Gilbert Tigersharks!

Last Fall, I decided that it would be good for Emma to do a city swim team this summer, to keep her active and improve her swimming skills. So in October, I started her at EVO Swim School where they taught her AMAZING things. I can not say enough good about her swim school. They do such a great job of teaching strokes correctly and by the time summer hit, she was all ready for swim team.

Her team name is the Gilbert Tigersharks and she is LOVING this experience!  I am thrilled that she has so much fun because it is an excellent exercise for her little growing body and teaches her invaluable skills.

Much like her first violin recital, her first swim meet was a little rough.  There were HUNDRED of people at the first swim meet and she was VERY nervous.  She cried for a solid 30 minutes and I wasn't sure if she was actually going to swim.  But, Tom and Laura were there and I knew she would be sad if she chickened out.  We kept talking it up and finally when the time came she muscled the courage and got in line with the rest of the swimmers.  Her very first race was a 25 yard freestyle and she did AWESOME.  She came in 7th place out of 8 swimmers, but I was proud of her for finishing and being brave enough to try it.  Besides... there are a lot of adults out there who can't swim 25 yards!!

She was SO proud of herself and I kept thinking, "this is so great, even though she didn't get a good ribbon, she is still excited".  Then I heard her telling someone about all the swimmers she beat, because she got 7th place, "which is a really high number, so I am really good".  Uh oh.  I had to break it to her that the LOWER numbers were the better numbers.  She was devastated.  I mean, really, truly devastated.  She was somber the rest of the day and when Greg put her to bed that night, she cried and told him that she thought she was a better swimmer.  Hard knock life, right?  Poor little Emsy!  It is so hard as a parent to know when to protect and when to let the kids suffer disappointment.  I think in the end, it has been a good lesson for her.  And she has been working hard and getting higher ribbons.  In fact, just last Thursday, she got a 4th place ribbon.  Granted, only 5 swimmers were competing, but that is one detail I choose not to divulge.  She can relish in her 4th place and be proud of her hard work.

Practice is M-TH for 30 minutes.  She is exhausted and HUNGRY when she gets home, but she is having a WONDERFUL time.

"Diving" off the starting block.  She is so cute when she gets in the "ready" position with her hands down on the edge of the block.  What a great swimmer!!

Telling the time judge her name and team name.

The results of the first few meets.  I was really proud because she took of almost 2 seconds from her time between the first meet and the second meet.  Michael Phelps would kill to take 2 seconds off his time!  Of course, it doesn't take him 44 seconds to swim 25 yards either... :)

And all because of EVO.  I will definitely be putting her back into EVO in the Fall.  I'd like her to swim on their year-round team.  Here is her teacher Ben from EVO and Emma on her last day of class with them before the summer started.

Camping out for the swim meets is one of the TRUE tests of parenthood.  Wow.  It is really hot and I sweat like crazy!!  We bought a shade umbrella, which helps, but it does not mask the heat and we have to bring gallons of water with us to spray and drink!

Uncle Glen happened to make it in town for her 4th meet of the summer!!  In this one she swam a breast stroke and got 6th place and a 4th place (out of 5 swimmers) for the 50 yard freestyle (which is a LONG way for a 5-year-old)!!!

So proud of Emma and her diligence and hard work!!!  She is a FIRST PLACE swimmer in my book!!

Emma's FIRST violin recital!

Emma has been taking the violin since January and I am so proud of her progress and accomplishments. Most people would not be brave enough or good enough to play in front of a room full of people after only playing for 5 months!! The violin is a difficult instrument to learn. There are a TON of techniques to think about at the same time. Emma has been learning VERY quickly and we absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE her teacher, Sarah Hartman.  She teaches the Suzuki Method, which is the method that I learned on, and I knew I wanted Emma to begin with this method.

Sarah was in our ward in Tempe and we happened to snag one of her spots that had opened up after other students left her studio. We were so excited! Emma practices almost every day for 15-30 minutes and she seems to really enjoy it. She even seems to enjoy practicing most of the time! Amazing!!

Tom and Laura happened to be in town for her recital, so that made it really special for Emma.  We left Grant and Spencer home with a babysitter... and we really enjoyed the recital together.

Aunt Sharron also came which Emma really appreciated!!  Greg bought Emma the purple flowers and she was ECSTATIC.

Here is Emma with her teacher, Sarah Hartman.  Sarah is expecting a baby in September and we are so happy for her!!

For the recital, Emma played the first 8 notes of "Twinkle, Twinkle" with two different rhythms.  All day long, I kept asking her if she was nervous and she said, "no, why should I be"?  But after the recital started, and Emma heard all of the other students, I think she realized that she was not as good as she thought.  She whispered to Greg that she was nervous now because all the other students were better than her.  Poor little thing.  It's a hard life lesson to learn that you are not as wonderful as your parents say you are.  When it came time for her to play, she started crying and didn't want to go up on stage.  I walked her up there and her sweet teacher came on to the stage as well and asked Emma is she would like her to play along.  Emma said yes and the two violinist played the first 8 notes of Twinkle together.  Emma did a great job and was very proud of herself when she sat down.  WHEW!  I thought for a second that she wouldn't perform, but I think her teacher really helped her out of that problem, and I'm hoping that all the rest of her recitals through life will not be as challenging.

Taylee's First Birthday!

We celebrated Taylee's (Jeff and Michelle's daughter) birthday at Peter Piper Pizza. She is absolutely adorable little girl and we were excited to join the festivities. The kids had so much fun!!

Taylee digging into her cupcake,  So cute!!!

The Bays visit Arizona!!

Laura, Tom and baby Spencer came to visit us June to help get their townhome ready to sell. We were so excited to have them here!!

We spent time lounging by our "pool" in the backyard.  The kids LOVE their new camping chairs with shades.

They endured Emma's first swim meet in the BLISTERING Arizona sun!  Complete with signs and huge grins!!

We played in the water and then lounged in the sun to dry off.

We played at splash pads.

And pools...

And we had a wonderful time together!!  Thanks for coming to visit us Tom and Laura and Spencer!!!

Memorial Day

We enjoyed a WARM but lovely Memorial Day. We started a new family tradition of grabbing donuts and heading to the cemetery to honor those that have passed on before us.

When we visited Greg's dad's grave we brought along the fantastic book that Aunt Gina made the sons for Christmas after Ray's death. It is a wonderful tribute to him and we were able to show the kids pictures and tell stories. He was a wonderful man, an engaged and incredibly loving Grandpa and we miss him a lot. Greg said, "I never knew how different life would be without him". Thank you Grandpa Ray for loving us and teaching us. May we always remember your legacy of love and hard work.

After the cemetery we saw a movie at the dollar theater together and then had a swim/food fest with the Newell clan at Sharron's home.

It was a great day!!!

Work yields Rewards.

Emma had a few rough weeks at church, which is hard on me because Greg is on the stand with the Bishopric, so I sit alone.

I decided a behavior management chart needed to be put in order STAT. Coincidentally, I had just scored a great deal on the AZ Science Center membership, so for our first trip to the Science Center, Emma had to earn it by good church behavior. She got one sticker for being good in Sacrament and one sticker for being good in Primary. It took her 5 weeks, but she did it, and we all got to tag along for a fun family Saturday to the AZ Science Center.

We had a wonderful time.  Both kids found great things to stay entertained and I'm sure we'll be back for more fun!!

Our preschool graduate!

Greg may or may not have poked a little fun at Emma's "preschool graduation" when I asked him to attend. He was (of course) happy to go... but was wondering if stopping education after preschool is an option? And if not, why we celebrate the graduation? haha. It's true. They are a little silly. But, it's good for kids to feel accomplished, right? And little Miss Emma always loves a celebration that is all about her.

She has been in a wonderful preschool this year. The teacher is Jenny Stratton and she is a member of our stake who does a preschool out of her home. She was so incredibly patient with Emma all year long. And would constantly make comments to me like, "she is going to be a great leader someday... every class has someone who likes to be in charge...she just loves to help me...she could run a company someday..." - but she was always kind and caring with Emma (which is sometimes hard to do) and Emma responded very well.

From L to R:
Davy, Madalyn (she and Emma frequently got in fights because they were squabbling over the "alpha" spot in class), Ava, Eli (we carpooled with), Makenna (in our ward), Emma, Berkeley (ward) and Avalyn is hiding behind Emma and Mrs. Stratton.

Miss Jenny had a helper in the preschool room most days named Debbie.  She is a disabled adult and she was so sweet with the kids.

The sweet thank you note Miss Jenny gave the Moms.

Our beautiful preschool graduate!! Hard to believe she is starting Kindergarten in a few months!!  She'll be off to BYU before I know it.

 Emma and Mrs. Stratton.

We celebrated at Sonic!

Emma got the award for being a "Wonderful Word Builder" - I'm proud of her for that, because she is really worked hard on her reading and her sounds and I hope she will do quite well in Kindergarten.