Bon Voyage!

Laurel is finished with Elementary School!  Next year she will be in Middle School!  Wow, the years are going really, really fast!  We attended a Fifth Grade Bon Voyage the last day of school, where each Fifth grader walked across the stage and received a certificate from the Principal and Assistant Principal.  Then they spent the rest of the afternoon partying!

Friends, Lexi and Taylor

Cousin Jeana!  

So crazy that mine and my cousin Melanie's daughters go to school together!

Laurel's fifth grade class having ice cream at their Bon Voyage party.

I can't believe she only has six more years in school!  She is half way there!  Middle School was not my favorite!  It can be such a hard period of life.  All of these girls and boys have hormones raging through their bodies.  They are trying to figure themselves out.  Some girls can just be flat out mean!  I wouldn't want to go back if you paid me a million dollars.  A good friend of mine sent me this article the other day.  At the end of the article, the author included these tips for her daughter.  I thought they were great and I've already found myself saying some of the same things to my girls.

1)      Don’t let anyone tell you they are better than you.  In my experience, the people who talk about how great they are tend to be the most insecure.

2)     Be yourself. Don’t ever change just to be liked by someone else. A true friend will accept you for being your unique self.

3)     Being “popular” when you are young doesn’t translate into success later in life. In fact, the kids who experience adult things too early tend to burn out. I love that many of the “nerds” in middle school and high school have turned out to be some of the most successful people I know.

4)     Don’t grow up too fast. There is no rush to wear make-up, shave your legs, try alcohol, or to have your first kiss. These are things to look forward to in life and I will be here for you when you are ready.

5)     Hold your head high and say hello. Acknowledge your friends and peers alike when you see them.  It’s amazing what a smile can do to break the ice.

6)     Embrace your individuality. Don’t try to fit in. You were put on this earth for a purpose and the world is a better place with you in it.

I love #6!  Laurel, I hope that you will always know that you do have purpose!  You were put on this earth for a reason.  Our family is better because of you.  I know it is so hard being the oldest of this crew and having to experience these things first.  I will always be here for you and love you no matter what!

Piano Recital

For the past year, Laurel and Savannah have been taking piano lessons from our friend, Jodi.  I can not believe how much they have learned.   Jodi had a little recital at her house one Sunday afternoon so they could show us their piano skills.
Savannah and Laurel played a song by themselves and then they both did a duet with Jodi.  I was so impressed.  They have really enjoyed taking piano lessons and we have never made them practice.  They are both great about doing this all on their own.

Seth's mom, Aunt Jamie, Uncle Kimball and Luke also came to listen to them play.

Luke is cracking me up with his hands over his ears!!  I promise, it really did sound good!  Uncle Kimball is such a jokester, I have a feeling he was encouraging that!

I have always wanted our house to be filled with music and I love that they are developing this talent.

The Academy Awards of Dirt Biking

We attended the dirt bike banquet at the beginning of May.  Let me just say, the Clayton racers showed up all season and racked up on some trophies at the end.  As my mom put it, "it sounds like it was the Academy Awards of dirt biking!"
This SECCA series, that we are a part of, honors the top 3 riders in each class, all the way down to our little Sawyer's age.
They also recognize the overall top 10 racers.

Selfies with Aunt Jennifer before the banquet:

Seth's dream did indeed come true!  He placed first in his class and he placed 10th over all.  There are over a 100 riders, so my hubby still has it going on!!  I love watching him do this hobby that he loves so much!

We had a dinner before the award ceremony. Seth, and all the other first place winners were asked to write something in the program.  Seth wrote, "I want to thank Red, Stick and all of the workers for organizing such a great series!  It has been a huge enjoyment to take my entire family to each race and watch our youngest son compete in the strider class, another son compete in the tadpole class and our oldest daughter compete in the ponytail class.  My wife and I have enjoyed meeting other families and developing these new friendships.  I have tremendous respect for all of my Senior A Class competitors who are all good men and not showing any signs of slowing down!"

I really don't know if the organizers of this series have any idea of how thankful Seth really is.  I know he has told them thanks so many times. Before this series was organized, all the dirt bike races were held on Sunday.  It was so frustrating for Seth.  He would say, "what's the point in even practicing when you can't race!"  Then these two men came along who believed in racing on Saturdays and the SECCA Series was born.  It has grown into a pretty big series and Seth is able to race pretty much year round.    

Sawyer placed 4th in the strider race!

He was so proud of that trophy!

Laurel placed 3rd in the ponytail class!

Landon placed 2nd in the Tadpole class!

Seth placed 1st in his class, Senior A!

It was so cute how Alistair followed his dad, Roger to the stage.  This was Uncle Roger's first year getting back into racing and he placed 1st in his class!

Sawyer with Uncle Roger!

Top Ten Riders!

All the champs with Papa!  Papa was at almost every single race!

I would say, we are a dirt biking family!

Laurel ended up making a good friend, Abby.

Papa and Granny!
Photo Bomber, Aunt Jennifer!

I can't wait to see how long Seth races!  As he said, "all are good men and not showing any signs of slowing down!"

Landon Graduates From Preschool!

How did this happen......?

He looks so much bigger!  This sweet boy has grown so much over the past year.  Not only, in height, but in maturity.  I remember the first week of Preschool, one of the carpool workers had to literally pull him out of the car.  He did not want to leave me.  That didn't last long.  He has loved preschool.  He loves his teacher so much and is concerned that he may never see her again.  He made some good friends and I'm pretty sure he had a crush on a cute, little girl named Piper!

The whole crowd got involved in a silly song!

Look out Kindergarten, here he comes!

I can ZOOM!

For Mother's Day, Seth surprised me with a new lens for my camera!  I love it!

Seth took Laurel, Landon and Sawyer for a bike ride and I stood on the deck and played with my new lens.

The deck is a long way away from this point!  I was like a kid on Christmas morning!


The next morning I zoomed in on two gobblers and one had his feathers spread out!  You can barely see it on here, but there is a hen laying beside him.  My dad, who can do the best turkey call, has educated me on this.  He said that the gobbler is trying to impress the hen before he woooos her!

This afternoon, Seth grabbed the camera and took these pictures of five deer and then he got one of a turkey with her babies!

Look at those little baby turkeys!