When Your Daughter is a Dancer...

Kiersten has me take pictures of her doing dance leaps every year on the beach. 

But man this trip pictures she killing it!!

 

She is one amazing dancer!!!

Look at these gorgeous shots I got....and this is just with my iPhone 6. 

 

What a beautiful young woman I have the pleasure of being mom to. 

Absolutely stunning shots!! 

(Backup) Graffiti of Rocky Point

The graffiti in Rocky Point is killer! 

 

I sure love this family of mine!

 

Not that it isn't a totally exhausting job being a mother to 5 young kids but I am so proud I get to be the mom to these kids!  They really do make me proud. 

 

And I love all the kids I get to be adopted mom to. We love having extra kids around. Especially in Mexico. 

 

Ella is such a stinker and the cutest girl all at the same time. 

Look at that smiling face. 

 

Kiersten and Kallie have become great friends this year in high school. It has been fun and like a breath of fresh air. Kallie is fun, loud, sweet and helpful. 

I tell ya the graffiti does not disappoint around Rocky Point. 

 

Love my Logie Bear! 

 

I love my Hunter boy! 

 

 

 

 

So glad I made everyone drive around and take pictures of the graffiti. No one was very excited about doing it but man I am glad I made them anyways. We rewarded them for having a good attitude with ice cream from Thrify's. I am happy to report everyone received and ice cream! 

Church in Mexico

I love going to church in Mexico. 

It is great to feel the spirit through familiar music even when it is in a different language. 

 

Love these people!! 

 

Kiersten was so happy that Kallie got to come with us to Mexico. 

They are such fun and beautiful girls! 

 

This is Kristi John, she becomes my kids grandma while we are in Mexico. She has and will forever have a special place in my heart!! 

 

Donuts at Reggies following church might be Ella's favorite part. She devoured her chocolate donut. Anthony, the guy that works here saw Ella and took her order before the group of people that we there first. 

The kids said now even strangers are spoiling her. Lol! 

 

I am not a big donut eater at home but I do love me a Boston creme donut at Reggies. 

Celebrating Summer with a Crab Feast!

We started the summer off with a huge feast of crab legs. 

 

The kids were all excited about having such a nice lunch! 

 

We had a few extras as usual, Brody and Alec were both there. The kids and I all enjoyed the lunch. 

 

Then the boys went to the new virtual reality game place in Safford. 

 

Followed it up with a pool party! 

Let the summer fun begin!!!

What a Girl!

Ella rocked this look for a good 5 hours today. She was so happy and way too cute to tell her to put her clothes on. She would sometimes act like she was swimming around the house. It was cracking me up!!

Hunter is a Freshmen in High School Now!

I can not believe that Hunter is a freshman in high school!!  Where has the time gone?!?

 

This kid looks more like he is graduating from dental school not from junior high. 

Hunter seriously is the most stylish guy there is! 

 

Hunter said his goal is "to become and orthodontist.  And his goal for high school is to grow to be 5 feet tall!"

Poor kid hasn't hit any kind of growth spurt. He can not wait till his day arrives. 

 

We sure are proud our of Hunter!  We is a straight A student all while taking high school math and getting the highest grade in that class. 

 

Hunter is so blessed to have such wonderful grandparents that support him. 

Grant wasn't there for the promotion ceremony because he had his dance dress rehearsal that night. 

  

Brooke and Nevaeh. Some of Hunter's greatest friends. Funny thing about the picture is the fact that Hunter is kneeling on Kallie Smarts back so he won't be so short for the picture. 

 

We love Hunter and the great student and young man he is becoming. 

 

Alison and Kalli 

 

Hunter was super excited to finally get to open his promotion gift from me and Justin. He found out for his promotion trip he gets to go to Alaska!!!

Woot woot, he could hardly believe it!

We go for a week at the end of June and Justin and I are just as excited!! Oh and Logan is thrilled just like Hunter!! 

This 8th grade promotion trip was a genius idea!  

Mental Health Day

When your sweet tender hearted 11 year old shows you a group chat on instagram (he doesn't have a phone, but he has an iPod with instagram) and in that chat the kids start saying that they "hate Logan" and that "he isn't a good friend to anyone" and "that he always talks about people behind their back."  Well when that happens you have him take a Mental Health Day, even when it is the last week of school!!!

So the story goes.....

Yesterday Logan's grade went on a field trip to the Morenci Aquadic Center. While there one girl in the group of friends Logan was playing with starts cuss a lot. Which she is known for doing. 

Logan decides to stop playing with that girl and goes to another group of friends to play with them. 

His mistake was that he told the other kids that he "wasn't going to be Marissa's friend because she cusses too much."

Later that evening Marissa starts this group chat, includes Logan in the group and starts attacking him.  Other friends join in, some good friends don't defend him and then a couple of friends step up and start defending him. 

All in all it was a rough thing for my tender hearted Logan to go through. 

 

So even though it is the last week of school  I had Logan take a mental health day!

We took out new RZR out to explore Ash Creek, have a picnic, and enjoy the good outdoors!

 

Ella was pretty excited about the mental health day herself! That and I let her wear her kitty swimsuit that I had hidden (Grant found it up high on a shelf in Ella's closet). Ella is obsessed with this swimsuit from last summer and wants to wear it every day. I am going to have to just throw it away when I have had enough of it. 

 

Logan and Ella have a special bond!  She loves her Logic Bear! And he is always a great brother to her. 

 

Ella loved that I packed her Barbie and puppies to play with in the water with. She was so fun! 

 

Logan needed a muscle picture taken of himself. Oh this boy!!  He is a character!  Not sure I am prepared for his teenage years that are fast approaching. He is going to have all the ladies! 

 

We had a picnic, had some good talks, laughed, and enjoyed the day! 

 

Logan was thrilled that he got to drive the new RZR! He did a great job!  He also learned that a nice way to handle if a friend is cussing too much is to just tell them "hey I don't really like it when you cuss so I am going to go play with someone else. You are my friend but I don't want to listen to those kinds of words."

 

We were all super excited to see a Gila Monster crossing the road. 

It was so cool!!!

 

We ended our date with a nice soak in the hot tub. The weather turned to overcast and a little breeze which is great weather for hot tubbing!

I love my Logic Bear!

He has such a tender heart and he sure is learning about hard things. 

So grateful to get to be his mom! 

What a Nerd!

It was nerd day at school today and I'd say Logan nailed it!  He picked out this outfit all by himself. 

This was him when I picked him up from school! 

 

 

He made such a cute nerd!! 

We are excited school is almost out!!  We are all ready for summer!  Yippee!!

Happy Mother's Day!

I love all these little humans!!  Okay Kiersten is taller than me ....sad momma day, but not surprising!

I am so grateful these five beautiful children chose to come to our home. Ella took a little convincing, but she finally came :)

They are my everything!  They make me smile, laugh, cry, yell, want to be better, go crazy, love harder, and so proud!!!

 

This is typical emotions around our house....lol! 

I love my crazy life and I am so grateful to be a mom!  I am also blessed to have a wonderful, caring, loving mother myself. My mom is the most selfless person I know. She shows gratitude for even the smallest of things and it such an example to me!  I love her so much! 

 

I am also grateful this Mother's Day for Justin!  We definitely have our struggles but I wouldn't want anyone else to go through this journey with!  

I am thankful for all the beautiful women in my life that have strengthen and loved me!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! 

Dance Recital Time

I always love dance recital day! 

Four kids in dance and 3 in company makes for a busy day full of recitals but I wouldn't want it any other way. 

 

 

Danika, Kiersten, and Kallie

Kiersten has great friends that always support her. I love that. 

 

Alec Judd came to watch Kiersten and scored some points by bringing her flowers. 

 

Ryann was so sweet and bought the boys candy bouquets and she bought flowers for me. She is so sweet and thoughtful. 

This years Beauty and the Beast ballet production was phenomenal!!

 

Kiersten was one of the main characters, Lumiere. She was breathtaking!!  No one would know that this was her first year learning pointe. 

 

 

This production lasted 30 minutes and honestly I could have watch another hour of it. Everyone was sad that it wasn't longer. Grammie Cluff cried watching Kiersten dance. It really was that impressive! 

 

Everything about this performance was outstanding! 

 

The costumes were perfect, the choreography was beautiful, and the dancers all did amazing! 

 

All our kids performed wonderful today. It is always a proud day as a parent to watch your kid rock the stage. Of course I think my kids are by far the greatest!!! 

Love my dancers!