Little Smarty Pants

Rachel has done really well for her first year of middle school. In addition to making the National Junior Honor Society, she got a special award. Our whole family was invited to a banquet where she received a FINO award (failure is not an option). Only 14 kids from the entire middle school received this recognition.

Here she is receiving her award.

Here she is afterward with her little plaque. We are so proud of her!

Then on the last day of school they had awards for everyone. Rachel got the Presidential Gold Award for having straight As all year and academic excellence in Language Arts, Science, and Ancient Civ. They also handed out awards for every single student and Rachel got "Most Responsible".


We are so proud of her!

David's Birthday

David turned 10 on May 11! He's been looking forward to being double digits for a while. David is so fun on his birthday because he genuinely gets so excited when he opens his presents.

He really wanted a Robin Webkinz


He loves learning how to draw.

Here is one of his drawings:


He also got a bunch of different specimens to look at under his microscope.


He also requested to decorate his own cake - hey, works for me!


He is a great kid and we are so lucky to have him in our family.

Piano Recital

Rachel and David have been taking piano lessons here in Colorado since school started in the fall. Rachel has stopped and started a few times because of our moves - but they are both doing great. Here is the video of David performing his song:




And here is Rachel:




They both did a great job! We are so proud that they are learning how to play the piano.

David also tried out for the talent show at his elementary school. Over 40 kids tried out for 20 spots and David got selected. He played one of his piano pieces and he was fantastic! He was so proud that he made the talent show.

Family History Idea

My sisters had a great idea for a mother's day gift for our mom. It's a family group sheet made with silhouettes of each family member. First, I took a profile shot of each member of our family (and each individual family did the same). Like this:


Then my sister Sarah did her magic in Photoshop to turn it into a silhouette and this is the final project:



My mom loved it and it is a beautiful addition to a family history wall.