Kindergarten Graduation

She's so excited for 1st grade.

We had one end of elementary graduation follow by the other end the next day. They day after Sarah graduated from 6th grade, Gracie graduated from Kindergarten. She was so excited and couldn't wait for her program and to show me all she has done this year. It was fun to go to her program and here her songs and watch her graduate. Even though she only got to go to school for 2 months here, we really enjoyed Fox Hollow and we're excited for another year at Fox Hollow.

All ready for her Graduation Program.

After getting her 'diploma'

My beautiful Gracie is all done with Kindergarten

Ready for her treat.

Gracie with her Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Skaggs.

Cowboy Day

Gracie with her cowboy stuff.

The last full week of school provided a lot of fun activities for the Kindergarteners. One of Gracie's favorite days was Cowboy Day. They got to make a horse out of a yard stick and brown paper. She loved it so much and rode it around with her cowboy hat on all day.

Gotta be silly.

Daniel's turn

Silly face time

Star Gracie

Every Kindergartner loves to be the Star of the Week and Gracie waited and waited for her turn. When it finally came she was so excited. We made a cute little poster about her and went to the school with the baby bunnies to show her class. She had so much fun being the most important person that day and I loved watching her in her element.

Jr. Aggie Cheerleaders

Hannah and Gracie showing off their dance moves.

Grandma Gass called one day in December and asked if the girls wanted to go to the cheerleading camp at USU. The little girls were so excited. Sarah said she wanted to, but when her friend wasn't able to come she decided against it. The camp consisted of training with the cheerleaders in the morning for a few hours and then a performance during half time at the Aggie basketball game.  The girls had a blast and Gracie loved the boy cheerleaders most of all. Boy are we in trouble.  :)

My favorite part of their dance.

My cute dancing girls.

After their performance all the girls who participated came and on stage and did a few cheers.

Cheering with the other girls.

Gracie had the bull standing right next to her during the cheers and she didn't even know.

After the performance. They had so much fun.

Lost Tooth

Gracie missing her first tooth.

In November the kids were gathering for family prayers and while we were waiting Dan and Gracie were being a little (okay maybe a lot) wild. During this wildness they happened to crash into each other and Gracie's 2 front teeth became wiggly.  Being that she hadn't lost any of her bottom teeth yet and those teeth normally come out first, I was worried about how to keep those wiggly teeth in as long as possible. She did a great job keeping them in, but on December 4th that first tooth had had enough. It came out in the morning during breakfast. She was so excited to have her first missing tooth. The other tooth came out about a week later and so for Christmas she was able to say, "All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth." To my surprise, about 2 weeks after he first tooth came out, we noticed the permanent tooth coming in. I don't know how much help the crash with Daniel did in loosing the tooth, but I was very pleased that she wasn't going to have a gap for months and months.

Birthday/Halloween Party Time

Gracie got to have her first ever friend birthday party this year and she was soooo excited. We don't let the kids have friend parties until they are in kindergarten and Gracie has been waiting and waiting for this day. We had it the week after her birthday because her actual birthday, though it was on a Saturday, was during fall break and we figured there was a good chance for families out of town. She didn't mind waiting and it turned out to be a good idea because all but one friend was able to make it. 

Anya and Rachel

We loved having cousin Carlie at the party.

Gracie and Kale

Gracie and McKenna

Gracie and Ruby

Gracie and Trevor

Because her birthday is so close to Halloween, I talked her into having a Halloween/Birthday party. It was super easy and really fun. We had a treasure hunt to find goody bags, played Halloween Bingo, Candy Corn toss and pin the heart on the skeleton. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I it was fun having a Halloween themed party for her.

The treasure hunt to find their goody bags.

Ben helping the kids play Bingo

Sarah helping the other group play Bingo.

Kale was having a hard time and didn't want to be
part of the craziness of the party. He did have a lot of
fun playing in the boys room with them.

Rachel playing Pin the Heart on the Skeleton.

Dan playing the candy corn toss game.

McKenna trying to get the candy corns in.

Gracie didn't want me to make a cake for her this year. Instead, she wanted to have cupcakes that her friends could decorate. The kids made messes and had fun decorating their cupcakes. I don't know how many of them ate the cupcake they made, but that's not the fun part. :)  It was a successful party and fun was had by all.

Decorating their cupcakes.

Blowing out 6 candles on her little cupcake.

Gracie's 6th Birthday

Happy Birthday Gracie Grace

Gracie turned 6 on October 19th and what a day it was. Her birthday happened to fall on a Saturday which was great. The kids were off track so it really didn't matter if she was in school or not. The day started out normal, but when naps were over we started the party. She got a few presents and enjoyed opening them up. When present opening was done and she had an opportunity to play with them for a while, we headed up into the mountains to try and take a few pictures of the kids. We got a good picture of Adam and one of all the kids. We then headed over the mountain to Park City were we had a pizza dinner. It was a fun day for a very excited and happy 6 year old. 

I love having Gracie in our family. She is such an energetic, fun and loving child. She can be a handful, but really, I wouldn't trade her for anything. I've loved watching her grow and I'm so excited to see what she becomes the older she gets. 

Opening her new Lego's

She was so happy to get a Monster High doll like her older sisters.

She loved here new Skylanders Giant the most.

Opening her Skylander

Eating pizza in Park City

Gracie really enjoyed going out for pizza for her birthday.

Adam enjoyed his pizza.

First Real Day of Kindergarten

Gracie is ready for her first official day of school.

Our school in Utah does kindergarten testing after the first day of school. This means the kids are able to come to school that first day, but only to meet their teacher. They then have to wait 3 days, during which time the kids all go in one by one and get tested by their teacher. Those 3 days are so hard. Hannah had to do it and now it was Gracie's turn and she so badly wanted to go to school with the other kids. Every morning she'd wake and and we'd have to count down the days until she got to go back to school. Finally on the 22nd Gracie got to go to her first official day of school. The color of the day was brown, she got to take her backpack and she loved every minute of it. Oh to be 5 again.

Being silly.

My 4 biggest kids headed off to school.

Short Hair

On Sunday the 17th, I decided I was tired of the girls tangles and so before church I grabbed the scissors and started clipping. Hannah wanted her hair cut to her chin, but I wasn't comfortable cutting it that short so we compromised on her shoulders. Gracie wanted hers short, but not as short as Hannah's. When it was all done both girls were happy with the cuts they got. They used to have hair most of the way down their backs, now it's much shorter, but their still cute.

Gracie's short, but not as short as Hannah's hair.

I think Hannah's new short hair makes her look so grown up.

Kids In A Car

Dan, very intently, watching his show.

On our way to Ben's second pinewood derby (I didn't get a single picture of the pinewood derby, but we got these pictures) the little kids were whinny.  I was driving so Kenny decided to cheer them up by taking their picture.  I don't know why I'm sharing, but I thought they were cute.

What a bunch of goofballs.  :)

Hanging Out

Sometimes being a parent is the best!

Since the big kids went back to school I've been able to spend more time with the littlest 3.  I have to admit it's been really nice.  Gracie has done a wonderful job being the big sister and the boys have really enjoyed playing with her.  On November 6th I had just made lunch and stepped away for a few minutes.  When I got back I found the 3 of them on the deck with their food having some kind of conversation   It was so cute, so I took a picture.