Last Day of School!

We did it!! Another school year in the books!! It has been such a crazy last couple of weeks, both at school and on the home front, that I haven't really processed the fact that the year is over. AND the fact that I now have a second and fifth grader! Yikes!!

Here's a snipit of the kids' last day.... 

This was taken earlier in the week, but I need to post this pic of Alyssa. This sweet girl was in kindergarten with Evelyn and stole my heart. She is bright, active and has a big heart. She hasn't been in class with Evelyn since that first year of school, but she and I have always made sure to stay connected one way or another. Her family is moving to Texas so this is her last year here. She wrote me the sweetest note thanking me for being there for her over the years. I was so touched. I will miss this girl very much!! 

The kids were tired and not really excited to have their picture taken, but they mostly cooperated. HA!

Evelyn and her friend and our neighbor Elle. We love the entire Craven family and are thankful they live on our street. We had a fun walk to school with them this morning.

Mrs. Viegas.  We couldn't have asked for a better teacher for Matthew this year. He has grown so much in confidence and we could not be more proud of him. He has become an avid writer and has been a leader in the classroom. What an amazing year he has had, and a lot of the credit goes to Mrs. Viegas. We will all miss her!

Fourth grade Gold Presidential Academic Achievement Award winners! Chase, Minley, Shaye, Alyssa, Evelyn and Tenaya. I have watched these six grow up since kindergarten and am proud of all of them!

My baby girl keeps winning this award... we are so proud of her!

 Mr. Peterson. Evelyn's teacher. He is one of the most kind, hilarious, smart amazing teachers we have ever known. He is so great with this age group. Evelyn and her classmates nicknamed his green jeep "The Green Buffalo" during the Oregon Trail simulation (all cars were considered buffalo), so we got him a license plate frame to remember his class.

After school we headed to Menchie's with a bunch of friends, our tradition the past 4 years. It was SO busy, the busiest it has ever been in all the times we have done this. But.. we all got yogurt and enjoyed our time together. All the mom's decided that we will find a less crazy place next year, tho! :)

Love this boy!

Evelyn and Ellie have worn this matching outfit on the last day of school for 3 years in a row. Silly girls!

Thankful for these 4th grade boys.. they are pretty awesome!

Yay for summer!

Matthew and his buddy Hayden. 

Love these monkeys!!

They really do love each other, can you tell? HA! :)

Why yes, they did eat all that food for dinner. Growing much? :)

The kids wanted to celebrate the end of school by getting our pool floaties ready to go since the pool is going up this coming weekend. They were pretty excited!

Thankful for another great year at Fir Grove and even more thankful to have the kids home for a couple of months!

YAY for summer!!!

Father's Day

We celebrated this guy today....

We are all so thankful he is the big daddy in our house. He loves and leads us so well. We love him so very much....

We went to Pepita's for mexican food for dinner and had a lovely time.

The kids were extra silly this evening, and had both Doug and I in stitches!

Happy Father's Day, Doug! We love you!

Last Day on the Trail / Oregon Trail Day 5

Last day..woohoo!! The kids (and grownups) were all pretty tired this morning. It's been great week but it's also been a long week. I think all of us had mixed emotions about this being the last day.

Our last group meeting...

These three amazing teachers did such a fabulous job planning this whole week of experiences. I am grateful for all of them!

Serious faces!

The Putmans are gonna make it to Oregon intact!! Yay!

Mrs. Calafet's class put together a dance that they performed for us. It was so cute to watch Ellie! 

Welcome to Oregon!!  YAY!!

Staking their claim... each family got rope to make a boundary line of their property. Evelyn wanted to make sure her family's plot had a tree in it. Smart thinking, sweetie!!

Celebrating with strawberries and cream!

It has been such a rewarding week for the 4th graders... and for me, too! Thankful to be a part of such a large and amazing undertaking. Hoping the kids will remember this week and be grateful for those who came before us to our great state. 

There truly is no place like Oregon!!

Oregon Trail Day 4

If I could sum up today with one word, it would be WET! Oh, my it rained so hard today.. on the longest day of hiking! 6 miles today.. and while it was raining, the kids still had a little bit of fun and learning time! :)

The daily morning briefing. Today the kids were allowed to wear coats since it was supposed to be really raining hard. 

Dan is the dad of Noah, who is in Ev's class. He and his dad dressed up in full uniform and led the kids on a maping lesson/excursion. 

Another river crossing!

It was already raining, but the got more wet doing this!

Cold but surviving!

Evelyn and her friend Elle... love them both!

We had a hot dog lunch for the kids halfway thru the long hike. 

The "men" went "hunting" at our pitstop. Lots of good eats caught...haha!

Pioneers lunching.... 

The kids had fun with Dan!

We actually cut our hike short because it was so wet and windy. It was pouring so hard on our way back from our lunch stop. Everyone was soaked when we got back to school...but everyone was in good spirits. Most of the kids realized this is how it was coming to Oregon. We have it really good in comparison!

Last day tomorrow!