School Days

School is officially out now, although we are currently attending summer school to keep us out of trouble for a few hours in the morning. Stephen had a great 4th grade experience and is ready to tackle 5th grade. (I'm not ready for him to be a 5th grader though!) Stephen mastered his multiplication and division facts, researched and presented a report on Utah's tiger salamander and a county report on Washington County, learned about weather and water cycles and Utah History. Stephen kept busy every Friday after school in the school choir and having fun on several field trips. 5th Grade here he comes!

Fieldtrip to This is the Place State Park

Pushing & Pulling Handcarts

Receiving Soaring Eagle Award

Final Choir Performance

Temples

Stephen is currently obsessed with everything temples and has an incredible memory for trivial facts such as dedication dates, places where temples are located and new ones being built. So on our trip to Las Vegas we detoured to a few temples along the way. He was so excited to see them. His goal is to see all the temples in Utah. Go for it Stephen!

(In order of visitation: Manti, Utah, Las Vegas, Nevada & St. George, Utah)

Decade Birthday

Stephen turned the big "10" on May 24th. It seems like we've been celebrating for an entire month. We first celebrated in Las Vegas at Cheesecake Factory, which produced big smiles all around (even though they spelled his name wrong), next was his official birthday with pancakes with sprinkles (Emma LOVED that) and finished with a party with cousins. Since his birthday is around the end of school, he had lots of fun that whole week too! Happy Birthday, Big Guy!

Check out that birthday cheesecake!

Mom's pancakes not as yummy as that cheesecake, but still produced lots of smiles!

Stephen participated in a flag ceremony at a school assembly on his birthday!
"Wow! Just what I wanted!"

Las Vegas at Night

Las Vegas is a place that never sleeps or shuts down for anything! The evenings were pleasant and the shows spectacular.

The Volcano at the Mirage

The Eiffel Tower

Walking (always walking) to the next attraction


The beautiful Bellagio Fountains

Viva Las Vegas!

In May we took a little family vacation and met up with Grandma & Grandpa Cassat in Las Vegas. We had such a good time together in a busy, crazy place! G&G hooked us up in the beautiful Bellagio hotel (think Ocean's Eleven!), the kids did great on the long drives and we were able to celebrate birthdays. The weather wasn't wonderful but neither was it horrible. After many weeks of rain in Utah it was nice to see the sun shining even if it was windy or chilly some days - we even enjoyed a few warm hours at the pool just before a cloudburst hit.

Here are a few highlights from our trip:Visiting M&M World

Out on the Strip!

Visiting Ethel M Chocolate Factory & seeing a cactus garden

The whole family at the Flamingo Hotel Observatory

The Joys of Being Three

As Emma continues to amaze us with the life of a 3-year old I've noticed the joys and letdowns (some of them are mine) of being three.

Joys:

You don't need to wear pants when you help cook mac & cheese

Potty Training (cute princess panties)

You look cute no matter where you sit (even outside Target)

Counting, ABC's, becoming a DVD expert

Walking around the store like a big girl

Mom's make-up, jewlery and combing everyone's hair

Letdowns:

No more bottles (yes, I'm a bottle mom & she just got off them! Don't judge me!)

Potty Training (the mess)

Nap time reduction (I still need by 3 hours of quiet!)

No longer willing to sit in the shopping cart

The lists could go on, and some days it does. It is so fun to watch Emma come into her own person, to learn, explore, get frustrated and carry on the next day. It's great to be 3!

Pinewood & Piano

Stephen's been busy creating his Pinewood Derby car and practicing for his Ensemble Concert. I've loved watching him plan out his car design, ask a neighbor for help cutting out the design, painting and decorating. It looked great even though it didn't win any awards for speed. It was a great night. This is Stephen's last official derby as he will soon advance to Weblos.Along with the derby Stephen's been preparing for the "Ensemble Concert" his fellow piano classmates participate in each May. The event is held at South Towne Center Mall in the center court. Several pianos are set up and at times all of them are being played at the same time. Many musical numbers were duets. Stephen did a great job despite missing the final practice being sick.