kate is turning 8!!!



Carrie made these adorable invitations! Thanks a million Carrie!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

A Night At The Museum

Yes, we had our very own night at the museum. The 4th graders get to go on an overnight field trip to the Denver History Museum. I volunteered to go with Abbie and her class. We had such a blast! The museum has everything so well organized. We started the field trip in the evening after the museum closed for the day. We were in classes learning about different time periods of American History until about 12:30am. We lassoed a cow, made butter, panned for gold, learned about the Plains Indians, and in the old school house Abbie got in trouble for having on nail polish and had to go to the front of the class room, draw a circle on the chalk board, and stick her nose in it...very fun! I also got to hear lots of fun girl talk like "which of the Jonas Brothers is cutest?" When it was time to hit the hay, the girls headed to the Cowboy exhibit to find a spot on the floor to sleep and the boys to another part of the museum. The next morning (after a very sleepless night) breakfast was ready and a little more exploring before heading home. It really was a fun experience with my sweet Abbie!!

Ride 'm cowboy!
Abbie and Dayna

Making butter (which they actually ate for breakfast the next morning)

getting ready for bed

Abbie, Mrs. Paulson (the principal), Logan, and Mrs. Hoit (her teacher)

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Easter

We had a fabulous Easter this year! I love this time of year with spring coming and the excitement of all of our traditions. Although Kent and I try to teach our children all year long about the miracle of the Saviors life and Resurrection, I am grateful for this time set aside to celebrate it.


We had horrible weather on Easter (of course!) but we were lucky enough to get one Easter egg hunt in earlier in the week with the little kids and their friends at the park.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Spring break part two...

...was spent in northern Utah with my fabulous sister and adorable niece and nephew. We love visiting them any chance we can get. It is so nice because the kids all get along so well that it really is a break for me too. The only thing that would make it better is if Carrie still lived next door.

One of the days we spent up Diamond Fork Canyon with the Allens and Cullimore's hiking and bbq'ing. The kids had such a blast hiking up really high mountains and jumping off lots of rocks.

Abbie showing Jake the handprints on the side of the waterfall

One of the afternoons I took all the girls to my friends new store Crafter's Metal in Orem. It is a fabulous store that has lots of unfinished wood/metal projects. If you pay a $5 shop fee you can use all of their supplies to finish your project there. We had such a great time and I think the girls projects are adorable!

So, while we were in Mableton visiting my sister, Kent was still in Moab playing with the guys. Here are some of their highlights...

Warren on a very cold morning in Moab

Monday, May 4, 2009

Catch up...

There is so much catching up to do!! I think I will start with our awesome spring break trip. We headed out to Moab with some friends to do some hiking, 4 wheeling, and dirt biking. We had such a blast! Here are some of the highlights...

Day 1: Hiking in Crack Canyon and Goblin Valley:

Here is the lovely "crack" rock Payton found in Crack Canyon












Kate, Kaylee, Claire, and Nicole

By the time we finished up at Crack Canyon and got to Goblin Valley three of the four kids had fallen asleep. So, since it was cold and windy outside, I volunteered to stay in the car while Kent and Abbie went exploring. I actually have been here before and it really is amazing. The picture does not do it justice!

Abbie in Gobblin Valley


Day 2: Hells Revenge!


Let's see...what can I say about Hells Revenge. It freaked my girls out (to put it mildly)!!! I was even a little nervous at the beginning but then got in the groove and had a great time. The only time that my girls were not screaming "We are going to die!" is when the jeep wasn't moving. Let's just say it wasn't their funnest day!

Here are all of the jeeps that we rented. We are in the yellow one.

Here are a few of the only smiles we had all day. (notice that the jeep is not moving)

Day 3: Quads and dirt bikes at the sand dunes

This had to be one of my favorite parts of the trip and for some reason I didn't get very many pictures. The kids had so much fun being out on the quads and having rides in the Razors.

The girls going out for a ride (me on the left, Kim, and Tamzen)

Jake was exhausted after hours of begging for rides from whomever he could get them from.

We had such a fantastic trip and enjoyed spending time with such great friends. No one got hurt this year which was fantastic. Jake was miserable for a little bit with an ear infection but Dr. Fleming hooked us up with a prescription and he felt better almost immediately (thanks Lee!) After day 3 we left the guys for a few more days of dirt biking and headed up north to see my wonderful sister and her kids. (more on that in the next post...)