{Survived}

Another school year has finished. Another year of 1st Grade under my belt, E finished 3rd and K finished 6th.

It was a crazy busy year, but the time flew by. E constantly reminds me of how fast the year went by. It went by in a flash and I still can't believe it is over already.

E & K were both recognized by their teachers during their awards and seemed super happy that they year is done.

E's class

Now onto summer.....swimming, reading, playing, relaxing, and trying to figure out how to get ready for the next school year.

{soliders}

For school K and E each got to be in a Civil War Re-enactment. K was on artillery, meaning he got to launch water balloons. E was with his class and got to work with the regiment and throw water bombs at the other regiment.

It was a fun day and something they looked forward to for weeks. It was a nice break from their normal school day.

{Elections}

K decided to run for AHA 2nd Grade Representative for next school year. He figured he had a better chance at winning because next year's 2nd graders are my 1st graders so they would know him.

He wrote his speech all by himself and got a teacher recommendation.

He won after a second vote, because the first time around they tied. He is excited to be in the AHA House as the 2nd Grade Rep next year. I just hope he is ready for the extra work that it will bring.

{Ordination Weekend}

K turned 12.
12.
I can't believe it.

With turning 12, he also was ordained a deacon bringing all of our extend to Vegas for a weekend visit.

Almost all the Apos and Walkers made the trip down and we had a ton of people here. The bishopric were amazed at the amount of family support K had for the ordination (I think it ended up being about 35 people in the room).

We are so proud of him and his preparation for this big day. He is excited for all the new things he will now get to experience and participate in at church. And I'm sure all of our lives will get a bit busier with it now.

{Secret Getaway}

So this year we tried to plan a secret getaway for C's birthday. It was a secret up until the people charged my credit card for the cabin and then C figured it all out.

He hates to not know what is going on and asks lots of questions when any event is arriving that requires presents.

Since he didn't' "want anything" and we couldn't come up with something ourselves, the boys and I decided that we should go on a small weekend trip. I took off Friday from work and we told him he had to keep Friday clear. But but the time Tuesday rolled around he had it figured out.

We left after school on Thursday to drive up to to stay 2 nights in a cabin on the reservoir. But since we had never been there and misjudged the time it would take to drive there we got to the small cabin place 30 minutes after they closed. We had no way to check in and since it was the middle of nowhere, our cells didn't work to call them and tell them we would be late.
Pioche
We drove 30 minutes back to Pioche and stayed in the only motel in the town. It was a small hundred year old motel that was attached to the town bar so it all smelled of smoke. It was very cute and old. I loved it.

The boys had never been to town so small and they were so intrigued.

(the ENTIRE town)

(behind them is the only cafe in town)

(the hotel we stayed in)

They were excited the next morning to eat in a small diner across the street. Then we headed back to the reservoir.

As we walked in the bar to check in, yes the whole place revolved around the bar, the guys was calling my non-working cell phone to check on us. I was pleased he gave us back the money for the night we couldn't spend in the cabin since they were closed and we started unpacking the Jeep. It was colder there but nice.

(the red building behind E is the cabin)

We figured out there wasn't an oven, more than one pot to cook with and minimal supplies there but the boys were excited. We had packed all their fishing gear and they went off with C to fish while I figured out how to fit everything we brought into the smallest cabin ever and make lunch without a table or counter space and one pan.

The boys spent most of the afternoon outside in the fresh air and down by the water but it was cold.

We tried to have dinner and do some hiking but as E and I hiked up the mouton next to the cabin we were getting colder and colder.

(E and I are on top of that big cliff.....we are the little dots)

Luckily I had brought the laptop so we could watch a movie and be all cozy together in the cabin that night.

When we woke up Saturday morning it was snowing. Yep it was that cold. Luckily we hadn't planned on staying through Saturday and Sunday because it snowed that weekend and we would have been stuck in the small cabin the whole time.

It was fun and now we know what to bring with us next time. And that we need to leave a lot earlier and bring everything and anything we think we might need because there is NOTHING out there!