The problem with waiting so long to post is that I forget too many of the details of what actually happened in these months. I rely a lot on pictures to refresh my memory and if I didn’t take many I am out of luck. This is a somewhat long post that hopefully will get me all caught up.
Around the first part of the month of April Kelsi 
celebrated her birthday a little late with a few friends at the bowling ally. We kept it simple this year. They seemed to have fun though.
Also this month we enjoyed a quite Easter at home. On the Friday before we colored eggs and on 
Saturday the Easter Bunny showed up. He comes to visit us on Saturday so that Sunday can be devoted to celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for this tradition that was taught to me by my parents.
I don’t want my children to ever forget the true reason for Easter.
The end of April and May always brings the end of school activities. There are always the choir performances, the track and field days and graduation.
Field Day
Courtney’s Preschool Graduation
We loved Busy Bee Preschool. We are sure going to miss having a child in Mrs. Norton’s school. She was an amazing preschool teacher!
In May we also celebrated Courtney’s 5th birthday. She was so excited about it this year. She celebrated a couple of days early this year with her first friend party ever. She had a pretty good turn out and it was lots of fun. The kids all enjoyed the park.
On her actual birthday she opened up her presents from us and grandparents. She was one happy girl. 
We went shopping on her birthday and it was so funny as we walked up and down the isles. Every time we got close enough for someone to hear her she would say “Mom, did you remember it is my birthday?”
Her primary teachers brought her this rice crispy # 5 and balloon. How awesome is that! She was so excited.
The weekend after school got out we went to Tucson with Grandma and Grandpa Edington. We went to the Zoo and to the Gaslight Theater. It was so much fun. It was slightly hot for the zoo, but we still enjoyed it. Such a neat little zoo.
I didn’t get any pictures at the Gaslight Theater but that is always a hit. We watched “Arizona Smith.” It was a fun version of an Indiana Jones type play. If you are every in Tucson and have the chance I highly recommend the Gaslight Theater. We might just have to make it a tradition to go every year.
June was the start of summer and the fun it brings. This summer started with T-ball. Courtney was the only one that wanted to play ball this summer. In some 
ways it was nice to only have one child to get to games but I kind of missed watching and cheering on the older two. I must say she had a pretty successful T-ball season.
In June we also got to celebrate Shaylee’s birthday! It is crazy how fast my girls are growing up. They all have 
their birthday’s in the first half of the year. Actually, everyone in my little family has theirs in the first half of the year except me.
For Shaylee’s birthday she got to invite a few friends to the Safford pool and then go to Hawaiian Snow for snow cones. Sad to say I didn’t have my camera so there aren’t any pictures. I wasn’t so sure about having it around water and a public place where I would have to leave it in my bag by the side of the pool unprotected. I wish I would have got some pictures of my usually timid older girls going down the water slides. I was excited for them to discover how much fun they are.
Over Father’s day weekend we were able to make a trip to see CG and Gramps. It was packed with lots of fun. We went shopping, to the movies, we played games, swam in the pool and just hung out. It was a great time spent with the Hunt family. We also got to enjoy having a cousin hang out with us while her parents celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary Jennie and Matt!
July was a slow picture month. I wish I would have taken pictures of the girls riding their bikes in the town parade. It has become a new tradition for our girls. This year we almost didn’t do it due to kids just getting over a stomach bug. They insisted though.
The town fire trucks go around at 5:30 in the morning waking up everyone with the sirens. Then there is a people parade at 6:00. It goes right by the corner by our house so we usually jump in right there and ride our bikes in the parade all the way to the middle school. This year Courtney actually rode her bike, with training wheels, in the parade instead of riding in the bike trailer. I walked alongside her to help her if she got stuck. There was a wonderful program at the middle school football field and a watermelon bust. Usually the fire trucks would spray all of the kids with the water hose but due to water restrictions they were unable to this year. So it was home we went to rest after a rough night (due to kids not feeling their best) and an early morning.
That night was spent grilling, having homemade ice cream and watching the fireworks.
In the past we have done our swim lessons in June. This year we decided to do them in July. Kelsi didn’t want to do them this year and since she can swim decently we decided to let her out of them. Shaylee and Courtney were excited about them though.
They may never become champion swimmers, but I hope they can learn some basic swimming skills to help protect there lives and have fun doing it.
Another fun adventure for our family was our trip to Alpine. My parents and Grandma own a trailer and cabin up there. (Cabin is just off to the right.) The
y have worked really hard to make it a nice place to visit. This summer they paid to have this beautiful deck built on the front. (They have painted it since this picture was taken.) This provided a wonderful place to hang out and enjoy the beautiful weather even in the rain. It was so nice and peaceful up there. We enjoyed just hanging out around the cabin reading, playing games, visiting, going on nature walks, making s’mores and watching the hummingbirds. Kelsi even got the hummingbirds to sit on her hands while they were eating at the feeder. It was so nice to just get away to the cooler country for awhile.
Our summer has been packed with lots of fun activities. In just a week and a half we will be headed back to school. At least four of us will. That’s right four. With all of the girls in school I have decided to head back and finish my degree. I have my Associates degree and have decided to go back and get my Bachelors in Elementary Education. It has been 12 years since I have taken any classes and it is going to be strange going back. It is time though. Wish me luck!
