May pictures

 Bradley, Parker and Carter (left to right) helping me plant our garden.  They are great helpers.

 Bradley loves this swing - it has brought many hours of enjoyment.

The boys went to Father and Son's with Byron.  I got this cute picture text from Byron's phone while they were gone - "Mom I wanted to pick these flowers for you, but dad wouldn't let me." - Bradley
They had such a great time together.  They ended up not spending the night but were excited to go out to breakfast the next morning.  I was able to go with them and had so much fun.

Camille and I headed up to City Creek after the boys left for Father and Sons.  Camille had never been there.  It was fun shopping and then eating at Blue Lemon.  I will miss our nights away after she moves out next year.  She is really fun to shop with and has such a good choice in foods:).

I went to Bradley's class for Mom's and Muffins.   We read books and were able to eat snacks.  It was fun to see how Bradley is in the classroom setting.  He was really excited that I was there with him.  I don't think we got much reading done as he was wanting to talk most of the time.

Camille had her Drama Club Banquet up in Pleasant Grove this year.  She was really excited to go and also find out what plays they would be doing for the next year.  I drove up Camille and Britlyn Hauver.  They had such a fun time.  The plays for next year will be "Shrek the Musical" and "Fiddler on the Roof."  She is really excited about them both.  Camille got the Pioneer Players Raspberry Awards of "Smiley Face" at the Banquet.

 Cara Sabin, Jamie Corbett, Emily Wirick, Britlyn Hauver and Camille

Camille having fun with her friends at Jamie Corbett's house.  These girls had way too much fun taking pictures.

Camille had her Encore performance on May 13 - It was so fun to just see them perform.  They did such an awesome job together.  There were many different duets and solos within the group performed.  Camille sang a song with another girl that sounded awesome together.  Then she sang "Don't Rain on My Parade."  She did a fabulous job.  Above she is with Emily Wirick.  These two have grown so close this year.

 Carter and Parker had their 4th grade program - Utah.  They all did such a great job and I loved every bit of the singing.  These two have loved learning these songs through out the school year.  (Carter red tie, Parker in green tie).  They were also able to wear these cool hats as they were part of the trains coming together song in Promontory Point.  My favorite song they sang was "Utah."  Johnathan had this same program when he was in 4th grade, but we missed it since Byron and I were on a trip.  I am glad we finally were able to see it.  Byron, Camille, Tanner and Johnathan weren't able to come because of their YW/YM's activity listed below.  It was awesome to have Dad and Mom Adamson here. 

Mrs. Knutti has been such an awesome teacher for these two - probably one of the best in the school.  She cares so much about each child and it truly shows in her teaching style.

The Youth went on a 5 mile walk from Temple to Temple (Oquirrh Mountains Temple to Jordan River Temple).  They had a fun time doing this.  I guess the weather was pretty bad when they arrived so they waited out the storm then had beautiful weather the rest of the time.  There were a couple of stations along the way for snacks and water.  Byron was at one of the these stations so he didn't walk the route with everybody else.  Camille is found above on the left side.  I am not sure where the boys were in this picture - must be towards the back.  This was taken before they left at the Oquirrh Mountains Temple.  After arriving at the Jordan River Temple, the youth all had a devotional by the Bishop.  They loved being able to attend this activity.

This beautiful Temple was waiting for this right after sunset.  What a gorgeous picture Byron took. 

I watched Michael and Genevieve's kids one afternoon.  Bradley and Timothy had a lot of fun doing puzzles together.

These two are usually found in the same room.  I love how they have such a close relationship together.

Bradley with his part from the Junior Primary Program.  He said, "I know my Heavenly Father loves me because he gave us the spirit."  He memorized it and did a great job.

Missionary setting apart - May 5, 2013

These two are going to be the most amazing missionaries.  It was so cool to be able to attend their setting apart with the whole family.  President Matsumura wasn't able to attend, so Brother Jerry Savage set them both apart instead.  The first part they pulled both Dad and Mom aside and interviewed them while the counselors talked to the whole family together.  It was really cool.  Then when they came back into the room we got to witness the setting apart with all of the brothers in the circle also.  Very powerful opportunity!  We took some family pictures while there.  Unfortunately we were below the spot lights which made for some fun glowing pictures.  Every person in the family was able to attend.

 

Brother Reed, ?, Mom Beck, Dad Beck, Brother Jerry Savage and their current Bishop (took over after Dad was released in February).

 Parker orange tie, Carter red tie

One last activity with Grandpa and Grandma Beck

Jeff and Emily invited us over to their house the last Saturday before Dad and Mom Beck go into the MTC.  It was fun to play games including foosball and jump rope.  Grandma Beck has pretty much been the reason my kids are so good at playing jump rope.  She has always had the patience to help teach them from a very young age.  They love playing speed and other games. 

Carter jumping rope.

Refurbished Kitchen Table

We bought our kitchen table about 7 years ago used.  It was 10 years old when we bought it and was taken care of very well.  The only downfall was that this lady put lemon pledge on it every week and over time this created a thick sticky mess on top of the table.  It wasn't noticeable when purchasing it, but after sitting at the table you could feel the stickiness.  Byron hated our table and wanted to get a new one.  I was determined to make this beautiful one work that I had spent so much money on.  About 3 years ago I got daring and started scraping the film off the top of the table.  I even sanded it with a sander, but didn't really know what I was doing.  After sanding it for quite some time and realizing I really have no idea how far down to sand, I decided to stop.  I stained the table and decided I would end up getting a new one eventually.  Recently I found out that my neighbor, Lisa McArthur, is amazing with wood projects and other home decorating things.  She gladly helped me get my table back to being presentable.  I spent many hours sanding down the chairs since the sander wasn't able to get around all of the spindles and crevices.  Then Lisa went to town.  She was so quick and transformed it into such a beautiful table.  It was fun to learn from her and hopefully be able to do this on my parent's table at some point.  I did the stools myself with Bradley's help.  I am so happy with the finished product.

Here is a before picture.  You can see the discoloration at the top of the table due to me sanding it down and then staining it before I knew how to sand a table.  It was also still sticky.  It was pretty bad.

After sanding the chair.

Lisa spray painted all of the chairs and the table legs.  Then stained the top.  I am in love with the finished product.  I feel like I have a brand new table.   It is amazing what can be done with a little time and paint.

 

 

  I painted and stained the stools to match the table.

Deck

Our poor deck in the back yard has been through a lot over the years.  We haven't been very good at restaining it and then back in the fall the bottom step started to become very wobbly.  All it took was one person to step down on it one day and it was gone.  We have been dealing with a broken deck for the past 6 months or so.  Byron is so great with figuring things out and decided to replace it in April.  He took a lot of pictures and measurements before breaking apart the old deck.  The youngest 3 were so excited through this whole process.  They were Byron's right hand men as they were there to help at every point during the project.  Bradley even pulled out his own toolbox for Byron to use.  The finished product is amazing!  I am not sure how Byron's mind works, but I need to get one of those.  He can figure almost anything out in his head and make it appear before him.  I had fun staining after it was done.  Now to help keep it looking nice so it doesn't get run down like the last one.

 

 Parker green jacket and Carter blue jacket

 

Tanner had fun sanding the new deck before it got stained.

Elder and Sister Beck Mission Farewell- April 28, 2013

The day finally arrived for Dad and Mom Beck's mission farewell.  It was both a sad and happy day for us.  Dad and Mom both spoke in Sacrament Meeting.  Camille probably cried from start to finish of Grandma's talk.  I got pretty emotional as I was watching Camille having such a hard time.  We will sure miss them.  They have been such a huge part of our lives.  How lucky we have been to live so close.  This will start the beginning of a new chapter of excitement and adventures.  The people in Atlanta, Georgia are sure lucky to have them heading their way.  The spirit was very strong during the meeting.  So many awesome family members attended.  We went to all of our meetings then headed over to their house for some yummy food and socializing. 

 Parker with orange tie.

My parents were so awesome to come to their house.  It was fun to see them.  I love how close the Becks and Adamsons are.  We have had 18 years of life experiences together from deaths, births, Hawaii, plays, concerts, birthday parties, and many more.  How lucky I am to have two amazing sets of parents.

 Bradley and Cadan hanging out.

 Camille with Spencer.

We went in as a family on a group gift.  We bought them an I-pad Mini to take with them on their mission.  They were so excited and surprised.  They had been talking about getting an I-pad, but it never happened.  Now we can keep in better contact with them through facetime.  They are also excited to have something to watch videos and other church things on.  I also put together a family calendar for one year of their mission and will do the other part in May 2014.  Thanks to all of the family helping to give me pictures.  They were so excited to see all of the pictures and look through the calendar.  We want them to feel like they aren't too far away from us as they can still look at the calendar and see their fun family including birthdays and fun milestones in our lives. 

We sure love Dad and Mom Beck and are so grateful for their sacrifice to serve.  What a huge example they are to my children, Byron and I.  Leaving your family and home behind are such huge sacrifices, but they seem to be so willing to do whatever no matter the cost.  We are excited to go up and see them during Spring Break in April 2014 - this will definitely be a huge memory for us all.