May Happenings

We love goofing off from time to time as we browse the stores.

 My cute lil clowns!

Doug finally took the WREB licensing exam & we were beyond thrilled to have that over with. So off we went on a date to celebrate. We decided to try a new place called Sushi Saki. 

 We'd heard was good & it was! My favorite was the Miami Heat Roll pictured on the right.

 Ok, and my other favorite, was that they bring out some complementary cotton candy for dessert. YuM!

 Sunday May 4th was the dedication of the new LDS Fort Lauderdale Temple. Since the boys couldn't attend the actual dedication we decided to take them to the temple to see the corner stone being set. They didn't really get what was going on, but it was still a special experience that I'm glad they were a part of.

 President Dieter F. Uchtdorf was the representative from the First Presidency of the church. He jokingly said to everyone that if President Monson & President Eyring both came to South Florida too, that none of them would want to return to Salt Lake City. And that's why it was just him who came. Haha! There really was something so neat to have him in our presence. The couple on the far right of the above picture are Ronald & Melanie Rasband. He is a member of the Quorum of the Seventy & also a family friend of my parents. I didn't get a chance to catch up to them to say hello, but it was still great to see them here.

We are beyond lucky to have this beautiful temple in our ward boundaries. The dedication was wonderful & I am so grateful that we were able to attend & to listen to the words & music of all those that participated. We are looking forward to attending the temple soon.

Liam was running around as usual & he ran straight into his bed. He was freaking out much for what appeared on his head. He got a HUGE goose egg!

 OUCH! These kids sure are resilient & bounce back so fast after injury. Haha!

A few families graduated from medical school. So a goodbye dinner at the beach was in order. It was fun having everyone all together before they each moved away onto their next adventure of residency.

 The whole gang. 

 Soooo many kids. Aeiya!

 And one of all the ladies. Such a blessing to have such good friends down here. It's sad to see some of them go.

Gavin & Liam got invited to their friend McKay's 5th birthday party. My friend McKenzie always goes above & beyond & is so creative with her parties that I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures. McKay chose to have a Magic School Bus theme. 

 A friend in the other ward Whitney Bean is a very talented baker. She does all sorts of specialty cakes & I was super impressed with her Magic School Bus. How freaking adorable is that? 

At one point there was a special visitor who made an appearance at the party. Ms. Frizzle came to do some science experiments with all the kiddos!

 I just love how attentive all the kids are watching McKenzie  Ms. Frizzle start her experiments.

 She of course needed an assistant & who better then the birthday boy McKay. Such a cute picture with his rad momma! She really is the cutest mom.

 Mentos & Coke. Love this picture I got. They thought it was pretty awesome. 

 The kids got make homemade ice cream in a bag which was quite the hit. Parents had to help in the process & boy were my hands freezing. Brrr! We sure love birthday parties.

 Another kiddos shot at little Collette's birthday party the following week.

My sister asked me to help her plan & throw a bridal shower for her friend Robin. She's in our ward as well & has been in 2 other wards down here in Florida. So her guest list was pretty big. Like over 50 people. We had fun planning around her favorite color & decided to go with a 'Something Blue' theme for the day of. For her gifts she decided that since she & her fiance are older & already more established with the 'necessities' to run a household it would be fun to have gifts of 'Firsts'. Example: First date night, first home cooked meal, first fight, first emergency, first Christmas etc. We thought it was a great idea. Until we had to try & come up with over 50 'firsts'. Yikes! So we decided to give some people a 'your choice' suggestion. Haha! It kind of baffled us how many questions we got about the gift theme. People just weren't wrapping their minds around this concept of 'firsts'. Weird. And....it was merely a suggestion. Anyone could simply get something from their registry. It's just a fun & creative way to give a gift. Anyhow, it was really fun watching her open her gifts & trying to guess what the 'first' was. She seemed like she was really happy with everything & that's all that matters. We had a great turn out too! I think at one point I counted 36 people. We had a lot of help with the food & for that we were very grateful.

 I wanted to make the cake because I love baking & decorating with frosting. I took a stab at doing an ombre rosette cake. It turned out pretty good. Of course I can pick it a part in a million ways, but if you don't look too close it's rather pretty. And it was tasty too. Yum!

{Last Day of Preschool}

Wednesday May 21st was Gavin's last day of Preschool. It was so weird coming to pick him up & seeing all the hallway walls bare. He had a big bag of projects etc to take home & it kinda brought a tear to my eye that the school year is over. Gavin had such an incredible experience in Mrs. Pacini's class. He learned so much over the 9 months he attended school. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching him grow & develop in his academics & social skills & even a little bit in the religion department. He has a love for school that I can only hope never goes away. Every day he wasn't there he would ask me, "Mom, do I have school today?" And when I would tell him he didn't, he would happily reply, "Well, I have it tomorrow then right?!" In fact he loves school & his teacher so much that if you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up he will say, "A teacher!". 

 {Gavin & Mrs. Pacini}

I'm so grateful for this fabulous woman. She is the best teacher a mom could ask for her their child coming into an education program. She is so full of love for these kids & it simply radiates from her. Even Liam became smitten for Misth Cinnni! I wish she could be Gavin's teacher forever. Haha!

Gavin also made some great friends this year. His 8 classmates are all awesome kids & he just loves to talk about them & is always wanting to have playdates with them.  Here he is with his bestie Tyson!

{Mall Activity}

With Gavin being done with school he was able to come with us to the Mall to get their faces painted & play.

Can I just say that I hate these rides. I never pay for them, but they boys still climb all over them & will NOT get off when it's time to leave. Ugh. 

 The Childrens Science Museum was there with some pets for the kids to see & touch.

 Gavin insisted on wanting a skeleton painted on his face. She did an amazing job! Can you believe that this was free?! This is the entire reason why we come to these mall activities. Haha!

 Liam wanted to be something scary just like his big brother. So he got a green goblin monster. He's so tough. Haha!

This dude had mad crazy hair one night so I wanted to take a picture. When looking at the picture I quickly realized that my baby is officially not a baby anymore. Look at him. Those long legs, no chub anywhere. :( It makes me sad that he is growing up so fast. Love that cheesy grin!

We had to say goodbye to more friends. :( McKenzie & Luke are off to Texas for residency & we just had to squeeze in one more visit before they left.

{Liam, McKay, Gavin & Quinn}
Gavin is always so sad when I tell him that one of his friends is moving. Of course it's hard for me to say goodbye to my friends, but it is heart wrenching to see your children go through those emotions. Gavin totally understands what is going on. The poor kid has had to say goodbye to all his close buddies from his very first one, Collin. Thank goodness there are ways to stay in touch & thank goodness my boys are outgoing & like to make new friends too.