End of the School Year, Beginning of Summer!

Abby got a bunch of awards, for good grades and good handwriting. She also got 2nd in the school for AR points (a system where they get points for reading books and answering questions on them). Sh eworked so hard this year and did amazingly well.....

And won a Kindle Fire HD for it...what????

Isabel got a few awards, too, for field day and academics.  Poor Sara had to sit through the entire ceremony and did not get anything this year. The lower grades have a lot fewer awards,too. She had her fingers crossed and I could see her little face getting sadder and sadder. So we went over and had her come stand by me. I know everyone can't win everything, but it was so sad. She did amazing in first grade, was a good friend, helper and had way above benchmark in reading. 

Whitney graduated Joy School and they performed such cute songs. She sang her little heart out and knew all the words. 

As soon as the kids were out of school, they started taking down the old one. We have a perfect view to watch it all happen, and get a little of the dust as well. the new school is already built behind it...

we have been battling the weeds, rocks and clay of our back lot for years. We are sick of it so we are attempting to plant grass. Scott did so much work spraying weeds, burning weeds, hauling in topsoil one bag at a time (can't really get dump truck loads here). leveling it and so much more. We laid down attempt number one and the seed did not take. We had to rake all the straw up and try again, we are waiting to see what happens. We might give up and do sod...

our fruit trees are battling through this drought, not really growing much, but they are alive. We even got a few blossoms this year. It is just so hard because it is so much work and Scott is gone all summer, but we'll see what this year brings.

We finally let go of our worries about a trampoline in trade for a fun, healthy activity for the girls to do. Amazon kindly delivered it to our door and it was pretty easy to set up. The girls and their friends love it.