the merry (and busy!) month of may

There is no question about it--May is by far the busiest month in our home. Besides the many birthdays and two holidays, there is the end of school activities and many other happenings. This year was no exception!

Swimming season starts in May. Tosh decided to go big and did a cannonball into the (cold) pool to kick things off:

I got this shot of our cute five one night:

Burke turned 13 on the 13th this year! Burke had a pretty low-key birthday this year. Grandma and Aunt Alisa left town on the 13th so the night before we had Burke's requested dinner of grilled hamburgers and roasted s'mores with everyone. Burke got some nice gifts including a new bicycle that is pretty sweet. I am lame and didn't take any photos.

I got Burke to take a 'selfie' with me on the way to school the morning of his birthday. He is a teenager after all...

Since it was a party year for Tosh (we do a 'friend' birthday party every other year), we decided to have Tosh's party on May 16th--before school got out. It rained and rained before the party and the weather was unusually cool. I was a little stressed as everything we had planned was for outside.

The boys started out with some basketball games in the driveway and then moved over to the (muddy) field for barefoot soccer.

Next came swimming, s'mores, and ice cream sundaes!  The boys had a great time. I'm not sure why, but all of Tosh's friends seem to have extra energy. It's a very funny group of kids.

With the end of school comes various programs and awards. Tosh's class did the cutest program in their classroom. They sang the same song that I learned as a kid that lists the 50 states in alphabetical order. Tosh received the Math award (again):

Tosh with his AMAZING teacher, Mrs. Harder. She looped up with this second grade class and now has them for third!

A sweet sleeping picture of Truman with "Monkey"on May 20th--TWO months old!

On another day the kindergartners did a cute musical program and then split into classrooms for awards. Liv was really hoping to receive the 'bucket filler' award. It is given to children that are generally kind, thoughtful and a good friend to others. We were both so happy that she got this award! Liv is such a sweetheart and tries to be kind to everyone. She is so good at giving others compliments and including others. Sure love this girl!

We love Mrs. Pichardo, Liv's teacher (she had Burke for second grade and even came to his baptism!):

I had to capture how sweet this little guy looked sleeping on my shoulder one day. Those cheeks and lips!!!

Sweet conversations just before bedtime:

Even though this next photo is blurry, I think it is the cutest thing! Besides Tru's adorable smile, this is about when Burke started carrying him around. Sweetest thing ever! It's pretty amazing to have older kids that are really able to help care for a baby. Truman is such a blessing to our entire family.

Big sister strikes!

I sure adore this sweet baby

August and Kiefer turned four on the 21st! We were able to host a little swimming party and BBQ for them on Saturday, the 23rd. We heated up the hot tub for the kids and it was a big hit!

School got out on May 27th and we drove to Utah the very next day. Truman was such a champ, I couldn't believe it! He honestly slept pretty much the entire way.

It was so fun to be in Utah and get together with my two oldest nieces and their babies! Aura Belle was born in September of 2014 and Maverick was born in April 2015. I never would have guessed that I would have a child the same year as my nieces. These three babies will all graduate the same year--2033!

We were able to spend an evening and have dinner with our good friends, the Haynies. I got this cute photo of Zac taking a selfie with Burke as we were leaving. Still can't believe these buddies are teenagers.

Tosh turned EIGHT while we were in Utah. He got a new mitt and ball for his birthday and was excited to try it out in Grandma's backyard:

We met up with my family for lunch at Pizza Pie Cafe (Tosh's choice). Tosh was super excited!

 The cute Dunning cousins after lunch (we were missing Samantha, McKaylynn and Taylor) :

Sue passed down these darling matching outfits that her twins wore and I thought they'd be perfect for Maverick and Truman to wear at my niece McKaylynn's wedding reception. Liv cracked us all up when she said, "I can tell which one Truman is because he has a scratch on his nose." Ha!!! So funny. Sleepy babies--so cute!

Jake and McKaylynn at the reception with these two cuties:

Liv was so excited to be a "flower girl" at the reception (she insisted on wearing this necklace she bought with her birthday money).

I love these next photos that my sister-in-law sent me from the reception. I think these capture the personalities of my children and our other family members quite well...

 I love this candid one of the kids listening to Adler:

These group ones are so great and make me miss everyone so much!

I love Tosh and Liv in this next one!

We were able to go to Maverick's baby blessing on Sunday morning. Here is the big group shot of all the "Dunnings" after the luncheon. Sure missed you this weekend, Mom and Dad!!!

Sunday afternoon we were fortunate to be able to attend the 90th birthday party for my Aunt Pat, my mom's sister. My cousin (Jackie) did a great job on her party. Here is a cool poster she put together:

A photo with Pat, and my two cousins Bob and Jackie. I love these three so much!

We love Jackie's house and huge yard! The cousins played a game of "Sardines" that lasted forever! Burke and Cami were missing for probably an hour or so before they were found. Some of the adults eventually got involved and joined in on the search. My brother took these photos as we waited for the last ones to find us. It was so fun and it was great to see Jackie's son Colin again. It's been several years.

 

On Monday we got to hang out with our Maughan (Peterson side) cousins. Rob's sister took some cute photos of the kids busy playing:

I love this photo of these two cousins that are only 20 days apart:

 I recently found an awesome old photo of these two. Remember when they looked like this???

It's hilarious! I guess JA suggested that Tosh looks scared as if he is going to be eaten by his bigger cousin! So funny. 

I think that pretty much wraps up our trip to Utah! The evening before we returned home we invited some friends (the Dommers, Grays, and Paces) over for a little get-together with ice cream floats. It was really nice to visit with good friends that we don't get to see enough. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos. We also went over to visit the Ashby family for lunch on Sunday, but again I didn't take any photos. I wish we had had more time in Utah, as it never feels like there is enough time. 

And that wraps up our very eventful May. It was extra great this year as we were able to spend time with lots of friends and family!