Goodbye to Seminary Seniors

Brett has really enjoyed this group of Seniors in Seminary this year. He had one last get-together at our house for Scones & Cotton Candy. Only a few could make it but we loved having them!! Good luck to them as they head off to College & Missions. 

Temple Trip Billings: Swim Park

The kids loved all the swimming we did this weekend.
We let everyone get together on Friday night with friends and do some swimming at the different hotels. {Liberty went with the Guymons but I just came at the end to pick her up so I didn't get any pictures}

Then on Saturday, we headed with lots of families to play at the Reef. Love that place!

Temple Trip Billings: Dinner with Friends

We met up with a bunch of friends for dinner. (The Lybberts & Steinagels came later to join us) Fun people to be with!

Temple Trip Billings: Baptisms & Babysitting

 It was our Stake Temple trip this weekend. We were lucky enough to participate again with the youth while they did Baptisms. We had a lot of youth come from our ward. Very special!

Then we headed to the Stake Center to help out with babysitting. The Stake Primary this time had lots of activities. They played BBall, 4-square, watched movies, had snacks, did art projects, and I took the littles on a nature walk. Fun & crazy times!

Hail- Yes!!!.. We saw a Cattle Drive

On our road trip out to Billings this weekend, we ran into a ol' west Montanan Cattle Drive. Cowboys & everything!!! It was crazy!!! Soooo many cows....

We loved this little family that tried their best to hold their ground. Too funny!

We just bought a Suburban from some friends. We're grateful we were able to have a little more room & better tires for this trip. Hannah was able to ride down with us.

On the trip back- we ran into quite the storm!!! Thank heavens for tires that kept us on the road. Check out this HAIL!!

And all the rain after:

"POP" Band Concert

Justice had his Band Concert tonight. The theme was "POP" Music. The introductions of each song were like... hilarious, Dude!!! LOL

Mrs. Nelson does a great job with these kids. You did awesome, Justice!!! We're very proud of your talents. (He is in the center on 3rd row back with his flag hat)

Introducing the 7th Grade Head Bangers playing Blitzkrieg Bop 

(condensed version so it would load):

Playing HOME by Phillip Phillips:

Scout Auction

We participated in the Ward Scout Auction tonight.


We donated a few things. We did some babysitting hours, organizing hours, and some manual labor as a family. I also made some crafts. They turned out pretty cool.

And we bought ALOT of things including a *Float Trip with the Staleys and the Tubbs * $500 off Braces at Jackson Ortho * BBQ & Game night with the Fifes *A Full detail for one of our cars *a few bouquets of flowers

Teacher Appreciation Week

We sure appreciate the teachers that the kids had this year. We got them a few things we knew they needed (from me volunteering in their classes) & the girls wrote them a sweet note. It was a Wild West theme so we tried to make our gifts fit!

Dear Author Fieldtrip

Back in February, Victoria won the Dear Author Award. As part of that, the school received a lot of money for books for the school. Anyone that participated in the contest- got to go on a field trip today.
They took all the kids to lunch at Perkins first. I was able to join them. Love these girls!!!

Then they took all the kids to 2 different bookstores. All the kids got to pick out $25 worth of books.What a fun day!!!

Girls at Recess

I really enjoy being able to volunteer each Wednesday in the girls' classes. Then I get to each lunch with them & on occasion watch them interact with their friends at recess. I love that they love me to spend time with them. Plus it's so good to see them interact with friends. Cute kids!!!

 Glory coloring with the boys:

 Collecting Iron:

Playing Cat's Cradle:

One day at lunch, Clara & Victoria had way too much fun with their crackers. 

They made them into a Squid, a Fish, an Owl, a Boogie Man and a Bunny! 

Creative, silly girls!

GT Mona Lisa Faints

Victoria has participated in the GT Program the past 2 years at school with Mrs. Ferst. (The Gifted & Talented Program)


This year, they did Research Projects.
They picked a topic that interested them. They studied it for months. They found resources, filled out worksheets, and wrote a paper. Then they decided that they would present them by doing a Human Timeline. They organized all their topics into a chronological order. Families were invited to come see the kids present their topics. Each kid dressed up as something to represent their topics. They even brought treats that had to do with their topics. They stood down the hallway in their order and shared their papers with a group of visitors.

Victoria picked the artist Leonardo DaVinci. She dressed up as the Mona Lisa.

Victoria was super nervous but she was prepared and we made sure we were the first to hear her. She did a great job presenting her report. She was a bit embarrassed but she looked awesome!
But then came the ADVENTURE for the night.
Victoria did her presentation a couple more times. I kept an eye on her as we listened to other kids. At one point- I saw her frame leaning way forward. I thought I'd let her finish that one and then tell her she had to hold it up. Unfortunately the frame went closer & closer to the table until it was basically laying on the table. Then my little girl lost consciousness & fell to the floor.  Super scary!!!! Luckily, the lady who was listening to her at the time caught her before she hit the ground. She happened to be a doctor. We think that Victoria had a bit of low blood sugar (she got busy & didn't eat a snack after school before we went), was nervous, a little too warm, locked her knees, held that frame above her heart and then talked without taking enough breaths- which cause her to she just pass out! We had her lay down for a bit on the floor. Then we took her in the classroom behind us to be less of a distraction to the rest of the kids and spare Victoria the unwanted attention. We managed to have her feel better enough that we got her a chair to sit at while she continued her presentation. After 2 more presentations- her head started leaning through the frame until she hit the table and passed out again. My friend, Mikal W. was listening to her and caught her. She held her with her head between her knees until I got over there.
Holy Moly!!! What a scary night! We took her back in the classroom. We put her feet up, got her a snack & some juice and I (mom) just held her for a while. Another doctor {we have lots of doctors at MCS} came and checked on her. She seemed ok after 5 minutes or so. But it made us all super nervous!!!!!
We decided to call it a night!!! Her GT teacher never got to see her present her report but she understood and said Victoria was good to be done for the evening. Victoria was quite embarrassed from it all. It's the first time this has ever happened to her and it scared her a lot. She went a little late to school the next day just to make sure it didn't happen again.
We are very proud of her for being brave and participating tonight especially after passing out the 1st time. But we're even more glad that she's doing ok. Love you Sis!

To end the night, they had treats. By then Victoria was feeling better. But we kept a close eye on her for a couple days. Whew! What a memorable night!!!

Saving our Plants from the Spring Snow Storm

Winter Storm threatened our plants. We tried our best to save them. We'll see how it goes.

Mother's Day

Brett & my family made my Mother's Day a great day!
Special Breakfast with my awesome kids!

They even made me lunch:

Presents including my 1st Kitchenaide:

Awesome dinner with things they thought I would like:

Victoria did my hair:

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful women in our lives. XO!

Three Forks Dance

Liberty took a couple of her friends with her to the Youth Dance in Three Forks. The Bishop drove a Shuttle Bus for all the youth. Pretty cool! They seemed to have a good time being silly & chatty & dancing the night away.

Liberty, Ann, and Shannon

2016 Vigilante Day Parade

The Vigilante Day Parade, a Helena tradition dating back to 1924, continues today, bringing with it a flood of memories, local history lessons and teamwork between students.
The parade kicks off at noon when dozens of floats, designed and built by students from Helena High and Capital High line up on Helena Avenue before parading down Last Chance Gulch.
The themes of the floats, most of which relate to Helena history, all had to be approved by teachers. Students will be awarded prizes in a number of categories for their floats. Those working on floats were excused from school Thursday to finish up their projects.

Liberty participated in the Vigilante Parade with the HHS Band. It threatened to rain but was a perfect cool day for a parade. Super fun to see her & cheer her on!

We also got to see a few of the floats. Fun (& kind of silly) excuse to skip out on school. Go Helena!

Cotton Candy Machine

We found a Cotton Candy Machine on clearance this month. It's been a HUGE hit with all our visitors. They LOVE it! And better yet- you can make it with a bag of Jolly Ranchers. Easy Peasy! Best $15 I ever spent! LOL