UT-tensils to WA-terchestnuts

Let's hop in our handy dandy internet time machine and go back about eight months to last Thanksgiving. I have to get these posts on here before we get to November again, and you'd better believe it is right around the corner. Don't be fooled by the sunny weather and impending fireworks...just blink a few times and you will see Christmas decorations in the stores again.

We often go to ID for Thanksgiving, but with Grandma Cazier on a mission, we decided to take the extra time to go to WA. It is a drive, but worth the wait at the end. So we loaded in the car. And look who is in the back seat.

As you may know, we stop to see interesting things along the way. In Pendleton OR, we stopped to see the Cattle Drive. This was pretty cool. The statues are situated just as you get off the freeway. I dropped everyone off and took Daisy to the bathroom and then we came back to explore.

I like the pieced look of the clay? overlapping on the statues. There was the cattle and some ranchers and a cute dog.

Speaking of dogs, who put Pip up there?

I think this cowboy asked June to hold his lasso. She seems willing.

As you walked around, you could see some people had signed rocks and left them on the statues or nearby on the ground. We are all about making our mark. So we found a rock of our own.

And put it on this particular cow. If you are ever in Pendleton, look us up.

Also in Pendleton is the Frankentank. It is painted and looking a little sad if you ask me.

He's a changeling. On the other side, he looks like this.

Most of the day was driving of course, but Tyler made some fun activity books for the kids. I hope they always remember that he tried to make the trips fun. He had a whole bunch of funny Thanksgiving quotes in the book. This was my favorite.

The requirement is at least one interesting thing a day, but if Tyler can fit in more, he surely will. So when we got to Snoqualmie, he had us go check out a huge tree. They did a lot of logging in that area, and they have the tree on a trailer like thing that they actually used for larger trees. Not sure if they normally did logs quite this big, but they must have run across a few in their time.

From one side and then the other.

This picture of the girls by a totem pole was taken in the same area. I think I missed it because I was parking the car, but they sure look cute. I'm not sure why they are in a ninja pose. Perhaps they are Ninjians. (That is Ninja + Indian.)

We stopped in this cute candy store. They were almost closed but they were kind enough to let us come in and use the bathrooms. They had the cutest picture back by the bathroom. It makes me smile.

Still the man in charge had one more thing for us to see. Sheesh, slave driver. Since we were there, he took us over to Snoqualmie Falls. That is fine, except that you can't see much at night. Oh well...we stood in the spray and enjoyed stretching our legs. We had been sitting most of the day after all.

From there, it was just a hop, skip, and a jump over to the Neilsen's. They asked if we would like to have Thanksgiving with them. So we went there first and spent the night. (My family wasn't doing a traditional Thanksgiving anyway, so it worked out just fine.) We stayed up playing games and enjoying the company. Carter found my phone and took some selfies. Cutie.

Bay and Cannon played with us. They are adorable. Sorry I don't have any great pictures. We played some Head's Up with Camille's phone. We even played the action version where you don't talk but play charades style. I'm sure you can tell what June is doing in the second picture.

It was a total blast. We wore ourselves out. The Neilsen's are always so nice to let us stay at their place. We pile into beds and on the floors and everyone seems to do well. Looks like Dad and Daisy are already fast asleep. Aaahhhh...

Moving Onward and Upward

First, I would like to apologize to myself mainly. I was doing so well on my blogging goal. Then Girl's Camp happened which is always a huge spanner in the works, but it was followed right behind with a play that I was in with the girls. And there were a few days without internet. That never helps.  Needless to say, the play consumed our lives. But it is over and life and summer have started again. Huzzah!

I may have to set some serious blogging goals to get caught up,  but it is doable.

Today, let's discuss June. She is getting old. She graduated from ninth grade this year and that means High School next year. Sixteen is rapidly approaching for her and that means driving, dating, and her mother trying not to freak out. Lots of fun stuff ahead.

There was a 9th Grade Awards night that we went to. They called up kids for different awards. June actually received many awards, but teachers only could call up two kids to recognize, so June didn't go up for anything special, but she did go up to receive a certificate for having a 4.0 all through Junior High. Good job June!

The best part of the whole evening was these two young boys who sang, "I Believe I Can Fly." They were amazing. I think they are just two boys from the school who tried out for the Sing Off and won.

Afterward, everyone mingled and enjoyed refreshments, music from the Jazz Band, and the end of the year art that Mrs. Hunter put up. (I am really going to miss her next year.)

Here are Christina, June, and Christine looking pleased.

Let's check out some of the end of year art. June did this piece. The kids were supposed to do a landscape. I love that she chose space...

She never got to finish the background of this piece, but it still looks amazing. It looks just like the picture.

These other pieces were not done by June, just ones I really liked. Cardboard art is always so interesting.

And I call this one Bird on Bacon.

This is a fun extended frame.

The music was amazing of course. It was fun to have Robyn there as well. In fact, June went home earlier and I stuck around to give Robyn a ride after the performance. I think she has loved Jazz Band this year. She is doing it again next year, but she will be playing piano most of the time.

So wraps June's experience. This was the best year for her so far. Let's see if High School can top it.

Two Peas Graduate

Ivory and Ember became very close as the school year progressed, which makes me sad in a way since they will be going to different schools next year. Ironically, we don't live that far away, only a block or two, but one street divides the world. They will have three years apart and then they will be in High School together. Who knows what will happen in those three years, but I have enjoyed seeing the two of them play this year.

It helps that their last names are very close, so in any role call for their class, they are always back to back. Ivory comes across and then Ember. Sixth grade is a big year for moving on and celebrating the departure from Elementary. Here are a couple events I got a couple pictures from.

First was NOVA. It is a huge program the kids go through that teaches them great values and gives good advice for making wise choices in the future. I admit that I was not very good about keeping track of everything. But Ivory owned all the stuff and did her requirements for some awards. Here she is coming across and getting her NOVA pack award.

And right behind her was Ember. I like that they both have their wolf shirts but in different colors. (Ivory got an old one from Mrs. Stewart. )

The school did a cool talent show. None of my kids were in it, but Ivory and Ember were the MCs. So I went to watch. They did a great job, and Amy got this cute picture of them.

Sixth grade graduation was cool, but long. They had a special speaker come, Ed Eyestone who told some really fun stories, but he spoke for a long time. Along with all the other stuff with kids speaking and walking across stage, it was almost an hour and a half. Wow. I got a picture of Ivory coming across and hugging her teacher, but the guy in front of me lifted his kid right when I took the shot. Thanks.

The decorations were cute. Balloons and arrows. All the arrows had what the kids wanted to be when they grew up. I found Ivory's.

Then we naturally got some pictures with friends and her teacher.

Ivory and Mrs. Stewart

Ivory and Alyssa

Paige and Ivory

Ember and Ivory

I helped with the after party. The sixth graders went to the park and played a lot of games. I was in charge of Kubb. Most of the kids had a great time. They provided lunch for the kids. It was a fun afternoon, and it got me out of doing field day at the Junior High. Sometimes that gets a bit crazy.

So Ivory is officially graduated from Elementary. She'll be with me up at the Junior High next year. I'm excited. She is growing up.

Join the Dance

June took ballroom both semesters this last school year. You've seen some of her competitions which are fun but very scripted. The end of the year concert is the most fun because the kids are able to do fun dances. They even choreographed some of their own. We had a great time watching.

Let's jump right into these fun performances. This is Tango to a song that we don't know the name of, although you may have heard it before. June is in the middle back. You can usually pick her out from her long, straight hair.

This is Cha Cha to She Tastes Like Cola. June is basically in the middle again.

Next up is Foxtrot to Feeling Good. When the girls run out from the back, June is front left in white. Again, look for the long hair.

Last one of June. This is Swing to Confident. The guys were having some wardrobe issues. They only needed to change into a yellow shirt, but some of them were late getting out there. That is why June doesn't have a partner for a minute. Of the three girls on the right, she is the middle one. She doesn't do the first jump because her partner is missing.

We only recorded the dances with June, but there was an amazing Cabaret number that I regretted not getting. However, on the last day of school there were performances by band, orchestra, and the Cabaret number. So I took a video. Sadly, it wasn't quite as good as on ballroom night, but you get the idea.

And since I am on a video spree here is percussion on the last day of school playing on the garbage cans...always a favorite. Robyn is one in on the right side in the front.

June also spent a lot of anxiety getting ready for ballroom team tryouts. It was especially nerve wracking since the coach quit and they put someone new in right before tryouts and all the dates changed. But she went and worked hard and made the team for next year. I'm excited to see all the fun performances next year.

p.s. In the blog book this may have been a very boring post since it is all videos. Go get on the computer and find this post if you can.