The Graves

Our Memorial Day tradition of visiting the graves was a little different this year. We got to go a few days beforehand to help clean the headstones with mineral oil (which by the way, makes a huge difference in how pretty they look) and clip the grass right around them too. It's normally something Grandpa Parry does. Now, however, he isn't able to leave Grandma alone that long, so we went and helped out.

Thankfully, they were both able to make it out to the cemetery on Memorial Day. It was a beautiful day and it was nice to see Grandma and Grandpa out and about.

Ensign Peak

We have a new tradition for Memorial Day that we've done twice now and have loved each time--hiking Ensign Peak. Josh's dad came with us this year, as well as Brady and Jordan.

We got there early enough to beat the hiking crowd and to have a little fun before hand. Brady showed the girls how to pose in some karate moves, inspired by The Karate Kid, even though the girls have no idea who that is. We also ate donuts and milk, the perfect thing to eat when you know you're going hiking. It may not have given us the energy we needed but we knew we were likely to burn it all off. My favorite, a guilt-free, yummy breakfast.

Kali and Sadie did awesome on the hike, other than each taking a turn falling down and getting scratched up. Ashlyn, on the other hand, had to be carried the entire way. Thank goodness Brady was there. If I would have had to carry her the entire way, the hike would have taken twice as long.

Preschool Graduation

Sadie is officially a preschool graduate!

She and three of her cousins will be moving on to kindergarten and she's so ready for it. She aced her end of the year test. My mom was so impressed with how well she did that she called me up to tell me. She said Sadie was the only one that knew her address and phone number. And not only did she know her phone number, she asked which one my mom wanted to know, Mom's or Dad's. Then she proceeded to recite them both.

She was so excited for the graduation performance that she was hyper. She got to play Baby Bear in Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Little Miss Muffet in Little Miss Muffet.

Dance Pictures

I seriously have the most amazing sister-in-law. She is such an amazing photographer (Raspberry Branch Photography). I asked her to quickly take pictures of my girls in their dance costumes and this is what I got. I had a hard time narrowing it down to my favorites.

This one is Kali's favorite dance move from one of her dances.

And Ashlyn isn't in dance, but loves wearing leotards and tutus. So my sister-in-law snapped of few of her too and they turned out priceless.

Solar Eclipse

Utahns had a rare chance to see a solar eclipse today. And although we couldn't see the full eclipse from where we live, we were able to see a partial eclipse. It's a pretty cool thing since the last time one was visible was 18 years ago. Unfortunately, I forgot to buy the special glasses that allow you to view it without going blind and since it fell on a Sunday, I wasn't able to run to the store. I thought I'd try using my camera to take a picture of it in hopes I could see it. But my first picture turned out like this.

I decided to give it one more try and this is what I got.

It's like it somehow reflected off the camera's lens and I actually got to see what it looked like. How cool!!! The skies are so mysterious and exciting to me.

Dance Recital

Kali and Sadie had their dance recital tonight and I couldn't have been more proud. I knew that they had been working hard all year, but I couldn't believe their progress. They both danced with so much enthusiasm and had a lot of fun. The theme for the night was Tiptoe Through Time and both of them had two dances.

Kali - Hero

Sadie - Moon Shadow

Kali - I Saw the Sign

Sadie - Teddy Bear

Wheeler Farm

Today Sadie got to go on a field trip to Wheeler Farm for preschool. This year was kind of fun because we went on a guided tour and this little lamb puppet was the tour guide's helper. The kids loved it.

I found the cow milking station pretty funny. The kids thought it was great to be able to put their heads in the stalls like they were going to be milked.

But like every year, the tractor ride is the favorite.

And the fact that the majority of the kids in the class are cousins and that Grandma is the teacher. Check out how many of the cousins were able to go.

Helpers

My girls have become such good helpers lately. Sometimes it makes our projects take a little longer than planned, but I look forward to the day when I can simply turn the tasks over to them. Isn't that what they say, you have kids so that they can do the chores!

Smiles

Emmalyn has been smiling a lot lately, but unfortunately, not for everyone. She's a real mommy's girl. I attempted to catch it on camera and this is the best I could do.

Bedtime

In order to go to sleep Ashlyn has to have her sippy, her bears (Mr. Bear and Grumpy Bear) and now her new Cinderella doll. She props them above her head on her headboard and then she makes us spread out her yellow blanket.