My Year in Review- Part 3

Now we are at May.

I got some cute pictures of the kids- thanks to my dear friend, Katheren Gomez

 Jayden rode the bus for the last time to school since he graduated from Headstart, and the school where he attends Kindergarten is too close for bus service.  It's too bad, since he really enjoyed riding the bus.

The kids wrapped up their studies, and we had graduation ceremonies in Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts

Kyrie bridged from Brownies to Juniors

Isaiah moved up to Bears

Kyrie won Jr.Cougar VIP, and got some tickets to the baseball game.  She brought Isaiah and her friend, Alina, along.  She also got her picture on the big screen, but we didn't see it.

June

Cub Scout Day Camp was lots of fun!

And now for another rough patch in our year...

Our first baby wasn't actually Kyrie, it was our Chocolate Lab- Padme.  She had been a faithful and loyal companion to us for 14 years.  In the last year, I had seen her age catch up with her(although, she could still be energetic at times).  Her back legs started giving out on her, and it got to the point where we had to practically carry her up our front steps.  In June, we made the heart-wrenching choice to put her to sleep.  When I watch Marley and Me, I bawl like a baby because it reminds me of Padme and our family.  She was a great dog.

Taken the day before we took her to the vet.

We left home for a couple of weeks to spend some time in Seattle with Grandma Rollins, and we got to hang out with Auntie Kim 

and Uncle Manny

as well as other friends.  The kids took their first trip(and also mine) to Chuck E. Cheese's.

After our visit in Seattle, we then made our way down to Oregon to visit my Auntie Patty.  She's not blood related, but she has been friends-close enough to be sisters with my mom since they were young.  My Aunt Pat has blessed us incredibly with letting us use her time share credits to various places, and we decided that we should spend some time with her.  We had a fun time going on hikes on Upper and Lower Table Rock in Central Point.  We enjoyed playing with her dogs, and the dogs she cares for at her kennel.  They helped take away the pain of losing our own pet.

Mark and Jayden saying goodbye to Dozi.

We decided that our trip back home would go up through the center of Oregon- with a stop at Crater Lake.  

It was so beautiful there- even if it was cold and snow was still on the ground and blocking half of the rim at the end of June. The lake really is THAT blue!  I wish we had more time there.  Hopefully we will go back someday.