Memorial Day at the Zoo

What better way to spend the day as a family then to head out to the Phoenix Zoo while the weather was STILL bearable!!!! Ü

Along with our zoo membership we received some special passes that less us ride the carousel AND the camel! VERY EXCITING!



Laetner took a little talking into getting on the camel, but they had a blast!!!

Meet our new friend Camela..





But the best part of the Phoenix Zoo is the water splash pads that you get to play on at the end of a hot day....

Kinder-Grad

Our boy Laetner MADE it through his year of kindergarten in style!!! For kindergarten graduation we were invited to Miss Hann's classroom for a celebration of all things Kindergarten. The kids performed some cute little songs for us, and then Miss Hann awarded each child their own unique award. Laetner received the award for being a wonderful artist, which wasn't really a surprise since we had been receiving praise for his artwork all year long.

The poor guy couldn't keep his glasses on over his 'actual' glasses.

In this shot they were supposed to strike a 'cool' pose, but it just wasn't quite coming across....

This was the classroom aide for the year. Mrs. W!

And I cannot say enough great things about Miss Hann. Loved her with Delainee, and love her even more after Laetner. I am already campaigning to get Waverly in with her in a couple of years. Can you see the tears in her eyes? She got a little emotional when she was giving out awards to each of the kids---LURVE her!!!!

One last shot of the proud soon to be 1st graders!

Delainee Show and Tell

Our own little Picasso!

Let's Play Music Recital

Wow what a night!!!! We started at 6:00 p.m. with our combined 1st and 2nd Years "End of the Year Program". We had 40 little Blue Bugs up on that stage in addition to 23 Yellow Indians when it came time for the grand finale of Do Re Mi! But our little Laetner did such a great job. I learned many things about what not to do next year, mainly to not let it be soooo long next time...SIGH! Laetner didn't care, he was just excited to get his certificate and a whistle pop!






We scooted everybody out just in time for our 3rd year recital. This was Delainee's special year to graduate from Let's Play Music and she culminated it all by performing her very own piece that she composed herself. In attendance were some friends of my in-laws, and they sent the following in an email to Mama Maurio that describes Delainee to a tee....

Last evening we attended the “Let’s Play Music Recital” where our grandson was performing his original composition of “Revolutionary War.” On the same program your granddaughter, Delainee, was performing her original composition of “Playing Outside.”

Delainee had a dainty, lady-like appearance with her hair in little ringlets, a touch of make-up for the occasion and she was wearing a pretty little dress. She had a beautiful presentation and her performance was well executed and well received.

She did such a wonderful job. She is SERIOUSLY talented, and cannot wait to see where she goes from here...

Delainee's Baptism

Saturday May 8th was the special day. We donned our white dress, took a photo in front of our beatiful white roses, and headed out to the church to get ready for our 11:00 Stake Baptisms.


Funny thing about this picture.

You see the way Court is crouched down---ummm DON'T do that!!! Luckily for him it was the moment AFTER I took the picture, but his jumpsuit completely split open at the crotch--WHOOPS!!! At least it happened at the start and not during right????

It was so nice to not have to plan any aspect---and especially to not have to play the piano for anything. I got to focus on my baby girl on her special day. We shared the day with one other little girl from our ward, and these two girls looked like ROYALTY as they promenaded up to the stand on Sunday afterwards to get their baptism certificates. Sigh...

After the main event everyone gathered at our house for a Celebration Lunch. What better way to document the day then by getting Steve's Krazy Sub in the shape of the number 8, right? We had to threaten Delainee to come and take pictures---she was to busy worrying about reading her sciptures---too cute.

Since Shelby was willing to be event photographer for me, I begged her to snap a few family ones as the end---what a group!

8 is Great!

I finally feel old. My baby is eight----EIGHT!!!! Oh my goodness! Delainee is an absolute angel--literally! To get ready for her Baptism we headed out with Kayleen Theobald to do a photoshoot---and the pictures turned out AWESOME!


Delainee is so excited to get baptized. She was so excited to go pick out brand new scriptures. She was VERY picky and wanted the small quad (BLUE) with NO snap! Her name is soooo long that it barely fits across the front! Other than scriptures her only other request for her birthday was an ipod---like DADDY'S!!! Ummmm, not quite prepared for that yet, but hopefully birthday number eight is memorable for her. She got to stay home from school a day early to go to lunch (she chose pizza at Costco) and to go shopping for some new clothes (she chose Old Navy). We also spent MUCH dilemma over what treats to take to school to share with her classmates. Final verdict: mini brownies from Costco!

She says she doesn't want a birthday cake, but wants Pioneer Woman's Best Chocolate Sheet Cake EVER served at her Celebration Luncheon---her wish is my commmand (and Aunt Shelby's as well! Ü)

Delainee has always been a special little girl--since the moment she arrived in this world 12 weeks premature! In a house with two crazies like Laetner and Waverly, I appreciate all the more how helpful, considerate, sensitive, and the CALM that our princess Delainee brings to our family. She gets ALOT of responsibility thrown on her, and she is ALREADY a better mommy than I will ever be! Ü

Happy 8th Birthday Delainee!