Kindergarten Graduation

Lauren had her Kindergarten Graduation today. She finished her first year of school and wow! did she flourish. So much so that she is upset that school is over and she has to wait 3 months to go back. She is very excited that she gets to go all day next year, though.

Singing her graduation song:
With her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Koer:
Congratulations, LC! I hope your love of school continues. Daddy and I are so proud of you!

Henry's 1st Holy Communion

On Sunday, May 1, 2011, Henry received his First Holy Communion at Saint James the Just Parish in Ogden, UT. He did a beautiful job, looked handsome and even drank the wine! I am so, so proud of him. It has been a little bit of a rough start to the year for him but he walked with such confidence that it was hard to hold back the tears.
All of his grandparents came into town from Florida to witness his very special day:
Even his teacher, who is LDS, came to support him:
The cake:
Love you, Henry!

Easter 2011

We decorated eggs on Lauren's Birthday and the baskets appeared on Sunday. Wyatt informed me that he does not and has never believed in the Easter Bunny. I love that he pretended for me all these years.:)
Henry got "Despicable Me", Wyatt received "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1" and Lauren was excited to find "Tangled".

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

I am running way behind on blogging right now, so LC's birthday entry is really late, unfortunately.

Her birthday fell on the day before Easter this year, so we colored eggs as her day's activity. We then topped it off with dinner at her choice of Olive Garden.

Happy Birthday, my beautiful, little girly-girl!

Dinosaur Park Field Trip

Lauren's Kindergarten class had their field trip to the Ogden Dinosaur Park, today, so I went along as a chaperone. She had a few minutes of doing arts and crafts and then was free to roam the park. She and the other kids spent much of their time at the playgrounds.
Lauren and her friend Gracie
Many of the kids from Lauren's bus stop:
Thank goodness the weather cooperated!

I'm an Aunt, again!

Charlotte Elizabeth Boyd was born on March 16th, weighing 8lbs 13 oz and was 20" long. She is healthy and beautiful and is going by the nickname of "Charley". We are all so excited to be able to meet her after Charley and her family move to San Diego next month.

Big sister Vivi and Charley:
Once again, the Schamal girls out-number the boys and all is right with the world.:)

Congratulations Heather, Justin and Vivi! We are so happy for you!

Hardware Ranch

A couple of weeks ago we decided to head up to Logan to a place called Hardware Ranch where you can take a sleigh ride to feed the elk that come down from the mountain in the Winter. We have been talking about doing it since last year and we were finally able to find some time to go and do it.

Waiting for Dad to return from purchasing the tickets:


Every Winter, the Elk come down from the mountain to where it is warmer and to forage for food. In order to keep the Elk out of the villages nearby, Utah's DNR built this ranch to keep the Elk at a slightly higher elevation and to entice them to stay higher, they provide food for them. It is free range and the Elk can come and go, they just can't go lower than the ranch for their and the residents' safety.

The day we were there, they estimated that there were about 500 Elk present:

Ignore the fact that LC's eyes are closed and once again refer to my complaint that it is virtually impossible to get a decent picture of all three that look good without taking a dozen shots and looking like a crazy person to the rest of the people on the sleigh. I will take what I can get:
Our horses, Ruby and Rita:
Before heading home: