Memorial Day

We bought this black Escape for Ryan last year about a week before he left for Utah State. Three days before he left, he got rear ended in a hit and run incident. We were all so very mad!!! Ryan went to Logan and drove all school year in a car that was crunched and he couldn't open the hatchback. Such a major pain when he was packing boxes and tubs to move. He had to put everything through the back window or load through the door and push it to the back. Delwyn has been working on collecting parts to fix it and the two of them spent most of the day working on the car. It didn't look this bad, they just took the bumper off to put on a new one.

Father and son checking out what needs to be done underneath the car.

I know what it's like when men start working on projects...it can take much longer than they think, so I took Dagny and Lincoln and went to the cemetery. I grew up doing that and now that I have someone to visit there, it's where I want to spend a little time on this day.

On Friday, Delwyn and I brought these flowers, star, and fireworks so it would look nice for Memorial Day. Love and miss you so much Blake. 

  Dagny is a beginning reader now, and she wanted to read the headstone. Some hard words for a 6 year old, but she did pretty good.

Blake would have loved these kids! Dagny had a lot of questions, "How do people die, will Blake come back, and are we going to die?" I gave her simple, honest answers.

Dagny took this picture of us. Kids are so technologically savvy these days. They both know how to take pictures and Dagny is always wanting to text emojis to Denya.

I'm getting better at taking selfies. Haha. 

We walked around for a little bit. There is a headstone with Spiderman on that the kids like to look at. We didn't stay too long, you can tell by the clouds it was a little chilly.

I took of screen shot of someone's Instagram. I love how much the family loves and supports Mom and Dad. I have a great family for sure.

This is what Austin and Melissa did today! New van!! Just in time for a new family member!

 Happy Memorial Day to all!

Melissa's Birthday and Swimming

We are celebrating Melissa's birthday a little early.

I want her and her family to be able to enjoy this gift all summer.

She pulled out some flavoring, this one is banana.

And then a shaved ice machine!! Fun summer treats!! Swimming and snow cones--what could be better??

A couple of Sunday evenings ago, a Kona ice machine was on our street. I didn't think it went to neighborhoods, just events. It was always at the Cruisers swim meets and it came to field day at the elementary school. It was only parked across the street for a few minutes. I didn't go outside, but the grandkids said it was playing music and they begged to get one. The answer was no. First of all, it's Sunday, and second that many shaved ices would probably cost a small fortune. I remembered I have a snow cone machine that I haven't used for quite some time. I need to get some syrup! Delwyn looked on line and found a Hawaiian shaved ice website that has every flavor you can think of. We ordered some and tried it out. Yum! Tiger's Blood and Root Beer are my favorite.  Then we got the idea to give Melissa the supplies to make some for her birthday. The girls were very excited! And so was Melissa! She promised the girls we could try it out later this afternoon.

Claire loves Everlee! She holds her, plays with her, carries her around, and feeds her. She is going to be a great help when Emma is born, and she will be a very good babysitter someday.

How sweet! Everlee liked all the bright colors.

See what I mean about Claire playing with Everlee?

Millie and Dagny played with these Scribble Scrubbies for the longest time. They are little animals that you color with markers and then there is a little bathtub and a scrub brush to give them a bath and get them all clean. I think I need to add this to my toy collection.

More fun playing with a little ice cream shop.

I love to read, and this just warmed my heart! I love it when kids want to read and are interested in books. It was so fun helping Dagny learn to read during e learning for kindergarten.

Quite often Melissa makes cookies when we come to visit. We get spoiled for sure! The smell of fresh baked cookies is one of my favorite things and they taste amazing too.

Time for the pool!

Lots of splashing and paddling around.

They have all the pool toys and enjoy every minute in the water.

 

The shaved ice machine did its job and these girl couldn't be happier! The hard part was trying to choose which flavor. Claire had tiger's blood and Millie had banana.

Loving every bite!

Every time I try to take Lincoln's picture lately, this is what I get. Yesterday Dagny told Lincoln that we were going to Claire's to swim and he cried and cried because he wanted to come with us instead of go to preschool summer camp, so Landon and Megan said he could skip school today and join us. I feel bad that he has to go to school and miss all the summer fun. I'm sure preschool is fun too, and they have outside time, but he loves to play with the cousins and Melissa and I are getting together a lot before Emma is born. 

Perfect kickoff to summer!

Dagny's Kindergarten Graduation

The school year is over!! What  a year it was!! One to remember for sure! Dagny loved learning and kindergarten. She can read simple books! I watched and helped with the whole process, but I'm still mystified about how kids learn to read. Dagny's class is having two graduations, one at the park and a virtual one. Ms. Addler had such cute decor for photos. The little cap and gown are adorable!

I'm a proud grandma! Proud of Dagny for learning so much doing school on line and proud of myself that I learned so much about technology and was able to help her be successful.

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Ms. Addler is definitely one of my favorite teachers ever! She is so kind, cheerful, positive, and goes the extra mile to make learning fun for her students. I felt like I got to know her better than parents know most of their kid's teachers because I saw her face, heard her voice and watched her teach every week day via computer. She is so genuine and I could tell she really loves and cares about her students.

There wasn't a graduation ceremony, just a picnic and playing at the park. It was so fun for the kids to meet each other in person after a whole school year. Kids are so resilient and make friends easily. Watching them play like they were old friends you would never guess this was their first time seeing each other in person.

Tuesday was the virtual graduation. Ms. Addler delivered these cute graduation caps for the kids to wear.

A different graduation for sure! First up was the Pomp and Circumstance Graduation March music. 

It's hard to read, but her whiteboard says, "Ms. Addler loves you!"

Ms. Addler had parents submit a couple of pictures they had taken during the year and used them to make a slide show.

She included pictures from holidays.

This was the Valentine's Day Party and Dagny was sorting Sweethearts.

These kids accomplished so much!

Everything about the slide show was super cute!

She featured a photo of each student along with a self portrait they drew. I love her lips and eyelashes!

Ms. Addler gave the students a diploma yesterday. It was rolled up and tied with a ribbon. Congratulations Dagny!!I

Dagny also got glasses over the weekend. I love the pink color. They are definitely her style.

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I loved Ms. Addler and wanted to give her something special to show our gratitude for her, so I made her a Levi quilt. We took it to Sage Canyon Elementary and she met us outside. She got a little emotional when she saw the blanket and said how much handmade gifts mean to her. I told her to use it, wash it, and enjoy it.

Dagny had a great kindergarten year in spite of all the restrictions and differences from a normal school year. Thank you Ms. Addler for everything! 

 

Ryan's Hair

Ryan came home from Utah State on the weekend. He hasn't had a hair cut since December when he was home for Christmas. That's some long hair!!

Ryan has nice hair, it has a lot of volume and body. 

I liked it more than I thought I would, but I do prefer shorter hair on boys and men. I wouldn't want him wearing a pony tail.

He went to Sports Clips and got it cut. I didn't ask him to, in case you were wondering. Ryan does like his hair a little longer, but I think even he thought this was a bit much. It felt so short to him after having it long. 

 So handsome! I do like it longer on the top. I always thought he needed to wear it super short because he has a double crown. He wouldn't let me take a picture facing forward. He looks like a whole different person!