Otters in the House

The biggest news of the month was that JARED PASSED THE PATENT BAR EXAM!!!  He said he still felt like he was having a heart attack for several days, and had several work deadlines he was trying to meet for the couple days after the test so he was finally able to unwind a little the following weekend.  Just in time for his birthday!  For his birthday he worked on some house projects, per his request while I kept kids occupied.

Jared & Fam on his birthday

A few days after we returned home from Memorial Day we were lucky enough to welcome Greg  Maren to California for the summer. They moved in that Friday and boy, are we glad they are here!!  They helped Jared work on some house projects on his birthday and then watched the kids that night so Jared & I could go out for dinner on the company dime.  Jared's boss told him to take me out to dinner to a nice restaurant, get a babysitter and send them the bill for both since it was a combined effort for Jared to pass the exam.  It was so fun to enjoy a night out on the town and not stress about the money.  We seriously spent as much at that dinner (and babysitting) as we would on an entire weeks worth of groceries for 6 people (all three meals per day).  No wonder we don't usually do that. 

Painted Walls & Door trim upstairs

Closet Organizer

The house projects are such a work in progress, but they made some major headway in just one day.  They added extra shelving in the pantry and a closet organizer in the bedroom that Maren & Greg will be staying in.  They painted the trim around most of the doors upstairs and downstairs, and a little on the staircase.  This is much improved from the wallpaper and pink trim that was everywhere.  We have a goal this summer to finish painting/staining the banister but this was a start.  I was in charge of keeping the kids out of the way during all this so we ventured out to library story time, home depot kids craft, had some neighbors over for water balloons/water play, etc.

The kids at Home Depot Kids Craft

The girls also finished School up that next week.  Jocelyn had a Kinder performance followed by a family picnic on the kinder playground-she did a great job.  Lillian was also so excited to take the family to the Family BBQ for her preschool graduation.  They both finished out the year really strong academically and we are hoping we can keep the hard work up throughout the summer!

Lillian Preschool Graduation

Lillian with Preschool class

Jocelyn with Mrs. Henrick-Kindergarten Teacher

Jocelyn during Kinder Performance

Jonas has loved having his Uncle Greg here to teach about fun things like the USU mascot "Big Blue".  After watching a couple videos of Big Blue, Jonas asked Greg for some horns so he could be like him.  Greg also introduced the game of Fruit Ninjas to Jonas who has adopted it as his nickname now.  When I say "Jonas, can you take some bites of your dinner?" He responds "I fruit ninja, I take fruit ninja bites" so Greg has been an inspiration for Jonas to eat more fruits and veggies.  Definitely appreciated from my end :)

 We have already dived into some summer fun just in our one week of being on break.  I had the kids working outside for a few hours doing yard work and scrubbing lunch bags and back packs for their summer retirement.  We had a church primary swim party and BBQ, a BBQ with some of our close friends, and a spa day (thanks to Aunt Maren).

Girls at the swim party

The girls having spa day with Maren

 Emma has enough hair now to put into little piggies so she looks a lot older to me.  She is still being quite a little stinker and crying whenever she gets set down, but that's probably because she's 7 months old and in the middle of teething and adjusting to a solid food diet and experiencing constipation.  I am hoping she returns to her normal happy, good sleeping self sooner rather than later!!  She also sticks out her tongue constantly. I'm not sure if it is an attempt to feel her new tooth or what, but she is constantly a "puppy baby" and a cute one at that.

Emma in her high chair with her piggies

Puppy Baby Emma

We've had a lot of fun having Greg & Maren here to cook with and clean up with :)  They are such good sports to tolerate our craziness.  Here is one of our Sunday afternoon cooking adventures: A molten chocolate lava cake.  Yum!!