Jewelry Making at Gainey Ranch

Pool Time at the Gainey Ranch!

Vacation!

Yesterday, we traveled to Scottsdale to make a mini-trip out of the Taylor Swift concert that Mason is going to on Wednesday.  We arrived after driving through the beautiful painted desert and met the cousins at our hotel.  We had a birthday dinner (for moi) at The Cheesecake Factory.

More Friends!

A good friend of Hannah's who moved away came back for a surprise visit!  All of the girls met up for sno-cones!

Friends!

After the last half day of school, we went to lunch with these kids and their mamas.  Then we spent a couple of hours at one of their houses where the girls made music videos and the boys engaged in sword fighting.  It looks like its going to be a great summer!  I just love all of these kids and love spending time chatting with their mamas!

Boys...

You take all of the sisters to ice cream and the boys end up playing football with a water bottle on the concrete.

5th Grade End of Year Fun!

8th Grade Graduation!

There are so many things to be proud of with this kid!  Last night was the 8th grade promotion.  Middle school is over and we will now send our first born out to chart the new territory of high school.  She was awarded the "Academic Excellence Award" for maintaining a 4.0 GPA throughout all three middle school years.  What an accomplishment!  She set out to earn that honor on the first day of middle school three years ago and relentlessly pursued her goal.  We were even able to count her Honors Algebra grade on her high school transcript because she earned an "A" in the class.  (We had been holding out on making that decision until all 4th quarter grades were in because the teacher did not recommend posting the grade to the high school transcript if it was not an "A".)

 

Besides good grades, Mason won the hearts of all of her teachers with her kindness, motivation, and helpful demeanor.  She also has the best group of friends that a mom could hope for.  There is lots of laughter, no drama, lots of support, and all of them are solid hard working kiddos.  We could not have had a better middle school experience!  This kid has set the bar high for her siblings!  We love you, May-May! 

8th Grade Dance!

A group of beautiful girls, inside and out, and a rite of passage.  How did my little girl get so big?