Wicked Awesome!

I took off on a much-needed girls weekend and saw Wicked with my mom.  It was fantastic!  Sometimes I wish I could be in a musical.  If they had any parts for someone who just wanted to sing.  And not act.  At all.  Anyone know of a gig like that?

Dad's Big Day

 Let it be known that Kolby Johnson is the best dad in the whole world!  And it is our pleasure to shower him with gifts and treats on his special day.  But what do you get the guy who has everything?

 A very special llama shirt!  Kolby, in retrospect, we're sorry for the many times this shirt has caused you pain.  Who knew perfect strangers would really come up to you at the grocery store, at the park, in the mens room and ask to see your llama.  But only a guy as cool as you could pull it off!

 Kolby also got some camping gear this year.  He really wanted that little ax.  Curse you Andrew Rosenbaum for stealing it from us at the former Christmas gift exchange and forcing me to buy another one!  And double curse you for Klive dropping it from the shopping cart onto my flip-flop clad foot.  I may have dropped the f-bomb in the middle of Fred Meyer.  I blame you, Andrew!

 What could be a better Father's Day pastime than teaching your 10-year-old daughter how to start fires in the back yard?

 We eventually got all dressed up and took our dad to church.

We wrapped up the day with a basement camp-out in Dad's new tent.  Love you Daddy!

A Day at the Airport

 It finally happened, Klive's dreams came true.  Papa Lee invited the kids to join him for an afternoon at his Logan Airport.  Sadly, Winnie still hasn't gotten over her aversion to loud noises, so she opted to spend the day with Nana Deb playing secretary.  Papa Lee brought out the big guns for entertainment - the big, green fire truck!

 After a thorough inspection by this big rig junkie, Klive okayed it for a trip around the runways.

The kids did a bit of radio-conversing with the circling airplanes.  They ran the sirens and the cherry on top was spraying the cow poop off of the runway with sudsy water from the giant truck hose.  Klive gave the day a big "thumbs" up!  Thanks Papa!

What do we do in the Summertime?

 Yaya Julie, wise woman that she is, discovered that these grand-babies have become obsessed with dressing up when they get together.  So she's furnished them with three enormous tubs of wacky clothing (most from Kolby's teenage closet) in the playroom.  So why not host a prom in the basement?  This picture proves that June can get Caulder to do pretty much anything.  What can I say, they've always been best friends!  Don't worry Caulder, we won't tell!

 Klive came to the prom as a lady Eskimo, and Yaya threw on a headband for the occasion.

 The Babe even donned a lovely frock for the prom.  Wonder what was in his punch?

 While all the prom madness was going on, we snuck away to the golf course with these guys!

 Grandpa Kyle's teaching me how to play.  Maybe if I play every day for the next 50 years, I will be as good as him.  But probably not.

 Grandma Sara hurt her arm, so she didn't golf.  But she came along for the ride!

Here's a real-life look at what happens to these kids after 4 days of non-stop playing. One usually barfs, one cries uncontrollably for no reason, and one sleeps for 2 days straight.  Sometimes it's Tukker that does all three.  Now that's some serious cousin love!

Put Her In Coach!

Due to my lack of luck with technology, I accidentally deleted the bulk of pictures of June this softball season.  It still feels like a kick to the gut.  But I can attest to the fact that her skills were worthy of several team-induced shoulder hoists - even if they only took place in my imagination!  She became a real pitcher this year.  Diligent little June spent every afternoon in the backyard practicing her pitches and it really paid off.  She threw some great games!  Even though her coaches tried to give a couple of other girls a try at the pitching mound, it always came back to June to secure most of the wins with her tiny but deadly arm.  Her batting, stealing, catching and sliding skills also grew leaps and bounds this season.  I am still a little surprised that we created such a fantastic little athlete!  In the end, her team took third place in tournament.  Like most great athletic supporters, I believe they were robbed of at least second and a chance at first by some questionable reffing, but I couldn't be prouder of Junie B.  She put her whole heart into it like everything else she does.  She's a firecracker!    

See Ya Later Chubbuck Elementary!

 The girls finished up another stellar year at Chubbuck in May.  We shed a few tears this time because we were leaving behind this great elementary school and heading to a new one in the Fall.  That's right folks, WE MOVED!!!  June's teacher, Mrs. Duersch retired this year.  Must have been because she couldn't have a better student than June, right?  Junie also had to part ways with her BFF Gracie.  Luckily, we just moved a few miles away so they can still play!

 Winnie's teacher, Ms. Winder, might be my all-time favorite.  I had the privilege of spending my Tuesday mornings in her class and also teaching art every couple of months.  Ms. Winder was a special soul, and her love for her kids made the classroom a very special place to be!  Winn also got two years in class with her bestie, Emma.  It's going to be hard for Gate City Elementary to top our time at Chubbuck, but I guess we'll give it a try!

Mother's Day

 We had a "Super" Mother's Day!

Am I lucky or what?  These sweet babies are all mine!  And I'm happy to strategically place them in front of my once-perfect abs which now look like a war zone after providing a safe and snuggie home for all three of them.  It's okay, I wouldn't change it!

We had a bit of family up for the special day.  As usual, Auntie Auds was in charge of makeovers.

 I can't remember if I let her go to church with all that crap on her face, but if I did, I made a little girl's dreams come true.

 Klive and Grampy Bruce are pretty good breakfast buddies!

 My eyes are starting to go, I can't tell if this one's fuzzy.  Oh well, the girls are all still cute!

 Here's a couple of cute gals!

 Hugs for Papa before he had to head to Malad.

 These two are always in snuggle mode.