Aubrey at LDS Prom

While I was in Utah for Brandon and Angela's graduation, Aubrey attended her first formal dance, LDS Prom, with a boy from her seminary class.  Dan obliged me by taking pictures of the couple before they left our home.  Funny story . . . the guy doesn't drive yet, so his mom chauffeured them and another couple. She took pictures throughout the night, including pictures from the car while her son was walking Aubrey to the door at the end of the night!  She also sent Aubrey pictures she took of her son in his tux after they got home from the dance. It was a little funny, but both the son and mom were very nice. They had put together gift bags for all of the people in the group, and Aubrey's date brought her flowers as well as a wrist corsage.

Aubrey got ready for the dance with a group of young women in the ward. 

Pictures at our house

Trying to figure out the boutonnière. Eventually Dan had to help! 

Pictures after dinner (at Panera)

 A selfie with her good friend Seth

The gift bag

 And the official dance picture:

Aubrey's 16th birthday Girl's Trip to Portland

The end of March I took these two beautiful girls to stay overnight at a lovely boutique hotel in Portland to celebrate Aubrey's 16th birthday! The historic hotel is decorated with pictures and mementos from Hollywood's classic movies. It was a perfect place to take these two vintage-loving girls!

 The hotel had put a birthday card for Aubrey in the room

 And gave us bottles of sparkling water and beauty face masks.

 We dolled ourselves up for a night on the town

 And walked a mile to 23rd Avenue to window shop and get some treats. We got gourmet pizza for dinner, a few cupcakes to share, Salt n Straw ice cream, and Bluestar donuts. Because why not, we were in celebration mode!  Then we walked back to the hotel. 

 We took some pictures of the interior of the hotel.  Below right, the still functioning mail chute which carries notes from upper floors to the lobby.

Re-creating some of the pictures of classic moments from films.

Then we did our face masks and the girls practiced their relaxed falling onto the bed. True bliss! We watched "You've Got Mail" before falling asleep in the comfy beds.

 In the morning we walked over to a cute bakery we had seen the night before. We enjoyed a variety of pastries for breakfast. Then we checked out and drove to the Saturday Market along the waterfront.

It was a gorgeous spring day! We loved looking at the booths and buying some lunch and homemade caramels. Then we took a few pictures before heading back home to reality.

Joseph is a Boy Scout!

On February 18th Joseph crossed over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. He worked hard to finish his Arrow of Light and Webelos badge.  He received his cool Arrow of Light (made by Cubmaster Dave Vial) and crossed the bridge to Scouts with the help of older friends at the Blue and Gold Banquet.

I was able to spotlight Joseph for a minute before he received the award. This is what I said:
"Joseph has been a delight all of his life. He is the youngest, adored little brother in our family. He has always been vey special friends with his older brother, who was 13 when he was born.  

Joseph keeps us laughing and has such a fun personality. He las lots of smiles and energy and is good natured. 

Joseph is creative and loves to build Legos. He is a great story writer and artist and plays the piano and cello. He loves sports, video games, playing outside, and amusement parks. He especially likes playing with friends! He is very excited about middle school. He doesn't like homework or haircuts. 

Joseph likes Scouting. He is a hard worker, likes to achieve goals, has a kind heart and sensitivity to the Spirit. 
We love him!" 

 Joseph pinned the "mother pin" on me without impaling me.  Success!  And then he crossed the bridge and took the oath.

Joseph has attended two Scout campouts with his Dad so far. The second time was part of the 11-year-old Scout camp. I was technically in charge of this multi-stake camp, although I have an amazing couple in charge who pulled it off beautifully. Here are a few pictures from the week long day camp. The boys camped overnight Friday with their dads in attendance.  

Here are a few other pictures of Joseph's Scout adventures, 

So far so good for our Scout!

Back to School

School started a week earlier than normal this year, the week before Labor Day. I was glad that we weren't quite as late as usual, because that means that we get out one week earlier in the summer!

This year Joseph is a big 6th grader at the Middle School. He is excited to have 8 different classes AND his own iPad issued by the school. The kids do most of their homework assignments and can play educational games on the device. My little boy has grown so big, and he is such a great kid!

 Aubrey began her junior year! She was not happy about the large amount of summer homework she had to complete over the summer, but looked forward to getting back into a routine and beginning a new play.

 Our favorite Molasses Crinkles for an after school treat. I was at soccer with Joseph when Aubrey got home, so I don't have a picture of her eating her cookies.

And, finally, I love this project Joseph did during the first few days of school. It's an "All about Me brochure" by Joseph Porter. This is his rough draft.
Text: "Hi, my name is Joseph and I am 11 years old. I am friendly, funny, hard working. I was born in Utah.

I think my favorite hobby is reading. My favorite books are Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Hunger Games, Wonder, and Hatchet. The first chapter book series was The Magic Treehouse.

My favorite book is Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.  It's about a boy named Harry Potter who's the chosen one. I chose this book because it has fantasy adventure and awesome characters.

In the future, after high school I want to go to BYU Provo with my friend Alex for college. I also want to be an engineer.

And another fun project from the beginning of school: