Half a Year Gone

It's almost September and I'm just getting around to writing about June? It kind of feels like we had a pretty boring summer and didn't do much but the pictures tell a different story. Maybe our summer was so packed that it's hard to remember everything that happened.  If theres even anyone left out there reading our blog, here's a quick rundown of the wonderful month of June, the gateway to summer.

Summer doesn't really begin until we've celebrated Abigail's birthday. This girl is sweet, helpful, occasionally frustrating, and positively awesome.

Completing middle school is a big deal around here. When Madison and Emily finished eighth grade there was an awards assembly just like very other year, even a little slideshow, but that was the extent of things. Here in Southern Maryland "eighth grade promotion" is huge. All the girls get new fancy dresses and the ceremony completely fills the high school's gymnasium. It was seriously standing room only, which seemed a little over the top to me. Afterward many of the parents had balloons and flowers for their kids and the whole family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc) went our for a special lunch. I mean come on, doesn't everyone finish the eighth grade?

A few days after the big eighth grade promotion it was the last official day of school for the 2015-2016 school year. It's just been the last couple of years that I've thought to take last day of school photos and not just the first day ones. Seeing how they've changed and grown over the course of a school year is sweet and sad all at once. 

Samantha's all dressed up for the fifth grade promotion ceremony, which was almost as big of a deal as the eighth grade one. I'm really sure that everyone finishes elementary school, so it's about marking the end of an era.

I was really worried about Natalie's third grade year. Her teacher wasn't my favorite ever, but Natalie still managed to learn and have fun because she is an eternal optimist.

I think Emily's tenth grade year was a good one. She had a good group of friends around her, good teachers, and really grew a lot. I'm pretty sure that this girl is going places.

Abigail somehow survived the minefield that is middle school. The end of the year was tough for her because of friend drama, but she handled it with such maturity.

One final last day of school photo, this one of Samantha and I after her end of year ceremony. She was an emcee for the program, sang the national anthem, and was one of only two students recognized for earning straight A's for all of third, fourth, and fifth grades. And there wasn't an award for this, but there should be - cutest freckles of all time.

Emily "didn't have anything to wear" one Sunday morning so we sewed her a skirt (complete with invisible zipper) before church. It's super cute and I'm pretty sure she has only worn it the one time.

A little end-of-the-year field trip to King's Dominion with my seminary class.  There's nothing like riding roller coasters to remind you that you're too old to ride roller coasters.

We celebrated father's day and this guy won the coolest dad ever award for the eighteenth year running. The girls and I love Jared and are so blessed to have such an amazing man in our lives.

I don't have any photographic evidence, but my brother John and his wife Courtney came for a visit and we all met my sister and her family at the temple. For a brief moment it was a little cousin reunion!

In what was arguably the biggest event of the summer, Emily passed the test and got her driver's license! I've loved having an extra driver to send to the store, or to pick up children, or take trash to the dump, or whatever else I send her to do. The van is a little worse for the wear after a summer of Emily at the wheel, but in my opinion it's a good trade off.