Kingston is 7!

the big 7- Hulk Cupcakes were a must. 

My big 7 year old!! This year, it really seems like you have grown into your own. And, you are actually growing! You finally have grown out of some clothes are certainly getting taller. You lucked out this year on your birthday! We got to stay in a swanky hotel in Park City for dad's work training- you got to swim, sit in the hot tub on the balcony, have ice cream, and have presents waiting for you in the morning. 

Hotel swag. Bottled soda, pringles and gum, 

Since you and Enzo are so close we always celebrate your birthdays together at Mimi's. Lots of presents and spoiling for a whole month. Lots of legos, Battle Bots, clothes, outdoor toys, bike helmet, "I Survived" books and gum (your all time favorite).

Impromtu family picture. Love this tribe of mine. 

A story for posterity and a good reminder about doing hard things. For a whole week, we went to swimming lessons. Every day. Day one & two weren't terrible but by day three, Kingston was petrified of the pool. He would cry. Seemed to be visibly distraught as he waited for his turn to swim across the pool and almost drown his poor teacher trying to get out of the pool mid lap. We prayed the morning before. Talked about being brave and went back every day. This picture was taken on Thursday- he went from being completely scared to jumping off the diving board over and over and over. I asked him what changed, "I just kept trying". It was a great life lesson for everyone. Some days, the deep water is too scary. Most days, it's easier to stay in the shallow end where we can play and be comfortable. This kid proved he can do VERY hard things and I was so proud of him. I am also SUPER grateful that he isn't afraid and can swim on his own.

Kingston Grant- we LOVE you. You are softhearted. Persistent. Dedicated. Committed. Whiny (ha!), Loving. Determined. A Lego fiend. Shrimp Lover. Bike Rider. A good friend. A cool kid. A great help for dad at the flip house. My only kid that will do ANYTHING for a dollar.  Brave. Truly the King of our hearts.  WE LOVE LOVE LOVE you.

SCHOOL'S OUT

We almost didn't make it to the end of the year (or so it felt). We had SO much going on- choir performances, award ceremonies, Spelling Bee,  Field Day, birthday table, Teacher Appreciation Day, end of year teacher gifts, and getting ready for girls camp. The kids had an amazing year at Midas Creek and Enzo excelled beyond expectation with Miss Amy.

Kingston said goodbye to Mrs Greenwood. He did really well reading. He made new friends, decided he actually does like school lunch and made so many new friends. He came home most days with a phone number from a new friend who wanted to come and play. He earned his Mt Lion Award and is super excited to move on to 2nd grade.

Mc had Mrs Birch- a newer teacher that was very strict on cleanliness and order and really engaged the kids in reading. Mc made new friends, sang in choir and wasn't sad to leave "the group" (the mean girls at her old school) behind.

Enzo left his first year of prek knowing how to write his name, identifying shapes and colors and being madly in love with all things Miss Amy. He learned SO much and I can't believe I will be sending him off to THREE days of school next year.

Here's the to the crazy of summer!

1st Grade End of year Assembly. Hand made tie dyed shirt. 

Mc in her choir performance- she was SUPER difficult to spot. 

Mt Lion Award

Mt Lion Award

Last day of school! 

Enzo and Miss Amy

Less is more

Sometimes, you go to Library Lego Day and you spend three seconds with your limited three year old building ability and create a race car. Then you go to race your car against all the other kids (even some older kids), you win. Most of them probably thought it was just a fluke but then you win again. And again. And again. Never mind that your tiny car busted apart at the end of the track every.single.time. Forget that there were kids with bigger, better cars. You were just happy with your tiny, propellers on both ends car. I was happy to watch you win and the surprise on your face every time.

Jane

 

Preparation for the Wax Museum began when Mc started to try and decide who she wanted to represent. We looked through hundreds of "Who was...." books on Amazon. Men, women, politicians, musicians, artists, actors. When she saw Jane Goodall, she immediately decided that was who she wanted to be. From that moment, she began immersing herself in research (perfect mirroring of Jane). She got multiple books from the library and found a National Geographic special to watch. The best part, she watched the special and totally cried when a baby monkey passed away- so emotional she even wrote in her journal about it. We started collecting stuffed monkeys from all our neighbors, bought some khaki shorts and she was ready. It also helps that her ponytail was spot on.

They had to memorize a 30 second "sketch" about the person's life and she was PERFECT ("She contributed to many girls wanting to be scientists."). Her poster had pictures of Jane and her monkeys and little drawings of monkeys and Jane that Mc contributed.  She tried her best to have a British accent and held character the entire time. Such a special kid. Sure love her.

15 Years a Williamson

15 years. F I F T E E N! Blows my mind what we have been through thus far in our marriage. We have moved, remodeled, had 3 kids, moved again, moved again, started another remodel, vacationed, struggled, loved, cried, and holidayed. Mark truly is my better half- the only person I would want to navigate this life with. He puts up with me and all my crazy. He is an ideal father. He is patient. He is trustworthy. He is such a hard worker (currently working two jobs). He loves me no matter what.

We spent our anniversary at Fleming's, walked the Gateway (mainly to find the sign above), had delicious Gourmandise for dessert and talked about the past, the present and future. Love me some Mr Williamson.

The Mount of the Lord

Families Can Be Together Forever

One of my favorite things to do with my family is to walk through the new LDS temples before they are dedicated. The Jordan River Temple Open House was so great, and close to my heart. I spent lots of time as a youth doing baptisms in that temple, took my endowments out there and helped lots of YW from my old ward find a love for the temple there too.

One special memory I have being YW president is taking one of my youth (Destiny Martinez) to do baptisms. She had just had back surgery and was in a wheel chair and had just turned 12 and was SUPER excited to go. As we got to the baptistry, I became very aware that being in a wheelchair would be very difficult and restricting. It took three men to lower her to the font and everyone had to help her dress/change/shower/change again. As we were getting ready to leave (after much difficulty) the Matron for the Baptistry came and told us that because of  Destiny they were going to make some changes to the temple when it was redone (that was the first time I was hearing about potential changes).The new baptistry was beautiful and HUGE- wheelchair accessible for sure. It made me remember that special day with Destiny and how grateful I am for that.

Every detail in the temple is perfection. I love the art. I love the feeling. I love taking my family through to remind us that we can be together forever. I love temples.

Grandma Cookie and Grandpa Donut

Temple Kids (how much longer do I have being able to dress the boys alike?)

3rd Grade Egg Drop

We had a vision of a little Popsicle stick house and the Up House came to life. Mc did such a great job helping us glue the sticks and she painted the entire house by herself. Mark was the king of logistics (maximum egg safety) and we (Mc & I) were on decor. I think it turned out absolutely adorable. Mc was the only one that had a "theme". There were lots of eggs attached to balloons but hers was THE cutest.

Mrs Birch (to the left) holding her head as we all watched the Up House make it's maiden (and final) voyage from the school roof.

The tiny house didn't survive but the egg was safe, and unbroken inside. WIN.