PROM

Last night was Kelsey's PROM.  She had been asked to go a few weeks back by and I think had been a bit nervous ever since she was asked.  We spent a good part of the day getting ready.  She looked so pretty!

Her and one of her "besties" were going to double with their dates.  They had spent the day at the salon together getting their hair done.  I was so mad that I thought I got a picture of the back of Kelsey's up-do...it turned out too blurry.  It was really pretty with rhinestones that matched her dress in it.

Once the boys arrived it got a bit awkward...that nervous, excited awkward.  They gave the girls their corsages,

and the girls pinned on their boutonnieres.....Well, they tried too (apparently google can't teach you everything).

Kelsey had a really hard time with her boutonniere and I just kept taking photos and laughing...poor guy, he was a good sport although I think he was glad I finally stepped in to help.

Once flowers were in place they were ready to go.  Kelsey and her date Dustin...

They all looked really good together and were ready to go to Old Hollywood (that was their theme)and dance the night away.

Left to Right: Dustin Cassinelli, Kelsey, Katelyn Gray, and Tyler Aquino

Before the dance they went to J's Bistro in Downtown Dayton for dinner.  No I didn't follow them there to take pictures, the restaurant took photos of them for their facebook page...which I then stole.

It sounds like they had a great night, although I'm sure I will never get all the details :)  So happy they had a fun night!

Kindergarten Fieldtrip

Last Thursday Sadi's Kindergarten class took a walking field trip to the Carson River.  It's convenient that the river runs just behind the school and there is a trail that runs along it that has a beach/picnic  area not too far from the school (although quite a walk for little legs).  I was asked to go along as a parent helper, who could say no to this cute little bunch? 

Sadi's class with teacher Mrs. Bergstrom

Before we headed out the kids made bird feeders to hang in the trees along the walk, and at the river.  Being Earth day a few days before they have been learning about recycling and what bio-degradable means, so they made bird feeders with toilet paper rolls, peanut butter and bird seed.  Mrs. Bergstrom also had them do a nature scavenger hunt, collecting soil samples, different kinds of rocks, etc.  Have I mentioned what a FUN teacher she is?  We LOVE her!  This is Sadi's bird feeder hanging up in a huge tree by the river, those are going to be some happy birdies!

Once we got to the river where we were to have our picnic we were swarmed by gnats...not just a few, a million!  We quick ate our lunch, gathered our shells and last remaining items for the scavenger hunt and rushed back...gnats following the whole way!  Yuck!

Even though this was to be an all day adventure which was cut short by nature, the kids still had lots of fun, and I was glad I was able to be there and spend the day with Sadi.

Grad Present

Although Matt doesn't graduate officially for another few weeks, we went ahead and bought him his graduation present a bit early.  A new car!!  A 2013 Nissan Versa.  I think he is happy with it. 

We even got him the licence plates to match the occasion.  So if you see these plates driving around town, give him a beep!

The Book

Yesterday Kelsey turned in her final project as Historian for the year.  "The Book"  is done!  All the pictures she has taken throughout the year have now been compiled into an amazing scrapbook.

She did a really good job, and we are so proud of her work.   She gave up most of her spring break to work on this.  They only let her develop her pictures a week and a half before it was to be turned in...talk about pressure!  A glimpse inside.... 

 I think we are all a bit relieved this massive project is no longer weighing on her shoulders (and scattered throughout the house).  This will make a great addition to the D.H.S. History books!

Night of the Arts

Last night we went to Kelsey's school for a night of the Arts.  Sadi picked her artwork out from across the room, she has been scared of the "creepy" painting Kelsey made.  She had 3 pieces in the show (the "creepy" picture, underwater/turtle, and the falling leaves). 

It was a fun night and we even got to meet the boy who asked her to PROM this week!  I don't think we embarrassed her too much...there's still time for that :)  It was a fun night out for the whole family.

They call me MR. DENNING

Wednesday was Matt's first day substitute teaching at Dayton High school.  He was nervous, deservedly so, since it has been so long since his first day at a new job.  He got lucky I think with his first assignment being mostly AP classes(pretty good kids).  He looked pretty sharp....

He overheard some of the kids talking about him in the hall, they said he was "chill".  Some of Kelsey's friends had him as well and they all thought he looked like Peyton Manning.  Hmmm....I guess that means they liked him? 

Easter

Because we were in Utah for Easter we made sure to write the Easter Bunny lots of letters to let him know where he could find us.  I found out that Sadi actually was hoping that he would leave eggs at home AND in Utah...gotta read the fine print :)

Easter morning came, and that bunny did indeed find us!  It must have been a long hop with all the treats he brought.

Somebody got up very early and scoped out the egg trail the bunny left all over Grandma and Grandpa's house.

The bunny left them treats, but also some fun things as well.  Chase and Sadi got some new Lego sets, and Kelsey got a few new Nicholas Sparks books.

They quickly emptied their baskets to hop out to Aunt Susan's for some fun family time and another egg hunt.

Chase loved following Jake around asking what he was doing all day, and checking out his new monster truck.

The girls had fun coloring eggs, but took so long to finish I never did get a picture of their finished products. 

Chase and Sadi on the other hand colored theirs in record time, and thus I got no pictures of theirs either.  I think Aunt Susie and Tori were really crazy brave to let them color with not only dye, but permanent markers!

We were spoiled with an amazing dinner with homemade rolls mmmmm!  And "somebunny" left a whole bunch of eggs all over her house for the kids.  It was a really fun day, full of fun and family.

Spring Break

This past week was Spring Break for the kids.  Matt had work and school so I decided kind of last minute that as much as I would have loved to make them slaves put them to work spring cleaning, the kids really deserved a fun break.  So we headed out on the road to visit my family in Utah.  If you have ever driven from Nevada to Utah you know how exciting I-80 going East (or West) is......literally 8 hours of this. 

It was worth the long drive to get to our destination and see Grandpa and Grandma Smith.  Chase and Sadi wasted no time making their usually quiet house full of noise.

Kelsey was thrilled to get to spend some much needed time with Tori, although I'm not so sure Tori was happy Kelsey had so much homework to do while she was there.  These too never seem to tire of being together.

We enjoyed our break, although short here are some highlights of our trip....Hello Fry Sauce!  Oh how we've missed you.

I'm pretty sure the highlight for the little kids was this old tire swing that was at Grandpa and Grandma's house.  They had the best time with this, and if it wasn't for the rain, we may have spent every day swinging on this.

 I took the kids downtown on the Trax with my parents which was fun for them to experience how lots of people in a big city travel.  Although I'm pretty sure we ruined the fun when we got lost coming back.

Sadi could not have possibly touched more germs than in this one day, literally making me a raving lunatic with the hand sanitizer.  She touched EVERYTHING.  She ran her fingers down benches, across buildings, and even managed to find a telephone booth to touch...gag!

We went to the Children's museum and spent all day there.  I highly recommend this place if you have never been, but sadly was way overcrowded when we were there.  Chase climbing the rock wall..

 Of course you can't go to Utah and not make it on the news right?

We also spent a day with Tori and Kelsey (Kelsey spent the entire trip with Tori so we didn't see much of her).  We went to the park, out to lunch, and took a walk around Daybreak. 

We spent a day at the aquarium which seemed really crowded too, but I didn't mind so much since we have been there before.  Sadi insisted I take her picture with the jellyfish, although I'm not sure why since she would not SMILE.

They did have a new otter and penguin exhibit which was fun to watch..so fun I guess I forgot to get any pictures of them.  Sadi loves penguins and of course adopted a new one to bring home with her.  I think Chase's favorite still is the sharks, and even got to pet one this time!

 Our last day before packing up we hit a movie, The Croods.  So cute, and funny. 

Time flew by, and all to soon it was time to come back home.  We had a great time, and we're glad we got to see most of my family in the short time we were there.