Emma's OMSI Trip

This fifth graders at Emma's school took a two day trip to Portland this week to attend the famous OMSI museum.  It's a popular place for schools to take kids so they do wonderful learning activities and tours.  The kids have been planning and earning money for it since September so there was much excitement when the day finally arrived!

We dropped Emma off with her gear at 6:45 on Thursday morning.  The kids were thrilled to be getting on the busses and finding their groups and chaperones.  Here is Emma with two of her good friends who were also in her tour group.  I was sad to say goodbye to her but I knew she would have so much fun.

They drove to Portland....went to the zoo, the Bonneville Dam, and the fish hatchery.  On Thursday night they got to the OMSI museum, had dinner, and spent the night.  In the morning they woke up to breakfast, spent time at the museum, and then went on a big jet boat ride touring some of the bridges on the Columbia River.  They got back in the busses and headed home but made one more stop in The Dalles at a yummy pizza place for dinner.  It was a jam packed trip!

The busses got back to the school about 9pm on Friday night.  Emma got off the bus and while she looked tired, she was so happy.  She said, "BEST TRIP EVER!"  Apparently, even the four and a half hours on the bus was filled with fun!

Samantha missed her big sister a lot while she was gone so the first thing she did when she saw Emma was to give her a giant hug. 

We love that Emma had such a wonderful experience and we are grateful that she was safe and happy.  School is out this week so it will be hard to plan activities in the summer that could top OMSI!  She's growing up way too fast.....

Primary Activity Days

One organization that Emma and Samantha just LOVE participating in is our Primary Activity Days at Church.  They have three wonderful leaders who put so much effort into providing them with meaningful activities twice a month.  Last night was one of those activities.  The girls had been learning about modesty and for the past month they have been designing modest and modern fashions - in Casual Wear, Swim Wear, and Sunday Best.  Then last night they had a Mother/Daughter Tea Party and Fashion Show where the girls could model modest fashions.  It was such a nice evening and I was blessed to share it with my girls.  Here are a couple of outfits that they designed - I thought this Casual Wear outfit Emma came up with was adorable.

Samantha came up with a super cute outfit for Church....

I didn't get a chance to take pictures of them during their fashion show but one of her leaders took some pictures so hopefully I will get copies of them because it was so cute.  In the meantime - we were able to see some pictures of activities they have done the last few months.  This is Emma working on her Modesty fashions.

In February they made cookies and did a "heart attack" to a couple of girls that they would like to see more often.  They delivered the cookies and had so much fun!

They also had an activity where they had a Hairstylist come and do fun hair styles on them.  They loved their braids.  Sam's is a Fishtail braid and I think I ended up putting fishtail braids in her hair for the next several weeks. :) 

Emma's French braid turned out so cute!

It makes me happy that they are happy participating in uplifting activities and I can see where their testimonies have grown.  Proud of my girls!

Walt Disney

Samantha's class at school has been working on a research project and speech for a few weeks now.  Each student was assigned a famous person to learn about, make a poster, and prepare a speech to give in front of the class.  Sam was assigned Walt Disney.  Since she is such a voracious reader, she quickly read everything she could about him and quickly put her report together.  Over the weekend we finished her poster.  She was very proud of it.

Mark went to her classroom to hear her speech but I neglected to send the camera with him so he could take a picture of her.  Fortunately, her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Goodwin, emailed me a picture that she took.  Hooray!

Samantha was very nervous Monday morning thinking about her speech but she did wonderfully and it was a really neat project for her to work on.  In case anyone wants to know something about Walt Disney, you know who to ask!!!

The Garden is IN!

Every year for Mother's Day Mark plants a nice garden.  Last weekend he was able to plant a few things but the weather was cold and rainy so he worked here and there during the week and finished everything up yesterday.  He worked hard the last several months to prepare the soil so that it would be lush for all of our vegetables.  He made a compost pile, went to Cove and picked up a load of mulch from the mint fields, went to a friend's farm to gather manure, and even kept egg shells in it to add the right amount of acidity. Pretty impressive!

He has planted carrots, peas, radishes, spinach, watermelon, sweet bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, onions, corn, green beans, potatoes, squash, rhubarb, asparagus, and banana peppers. Some plants we are just experimenting with but we also already have so much rhubarb that we are just freezing it or giving it away!  Anyone interested?????

He also finished my herb garden which I love!  I have thyme, rosemary, tarragon, chives, sage, spearmint, chocolate mint, dill, garlic, and cilantro.  

This picture isn't of any veggies that we planted - just a planter full of pretty flowers.  I'm so grateful to have a garden and we will be working hard this summer to hopefully ensure we have a large harvest in the fall.

Emma's DARE Graduation

The fifth graders at our elementary school were involved in the DARE program at school.  It lasted ten weeks and at the end of that time all the kids were asked to write a report about what they had learned.  They held a graduation ceremony yesterday and Emma's report was chosen to be read in front of all the kids and parents.  She has a hard time being the center of attention and getting up in front of people but she read her report and did a great job.

Then she received a graduation certificate from her teacher, Mr. Weimer and our District Attorney who came to congratulation the kids.

Here she is with her certificate......

.....and wearing her new DARE t-shirt.

 

It was a really neat program and I was glad to be there to support Emma in another of her many accomplishments!

Happy Spring

We have been enjoying spring time and all of the pretty flowers that come along with it.  We have lovely flowers planted in our yard but we had this extra planter that needed a little something.  So Clara and I set off for Bi-Mart to look for some flowers to bring home.  And while we were at the store, we found a set of yard tools that were perfect for my happy helper.  Who wouldn't want to do yard work with this cutie?

Little League 2014

Softball started up in April and Samantha decided she8- really wanted to participate again -- Emma opted to sit this season out.  Mark was asked to coach her team and he agreed.  Their team is By-Rite Texaco and they are in the Minors League for girls 8-10.  This is a picture from Samantha's first game where she had just scored!

Every year the city puts on a Little League parade so all the teams in the league from the young coach pits teams to the older Juniors teams walk in the parade route for everyone to see.  The kids throw candy and everyone gets to cheer on their favorite team.  It was a chilly morning on the day of the parade so Emma, Clara, and I sat in front of a bakery sipping hot chocolate while we waited for the parade to start.  Clara had a wonderful time running out into the street to grab candy. 

Here comes our team!  Samantha is near the middle of the pack.  Coach Mark is trying to keep them in a straight line which the girls were having trouble doing.  It was a fun parade to watch and we were proud to see our favorite softball players!

Sam has tried her hand at becoming a pitcher this season which is a difficult undertaking.  There is a very precise way to do it and it needs to be done just right.  She and Mark spend time in the backyard working on it and she is coming along.  It probably won't happen this season for her to pitch but by next year she will most likely be ready.

The technique is fairly challenging but Sam is up to the task!

In any event, it's fun to see her put forth the effort and have an enjoyable time!  The team has been doing fairly well.  As of this posting, they have won two, lost two, and tied once.  They have four more games left before the end of the season so we'll cross our fingers for a winning record!