VIP Graduation

The day following the Desert Willow end-of-preschool celebration, we got to celebrate Harper's graduation from VIP (Vail Inclusive Preschool)!  It was amazing!  Harper has had such a great experience at VIP.  Her teacher was Ms. Jessica and her speech teacher was Ms. Cheryl.  We will be forever grateful for the love and care she received there.
Thank you to Grandma & Grandpa Palmer, along with Grandpa Steve and Viv for joining us for the event!  Harper's class performed a super-hero song (thus the cape and mask) and then we celebrated with a yummy dinner.
Harper was so cute up on stage!  Her cap wouldn't stay on but she didn't care!  She was so excited to be up there and she waved at the family with much enthusiasm.  When it was time to put her arm around her classmate, she didn't even hesitate.  We are so very proud!

End of Preschool Celebration

This has been a very busy week, filled with many celebrations!  On Wednesday night we had Harper's End-of-Preschool Celebration at Desert Willow.  She started Desert Willow right before her 3rd birthday and for 1 year was a DW Diamondback full-time.  This current year, she's attended Desert Willow half-time and VIP half-time.
It was a lovely celebration!  There were craft activities for the kids, they all got bright orange t-shirts, and the UA marching band came to play some songs.  There was also a slideshow that documented all the growth and the fun that the kiddos had throughout the year.  It was also a great opportunity to take pictures with all her AMAZING teachers: Ms. Jacquie, Mr. Cesar, Ms. Liz, Ms. Audra, and Ms. Laura!

GRIT Award!

To say that we are proud of Shyla and her accomplishments is a total understatement.  Shyla is, hands-down, one of the most-caring and genuine girls I know.  She is sensitive to others and very aware of her own and other people's feelings.  She also works hard.  Each day she tries her best and continually becomes more and more responsible and (eek!) grown-up!

This week she was awarded the annual Grit Award for the entire 1st grade!  Wowzer!  This is a huge accomplishment!  She was so delighted and proud.

I had to laugh when we had this conversation however:

SHYLA: "Do you know how I knew I had won?"

ME: "Yeah, how did you know?"

SHYLA: "Mrs. Gee said 'Shyla Forgacs!'"

Hike with Zack

We recently took Zack on the Ventana Canyon hike for his birthday date!  It was fun and we made it further than last time.  That may be one of my favorite local hikes.  Someday we'll make it to the water but for now, we'll just enjoy the scenery!

Giant Chair = Photo Opportunity

My school recently had the annual Community Fair and we borrowed this giant chair to raise money for our Relay for Life team (to support the American Cancer Society).  But, we had to take some pictures in it first, of course!

Work Ladies!

These two lovely ladies and I are teachers who vote for education!

Also, for the record, I love them both and could not imagine work without them there.

Easter 2016

It just occurred to me that I did a post about preparing for Easter but never posted about the actual day.  We had a lovely day at Grandma Robin and Grandpa Jorge's house complete with an egg hunt, baskets, and swimming.

We were missing Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Pop.  Grandma Barbara was in a rehabilitation facility and Grandpa Pop was at home.  Much to my extreme sadness and surprise, Grandma Barbara passed away that night.  Maybe that's why I was procrastinating on this post.  Anyway, I hope and plan to write more about that later but that's it for now.

Easter was a good day.

Substitute?!?

Today, as part of an elaborate Teacher Appreciation Surprise at Mesquite, I had the opportunity to be a substitute teacher in Lilly's class!  It was fun and she was an absolute angel!  I'm so proud of what a hard-worker she is and how diligent she is with her school -work.

Kylee Got Married!

This past weekend, Kylee got married!  It was a lovely wedding and a nice excuse for me and Stevie to get a babysitter for the night.  My Mom and Dad went to the wedding too and Dad was even mentioned during the toast!  It was beautiful, even though guests got rained on for a few minutes right before the ceremony began.  Unfortunately, this is the only picture we have from the evening!