She's only 17

We celebrated Kars turning 17 in a very similar fashion to last year. School was still in, although 

she didn't have classes since she completed her finals the day before. She agreed to breakfast in bed {burrito and fruit}, and even a picture .... I agreed to not post the picture;) After we all left for work and school, she most certainly went back to sleep until I took her for a sandwich during my lunch break and then her friends took her to Walrus for ice cream later that afternoon.

She chose a birthday dinner at Beau Jo's for the second year.

Kars asked only to go to dinner on her birthday and then a night with her friends on the weekend. After dinner we presented her with gifts. Gpa & Gma gave her the Harry Potter series and a gift card to Ulta. 

Bay gave her some gym shorts and sunglasses. 

Emm gave her gum and made bets on how long it would last her:)

She also got an Apple watch and a few other little things from us {bracelet, toiletry bag/body wash, guitar rack}

She requested brownies and ice cream for dessert.

I love this kid so so much! Watching her grow into a nearly adult has been so fun. The pain my heart feels about time moving too quickly, is overshadowed by the immense joy and pride I feel at the amazing person she is.

A couple of nights later, she had her close friends over for games, a campfire and outdoor movie. Kennedy brought Raigan with her which made Emm super happy.

The campfire turned into an impromptu end of year schoolwork burning

Kennedy and Raigan had to leave before the movie, but Emmrey, Karsyn, Taeson and Logan enjoyed watching 50 First Dates and then came inside for more games until nearly 2 am! {only acceptable because they were at our house and it was for her birthday .... and they are a trustworthy bunch}

Photo cred to Emmrey:)

Stewy-Dexter 2009-2019

May 17th was a sad day for us. We very unexpectedly lost our bunny. Stewy-Dexter came into our lives unexpectedly too when Bailee's friend was trying to home babies that they didn't plan for. I'll never forget when she and Mark came back from visiting her friend, box in hand and inside this cute little black fur ball with one white paw. We couldn't come to a consensus on his name so we hyphenated.  He has brought a lot of joy into our lives and has put up with a lot. Science Fair projects, wagon and stroller rides {my guess is he liked those}, dress up, photo shoots, and baby chicks.

He was a pretty low maintenance little guy.... the perfect kind of pet. It was a really hard couple of days/weeks for all of us... lots of tears. Even now, we have moments where that hole feels extra empty. I miss hearing his little scamper every time I entered the garage. In fact, it was that subconscious sound that was absent and alerted me that something was wrong that morning.

We found a little spot by our garden to bury him and had a sweet little memorial. 

Coincidentally,. Emmrey had written a letter to him a year ago that she hadn't shared before. It was the perfect little tribute to our furry friend. 

We hope he is in Bunny Heaven eating yogurt chips to his hearts delight.

HCCD

The company that Emmrey has danced with for the past few years closed their Wellington location last summer. We knew that it was time to move on regardless of the closure, but I had mixed feelings about where to take her. I debated enrolling her in Fort Collins, which has more opportunities and certainly a greater chance of a bigger class than what she had. High Country Conservatory of Dance is based in Fort Collins, but they opened a Wellington location about a year ago. We ultimately decided to give it a try. Emmrey has been interested in Lyrical dance and they offered a class for her age group. I also really try to keep things local whenever possible. Because it takes me forever to make a decision and life gets busy ... we didn't get her enrolled until mid year. It was fine because they were working on new routines for spring anyway, but she had less time to become familiar with a totally new kind of dance. Things are just starting to pick up in this town, and so while the younger classes are full and the older ones are pretty sparse. Likely because many of those kids have already started up with studios in Fort Collins years ago due to nothing being available here. She dances with just one other girl at this point. There's good and bad to that I suppose. She loves it and has done really well. The spring recital was held May 17th at the Rialto, an old theater in downtown Loveland.  Not exactly convenient and a little frustrating because we didn't realize they can actually sell out! 

Bailee came home the next day, but she had Kars there to cheer her on.

 

They danced to Hurt Somebody and I thought they were one of the best .... not just because I am partial either. 

 Emm and her "duet" partner Olivia

It was a fun ... long evening of dance. I loved watching her on stage.

Mothers Day in Laramie

I had really been wanting to have a girls night in Laramie for months. It seemed like we were running out of weekend options before the semester would be over. When we started talking about Mother's Day, I figured that would be the perfect time to do it. We drove over late Saturday afternoon, picked up Bailee from her dorm and checked into the hotel.  

 We grabbed dinner at Freddy's went to the pool and enjoyed way too many snacks/treats. 

Can there ever really be too many .... this girl would say no!

 In the morning I found some goodies at the breakfast table. Emm had to be pretty sneaky to get it there before I sat down. 

 After breakfast we went for a walk by the river ... with that lovely Laramie wind.

 Played at the park for a while, had lunch at McAlister's where I got a free dessert, and went to a movie {Poms}

 Then we went to Bailee's dorm to collect some of her things she wouldn't need for the next week.

 We filled up the cart {and car} with what we could and planned to get the rest in a week. 

 When we arrived home Mark had flowers and dinner waiting💗

 And the following day, I found this in my school bag from Kars..... she knows the way to my heart. 

It was one of the most enjoyable Mother's Days I have had. I am so thankful everyday that I became a momma to my three bambinos. I am the luckiest!!!

Poudre Prom and Brown & Gold Ball

I was a little surprised that Karsyn decided to go to Prom this year. .... super happy, but surprised. In the past, she hasn't been all that excited about school dances. She has a tight little group this year that all decided it might be fun.  Kars and I both tend to lean to the procrastinator side, so we felt lucky to find something just right without too much trouble. She looked stunning!!

 The kids all met at our house before heading to dinner and the dance. They were originally considering Chick-Fil-A, but ultimately upgraded to a Steak House;) After Prom ended around 11, they came back to our house to play games .... until 2 am??  Such a nice group of kids. I am happy they decided to give Prom a chance {I think they were glad too}

Logan, Kennedy, Karsyn, Taeson

 Meanwhile over in Laramie a couple weeks earlier, Bailee attended the Brown & Gold Banquet and Ball. The event is hosted by the LDS Student Association. Being a part of Institute Council meant that she was involved in the planning and organizing. The night consisted of a speaker, dinner and dance. She was a little disappointed that the speaker talked a bit too much about things specific to the church. The event is for all students as well as the Laramie community, so it was supposed to be more inspirational than religious. Overall, I think she had a great time with her friends. She is such a beauty!

Kelsey, Makell, Bay, Daphny

LAX

Kars had thrown around the idea of going out for Tennis this year... or possibly Track ... and then one day she came home and asked what we thought of her going out for Lacrosse.... 

this girl always keeps us guessing.

From February through April, LAX was pretty much a full time job.  In fact, she could rarely work due to practices and games. {A little blurry, but there's our #2 starting off the game with the draw}

It was a pretty crappy weather season. Several cancellations. We spent many games in the rain.

Even a few in snow

Others were beautiful and required "kilt only" {no under/long layers}

We had a few "Friday Night Lights" games ....

Emmrey was a pretty good sport through it all. She sometimes got creative to entertain herself 

{I think she might have been dancing up there in the box}

We were only able to attend the home games since the away games were quite a distance. They had one tournament that required an overnight stay in Grand Junction. I asked Kars to send me some pictures since we couldn't make it. This is what I got .... a  view from the bus of the girls all waiting for the porta-potty at a rest stop:)

I also got these later ..... she was a little uneasy about going at first, but it turned out to be a great team bonding time for this JV team!

These two!! Some still shots from a little video they made.

So cute!

Back at a home game, Kars was the real MVP.  She scored the winning goal in a double overtime game!

The season ended with a banquet. Food and awards and a hope that she will play again next year. 

What a reputation!

She would like to make Varsity next year, but liked the JV coaches so much she is having mixed feelings about that. They were tough when they needed to be, but fun and encouraging too.

Kelly, Kennedy, Karsyn, Dani

Because Lacrosse is fairly new to the district, they don't have a team at each high school. Instead, the team is comprised of girls from all 4 high schools in FoCo + Windsor. One school "hosts" the team {in this case Rocky Mountain} since that is where the field is. So although there were girls from all over northern Colorado playing, they were all Lobos {Rocky's mascot}. They had a great season {10-6} and Kars had so much fun! We all learned a little more about this fast moving sport.