June

Whoever coined the term "Lazy Days of Summer" lived a completely different life than we have! It doesn't help that our kids are still in school for the first part of June so we still have a bunch of year end things happening. But it was all good.

Spencer had the honor of receiving an American Legion Award which is only given out to a certain number of 4th and 5th graders each year. Both Taylor and Lynnsey got them too (poor Kendall was totally passed over) but this seemed like an even bigger deal for Spencer to get it. He has seriously come SO FAR in the past year. Not only did he have zero behavioral issues at school, but he was recognized for his amazing behavior and for being a leader in his class. He received this award as well as several awards at the end of year honors program, including being recognized as one of two outstanding students in his 4th grade class. We are so thankful for his great year and that he was given an amazing teacher (who also taught Kendall and Lynnsey) and also that the occupational therapy program we put him in seemed to help him so much. He is like a different kid! 

Kaya and Lynnsey also received outstanding student awards at the program too, so it was a happy day all around. And Kendall received some awards at the Marshall High School awards ceremony as well. I'm just proud of all of my kids!

As usual, my babysitting schedule didn't permit me to go on any of the kid's end of the year field trips and this time Kalen had SOAR at the college all that week so he missed them too. I did have a kind parent send me a few pictures of Spencer's fun field trip to a science museum in Lansing where Spencer had a great time.

Once school was out, we were ready for summer and spent lots of time outside working on the yard and garden. I wound up trying to get some of the flower beds in shape but it was a much bigger project than I had anticipated so I still have another huge section of the flower garden to deal with next year. By the time I got to that part though, the flowers were all too thick and overgrown for me to deal with. I need to start earlier next spring and just dig it all up and replant what we want in there before any of it has sprouted too much. 

We celebrated Kaya's 7th birthday on the 22nd! My BABY is seven! I can't even believe how fast it has flown by. I'm glad at least that even though she's growing up so fast, Kaya still loves to be a cuddlebug and is so affectionate. Trying to get my other kids to even hug me once in awhile is like torture for them. At least I still have someone to give me lots of hugs and kisses and who likes to snuggle up next to me on the couch. She is a joy to have in our family and it has been an amazing seven years!

Spencer spent lots of time with his good friend Mick. They loved going swimming at the college as often as they could. And it was great for our family too, because we finally started going over a couple of days a week as a family to play and get some exercise together.

The hardest part of the summer for me was that right after school got out, Kendall headed out to Utah to spend over 5 weeks visiting family. I missed him (and I missed his help). He spent a couple of days in Duchesne but the majority of his time was spent with Todd and Nikki in Mendon with a couple of days in Garland with Sherrie and Kevin who also took him to Las Vegas for a few days to visit Grandpa Oswald who has moved back there again. While he was with Todd and Nikki, he had fun getting to know Brecken better and also was able to work for Shonee at her shave ice shack. 

Aggie Ice Cream with Jessie, Shonee and Brecken

He was able to go on a great pioneer trek that took them on the same trail as the Willie and Martin handcart companies.

Brecken and Kendall look like they could be brothers!

In fact, Kendall said people kept mistaking him for one of Todd and Nikki's kids.

Kendall also got to go on a varsity scouts high adventure backpacking trip to the Uintah mountains. (I'm thankful to Todd for sending so many beautiful pictures to document the trip!)

In the meantime, Taylor had been transferred to Enoch. As difficult as those initial weeks were with his new companion, he came to love the area quickly--especially on p-day when he and his companion and the other elder's in the neighboring area were able to go hiking up to a place called Kanarra Falls, which was really beautiful. The beauty and the friendships he made with the other elders really seemed to pull him through the hard times he had with his new companion.

Crazy May

May is always a bit chaotic each year but I love it too--the weather in Michigan finally getting warm enough to put away all the winter coats (usually), all the year end activities with school and the college and the anticipation of the long summer ahead. 

In all the craziness, it seems I neglected to take any pictures until Memorial Day weekend. And without the pictures (and because it's been so long ago), I can't seem to remember all of the specifics of the month!

It seemed so strange to go to the Marshall Memorial Day parade instead of the one in Albion, but with Kendall playing in the marching band in Marshall, we had to head over there. I will say, it was a much better parade than their Christmas one that was so miserable and unending in that frigid cold. 

We also took advantage of an opportunity to go to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. Some of the kids have been there on field trips before but Kalen and I had never been, mostly because cost-wise it would have been very prohibitive by the time we multiplied the admission price by six of us. But I got an email from Binder Park Zoo which we have a family membership to and they were doing a promotion with the Air Zoo where members of Binder Park Zoo and members of the Air Zoo could use their memberships to get free admission to one or the other zoos. So we took our zoo membership and got in for free at the Air Zoo. It was really a fun experience! Apparently this was the second year they have done this promotion so it would be great if they continue to do that so we could go again.

The kids really enjoyed all the rides they could go on and it didn't get really busy until just before we were leaving for the day so we were able to ride multiple times.

The exhibits were really cool too and it was fun to learn about the different models and types of planes and get a little history lesson in there--especially with all the World War II planes they have there. We also watched a couple of short films in 3-D that were really interesting.

After the Air Zoo, we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch to celebrate Kaya reading her first chapter book. She had actually read it a few months before but this was the first chance we'd had to get to the restaurant of her choice--a tradition that began when we celebrated Taylor reading his first chapter book year ago. Kaya's first chapter book was Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus by Barbara Parks. By the time we finally went for Kaya's celebration, she had already devoured nearly the entire series of Junie B. Jones! We had a fun time. The pizza seemed to have improved a bit since the last time we went to this restaurant and of course, it's always fun to play all the games to try to earn tickets for prizes.

Also, we can't forget Taylor! I don't know why I can't get his picture to load on this blog right side up, but I wanted to include it anyway. This is Taylor and his second companion Elder Vidinha. They had a great time as companions and did a lot of work while having a lot of fun. Unfortunately, they weren't together for long. When the next transfers came, Taylor learned that he was leaving his first area in Mount Pleasant and heading to Enoch with a new companion who would prove to be one of the most difficult trials that Elder Oswald has had to face in his life...

Before the transfer though, Taylor was able to see this guy get baptized. It took some doing because he was raised in the FLDS church so the process to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is a little more complicated and even involves an interview with a general authority in order to get clearance. Taylor was thrilled to be there for that big day!