The Birthday Boy Becomes A Boy Scout

Is my baby boy really 11 years old already?  Davis is growing up much too fast for my liking.  He is such a sweet boy and a great brother to his siblings.  

We had our traditional family birthday party and Davis actually requested a cake!  Don has turned all of my children away from cakes on their birthdays and it seemed like forever since I got to bake one.  Davis even picked a double decker chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate ganache for the filling. Mmmm.  Ok, so I might have sort of talked him into it.  But, he loved it!  

Davis was pretty excited about his long board, but I think his dad might have been even more excited to give it to him.  We bought it in California, so it's a true CA long board.   And Don even made a pole for him.  

Turning 11 means, you move from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.  It's a big deal and you earn your Arrow of Light as well.  Pack Meeting landed on his birthday so he got to celebrate with all the Scouts in our ward.  I spent hours making his arrow that illustrates his journey through Cub Scouts.  It's pretty cool and he thinks so too.  

Crossing the bridge from cub scouts to boy scouts with his awesome Scout leaders!

And just FYI, he usually doesn't wear his swim trunks with his Scout shirt, but the boys were all swimming as part of pack meeting.  :)

To finish off Davis' birthday celebration, Don took the kids on a night ride.  Davis was pretty excited to be on a board just like his dad.  Too bad he bailed pretty bad in his first few moments trying it out.  :)

Happy Birthday, Davis!  We love you!

End of School BASH

Ginger and Gillian had the brilliant idea to host a party on Friday night of the last day of school.  Oh wait.  That was MY idea.  What a cool mom I am.  :)   Actually, I have come to realize that it's a whole lot easier to throw a party for older kids than younger kids, so these parties are easy!  The girls invited a few of their closest friends from school and kicked off the party with music and silly dancing...

Since it was the beginning of summer break the girls were all anxious to take their first dip in a pool.  They walked over and I followed along in my car.... with my camera, of course.   So many cute, cute girls.

Gillian and her friends

Ginger and her friends

These girls cracked me up with their impromptu synchronized swimming routines and underwater hand stand contests and attempted cheerleading moves.  They went non-stop!

After swimming they came home and changed into dry clothes while I broke out the junk food.   I had no idea a group of teenage girls could go through so much candy and snacks and treats!    They played  games and laughed and screamed and squealed and laughed some more.  I also had no idea that a group of teenage girls could get so LOUD!  

My girls had a lot of fun and that was my goal from the beginning.  I love that my girls love having friends over and hope that our home will always be a place where kids can feel welcomed and loved.  

Last Day of School and Kindergarten Graduation

Can you tell that my kids were happy that it was the last day of school?! 

It was a great year, but we were definitely ready for summer break.  We have had 5 children "graduate" from kindergarten but this was our first actual graduation ceremony and it was really fun!  Ethan looked so cute in his cap and wore a very proud smile through the entire program.  

As I've said before, Ethan is always happy to have me at school, but it's a whole different ball game when Daddy comes to visit.  He gets so excited!!

Yes, this is our last baby.  The days of having a Kindergartener are over and I am sad!  Life is moving much too quickly, but we are definitely loving these years of big kids too.  

I am pretty sure that it was an answer to prayer that Ethan got Mrs. Steele for his teacher.  She is a friend from church and is so wonderful!  Ethan just absolutely adored having her as his teacher and it was fun for me to help out in the classroom and get to visit with my friend at the same time!   All future teachers have a lot to live up to for Ethan.  

After the graduation ceremony and reception, Don and I made the rounds to see the other kids.  Davis was eating lunch with his buddies and of course had eaten his dessert and chips before his sandwich.  Hmm.  

Ryan was out with her friends, Kaya and Jordan and the three were definitely feeling the effects of "last day of school syndrome".  They were goofy and giddy!

Davis earns his Webelos Badge

I don't know if any of you know this, but I have a pretty darn cute little Scout that lives in my house.  I love it when Davis puts on his Scout uniform (mostly because I am glad that all the blood, sweat and tears I have put into sewing patches is not going to waste!)  I think he looks so sharp and I love that he thoroughly enjoys the Scouting program.  Ethan watches eagerly awaiting his turn to be in Scouts and I love that as well.  

It's hard to believe that he became a Cub Scout as an 8 year old and now he is almost 11 years old and will be getting his Arrow of Light and becoming an official Boy Scout.  Time flies.  

He earned his Webelos badge after a lot of hard work, but enjoyed every minute of it.  

Nice job, Davis boy.  

Trend Setters!

Ginger and Gillian were on an ASA Volleyball team this year and it was so fun to see them improve their skills and have so much fun in the process.  Don couldn't commit the time to coaching this year, so the girls were bummed, but at least they had their best friends on their team again!

Their team struggled a little in the beginning, but really progressed as the season went on.  Way to go Trend Setters!

A Mother's Example Lives On

While we were in CA during our stay at the beach house, I was helping Jason (Ginger's husband) with his children before church on Sunday morning.  I came across this paper posted on the fridge.  Jason had found it during their move to this new house and put it up as a reminder.  Although I burst into tears upon seeing it, I loved seeing it, in Ginger's handwriting, and felt happy that Jason had put it up instead of tucking it away somewhere.  It's no doubt that Ginger had done some special Family Home Evening lesson as she discussed the rules for their family.  Then she had everyone sign it.   "Be a good example."  And Ginger definitely was.    

Feel free to double click to see it better.

10th Annual "Z" Reunion

Every year my entire family crams into one 'hugemongous' house on the beach and we all have a BLAST together.  There were 60 of us this year and we were sad to be missing the few that couldn't be there.   I love this picture!!

This beach house is RIGHT on the sand so we spend most of our time down on the beach and in the ocean.  

When I was younger,  my sisters and cousins and I would sit on the sea wall at night and try to avoid getting splashed on our legs by the crashing waves.  Always exhilarating and full of squeals of laughter.   I love that my girls and nieces have continued that tradition.  

Everywhere you looked there were babies, toddlers, little kids, big kids, teenagers or adults.  It was non-stop playing, eating, talking, walking, swimming, watching, laughing, crying, or just enjoying being together.

Here are two of the newest grandbabies...Claire and Porter.  So stinkin' cute!

I'm not sure we can get together as sisters without playing "Beauty Parlor".  We were cutting and highlighting and styling as usual.  

Our reserved week lands on Mother's Day every single year.  Don always feels bad that I don't get to be home where he and the kids can spoil me, but I always assure him that there is no place I would rather be that week!  I look forward to our beach house reunion all year long!  I love this picture with my mom.  Can you believe this woman has 11 children and 40 grandchildren?  I hope I look that good in 30 years.

Here we are (most of us) crammed in together to watch home videos that some of the families make over New Year's.  

It's hard to believe that we've have been coming here consistently for 10 years.  Davis was just a baby when we first started and now he's almost eleven!  We used to go off and on as kids with our cousins, but now it's a set tradition that none of us want to give up!!

One of the highlights of our Reunion is to gather for Family Home Evening on Monday night for our Family Talent Show.  It is a riot every year to watch and see what the kids have come up with.  There are some amazing talents mixed in with some.... well, not so amazing talents. :)  It is always a really special night that we all look forward to every year.   

Cousins, Cousins, and more Cousins!  I love that my children have cousins their age who are their best friends.

Sadly, our week at the beach house always comes to a close and then we have to start anticipating the next year all over again!  

I love my family.  

Don's new toy... the IPad

Don has wanted an iPad for quite a while now.  But, if you know Don at all, you know that he would never just go out and buy something like that for himself just because he wants it.  He'll go out and buy something for me immediately, but he is very careful and methodical about spending $ on himself.  Well after months of wanting an iPad, I tried and tried to convince him that he deserved it and that he should go out and buy it. One morning before work, he let me know that he was finally ready to get one and he really hoped it would be very beneficial in his job.   Well, that VERY afternoon I got an unexpected call from one of Don's co-workers.  She told me that their entire team at work decided that they wanted to pitch in to buy Don an iPad to show their appreciation and that she knew that Don was considering buying one for himself.  She asked me to somehow discourage him from purchasing one!   So after months of trying to talk him into it, now I had to try to talk him out of it!  Ha!  Thankfully, Don is used to my issues with spending $, so he wasn't surprised at all when I asked him to hold off with buying an iPad until the end of the month when he got his commission check.  Worked like a charm.  

A few days later he went to a big meeting with his team and when they were out for dinner one of his reps stood up and read a very sweet letter before presenting him with his brand new iPad, which they had inscribed, "Don Spangler, Most Loved Regional Manager 2011".  So thoughtful and so generous.  

 Don LOVES his new iPad.  And he even lets the kids play with it... on their birthdays.  :)