School's Out!

Well, it's official: Kensie passed the first grade. Whew, I was worried for awhile there! She's already talking about second grade. It's going to be a LONG summer!!


Her school puts on a dance festival at the end of school every year. It's really fun to see what each grade has put together. This year we had dances from Hairspray, Thriller, High School Musical {of course!}, and many more. The First Grade danced to the Monkees theme song and impressed us all with a surprise involving Planet Of The Apes music and bananas. It was hilarious! Here are some photos from the event {sorry they're so far away- I need a better zoom!}.


Kensie made cards to give to her teacher and Bus Driver Larry on the last day of school. She is the sweetest kid! She also told me that she was able to say goodbye to her duty guard, Mrs. Arigosa {Kensie LOVES her}. Kensie told her she loved her and would see her next year. So cute!

Happy Birthday, Jackson!

My baby turned ONE today. It seems like just yesterday I was in the hospital holding a cute, squishy newborn. He's still cute and squishy but now he's so grown up! He had such a fun day. He was super hyper all day {it amazes me that babies can sense excitement even though they have no clue what's going on}. He ran {literally, he runs now} around the house all day pointing at the balloons and squealing. When it was finally time for his party he got a bit shy, but warmed up quickly! We were grateful that so many family members could attend {Great G-ma & G-pa May, G-ma & G-pa Young, Spencer & Andrea, Danny & Leah}. We had pizza, opened presents {Lincoln did most of the opening}, sang Happy Birthday and blew out a candle {with help from mom}, and ate cupcakes. Jackson was hesitant at first & wasn't quite sure what to do with his cupcake {unlike Lincoln, who devoured his cupcake in 20 seconds on his first birthday}. Eventually he got the hang of it and made a grand mess! He is such a cute kid, even with his sweet mullet that Matt won't let me cut {notice it in the pics!}. Soon it will be long enough for a rat-tail.....

Oh, Marquise!

This one's for the BHS '95ers...........

I was flipping through the channels last night and happened upon this:




Next thing I know, I'm looking at HIM:

That's right, it's good ol' Marcus Hardy {or Marquise to us BHS alum}. Matt & I were DYING!! He even mentioned his pro wrestling career {remember that from the 5 year?!}. Well, he made it past the first round & he's actually really good! Great- now I'm going to have to watch the show to see how far he goes. Couldn't find a clip of him from the show, but I did find this old interview with a radio station:

Both of my kids have become obsessed with these shows:


They BEG to watch them! It's surprising to me that they don't get grossed out by all the weird stuff they eat, but they love it.

The following conversation occured today as I was trying to get Lincoln to eat his lunch:

Me: "Lincoln, quit pretending to swing on the blind cords and eat your rice."
Lincoln: "I'm not Lincoln, I'm Survivorman. See, I'm surviving!"
Me: "Survivorman LOVES to eat rice..."
Lincoln: "No he doesn't Mom. He eats bugs. You're silly."

Party Madness!

Kensie had a chef party for her birthday this year. It was so much fun! The girls got to decorate an apron & don a personalized chef hat. They loved playing the marshmallow game {try to get marshmallows in a bowl while blindfolded} and ended up having a small {until Matt put his foot down!} marshmallow fight! Present time was fun {and loud} of course. I'm always amazed by how loud little girls can be. They squeal and scream after every gift is opened {"I have that!", "I almost got you that!", "Oohhhh, cool!" etc, etc.}. We sang to the birthday girl and ate apron cake, then everyone got to decorate a cupcake. I was very impressed by their creativity. There were some wonderful creations! The girls left with their cupcake in a box and a little spatula. Everyone had a great time! When the party was over Matt had to take a nap......then we went on a family hike. It was a great day!

Birthday Wishes

Kensie's class put together a book for her birthday that has a note from each child. I thought I'd share them because some of them are so cute/funny. I've translated them so they're easier to read!

To Kensie
I hope you have a good day today. Do you want to know something funny me and you both like to do dance. You're a good friend.
Love your friend Emerson

Happy Birthday. I am going to be able to come to your birthday party!
From: Peyton

Happy Birthday Kensie. I hope you have a great party. You are my best friend.
From Daniel

Happy Birthday Kensie. I hope you have the best birthday ever.
From Savannah

Happy Birthday to you! Go Utah I guess! Ya to you!
From Chase

Kensie, Happy Birthday. I hope you have the best birthday.
Ben S.

Happy Birthday to you! I love you! You are my bestest friend!
Anna Claire

Happy Birthday to you. Hope you have a good birthday.
From Isaac

Happy Birthday Kensie. I hope you have a fun birthday and I know it because I am going to your party.
From Amanda

Happy Birthday Kens! Thank you for inviting me to your birthday party.
Love, Ellie

Happy Birthday Kensie Holbrook. You are the best friend I could ever have!
Love, Noelle

Hope you have a good birthday.
From Dane

Dear Kensie, I hope you have a fun birthday.
From Autumn

I hope you have a great bday.
Easton

Happy bday. I hope you have a good bday!!!!!
Joseph

To Kensie From Zach:
Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you! I hope you have a great birthday.
From: Mary

You are cute.
From Jaxton

You're my best friend.
Love, Sydney

Happy Birthday Kensie! I hope you have a very fun party on Saturday.
From: Lauren

BYU
From: Sam

Happy Birthday to you. Utah rocks.
From Ben P.

Happy Birthday Kensie. I hope you have a great birthday.
Tyler

Happy Birthday Kensie. You live in a zoo. You look like a monkey and you smell like one too.
Roman

Happy bday Kensie. I hope all your birthday wishes come true.
Caleb


*stay tuned for pics from the birthday madness tomorrow!!

For Your Viewing Pleasure....

Grass-Hater

Another Magic Trick

More from "Walker" {not to be confused with Texas Ranger}

Happy Happy Birthday, Kensie Dear

My baby girl is SEVEN years old today! I'm torn between sadness & happiness. I'm sad because I miss my cute, cuddly baby. I'm sad because she'd rather watch Spongebob than The Wiggles. I'm sad because she is growing like a weed. I'm sad because she goes to school all day. BUT...I'm happy because she loves school and is learning so much. I'm happy because she still loves to give me hugs and kisses. I'm happy because I am still her best friend and greatest mom on earth. I'm happy because I get to see her grow into a beautiful girl, young woman, and lady.

I have no doubt that she is very special to her Heavenly Father & I'm so grateful that she came to our family at the time she did. She's been such a blessing to us since the day she was born.

Happy Birthday, Kens!

The Baby Keeper

Is this disturbing to anyone else, or is it just me?? I mean, I'm all for keeping the rugrats from touching the nastiness in public bathrooms- but this is too much!

Kensie's Dance Concert

Kensie had her final dance concert on the 10th. She was amazing, of course. Their dance was very complicated & all the girls did really well. She knew the whole dance perfectly. I was so proud of her. Afterward, she said "Mom, right when I was about to go on stage I got a little nervous, but then when I started dancing I was okay. Then, when it was over I was so proud of myself!". The next morning she told me that she had cried in her bed because she is going to miss being in Miss Francesca's class. She really loved her teacher this year. Lincoln confirmed this story by telling me that Kensie was crying & he kept telling her to be quiet so he could go to sleep- but she wouldn't.

I'm glad that Kensie loves dance. If she didn't love it that would be okay, but I'm glad she does. It's in her blood.