May Happenings

 May was a crazy busy month!  I mean, May is always busy.  But I feel like we set new records this year.  We managed to do a lot of fun things, mixed in with all the graduation stuff.  I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Family came to visit!  We love it when this happens!

We solved all the world's problems

Mother's Day pic of my not so little babies.

Kate made this for me.  Delicious!

We got to go to an honors program for Kate who still has a 4.0

Back to the family thing.  Sage helped me put together a hot dog bar.  It was a lot of fun!

Random picture from one of Jake's jobs.

Last day of school celebration!

Zack Graduated!

 I'm the parent of a high school graduate!  Hard to believe.  I didn't think this would be a super big deal.  I mean, most everyone graduates from high school.  But then all the 'last' things started happening, and my mom heart decided it was a big deal.  I kept thinking about how all of these things were the last time Zack would...  Over and over my mom heart broke.  I wouldn't say school has been super easy for Zack.  He's had to navigate the social scene, which is really hard for him.  He's had to learn how to handle classes that he hates, write papers when writing is so hard for him.  And he pushed through all of it, figured it out, and even did really well with most things.  Most of his high school years were effected by Covid, which is so not fair.  I feel like at the end he really started figuring it out and enjoyed everything he could.  He made it to prom, seminary graduation, the senior walk at the elementary school, senior sunset, and the all night graduation party.  I'm so proud of him and all of the things he's done.  Navigating high school with autism is no easy feat.  And he did it!  I can't wait to see what he accomplishes in college.  I'm excited for him to be able to really focus on what he's good at.  Because he's like a genius when it comes to all things engineering.  I think he'll really enjoy having mostly classes that he loves.  Meanwhile, I'm trying to enjoy this last summer of having all of my family together.  I know we have great days ahead, but they'll be different great days.  My mom heart is holding on as long as possible.

Now for a million pictures...

Zack got a $1000 scholarship through the CAPS engineering program.  Yay!

Zack as a preschool graduate.

Tracy was so nice to come up and endure the graduation ceremony

So many people and so, so hot!

Almost Zack's turn!

Last Second San Diego

 I woke up on a regular Friday a couple of weeks ago.  Nothing big planned.  Jake had been dying to get away for the weekend, but the weather kept being cold.  He threw out the idea of going to San Diego.  At first I thought he was joking.  When I realized he wasn't I started trying to book flights and a hotel.  Within an hour I had everything booked and our flight left that afternoon.  Our kids were like, "uh what are you doing?"  By 6:00 that day we were in our hotel room in San Diego.  Yay!

We were only there for a couple of days, but we had great fun!  We ate lots of yummy food.  Lots.  We went to the beach and walked around.  Way too cold to get in, but a beautiful day for hanging out.  We went on a sailboat in the bay.  Very relaxing.  We went to an awesome art show with amazing art, and again, amazing food.  

I've never done a trip that spontaneous before.  Jake called it a company trip and made us had a meeting.  As we discussed what we need to do more of in our business, I told him we definitely need to do more company retreats.  Also, I'm grateful to have kids at an age that we can leave last second like that.  So much fun!

Delicious Mexican food

Lots of sea lions

Random little squirrel just standing there

Jake in his happy place

The balcony where we ate lunch

Hula pie from Dukes.  Worth the trip right there.

Art festival.  I love these purple trees!

Random people playing music and dressed really weird.

April Happenings

 April was fairly low-key.  Thank heavens because things have been crazy around here.  We started the month off with piano festival for Kate.  This year she not only competed in it, but she also had students who participated.  Pretty cool to have so many students when you're only 15!  Sage still can't get over how much money Kate's making.  It's pretty funny.  Kate was chosen (for her second year in a row) to play in the honors recital at the end of the festival.  She did an amazing job and is becoming a great piano player.  I especially love that they ask her to play in sacrament meeting now instead of her old mom.  Yay!!

Zack had a big month because he went to prom!  We were all so excited for him to have at least one dance experience before he graduated.  He went with a cute girl named Katie and all reports sound like he had a great time.  Poor kid got the stomach flu the day before the dance.  Ahhh!!  We were praying our guts out that he would still be able to go.  I have to say that I may have turned into a bitter old lady if he hadn't been able to go.  Fortunately (with a lot of answered prayers) he was able to go, even though he still wasn't feeling great.  One kid in his group ended up not being able to go because of the stomach flu.  So we'll take what we can get.  They went to Provo Beach Saturday morning.  They lucked out and got to take dance pics in the rain.  Good memories.  They went to someone's house for dinner, and then headed to the dance.  They were supposed to come here to hang out after the dance, but poor Zack's body decided it couldn't take anymore.  He'd essentially had nothing to eat all day.  He said he was doing ok, but then the heat and noise of the dance put him over the edge.  He said at one point his ears started ringing and he had tunnel vision.  Poor kid.  So he came home, grabbed all the treats we had here, and took them to another kid's house for everyone else to enjoy.  His date decided she wanted to hang out there with everyone, so he didn't even have to do the awkward porch scene.  At least something good came out of being sick!  When he got home I made him drink as much as he could and sent him to bed with two water bottles.  I'm happy to report that he survived.  And even more happy to report that he managed to get through the night with no puking, thus ensuring he will never be known as barf boy.

Random Sunday walk.  Zack loves that I keep taking pics of him.  But he's leaving soon so he has to deal.

She said yes!

Piano Festival

Oh yeah.  I got a new car.  I now drive a company car in a desperate attempt to pay less taxes.  The verdict is still out on whether this is good or bad.  However, the car is real nice.

These were sent out.  More things graduation to come.  But I was proud of myself for getting invites out.  Kate took the pic and I threw these together online.  I think they turned out pretty good!