I Almost Forgot About April!

 April came and went so fast that I forgot all about it!  And I shouldn't have, because we did a lot of fun things!

It started with Dustin and I in Scotland, and our kids spending Spring Break by themselves.  They took a couple of days and went down to St. George to stay with one of Avery's friends.

Grant made the high school volleyball team!

And he turned 16!!  He didn't want a party, but he agreed to having his friends over for lunch.

The next day was Prom, and Grant started out the day with breakfast making at our house for their day date.  The dance was that night.

Because not enough of the boys are 16 and 6 months, they couldn't drive the group to the dance (a Utah law), and so we had to chauffeur them to pictures, dinner, the dance and the after party.  It sounds like a lot of work, but it is the only time that we get to spy a little on the dance happenings, so we don't mind!  After the regular pictures, Grant's group wanted to take more pictures at the Capital, so chauffeur Dustin obliged and got some fun pics.

Ryan also had fun with his date, but we weren't allowed to tag along with his group.  Go figure.

We celebrated Grant's birthday with family the next day.  He requested a knock-off Costco tuxedo cake, which mostly worked!

It is so crazy that our youngest is 16!!  Grant was a little disappointed when he couldn't get his driver's license on his actual birthday.  Because of his busy schedule, he couldn't get his driving time in with the instructor and so he had to wait a month before he could get his license, which was very frustrating for him.  Although I was disappointed for him, I know once he doesn't need me to take him everywhere that I will see him so much less, so I was grateful for one more month of being in the car together.  Grant is a sophomore this year and has done so well in high school!  He is a great student and a great friend.  He is always good to go on a walk with me, or help around the house.  This year he tried two new sports, cross country and volleyball, and I am proud of him for doing hard things!  He is fun to talk to and adds a lot to our family!  We love Grant!  

We love Mondays with this girl!!  She is doing so well on her mission.  It is fun to see the joy she is feeling, being out serving and teaching about Jesus Christ.

We went on a fun and quick trip to Seattle for my niece Khalina's wedding.  We took Friday off school and work and flew in that morning.  Lynnette and her girls flew with us and shared a rental car, which was nice.  When we got there, we met up with Nicole and Monica and their families and spent the day enjoying Seattle.  We went to Pike's Place and downtown Seattle.  We found a fun park called Gasworks Park, that Dustin learned about in college many years ago.  And that night we went to the Seattle Temple for Khalina and Edgar's wedding.  It was lovely.

Gasworks Park

The next morning we made our way north for the reception.  Along the way we stopped at a tulip farm and wandered the beautiful gardens.  We chose a farm that wasn't quite what we expected, but it was still beautiful.  It was Easter weekend, so everything was very busy and the traffic was bad, so it took us most of the day to drive the few hours up to where Khalina's reception was going to be.

The reception was beautiful and fun!  Khalina and Edgar love Japanimation, and she is an artist, so they had a fun theme and beautiful decorations, mostly created by her!  She's amazing.

The next morning we all went to church together and had a lovely Easter service, and then went on to Chad and Val's to spend the afternoon together.  We ate delicious food and did an awesome Easter Egg hunt.  And then we celebrated our cousin, Millie's, birthday.  Everyone had to get on the road that afternoon, either to continue their vacation, or for us, to fly back home.  It was a quick trip, but really fun to be there with most of our family!

The next day was Ryan's Senior Award's night.  Just like that, the end of the school year is coming and Ryan is almost done!

I took this picture and sent it to my brother, Chad, because I think he had that exact outfit in high school.  His response was "I don't think I ever looked that good."

But did you ever look THIS good, Chad??  That's the real question.

We visited our Great Uncle Gordon, and got word the next day that he had passed away in the night.  We were glad we were able to see him one more time!

Busy sports season for our kids!  (and, yes, Grant's name is spelled wrong, and Ryan's sign is upside down.  And they stayed that way for a few months on my lawn).

My last alphabet bug day for preschool.  I accepted a job with my Uncle Justin's teleprompter business as an office administrator/logistics manager/bookkeeper/whatever else they find that they want me to do.  I have been slowly training until Preschool ends, and then I have to really learn what I'm doing.  It is a very bittersweet time for me.  I'm trying to just enjoy these last couple of months of preschool with the amazing kids and moms.  I will miss it!

Lots of volleyball games during this month!  It is fun to see Grant improving!  He has played a little volleyball, but not a lot, so we were excited for him to make the team and have this chance to improve his skills.  He doesn't play as much as he would like, but he is trying to stay positive and learn what he can!

Ryan ran track, but I only got to see him run in one meet!  Either because they were out of town and I couldn't get there, or because he didn't run in the meet.  He only ended up running in a few.

Our good friends, the Colemans, took us to go see the the Broadway play, Wicked, with them!  What?!! So kind and such a fun night with friends!