Promised Land Pageant

This year our family was in the Promised Land Pageant like we did last year. The practcies are everyday from 9am-11pm Monday through Thursday. Friday and Saturday are the performances. We all went on Monday but I decided it was too hard with Kaitlyn being so small. Plus the weather was super hot and there wasn't a good place for her to nurse or nap. It is an hour away, so there is the commuting time to factor in as well. It seemed like too much this year, so I decided to stay home with Kaitlyn and Thomas.

Thomas asked to hold Kaitlyn a lot because there was nobody else to play with, but she's gotten so big, that now she has to sit next to him.

Here is a really funny story. Thomas and I painted together everyday. It was lots of fun. One day he was still painting while I went to feed Kaitlyn on the couch. I couldn't see him, but this is how our conversation went:

T-"I need some tape to hang my picture up."
Me-"OK. I'll get some in a minute. Set your picture on the table to dry for now.

T-"Oh! It sticks!" (pause) "Oh. The wall's a mess."

What do you think happened when you hear him say that? I knew exactly what happened because he had been hanging up his other pictures on the wrong side the day before. I got up to see and found this:

He had painted yellow all over a piece of scratch paper and then stuck it on the wall while it was still wet. I laughed and laughed. For some reason it was really funny. I think because he sounded so innocent about it. He was just trying to hang it up and he seemed really confused as to what to do when he saw it made a big mess. He was adorable. He is such a good boy. We really had a lot of fun eating our meals together, reading books, doing some baking, and playing together. He's so good natured and we call him our "joy boy" for good reason.

Thomas and Kaitlyn in their pjs.

Madalyn

There were free pony rides as part of the pre-show festivities on Friday and Saturday nights. It was the first time the kids have been on a pony or horse.

Kylie

Spencer

Alexis and Thomas

The girls in their colonial costumes.
They were also Nehpites and Pioneers, but I didn't get pictures of them in those costumes.

Holladay family cast members.

Nathan got to play a lot of extra parts this year since he had the whole week off to attend all the practices. One scene that made me cry was when he got shot during the Revolutionary War. I wasn't expecting that. Another new part for him was being a mobber who killed Joseph Smith.

Moms with the 3 cast babies. The one in the middle is 4 months old, the one on the left is 3, and Kaitlyn is 2 months old. She was the biggest!

Good-Bye Kids!

Last Friday morning the kids went down to Florida. Nathan's sisters living at home graciously drove up to get them on Thursay (and baby-sat while I went to Nathan's graduation with the older girls), spent the night, and then drove them down there in our van. His parents will bring them back Thursday night. So far it sounds like they're having a great time. I'm not surprised. I love it when I go there too.

Kyie and Madalyn have to sit by each other. They pick the back seat next to Thomas.

Alexis and Spencer want the seats by the doors so that the middle seat can be folded down to pass things back and forth. I don't know if they stuck with this arrangement all the way there or not, but it was fun listening to them decide this when they realized there would be an extra seat in the van since Kaitlyn wasn't going.

Tom-Tom was the first to pack his bag. He was very excited.

The van driving away at 7:30am. Nathan is the figure in white who is running with it. The children have a tradition to run with whoever is leaving our house, friend or family. They loved watching Daddy do it while they were the ones leaving.

I spent a lot of Saturday organizing past years' school work. The kids have so much good stuff that it's hard to decide what to toss, but I had to downsize a bit because we're running out of room. I've also spent a lot of time doing lesson plans for next school year, starting in August. It's going to be a great year and I'm really excited. I've already learned so much just in planning.

Kaitlyn the cutie keeping me company.

Saturday night we bought a new computer. It was all Nathan's decision and he decided he'd had enough of waiting for 20 minutes for the old one to just turn on. It's lived a long life, but we won't miss it. Nathan was like a little boy on Christmas, opening his new "toy" and setting it up that night.

Kaitlyn is excited to go out for dinner for FHE on Monday.

We picked Nathan up at work, ate at a Mexican restaurant, went to the library for more history books, then came home for a nice lesson and treats. It sure is fun only having one. :)

Nathan's Graduation!

Although Nathan has to officially work until June 30, they already had the graduation. Since he wasn't getting any degrees (he got his MD and PhD in med school) it wasn't too fancy--no caps and gowns or anything. However, there were two nice events. One was a reception at the hospital. The children were invited to this and we had a great time eating and talking. The second one was the more formal graduation banquet at a country club where tickets were limited. We took Kylie and Madalyn, who were only interested in the food and not the speeches, but they were still glad they went.

These desserts were so glazed over that Kylie thought they looked fake.

Minutes after this Thomas spilled his grape juice all over the nice white table cloth. I was glad the younger 4 stayed home the second round. :)

Nathan receiving his diploma.

We're so proud of all his hard work. Can you believe it's taken 26 years of schooling to make it this far? He has done 13 years of kindergarten through high school, then 13 years since then (3 years of undergrad, 7 years of medical school, and 3 years of residency.) If he had taken longer for undergrad and to earn his PhD then it would have been even longer. And his residency (Internal Medicine) is the shortest there is. So a lot of other doctors do even more schooling/training than he did. Wow! In anycase it's a lot of work! I can't believe it's over. I've loved residency and we have been very happy here. The past 3 years have flown by. I'm so blessed to be married to such a hard worker and smart cookie. I'm glad he loves to learn and wants to help people. I know he's excited to start pursuing his own resarch ideas and be moving on as a full-fledged doctor.

Zucchini and P.P.I.s

Here are a few random pictures. The first ones are of the zucchini Spencer grew. Our garden is very small this year. With Kaitlyn's due date approaching, I decided I wouldn't have anything to do with a garden this year. Nathan and Spencer bought the seeds and plants on a Saturday in April. Tuesday morning Kaitlyn was born. Thursday my sister came to help us out and she planted the garden with Spencer, but the plants were looking a little sickly by then. Still, most survived and Spencer has taken good care of his little garden. Corn is what he's most excited about, but he was also proud of this zucchini, even though he doesn't like zucchini very much.

These pictures Alexis took after she was done with her P.P.I. It stands for personal priesthood interview, but the kids usually just call it "my interview." Every Fast Sunday Nathan talks to each child individually and they love it.

Medoc Mountain

Saturday we went to Medoc Mountain State Park. We love state parks because there are so many trees (as opposed to our barren yard) and plenty of hiking, nature, and quietness around. It's my idea of a perfect outing. As soon as we set off, the kids buddied up: Kylie and Alexis, Madalyn and Spencer. The kids informed us that Kaitlyn was my buddy and Thomas was Daddy's, although he preferred to hang out with them unless he needed a ride. :) It will be fun when Kaitlyn is big enough to be someone's buddy; I like it when we have an even amount of children.

I love these first two pictures. They were so cute hiking ahead of us and squealing with delight over the smallest things: bugs, sticks, leaves, etc. We all had a great time.

These next ones are portraits that the kids wanted taken of themselves. I didn't want mine, but I got it anyway.

Kylie holding Kaitlyn. I guess I never got one of Kylie's face, so this will have to count.

Madalyn

Spencer begged me to take this picture of him with muddy clothes after he re-enacted his dramatic fall of running and slipping into the mud.

Then Lexi wanted a picture of her too.

And Thomas too of course.

Kaitlyn relaxing while we take a break from hiking and watch the kids play in the creek.

Hiking back

Spencer found this perfect hiking stick for Nathan.

We made it! Back to where we started from.

Last Day of School

Last Wednesday, May 26, was our last day of school. As usual, we had a little party. During the day we went to Michaels to get some summer craft projects to work on. Then we had lunch at the park, stocked up on books at the library, and stopped at the grocery store on our way home to get some food for our party. In the afternoon we went through our school work to find our best works in each subject and assembled our portfolios. Then we got the food ready and ate when Nathan got home. It wasn't as fancy as last year, but it was still fun. It's great to be out of school and have time for other projects, one of which is preparing lesson plans for next year. I love doing it and it makes me so excited to start the new school year. There is always so much great stuff to learn and each year gets better and better.
Sorry about the pictures. I was too lazy to go around and shut the blinds (and in a hurry to eat:)).

We all wore brown shirts and green shorts/capris for our last day, even Kaitlyn.

Madalyn's turn to show her portfolio to Daddy.

First Smiles

Baby's first smiles are so cute, but so difficult to capture on camera. When you do it, it's just not as cute as in person. But here are some anyway.

No smile, but just looking pretty after church last Sunday. She's sure growing fast!