The End of 4th and 7th Grades

This school year went faster than ever!  That really shocks me since I worked it!  It really did fly by, though, and for that I am grateful!  Before I show their end of the year pictures, there were a few big events that happened toward the end of the semester that I never got a chance to share on the blog.  First, Cady did her first-ever Science Fair project! Being the cooking and baking lover that she is, she chose to make yogurt from 5 different types of milk (whole, 2%, fat free, soy and almond) and see which made the best.  It was a fun, but involved project.  She enjoyed it though.

 In the end, the whole milk and soy milk (?) made the best yogurt.  She did a great job on her presentation board:

 Third place in her class! Not too shabby!

For Colton's media class, they were split into teams of 3 and had to make 2 short films - one about healthy eating and one about active living.  The healthy living one is the reason we were at the Farmer's Market that day we adopted Sunny! ;-)

Anyways, the class voted on the top film in each category and then those two films went on to represent Zia Middle School at the District's Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Film Festival.  Colton's team was chosen as top Healthy Eating film!  We went as a family that evening and enjoyed some healthy snacks, then sat down for a guest speaker and then to view all the films. There were just under twenty films total and we were very excited to see Colton's team entry. Filmed at the Las Cruces Farmer's Market, they interviewed vendor's and asked them about the importance of eating healthy and what locally grown foods could be purchased there.

We were ecstatic when Zia Middle School, Colton's team, was called for Best Overall Healthy Eating Film!! 

Pictured below from left to right is Nancy Cathey (LCPS Nutrition Services Director), Gracie Marks (a teammate), Mrs. Kingery (Zia Principal), Colton and Mr. Banegas (Colton's Media teacher):

 The kids each got a gold medal and the school got a trophy for it's trophy case!
It was a very fun and exciting experience! So proud of Colton who did most of the filming for the project, and came up with the idea to interview Farmer's Market vendors. 

So, with that, here are pictures of them on their last full day of school, as 4th and 7th graders:

 Cady is holding her gifts for her classroom teacher, Mrs. Dixon, and her AES teacher, Mrs. Martinez (beach towels, their favorite magazine, a sonic giftcard and a handwritten thank you card):

 Here are a few pics taken on the last week of school:


McKaela & Colton

Ben, Mckaela and Colton

Cady & Mckynze (who will be off to middle school next year!)

Colton & Devin

It was a great year, but we were all more than ready for summer! Only thing that would make it better is if Colin could spend it with us!

Happy Early Birthday, Grammy!

Grampa and Grammy Mac are in Washington right now, awaiting the arrival of their newest grandson, and our newest nephew/cousin.  They are also going to our niece, Kylie's, high school graduation.  Her birthday was a week ago, but they left the Monday before.  So, the evening before they hit the road, we had a dinner for her at our house, complete with chocolate pie from Village Inn to celebrate with her a few days early.  It was a fun evening!

 

They are always missed when they are away, but we are thankful they are able to go each year and see Leigh Anne, Parker and the boys and Michael John, Paula, Kyle and Kylie!

Dad's 60th Birthday Party

Mom and Jeff & I threw Dad a 60th birthday party at the Round  Up Lodge in Mimbres - same place I had my Sweet 16, which I thought was cool!

 

Colin and the kids and I met Mom and Dad up there at noon on that Saturday and got to work setting up.  We used a moose hunting theme because Dad and Jeff will be headed to Alaska in September for his dream Alaskan Moose Hunt.  It all turned out very nice:

 While we were arranging the room and putting out centerpieces, Cady was hard at work on a special banner for the party. 

 Her Gramma Suzy helped her with the phrase, but she came up doing the moose heads with hand antlers from each grandchild all on her own:

 Papa really liked it!

 Of course, Cady and Jayce went back later and added eyelashes to their moose!

 

 Jeff and Tammi have a friend who made the awesome cake:

 Some quick family pictures:

 

 

Best part of entire evening was that Brian came, with his new girlfriend, Beth, whom we all immediately loved!! It's always so great to spend time with Brian.

 

 It was a light turn out, but Dad had a great time.  Here he is visiting with friends:

 Here he is with my Grandpa Stan:

 During the Happy Birthday song:

 Then it was time for dancing!

 It was a wonderful and fun evening celebrating such a great man!  Love you Dad!

Mother's Day and a Birthday!

As most of you know (because I say it every year!) I LOVE Mother's Day! This year's was even more special because we were able to spend it with both of our moms and my grandma.

 

We get our moms and my grandma flower baskets each year and this year visited the new Guzman's on Avenida de Mesilla, which is my new favorite place! So beautiful and peaceful there! Here are the kids with the flower baskets they helped pick out for their grandmas:

 I awoke on Mother's Day to 2 surprises - a huge and gorgeous flower basket of my own and a brand new jewelry armoire:

 Then it was time to get pictures with my wonderful family before church:

 Do you see how tall this kid is next to me when I am wearing flats?!?

 After church, we went over to Grandma Mary's who not only was celebrating Mother's Day, but also a birthday! She turned 81 years young that day!

 Grandma with her flower basket:

 Birthday Cake time!

 The cookout at Grandma's was very nice.  John and Sara came and joined us, too:

 It was a beautiful day celebrating being blessed enough to be a mother and the 3 gorgeous women I look up to in my life.