A Graduation & A Birthday~

My sweet niece Courtney graduated from Independence High about a month ago and we were able to go to her graduation party on Memorial day. It's has taken me forever to blog about it because June is such a crazy month for us. There were 5 birthdays, Father's day, a Graduation, a Culmination, an Anniversary, and a bon voyage party! Plus school got out and Jeff went to London for a week. Hopefully I can blog about it all!

Kelly, Landen, and Austin

Papa and Landen were walking around the house playing peek-a-boo.

The grads doing some jumping pictures!

Landen and Austin. Landen always warms up to Austin first because he is so persistent and so much fun!

Doesn't seem like a fair match up, but Zach won most of the time. He is surprisingly strong.

Jake, Zach, Cameron, and Chase played in the pool for hours and had the best time.

We had a little smash cake for Landen so we could celebrate with everyone while we were there since we didn't do a big party for him.

He did not like being sung to. To be fair there were about 30 people singing to him.

He just wanted to eat the frosting one finger at a time.

He did that like 20 times until someone finally gave him a fork.

Of course he always has to feed anyone around him.

The cutest two year old I know!

Not sure what made them laugh, but it is so cute! Our graduate and the birthday boy!

Finally digging in!

He smiled so big when Papa came over!

And shared, of course!

Landen totally initiated this. He just leaned into Bryson for some reason. He really loves Bryson and Bryson is soooo good with him. Even though Bryson is like 6'4" he will always get down on Landen's level.

Courtney and Mikayla

Courtney and my mom, Grammie/Grandma Jono

Me & my sweet tired out boy. He played until he crashed. He had the best time playing with all his cousins.

Best Brothers~

Happy Father's Day~

My Birthday~

It looks like Landen is being cute, but he just couldn't take his eyes off the ocean. He yelled, "ocean, sand!!!" all through dinner. He is a beach bum! When he sees pictures of us at the beach he will say "sand?" and run to the door like he wants to go to the beach right now because why wouldn't we??

We had a yummy dinner by the beach in Malibu and Jeff and the kids got me a new ipod shuffle. "Someone" misplaced my old one like 2 years ago and I just kept thinking it would turn up during the move. So of course now that I got a new one it will probably show up. Either way I am sooo blessed and excited to go walking now with my new ipod.

Love my three!

Everyone keeps asking me if I ever could have imagined a year ago celebrating my next birthday living in California and being able to take a short drive to the beach for dinner. I surely never thought that, but honestly what surprises me more is being 36 and having these three blessings in my life everyday. Along with that I am so thankful for Jeff's hard work in seeking out a better job for himself and our family and for God's provision. It seemed like a crazy decision at the time, but we never could have chosen a better area to live in or a better house for our family. I know it was all God's plan for us. He knew all of our specific needs and took such good care of us during this very tumultuous last year. Sometimes I feel so undeserving of the blessings He's given me, but then I think of my own children and how I want to be able to give them everything they need and want. I know God's love is the same and much more. He knows my heart and wants more for me than I think I deserve. We are slowly starting to feel like California is home again. It wasn't an easy road, but the end result was worth the journey!

The Culminator~

Mikayla graduated from 5th grade last week. Apparently, they aren't allowed to call it a Graduation so they call it a Culmination. Our beautiful girl is officially done with elementary school! I have such vivid memories of her getting off the bus her first day of kindergarten. So sweet, so confident, she has always loved school.(She usually asks me to straighten her hair for special occasions.)

Only Landen wanted to pose with sissy. Daddy was actually in London so he had to miss the Culmination. (I think a post about London might be coming soon from Jeff!)

Her BFF. They always find each other right away. She has been a great friend to Mikayla this year. Such a huge blessing! They are so adorable, they sit at recess and read together.

Each 5th grade class did a little performance. Honestly, I don't know very many students, but it didn't matter I still cried during most of the songs. They kept showing kindergarten pictures and singing sad songs about growing up and moving on.

Singing "On My Way" by Phil Collins

She was just as animated as she was during her first preschool performance.=)

Receiving her certificate, that's her teacher.

At the end all the classes encircled the parents with flashlights made into torches and sung, "I'm Proud to be an American." I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. They made it such a special event for the students and parents. We are so blessed to be a part of this school. We didn't really know anything about it going in and it turned out to be one of the best schools in our area.

Zach really was there too, but we are passed forced sibling pictures now.

We are so proud of you sweet girl!