Last day of school!

I thought I'd get this post up before school is starting again......which comes sooner & sooner each year!
The last day of school this year was cloudy & rainy, just like last year. Weird.
And it's all about parties! Nothing educational going on whatsoever.
So much excitement!!!

It was Zaner's last day of Kindergarten.
They had a "drive-in movie" day & sat in their box cars & watched the movie Cars.

Jake's last day of 5th grade. Next year they'll rule the school!!

Max's last day of 3rd grade.

His class shot off the rockets they had made, with most of the school outside to watch.

Pretty exciting!!

I love that happy little face!

Poor Max got my pasty white skin.

Look how white he is compared to Mrs. Wilson. Cracks me up.

Mars' last day of 8th grade.

Apparently, in junior high, you dress up weird & be extra spastic.

I love 8th grade girls! They love getting their picture taken. They see a camera & start flocking. It's so much fun!!!

YEAAHH!! School's out!!!!!!!

Life is Beautiful!........

........again.
Because I am done giving my talk in Sacrament Meeting!!!!!

Wahoooo!!!!!!!!

I am now free to continue on with my happy life!

I am not a fan of public speaking.

Few things stress me out more.

I wish I wasn't like this.

But I am.

I wish I were one of those people that can spout off, coherently, on any random subject, with confidence and ease.

But I'm not.

But it's over! and I feel like skipping and twirling and singing like a bird!!!

Life is good again!

LONDON - Part 1

This was our closest Underground station, to where we were staying.
The Underground's pretty slick. And much cleaner & nicer than Paris'.

Westminster Abbey

We happened to go when a flower arrangement festival was going on, so the Abbey was filled with all these fabulous flower arrangements. Westminster is so amazing. It is literally jam-packed full of the tombs of most of England's kings and queens, among tons of other 'important' people. There's some seriously old stuff in there.....which I find fascinating. I love really old stuff. Don't know why. Which is one reason I love London so much. So much history!

The detail is amazing! Love the gargoyles.

We were so lucky to have some sunshine in London!

I don't think we ever pulled out our umbrellas!!

The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.

Sometimes we just can't keep our hands off each other.......

St. James Park. My favorite. It's right next to Buckingham Palace.

We caught the end of the tulip season.

A different park.......can't remember the name.......where we sat & ate some lunch.

Mars picked up on this British guy. Don't they make such a cute couple?!!

Trafalgar Square. (where Marlee left her bag of souvenir purchases on the ground by Mr. Lion which, of course, was gone when we went back to get it. Bummer.)

The steps to St. Paul's Cathedral. Such a fabulous backdrop for taking pictures. I mean, I would flip out to have something half as cool in Arizona. Not fair.

Love this picture. Can you believe those doors!

Our last night in London, we headed over to the London Eye, to find out it had just closed for the night (major bummer), and we passed by this opening to an Underground station. We could hear the most amazing music that we could have sworn was a full orchestra. But as we got closer, we realized it was just these two guys. They were so good! We hung out & listened to them for quite a while & pretty much emptied our pockets while we were at it!

Big Ben & Parliament.......at night.......on the Thames.
What a fun, fun trip we had.

Logan

This is Logan.

My sister's 4th and final boy.

He's 6 months old.

He loves to slobber.

And be loud like his big brothers.

And I had never even met him until last week, when we were up in Utah for a visit.

So we had a mini photoshoot......

.......until he'd had enough.

But I couldn't get enough of those blue eyes!

My little sister, Holl.

We're less than 2 years apart.

So that means we grew up always wearing matching dresses to church.....

And always had to share a room.......

And always stole each other's clothes & especially shoes.......

We're so different,

yet so much alike.......

.....like how we each have 4 little boys!!

Love you Holl.

We need to play more.

(I had to sneak this in because it's going to take me forever to get my London pics up! )

PARIS - Part II

Aahhhh.....strolling along the Seine........Pont Neuf, Paris' oldest bridge,

in the background.

The Sainte-Chapelle......700 years old.....with the most amazing stained glass windows.

And then on to Notre Dame.....

We are all about eating. And we did alot of it.

Good thing we walked our little patooties off or we'd have each gained 50 pounds!

If something looked good, we bought one, or two, or three, and tried it. Eventually, Mars got comfortable enough to go in a shop by herself & buy something. You see, it was really all just an educational pursuit......all the purchasing of baguettes & pastries & crepes & quiches & glace & profiteroles au chocolat..........

Sorbet??...Sure! I'll try some!

Fresh flowers, fresh baguettes, fresh everything........France is so cool!!!

And fabulous gardens & architecture everywhere!

And a late lunch at Les Deux Magots to top off our Paris side-trip........before catching the Eurostar back to London.

Man, I wish I were sitting right there, on the Boulevard St.-Germain, right now!!!