Our cute little Emily is a kindergarten graduate!
Emily and her teacher, Mrs. Peterson. She was the perfect teacher for Emily. She was sweet and loving and she absolutely adored our Emily. We will miss her! She is having a baby and won't be teaching anymore but we are excited for her!
Emily's kindergarten class. This was the sweetest little class of kids. I absolutely loved going in to help because they were all so adorable. Emily has made so many wonderful friends this year. We also found out at graduation that John's childhood friend had a little boy in the class. It turns out it was a little boy that liked Emily and they both had told their parents ALL about the other one. Pretty funny!
Emily and our next door neighbor Reese. It was so fun that they got to be in the same kindergarten class together. Their big sisters walked them to K each morning and they came home on the kindergarten bus together. There was nothing cuter than watching these two bound off the bus together each afternoon and head up our street. They were
inseparable at school. In fact, their teacher had them sitting next to each other at the rug and at their tables because she said they did so well together and helped each other to be less shy and come out of their shells. I'm SO glad they had each other this year!
Kelsie and Emily in the hall by their classrooms. Their classes were right next to each other this year which was another blessing for Emily in this transition to school. They were able to check up on each other during the day! :)
Emily's favorite part of kindergarten was the monkey bars. She was dying to get outside after the program and do the monkey bars for us (dad, mom, and Grandma Peterson). She is also proud to announce that she has already mastered the monkey bars on the big kid playground as well.
mom, dad, and our little graduate
As I was posting these I was thinking about how in another 12 years we will be taking pictures with our little girl as she graduates from High School. The days are sometimes long but the years go by so quickly and I hope we can cherish these years and teach you all you need to know. We love you Emily and are proud of you. You have really surprised me this year as you started school. You have come out of your shell and have become a lot more outgoing. You have made many friends and have sent your phone number home with about every girl in the class. :) You are a funny girl and have become very social. You absolutely love school and I hope that love continues as you grow!
John is working on a project building a retaining wall and leveling our hill into tiers so we can have a garden. It's looking good! 
Carter went to his 1st Father's and Sons Camp out with his dad. He loved it! His favorite part was reading books in the tent before they went to sleep. He took a whole backpack full of books, but he told me he needs MORE books next time. He didn't have enough. He was sick the day of the camp out but he mustered up enough strength to go anyway. He didn't want to miss sleeping up on the mountain with dad. He was so excited!
The kids are enjoying fun days with friends and having picnics in our fort.
Even Matson is trying to join in the fun these days.
Emily and Carter love setting up a pool for the polly's outside. I'm sure Carter is going to LOVE this picture when he's a little older!
The girls formed a "Rescuers" club with their neighbor friends. Their mission was to rescue insects that needed them. They went around the neighborhood looking for bugs and even had a scripted chant they sang as they walked around. It was pretty adorable and kept them very entertained for several days. They were able to rescue a grasshopper that had been run over and was missing legs. They named him "Striker" and cared for him but ended up having to bury him the next day. So sad. :(
The teeth just keep coming out. Makes me wonder how she's going to eat! 
At the end of May Emily had a performance day at gymnastics. She got to show off her skills on the vault, beam, and floor. She loved performing for an audience. Her strength is definently the floor. She has perfect form and her cartwheel is seriously impressive. She absolutely loves gymnastics and has learned so much is the year she's been taking lessons. This is her class bowing at the end with their teacher (Aunt Kandace). You can see more info. and pictures of her doing gymnastics on my sister's website 
Emily and Lizzie waiting for their turn to perform.
But after I saw him climbing the stairs with his little proud grin, I couldn't help but think it was the cutest thing in the world. He is completely thrilled with himself and doesn't just climb up one and stop. He climbed up three steps on the first go. It doesn't help my cause any that he has three adoring siblings sitting at the top of the stairs cheering him on!
The girls took home their aprons and decorated cakes and they all seemed to have a really good time. If the noise level equals the enjoyment level then they had a REALLY REALLY good time! It was really fun and a bit crazy. Thankfully I had my mom and John there to provide extra hands with the cooking projects. I loved getting to know some of Kelsie's school friends that I didn't know very well.
One last shot of Kelsie with her huge cupcake cake. She loved it! Happy Birthday!
