Just stuff while Kiersten graduates

 I usually don't like to post pictures of myself because I don't like them, but this one turned out pretty good. It was a little muggy and hot the night of Kiersten's graduation, but there was a slight breeze that made it bearable. My hair only fell a little bit. :) Scott and I did not coordinate our outfits, so we ended up wearing the same color. He had left early with Kiersten to save seats in the stands for the rest of the family.

        Didn't know Travis was going to snap the picture, obviously.

 This was a sweet picture....just a boy wanting to be involved in whatever Dad was doing. Scott was trying to video record the graduates leaving the field and Canon wanted to be a part of it. Canon has gotten into the habit of leaving his church clothes on every Sunday until Scott gets home. He's asked to go to meetings with Scott so they can spend more time together. Scott got the hint and makes it a point to involve Canon in whatever he's doing on Saturday so his absence on Sunday isn't as big a sacrifice. One Saturday, after Scott had asked Canon if it had been a good day since they'd done everything together, Canon said, "Yeah, it's been a good day. But you should really spend some time with Mom too." I couldn't agree with you more, Buddy. :)

Rylee had a few of her friends in the crowd to support and cheer for Kiersten. Tonya (tongue sticking out in the background) is a member of their laurel class.

Rylee's Prom 2016

 The Greenfield Stake has been renting out the Barney Sports Complex for several years to provide a "mormon" Prom for those youth who don't want to have to worry about questionable music, dancing or attire. It's a little far for those of us in Maricopa, but we don't have a big enough group of dating youth to put on an event like this. So we'll happily drive the distance and let someone else set it up and clean it up. :)

 This is Rylee and her friend, Katie, waiting for their dinner reservations at Oregano's. They've been good friends since 4th grade, and even though Katie goes to a different high school now, they still keep in touch and hang out every now and then.

A little swing dancing before dinner to work up a healthy appetite. :)

                                       Mmmmmmm!! Italian food.

 Group pictures. This was a pretty good group of kids. They all wanted to do stuff together, but not everyone could agree on which restaurant to eat at and the timing of the activities. So they ended up splitting in half for everything except the pictures.

 Dad looks a little possessed here. He just wanted Caleb to know there was a hard curfew and his precious needed to be treated as such. :)

 Rylee made a good effort to get the boutonniere on by herself, but in the end, she asked for my help and Caleb breathed a sigh of relief. We made the boutonniere ourselves and it ended up matching her corsage really well because they both had diamonds for decoration and royal blue ribbon. 
Rylee was a little frustrated with her hair and makeup. I was downstairs wrestling with the boutonniere and couldn't help. But it didn't ruin the night. Just the pictures. ;P

Katie's mom made Rylee's dress. She bought the fabric for Katie in case the dress they ordered didn't come on time. When the ordered dress came, she asked if Rylee wanted a custom made dress. It turned out really nice. There is a sheer black ruffle underneath the blue ruffle that made it so unique. I think Rylee felt very pretty in that dress.

Raegan's 6th grade orchestra concert

 Raegan has been playing the violin for 3 years now. She is starting to understand the benefit of practicing. She admitted that she has a lot more fun playing when she's knows the notes and can keep up with the conductor. :)She has worked harder this year on her tone, finger positions, staying on key and proper concert position. If she can keep it up, she'll be a wonderful musician.

 She was invited, along with a few other advanced orchestra students, to play with the Jr High orchestra because their numbers are low. She practiced the song they were going to perform, but when it came down to it, she didn't feel confident enough to play it for everyone. She did sign up for orchestra, though, as one of her electives for 7th grade.

Raegan received the award for most consistent practicing. Mrs. Montez only gave out one and the honor came with a little trophy. Raegan was surprised to receive it, but I think you can tell from the look on her face that she was pleasantly surprised.

Rylee's Art Walk

 Rylee had one of her Graphic Design projects selected for the Maricopa Unified School District Art Walk. She had to take a photograph she liked, change the filter to include colors she liked and cut it apart to make a kaleidoscope. She also designed a poster for a runway event that was chosen to advertise for the event. I just didn't get a picture of that. She didn't think it was a big deal, so she didn't tell me about it in time. Silly girl. Things like this impress me. I always want pictures of what my kids create or accomplish!

Kiersten's graduation May 19, 2016

 Pictures before the graduation ceremony started. These are the seniors from orchestra that Kiersten had so much fun making music with.

 Kiersten was honored 3 times at the end of the year awards ceremony. She received recognition for Academic Achievement, the National Orchestra Award (only one awarded per high school),  and "Promise for the Future" which is a 2 yr. scholarship to the local community college.

 Pomp and Circumstance. You can see her orchestra medallion catching the light as she walks.

 We yelled really loud for her throughout the ceremony. I think Uncle Mickey was the loudest. He did a great job of embarrassing her. I asked Scott a few days before graduation, "Should we get a blow horn and really make her turn red?" He said, "Please.... what can a blow horn do that Uncle Mickey can't?"

 Kiersten sat between 2 really tall boys. I wish we could have seen her move her tassel to the left side, but the most we caught was an elbow or a hand. See those tall boys in the middle row? She's lost somewhere between them.

                                             Yep, she's the short one. :)

Kiersten wore a gold stole for her membership in NHS, her National Orchestra medallion, the gold braid for her 40 hours of service in NHS and the silver braid for being in the top 15% of her class. The honors she wore probably weighed more than she did. :)

Kiersten's senior pictures

 

 

 I had to fight her for every shot!! She just doesn't like being in the picture...she'd much rather be behind the lens.

Raegan's birthday and first temple trip!!

 We thought it would be cool to go to the temple for Raegan's 12th birthday. Aubree was visiting, so it would be an awesome experience for Raegan to be there with her older sisters to help her through the process. Everyone got to miss school. :) They had 39 family names from Scott's side to do. So we went to the Gilbert and Mesa temple to get it all done.

 She also decided she wanted to get her ears pierced. She totally psyched herself out before they even put the earring gun to her ears. She was super nervous, so she talked more than she usually does, if that's possible! Aubree snapped the moment of discomfort. :) She made me stand in front of her so she could squeeze my hands if it hurt too much.  She said it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would.                                                                                                     

            Sunday selfie with Aubree. The gang's back together again!!

Canon's 1st grade music recital March 2016

 So...the theme of the concert was bunnies. :) They had a lot of cute bunny songs about bunnies eating things they shouldn't out of the garden and funny bunnies that had pickles for noses. Kim and I made the bunny hats for Canon and Lilly that day because Easter had just passed and none of the stores had anymore bunny ears. Paper plates....what a wonderful art supply. ;)

 I was so mad they moved Canon down to the first row right behind a taller kid with the biggest, most obnoxious bunny ears in the gym. I couldn't get any pictures unless this kid bent down or leaned over. :/

 Canon volunteered for a speaking part that informed the audience of what was coming up next. He was articulate, loud and clear. Good job, Canon!!

 This was a combination of the 1st and 2nd graders at Legacy Traditional School-Maricopa campus. I think they had to fit around 240 kids on the stage and risers.  The gym was packed with all their parents and siblings.

Battle of the Burbs!

A local radio station does a contest every year to generate publicity called Battle of the Burbs. It's a voting competition between suburban cities in the metropolitan Phoenix area. All you have to do is get on the radio's website and vote for your suburb. Maricopa has now won this competition for 3 years in a row. The award for winning includes a trophy, bragging rights and a free outside concert from an up and coming music group. This year they had Divided Minds open the show and The Summer Set were the headliners. They have a few songs that my kids like, so we came to see what there was to see. The stage is in the background behind us. It was a nice night to be outside and we got to see a lot of friends enjoying the show.

Powered paragliding

 We have a couple in our ward, Jay and Margie Kocherhans, who are retired and live out  by the Maricopa air strip. Jay knows my great uncle, Dwight, and likes to paraglide. They invited us out to their place for a paragliding Family Home Evening. We volunteered Rylee to go up first because she's the most adventurous of the group. She looks a little nervous here. :)

 The parachute is laid out behind them and the motor looks like a big fan. They roll forward to take off, gaining momentum until the wind fills the parachute and away you go. It was a little scary getting up in the air, Rylee said, but once you were up there, it felt like being on a roller coaster and she even told him to go higher.

 This was one of the passes they made after they'd been up in the air for a few minutes. They got as high as 50 feet and buzzed as low as 5 ft. You can definitely see the smile on Rylee's face as she waved and almost ran over us. :)

 Raegan decided she would give it a try. I told Jay not to go as high with her, so he stayed under the 30 ft level. Canon decided too late that he wanted to try it too. You can't land safely if you can't see the ground because the sun has gone down. Maybe next time, buddy. Beautiful weather, fun activity, gorgeous sunset. :)