May 2022

May was beautiful! I was free from school. Three boys were in school. I had Ezra to myself. It was such a refreshing feeling to be home and work and play and be with my Ezra. He is a stud. The first week of May, I had an agenda. There were things on my 8-month-long to-do list that I was determined to get done. So this kiddo got to self entertain for several days while I got caught up on the silly, insignificant organizing and housework. He endured well, and then I was ready to play with him. We had a couple of field trips, and I loved every minute of them. Far more than he did. We spent a day at the zoo, and the animals were out and about and he didn't know how lucky we were to see the dog show, the gorilla feeding, the elephant feeding, the polar bear swimming, the grizzly bears playing and the entire Savana out and about. Mostly, I love this kid!

But turns out he likes pictures with the pretend animals. 

It was fun to see the gorillas find their food and pick and choose what they wanted to eat.

There's a giraffe, a zebra, an ostrich, a warthog, and a train in this picture. Not to mention perfect weather of not too hot, and not too cold. I even pulled him in the bike trailer and got my workout in that day.

Lincoln's 5th grade got to go on a big field trip to BizTown where all the 5th graders got to be a "grownup for a day". It was impressive how excited all the kids were and an impressive setup in their little city. I loved being able to be there and watch him in action. This is Rosie Little a friend since Kindergarten and the Mayor of Biztown.

Rosie was introducing the CEO's including Lincoln who was waiting for his turn to give his speech.

Lincoln got to be on TV with his good buddy Beck who was the news anchor for the day.

Look at this CEO hard at work trying to get his customers to make their payments.

Oliver and Thomas had an end of year singing performance. I got this amazing shot of Oliver really getting into it.😕

My sweet niece Maddy got married in May. Dean had the idea to give her the China from his Grandma Toolson. I'm not sure if she wanted it, but now she has it. She came over to pick it up, and all the boy were anxious to help. And we were anxious to have them take a picture and then get out of the way.

Julie is always the best at planning adventures. We went on a hike with Benny and Wes and baby on the way.

Ezra is a good little hiker. As long as we don't let his older brothers tell him it's not fun.

Lincoln also had an orchestra concert. He had a solo and introduced one of the numbers and loved every minute of it. 

I got so much help from friends this winter as I took the older boys skiing on Fridays. I finally had the ability to invite kids over to my house. And my secret is I took them on my terms. We had an Ezra day with friends and the sandbox.

Wes loved the balls surrounding him and the trampoline is always a win.

The kids also participated in a little water relay race.

And I had them do an art project. Something I did daily with Lincoln, and yearly with Ezra.

Ezra and I had a park day. This is always the best climbing tree. And Ezra's favorite words. "Mom, take a picture of me."

Another field trip we went on was Discovery Gateway. Again, I think I enjoyed the one on one with Ezra more than he enjoyed the museum, but it was good for both of us!

Thomas had a birthday party and was gifted a Lego set. I'm confident it's the first one he's ever received, and by golly, he liked it!

We had the party in the backyard. For some reason, the place to eat the cake and ice cream ended up on the concrete under the trampoline.

The favorite eat the donut contest was a hit as always.

And a simple water relay had Thomas doing his favorite thing... running.

I totally forgot to take a picture of Thomas' cake/cupcakes, but it was a pretty basic cupcake with sprinkles. He was sung to in the garage because the wind was blowing out the candles.

We met some friends at Wheeler Farm. Another awesome Ezra day. Phillip and Ezra are good little buddies.

They even help each other drive the tractor.

Ezra liked all the animals...for a limited amount of time, but loves his picture taken always.

For Christmas, we gifted the boys a bunch of one on one activities to do with either their mom or dad throughout the year. They prefer Dean on most occasions, but somehow I got to take Thomas to This is the Place.  A one on one with Thomas is a different kind of treat. We did almost everything there is to do including ride the small train.

Even though Oliver is my animal guy, Thomas took a liking to these goats. I can't blame him, they were pretty cute.

The pony ride is something he endured more than enjoyed.

We had a park day with a couple of Ezra's friends. I took Lorna, Phillip and Ezra on a little adventure away from the blankets. They were adorable.

The City of South Salt Lake put on a sports day. Just for fun and and for free, and we took full advantage. Ezra was in the middle of that maze and loving it.

Maddy and Dawson's wedding day was beautiful. They were married May 5th in Payson. It was fun to have the day off with Dean. Ezra's daycare even agreed to take him for the day. 

On Thomas' birthday, we celebrated at Chuck-a-Rama. Kids and birthdays=smiles. He was such a fun birthday boy this year!

The boys had a mother's day Activity Days that I got to go to. Oliver loved the build your own sundae!

While on a biking and playground adventure with Ezra one day. We found these hot air balloons for a school's field day.

Maddy's wedding reception was at the end of May. In true Katie Graham fashion, it was quite the event. The food was amazing, and the boys couldn't get over how many disco balls there were.

The disco balls were cool, but these boys liked being up front for the cake cutting.

Thomas is showing off his hand held disco ball.

Leave it to Lincoln to talk to the DJ about how the music works.

The wedding was beautiful, and there is something emotional about a bride dancing with her dad. 

Once the boys were given an ok. They got to it on the dance floor.

They are just so shy...or don't mind being the center of attention. We all had a wonderful time!

We had free tickets to the Aviary and had a fun time using them. Our friend Brooks came along, and helped everyone enjoy the birds just a little more.

                                       

And somehow, Lincoln got birthday party too. We had a great plan on what to do, and then it rained all weekend long. So I came up with a plan B. It worked well enough. This game of unwrapping the gifts from the cellophane took a good chunk of time.

Cupcakes and ice cream time.

And some pizza seemed appropriate for this 11-year-old. Speaking of 11, how did the last 11 years go so fast!

Lincoln's birthday was on a Sunday this year, but he took full advantage of the idea of having Sunday birthday over a 3 day weekend. We celebrated every day.

A friend is in charge of the friend to friend event that is broadcast through the church all over the world and needed pictures of primary kids who had constructed temples. So I bribed the boys to build some temples.

Today here is what I've come up with for May.

May was amazing.

I have the coolest boys anywhere. 

I love being a mom to these kiddos!