May 2023

 

Annika's last pre-braces picture!

The after picture

Our friend Steve won Teacher of the Year and we had a little party with our Life Group to celebrate. So proud of that guy!

Luna getting all the snuggles all the time.

Annika was inducted into National Junior Honor Society this spring.

This kid's gonna change the world.

We had an incredible hail storm in May -- a friend took this pic not far from our house. Fortunately no damage other than utterly destroyed tomato plants which I should know better than to plant before Memorial Day but can never resist doing.

Annika got her district ribbon for 4th in the mile run at the end of season celebration.

Naomi and her friends at the Happy Smackah 5K. For the past 12 springs, the community has come together for this event to raise money for one of its own in the school district who has faced a significant health crisis. This year it was for Beckett, who was in Naomi's middle school classes for three years. His brother is in Annika's class. His story is incredible: https://www.happysmackah.com/the-beckett-reiff-story/

Annika and Ava did the 5K together.

One of Clifton's favorite people from his running days at KU was in town so the guys got together for dinner.

Annika's end of year orchestra concert.

...and Naomi's end of season ballet recital. It was hard to say goodbye to three of her favorite seniors.

Even harder was saying goodbye to Ms. Kristin -- she started this ballet school 25 years ago, and she (and an incredible staff) has taught Naomi since she was 3. She's stepping down to move to take care of her mom, so you can't even be mad about it... In a typical week during the year, Kristin probably spends more waking hours with Naomi than we do... She's family to us.

The goodbyes just kept on coming. (We cried a lot in May.) KatyAnn moved to Oklahoma, so we had a going away party. These four were pretty inseparable this year. They made a scrapbook for KatyAnn to document all their shenanigans.

If you've gotta drive three hours to get to a soccer game, at least you get this as your backdrop.

It was Sarah's last regular season game.

He doesn't get to race as much as he'd like but Clifton still managed to get third for the dudes in their 40s in the Colfax Half. 

Luna loves Clifton. And even though there are plenty of other places to sit, she plopped down on his lap, like the cute little lap dog she is.

Wrapping up the school year -- Sarah's teacher has got her nailed.

Last day of freshman year!

Last day of 7th grade!

Last day of 4th grade!

Mrs Stoll is the only teacher who had all three of our girls!

Do you remember any better feeling than the last day of school?

Annika and her crew on the last day of school.

Meanwhile Naomi and her crew went camping on the last night of school.

This lake must've been ridiculously cold. 

Such a great way to wrap up a year with friends.

This lightning map pretty much sums up our Memorial Day weekend at the Real Cup soccer tournament.

We spent many hours like this waiting for storms to pass.

We did manage to tailgate before the Rapids soccer game. Eden is one of Annika's besties on her soccer team.

Such a fun night for the girls.

These moms are so important to me -- we spend so many hours together rooting for each other's kids, watching them learn and grow and try and fail and bounce back. It's such a supportive crew.

Sarah and her buds hanging out at the game.

The rain just didn't really stop that weekend -- at least it was tolerable this night.

Early morning breakfast with the team before a 7am game.

Wrapping up spring -- Annika's team was invited to play up in a division they didn't quite qualify to play in, so it was a rough season from a standings point of view, but still a lot of fun for her.

Annika and her team, one last pic.

Annika and her coach -- she really enjoyed having him. He'll move on in the rotation so she'll have a new coach next season.

And Sarah's team celebrating with donuts after a game.

When Sarah is ready to play, she is Ready to play.

2nd place finish in the tournament!

Sarah's last season with her coach as well. They rotate coaches every two years so kids have the opportunity to learn under many different coaches and styles.

Annika took this pic on the way home and has declared it "the most aesthetic picture in the world." It's definitely very Colorado.

We were up early for the Bolder Boulder on Memorial day morning.

Clifton (in red shirt) had a great race.

He did well enough to win this Ageless Wonder shirt -- if you run (in minutes) faster than your age. So he earned it for anything less than 49 minutes -- he got it in 40:28.

First time at the pool this summer!!!

We had a fun week with Wesley, Luna's dog cousin.