Jenna is Growing Up

Jenna had her last day of Kindergarten yesterday. I'm not gonna lie, I got a little emotional. Not only is she now a big 1st grader, but this year, she was the Wildcat Winner for Mrs. Fuller's class. Translation: she was the student of the year for her class! I'm so glad that she loves school and is doing so well! The item she brought home for the summer that she is most excited about....her math book (can you tell she has an engineer father?). Thank You, Mrs. Fuller!

First day of Kindergarten

Jenna's last day with her teacher, Mrs. Fuller

Jenna's Dance Recital (and the ballroom kids, too)

The studio that Jenna has been dancing at and that I've been teaching at had their year-end recital on June 4th. Jenna loved getting dolled up! She was in 3 routines and the opening number. My ballroom kids also had their big debut! I only got a picture of the boys, so I included another picture of the whole group back in January when they had a small performance in the Stake Center. (Some of you might recognize a certain TOP 20 finalist from this year's SYTYCD!) Yes, I was lucky enough to have Caitlynn Lawson in my ballroom group this past year!

Coloring in the dressing room between numbers

Miriam enjoying a cookie during intermission

The ballroom boys - they clean up nicely, eh?

I only had six couples in the recital, so not all of these kids performed then. Caitlynn had also just made the top 20 for So You Think You Can Dance, so she couldn't be there for the recital.

Giggle Buddies

The other night, the girls were obviously having a hard time settling down to go to sleep because I heard them singing and talking in their room for a REALLY LONG TIME after we tucked them in. Here's why.......

They had decided to climb into bed together and cuddle and sing songs and giggle for as long as possible. I found them like this in the morning.

Uncle Matt!!!

My brother, Matt, came through on his way home to Rexburg from camping up on the Olympic Peninsula with his roommates. The last time we saw him......well, that was when we went down with my family to drop him off at the MTC for his mission to Argentina.......and he's been home for almost a year! So, yeah, it's been a while. The girls were so excited to see him and Jenna made him a special card. For the short time he was here, we enjoyed a huge breakfast and then sent him on his way. Love you, Matt! Hope we'll see him again before another three years goes by!

Chicago - A much needed vacation!

So, one of the perks of Luke having to travel a bit for work, is that we get to tag along every once in a while. This time, there was a conference in Chicago, and we decided to do just that. Also nice......Luke's sister Spring and his dad both live fairly close to Chicago. So, we flew out a bit early (the Wednesday before Luke's conference starting on Monday), and the girls got to meet cousins Bennett, Jordan and Jillian for the first time face to face. Skype just doesn't cut it, right? We spent a couple days at Spring's house and just relaxed. The girls have a new found love for everything Zoobles and the poor cat is even more afraid of children than he was before - sorry, Jet! On Saturday, Steve and Terry (Luke's dad and step-mom) met us at Spring's house and all of us trekked up to Chicago and saw the house where Grandpa Steve grew up and played in the park closeby. We had real Chicago style pizza for dinner that night and swam in the hotel!

The girls were super excited to get on the plane. The people sitting next to us were impressed with how well the girls behaved. I was just happy that fairly newly potty-trained Miriam had absolutely NO accidents on any of the plane trips! It was a proud mom moment for me....on both accounts.

We stopped at IKEA with Spring to wait out rush hour traffic. Miriam tried out several of the beds and couches while Jenna and Jillian played at IKEA's child care.

The ride from Morrison, IL, to Chicago was a little long - or so they said - for the girls.

The river outside our hotel was dyed green for the St. Patrick's Day festivities.

One of the buildings at night. The architecture was amazing - there was so much up on the sides of buildings that I doubt anyone ever bothers to look at.

One of the buildings had pieces of notable structures from all over the world built into it's walls. Including: The Alamo (pictured above), the pyramids of Giza, etc.

Shedd Aquariam, The Field Museum & the Lego Store

The girls really enjoyed the Aquarium, and weren't afraid to reach out and handle anything in the touching area. They had good practice at the aquarium in Seattle. The play area by the penguin exhibit was really fun, and we got to see some dolphins in action. I think the girls were even more excited to see the dinosaurs in the Field Museum, so we hit that up after a quick lunch at a convenient hot dog vendor outside the aquarium.

If a button was within reach, Miriam wanted to push it!

Miriam and Grandma Terry

Jenna liked feeling all the different types of starfish in the touching pools.

Jenna got to "drive" the submarine.

Both girls exploring the submarine.

There was a nice place for the girls to run around and get their wiggles out by the hot dog vendor. Beautiful Chicago skyline in the background.

Miriam devoured her first taste of a Chicago hot dog.

Jenna was a bit more delicate in her eating.

Piper and Jenna in front of "Sue"

"Sue" from the balcony above

I think the dinosaurs were the girls' favorite part of the whole day!

Silly Faces!

Luke taking a quick rest with the girls.

The next morning we went shopping, and I think we spent more time in the Lego store than any other place, including (possibly) the museum!

Jenna and Jordan

We brought home two buckets of bricks and got out all of my old Legos when we got home! I think we found the new favorite toy at our house!

Last Days in Chicago

We finished up the last couple of days in Chicago with Steve & Terry. Terry and I went shopping while Luke was at some of the conference and Steve watched the girls. They headed home on Tuesday, and we stayed one more day because Luke had to finish out the conference. Both girls traveled exceptionally well. They really do love airplane rides. Security at airports is always a headache, but we survived and were happy to be home late Wednesday night - or REALLY early Thursday morning, depending on how you look at it.

We ate at Texas de Brazil - yummy! And, the girls ate SO much - it was rice and beans - their absolute favorite!

A pretty flower came as the garnish on the girls' ice cream. Jenna and Miriam liked it better in their hair.

We passed by the Trump tower several times on our walks to and from stores and restaurants.

The girls were awfully giggly at night.

Just before Steve & Terry headed home, we snapped a photo or two of them with the girls. Jenna is exiting the cheesy grin phase in pictures and Miriam is just entering it.

This was the view from our hotel window on the 23rd floor.

This fountain was just a couple of blocks from our hotel. It was dyed green in honor of St. Patrick's Day, just like the river running past the hotel.

Miriam made quick work, yet again, of her second "Chicago" hot dog. This girls LOVES to eat!This particular activity entertained both Luke and Jenna on much of the plane ride home.