We Heart Youngster University

Skyler was not the only student to graduate in May... Taylee Bug graduated from Preschool on May 19th. She had a great year with Mrs Stacy at Youngster University, and is super excited to start Kindergarten in the fall. To anyone who is counting, as Skyler just graduated high school this spring and Taylee starts kindergarten in the fall, Kent will officially be parenting a child in school for 26 years straight! Boy Oh Boy! Lucky Dog! ;0)

Taylee has learned a lot, and with some practice on letter sounds over the summer, she is ready for Kindergarten! We are grateful to Stacy for all her hard work with Taylee. The kids learned a lot and had tons of fun this year. Thanks Stacy!

 

Taylee and Mrs Stacy

 

Cute Taylee before her graduate walk... Note the Photo Bomb in the back. Scary!

 

PS... Sorry these pictures are all terrible, but it is awfully difficult to get a good picture up on the stage, or of a moving 4 year old who doesn't want to stop and pose!

Sayonara Syracuse High!

Can you believe it?! We are the proud parents of a high school graduate!! Skyler graduated from Syracuse High School on May 30th.  He had the grades and Citizenship to graduate with High Honors, but because he took 2 periods of home release his last semester, he was "demoted" to Graduate with Honors. Oh bummer, our son is an honor student!  We are so proud of him. He has worked so hard and been such a great student. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to raise him and experience his success alongside him.  Way to go Skyler! We Love You!!

 

Spring Recital

 Taylee's Spring Recital was so fun! She seems to finally be getting the hang of this whole recital business. We saw significant improvement in her dancing from her winter recital. She is darling, beautiful, and adorable, but unfortunately, as uncoordinated as her mommy. Bummer. Maybe she will improve with lots of practice.... We can sure hope!

Her group danced to "Circle of Life" from Lion King, and also to "Rockin Robin." The theme of the recital was "Wild about Danzing!" It was adorable.

We sure love Miss DeDe and her Dance school!

 

You may notice I can never get her to look at me in any of these photos. I think she was overwhelmed by all 5 different people trying to take her picture at the same time... But she was happy to prance around and pose for the many cameras!

4th Annual Moab in May!

For the fourth year straight now, we were able to get an early taste of spring with a May trip to Moab. We were joined as ever by Mark & Amber, Daniel & Denise, Darren, and Cortney & her new man Andy. It was a crowded house, but definitely an entertaining one. We headed down on Friday, but this year Kent and I were ditched in favor of beer and lunch. Bummer. But we actually had a great hike to Corona Arch, where we got to watch a couple repelling straight off the arch.  It was pretty spectacular. 

 

 

 

Andy was busy doing doctor stuff and couldn't make it down until late Friday evening, so we had to defer our annual Pasta Jay's trip to Saturday night.  We headed instead to Zax. It was pretty good, in my opinion. 

Saturday dawned bright and sunny. We picked up the Razrs, and did the usual Moab shuffle. You guys go there and grab breakfast, you guys get the Razrs, you guys get the lunch fixins, somebody get the ice for the coolers, somebody load everything up...... It seems to take so long to get out the door and onto the trail, but we made it by about 10. We went back to our old favorite Poison Spider, and as usual it did not disappoint. I am so proud of myself. I did not get out of the razr to avoid an obstacle even one time this year! Yay me!

Even after a loooong day on the trail, we were excited for Pasta Jay's. And, it was, of course, delicious! So glad that we can get Pasta Jay's in Moab and Denver now!

I LOVE MOAB!

The Girls

The Boys

Selfie of me and my sweetie

"Jeep Arch"

Preschool Carnival

During that cool spell in May, Taylee's school had their annual Preschool Carnival! I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a pretty darn good time! The kids played all sorts of fun carnival games, like potato sack races, parachutes, mini bowling, a cake walk, "fishing," and tons of others. I was in charge of the face painting station. I was a little worried when I got my assignment, as I am certainly no artist!! Fortunately, I was only asked to paint a stamp, then stamp the children's faces. Phew! They didn't go home looking ridiculous. We enjoyed a picnic after the carnival games were through, and Taylee and I enjoyed the company of Abby, Hannah, and Rebecca & little Josh. The girls stayed for over an hour after the carnival playing on the playground. Springtime fun for everyone!!

Some kind of crazy game, where all the kids threw balls in the air and tried to catch them when they came back down. Taylee was a bit confused....

Playtime!

My stellar artistry!

This has nothing to do with the preschool carnival, but I love this picture of Taylee, husking the first corn on the cob of the season!

Fabulous 40!!

Kent is officially old. ;0) Well, I guess that depends on who you ask. It's all about perspective, right?! Sitting here at 33, I can definitely call him old. Luckily for him, he is still a young stud, and doesn't look a day over 25! But alas, he is officially 40 now. Holy cow!

We celebrated in style with dinner at Gabor Bros for his big day. Yummy!! Thanks for picking a family favorite for your dinner Kent!

Daddy and his princess!

A tropical cake. Perfect!

This was not a gift that he asked for....But I generously created a spin workout playlist for him, and offered up the use of my spin bike. Isn't he sooo lucky?! HaHa! I thought he might like a break from running...

And, the lucky guy got a fabulous new spoon for his kitchen duties! Wow.

Finally a gift he could really enjoy. New shorts!

We certainly had to continue the celebration with a second birthday dinner with friends, so that weekend we met up with Mark & Amber, Cortney, and Daniel for dinner at Roosters.  Cortney, kind and loving soul that she is, gave Kent a cane, a 12 pack of beer, and a box of Depends adult diapers. Just to make sure he is prepared in this new era! After dinner, we enjoyed a few cocktails, and tried those Depends out. We all put them on under our clothes, and decided to test how well they would hold up. Let me just tell you, it sure is hard to make yourself pee your pants while sitting at the kitchen table! Several good laughs were shared, and Kent reports that he was so impressed with his Depends that he is now looking forward to old age and incontinence! Good thing, as he is headed right that way! Haha! We love Kent, old or young!

Rockin' our Depends!

Gorgoza!

Waaay back in February we took a trip up to Park City to go tubing at Gorgoza Park. It was way fun! Although it was a little costly, I would definitely recommend it for a fun family activity!

Snowbunny!

Taylee Bug tubing the kiddie hill all by herself!

Easter 2014

Easter morning came early at our house. Somebody (err... Taylee), was super excited to get the party started, and came in to wake us at 0640! We, in turn called and woke nana so she and poppi could head over to enjoy the fun! Someday they are going to tire of traipsing over to our house for early morning holiday celebrations! But, for now, they enjoy the excitement of little Miss Taylee, and big Mr. Skyler. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, for him), Skyler wasn't at our house on Easter morning to be awakened at 0640! He rolled in that afternoon to hunt down his Easter basket.

Taylee immediately went to see if the bunny had eaten the carrots we left for him. Indeed, he did! Well done, Mr. Bunny! Taylee made quick work of finding her eggs. I guess the Easter Bunny is going to have to get a little more creative in his hiding skills by next year!

Taylee's Basket, filled with a Lalaloopsy baby, a new outfit, Tangled, and of course, CANDY!

Skyler's basket was filled with new board shorts, a shirt, a gift card to the movies, and more CANDY!

 We headed to Nana's for Easter dinner, which was fun, because we normally spend Easter dinner with Kent's family, but they were out of town this year.  My mom cooked mushroom chicken with mashed potatoes. Not exactly traditional, but one of our favorites! Taylee and Skyler got spoiled by Nana and Poppi once we arrived. Taylee got a whole set of Sofia swimming gear. A swimsuit, towel, beach cover up, sunglasses, and her awesome snorkel mask! As well as a whale named Lindsay, that nana "adopted" via a donation to the Whale Foundation in Hawaii in Taylee's name. Skyler got his favorite gift, money! Lucky kids!

Your eyes are not mistaken! That is a Sofia snorkel mask, with attached tiara!

Easter Eggstravaganza 2014!

Easter was super fun this year. We had to split it into 2 weeks, because Grandma and Grandpa Judson mistakenly booked a vacation over Easter. Oops! Oh well, double the fun! 

We started with an egg hunt and Easter dinner at Grandma's a week before Easter. Ham and cheesy potatoes, yum!! The egg hunt seems to get bigger every year... and the kids know it! The competition is getting fierce! We allow the little ones (only Taylee and Hunter now), to take a 1 minute head start on the big kids. Much to Kenzie's chagrin! Turns out they needed more than one minute head start. Kenzie more than tripled their egg totals! Taylee and Kenzie have the same spunky little personality. Uh oh!

Hunter, showing off the darling Skateboarding Bunny Shelly made from Peeps, Nutter Butters, Starburst, and Lifesavers. Cute, right?!

The BIG kids, waiting out their one minute sentence. We are just sooo mean!

Cody, on a mission!

Grandma's poor flower beds suffered some damage. Ooops! Sorry Grandma!

Taylee with one of her prizes!

 A week later came Easter weekend.  Two egg hunts, some Egg Decorating, and a visit from the big bunny were in store for us!

I worked the Friday night before Easter, so Kent took Taylee to an egg hunt that Saturday morning while I was sleeping. What a good dad! I can still remember him taking Skyler to the same community egg hunt when he was little. That afternoon Nana, Poppi, and I were able to join the party for another egg hunt. This one sponsored by Chick-Fil-A. I was really hoping for some coupons in those eggs, but no go. Bummer.

Madness!

Eggstravaganza!

We made a little pit-stop at Kneaders for an Easter Cookie while we had our tires rotated, then headed home to decorate Easter Eggs. 

Analyzing her prospects

Pink! Her favorite color!

Little Miss Sassy Pants! This mean face has become very near and not so dear to our hearts. Taylee has been a little ornery lately, and has been all about defiance. Oh boy, we could be in trouble with this girl!!