Sixth Grade Graduation

The funny thing about marrying a man who has kids is that it really is like one day you wake up and you have a kid on his way to junior high. Mickey's 6th grade graduation was fantastic (hot in the school auditorium, but still fantastic). I was impressed that the elementary school orchestra could almost muddle their way through "The Star Spangled Banner" and that all the sixth graders participated in the choreographed dance at the end of the graduation. 

All the kids had drawn pictures of what they want to be when they grow up. There is a startling number of future NBA basketball players in the Mapleton area, but Mickey stayed true to his dream of owning a bakery. (Preferably on the beach in Puerto Rico, with several island locations. He's got it all planned out.) Like Mick always says - he wants his money to work for him, he doesn't want to work for his money! Can't wait to see how that philosophy works out for him. He could not be more different from Jason in that respect. Jason works harder than anyone I know. 

So proud of Mickey. PS - We didn't have to bug him to wear a suit jacket to graduation. The kids were supposed to dress "in Sunday best" (only in Utah could you still get away with saying that) and Mickey wore his suit of his own free will. 

Like Father - Like Son

Jason - circa 1991

Mickey - yesterday. Go SOX!!!

Boondocks

Don't be fooled by the bright blue sky in this picture. It was COLD at Boondocks last Saturday. Jason and I mostly waited inside while the kids were in line, then hopped back outside so that we could snap a few pictures and do the obligatory wave as they were going by.

We learned again that most of the games at Boondocks are typically broken. And that even when you know in your head that your "tickets" are electronically loaded onto your game card, it's just an automatic reaction to reach down to "collect your tickets" at the end of each game. It is nice not to have to carry wads of tickets around in your pocket though - and thread them through the impossible ticket counter at the end of the day, where you're reminded that you just spent $40 so that your kids could fight over a plastic slinkie.

No Place Like Idahome

Quick trip to Idaho this weekend. I'm so glad to have all my siblings (and by siblings I mean nieces and nephews) back within weekend driving distance. I made my first trip to the Twin Falls Library this weekend, and thoroughly embarassed myself, my family, and most of the librarians by my continued gushing over how awesome their children's section is. (They have a whole floor of the library for kids with a theater, and a writing station where kids can mail letters to their favorite book characters, and floor maps, and bean bag chairs, and toys, and a separate teen room - where I was thoroughly out of place.... You get the idea.)

Love this cute girl. I learned this weekend that she likes fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies just as much as her brothers do. Noted.

I think these two like each other more than a little bit.

 Same with these two.

It's possible one of the nephews (cough... Tyler... cough) refused to be in this picture because he was upset with the photographer (cough... Jess... cough). Something about the injustice of wearing glasses AND a red tie to church? 

So here's a bonus shot of Tidy from a few days before. He's sporting his "I just scored 6 goals in my soccer game" smile. Can't beat that.

And finally, something about the name of this road tickles my funny bone. Every. Single. Time. So on the drive back, I stopped to take a windblown selfie. Which would have been strange to anyone driving up the Ida-Homie Road on-ramp - if anyone had been.

Easter Parade

We had a fun Easter weekend. Don't they clean up nice?

Saturday we had an Easter Egg hunt at the park. Ethan especially loved picking up eggs to put in his little basket. Mickey was excited to participate but was too embarassed to carry a "girly" basket at the park. I guess he is 12, after all.

We also celebrated Carly's birthday at Texas Roadhouse. I love how all of the kids have decided that Texas Roadhouse is their favorite place to go for birthday dinners. Carly specifically requested it because of the stickers and strawberry juice. I was surprised she was willing to sit up in the saddle.

Ty and Jess sent this pretty picture of their Easter princess on Sunday morning.
 

And I made these eggs for my primary class. Not to worry - I had eggs with candy for them too. (I teach 9 year-old boys. Showing up without candy on Easter would pretty much have been a death wish.) But I hope they caught at least a little bit of the true meaning of Easter in our lesson. Easter is probably the only holiday I appreciate more as an adult than I did as a kid.

In The Jungle

This week, we went to see The Lion King with Jason's Mom and his siblings. (Merry Christmas to us from Grandma Torg!) I was excited to see my first play at the new Eccles Theater in downtown Salt Lake. It's a really pretty theater, each seat has a drink holder, and it has a fun casual vibe. Jason asked me if he had to dress up for the show, and I said no. He did pull a fleece jacket out of the trunk of his car. So that was something.

Before the show, I had "In The Jungle" stuck in my head all morning. "A-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh." So that was fun for everyone. Even more fun was that Jason kept waiting for Elton John to take the stage. All. Night. Long.

Mickey came with us to the play. He was VERY excited for his first Broadway play. Before the show, he practiced acting like a scary lion.

Ok, so Mickey's scary lion face is not really that scary. But we loved the play and it was a really fun night.

Oh, and the morning after, I woke up singing "Under the Sea" from Little Mermaid. So that makes sense.....

More Madness

It's really hard to say who had the most fun. I'll let you be the judge on that.