Flying to England

Lexi and Jordan are off on their first international flight today. We spent the night with Grandma & Papa's house and headed to the airport (IAH) this morning. We had a 3 hour layover in Newark where we happened to see Air Force One (the president's plane). 

Air Force One

Ukulele Camp at Papa's

Lexi has been at Grandma and Papa's house this week learning how to play the ukuele. We arrived today and she did a little performance for us, so I taped it. It is pretty good for a few days of music lessons.

Miriam in Montana

Cousin Miriam is no longer part of our household. She returned to Montana today. In the picture above, she is in the airport in Butte with her mom & baby brother, Ryan. She called using FaceTime this evening and we had a good chat. I am sure she is glad to be back with her family, but there are definitely things she'll miss about us, especially Lexi. 

Mega Pool Party

About once a year, some of my high school friends get together (Bill, Erik, & Amy). Tonight, we gathered at Erik's house in Jersey Village. I love that the kids get a long so well. Lexi especially likes Kacy & Cole, Bill's twins that are 2 months older. They make it onto this blog quite a bit because they live near us. Next year, they'll even be in the same junior high.

The kids played in the pool, ate lots of food, and watched part of Goose Bumps. We headed out before the movie was over, because we were going up to Grandma & Papa's house for the night. Lexi and Miriam will be staying there. Miriam is headed home on Tuesday. Lexi is going to be taking ukulele lessons from Malcolm this week.

Miriam asking for a pineapple piece 

Last Game for the Mystics

The Mystics had their last game today and as their coach, I'm a little sad that we will not be seeing each other again. They didn't win many games, but they all improved and we had a lot of fun.
Back Row: Krista, Valerie, Iyana, Sonia
Front Row: Maria, Lexi, Annabell, Megan

Knot Heads

Emotional Last Day of Elementary

The last day of school started off normal. I took the picture above. It was only a half day, so I headed back at 12:30 with Miriam. She was definitely interested in our end of year celebration with water guns. We sprayed the younger kids, but the 5th graders took a long time to come out. When they did, we noticed that they were all crying. Even the 4th and 5th grade teachers were crying. This was my 6th year being at the school for dismissal on the last day and this was the FIRST time I had seen crying. Lexi had warned me that she thought she would cry because she was going to miss so many friends. Besides really liking each other, the students were sad because the school splits into two different junior high schools. Some of the kids will not be together in the Fall. Lexi got a million texts (on my phone) all afternoon and evening from different friends saying they were still crying or sad.  

5th Grade Graduation

This is a big day for Lexi. It is her 5th grade graduation. She has really enjoyed this school year mostly because of the friends she had in her class and choir. They really clicked this year.

Lexi and Nick Hand- they've had several classes together and have become such good friend

Lexi with her teacher, Ms. Torres

Shaking hands with the Vice Principal, Librarian & Principal

Lexi's certifications & awards

Standing up for recognition of different awards

Slide Show

Shot with mom 

Shot with Grandma Margie and Papa Malcolm

Powder Puff Race

Lexi had her last Powder Puff Derby this evening. On her 12th birthday, she'll be moving up to "Young Womens." Our home teacher, Brother Johnson, helped her make the car this year. We went to his house last night to put on the wheels and weigh it, so that it would be perfect. She painted it silver and added gold circle and pineapple stickers. She won a few races about was probably about 6th place, but they didn't keep track of more than the top 2.

Elizabeth & Lexi

Shot of one of the races she won

Carbonite to make the wheels turn faster

Yearbook Signing

The kids gathered at the school at 4:30 for yearbook signing. I am always amazed at how much my kids love their yearbooks. They look at them over & over again. They pull out the old ones and look at them multiple times a year too. This year, the 5th graders were really into writing meaningful messages to each other. They are moving on to junior high, but only a little over half of the school will be going to the same one as Lexi. The others go on to a rival junior high and also a rival high school. In the above picture, Lexi is with her friend Allison. They have really become close this year. I'd say Allison is her best friend for the 5th grade.

Photo Booth from Bella's Party