Mays End

 Kelly's successfully completed their home mission to Los Angeles family search library.  Zara went home with my parents a day early.  She loves Grandma Afton. Some Grandparents have cousins and cookies.  This one has another Grandma.  We met up at the Kelly's for a homecoming dinner.  With the arrival of Diamond's new baby we had 4 studs on the property.  It was a blessing we were able to sell the older two Bling and Swirl within a week of each other.  The Amy's had worked with Bling last fall and my kids had recently started working with Swirl.  Its always sad to loose animals but as Katana said "the money helps"  

First road trip after school let out was to Cart and Brendon's.  We sold them a mating pair of goats. Preston wasn't thrilled I hauled them in the back of the van.  We made tamales for dinner and Corn Husk Dolls for a craft.  Mace had a loose tooth.  Brendon took out his wallet-licked his finger and watched Maces eyes get bigger.  They made a $5 deal to have him loose it while at his house. I ended up pulling it mere hours before we left. It inspired Baler to work on his teeth.  McCarty had homemade yogurt.  She inspired me to get a strainer and make my own Greek yogurt. 

 For the last few years we've gotten meat birds instead of laying hens. Everyone loves baby chicks. Then in 10 weeks we get fresh meat.  The kids are getting helpful.  Zara didn't like the killing but was awesome for clean up.  She even took the garbage out by herself for the first time. Freezers full for summer.  Proctors are settled into their Arizona home. Kids cant wait to swim in their pool. Our August trip can't come fast enough. 

Mothers Day, Date Night and Schools end in sight.

 For Mothers Day the kids all had papers from school. Cute cut outs and fill in the blanks that had me laughing and crying.  I was touched that they were so excited to give me these things straight from the heart.  

The boys had fathers and sons campout at the church park. They were to write letters to each other and an "I wish my Dad knew" statement for the devotional.  They were really tender.  I had Preston write one to Katana too. I still have a stack from my parents in my closet from Girls camp.  Even hastily scribbled notes bear weight.   The girls and I went to dinner, watched jumpers off the bridge.  We tried walking across but only made it half way for a picture before we chickened out. We hit the late movie and didn't get out till midnight. I was surprised Zara stayed alert for the duration of the production. I think popcorn and soda played a big part.   She didn't make it out of the parking lot though. I made Katana sit up front and tell bad jokes to keep me awake.  She's starting to be fun to talk to. 

End of school performances, field trips and graduation ceremony's.  Mace rocked Kindergarten and Katana will be in middle school next year.   Katana worked hard on her recorder karate. Kids earned beads and strings for each song. She was one of  8 that hit black belt status.  At the concert kids sat down if they hadn't passed the next song off.  When it got down to half a dozen they opted not to continue solo.  Then came dancing.   She was an alternate for another class and got to do two dances.  She was concentrating so hard I wasn't sure she was having fun. Axels reading has really taken off this year. He worked hard to be the highest A.R. earner in his class.