Meet the Teachers
Dear Hayden,
Tonight, we met your first grade teachers!! I am so excited for you because my first impression of both Mrs. DeStefano and Miss Coccia is that they are wonderful! I am praying and praying and praying that you have an amazing year.
Love you,
Mama
Winding Down
Dear H, O and B,
We spent the last 3 days of our vacation in Flagstaff — just the 5 of us. It was a great way to end our road trip. We went to the park to blow bubbles and play, made art, visited a history museum, met up with Shannon and Zoe for dinner at Beaver Street Brewery, and enjoyed some down time in the condo we rented. We love being with the three of you. I love vacation so much because it brings us back to each other — rather than being pulled in all of the directions that our life pulls us — work, school, volunteering, church, and friends — just to name a few. It gives us extended time to remember how much the 5 of us are a team, and how important each member is, just because they are a part of it.
Love you,
Mama
Magic.
Dear H, O and B,
We’ve spent the last three days at Disneyland. It is one of my most favorite places to be with you! You smile bigger, laugh harder and shine so bright when we are here. It’s a whole place dedicated to bringing out the purest magic in you. Nana and Papa joined us for the first two days, and Kim and Madi came Sunday afternoon and stayed until Tuesday with us. We had an amazing time together!
Love you,
Mama
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Dos.
Dear Bennett,
Today, you are two! Your birthday is always so different from the rest of ours because we are always traveling!
Before we left, we invited your 3 friends — Luke, Jacob and Jojo to go to Build a Bear with you for a tiny two year old party. You had a fantastic time! We also went to Grandma and Jiddoh’s house for a quick visit because on your second birthday, Grandma turned 75! It was fun to spend some time celebrating with her before we left for our vacation.
Today, we went to the train park called Travel Town where Papa used to go as a kid. We rode a train, checked out old train cars, watched model trains go around a track and picked out some new Chuggingtons. Then, we went to Farell’s — an old fashion ice cream parlor that Nana used to go to on her birthday. You were quite confused by their birthday song, but there was a lot of great food and ice cream, so you were quite happy!
You are such an enthusiastic two year old! You get excited about everything, and life’s a party to you. You bring us so much joy and happiness! You are speaking in complete sentences and you have a lot of facial expressions. You have your own personality, and it adds so much to our family. We’re so grateful for you, Buddy.
Love you,
Mama
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A Fourth of July Wedding
Dear H, O and B,
Today we went to Ben and Mireille’s wedding. I have to tell you that Ben and Mireille are two of my most favorite people currently walking the earth. Their commitment to God, each other, and the people they love is such a huge blessing! My favorite thing about them is that they always have patient and kind words for the three of you — they are amazing role models for you. So, it was a pretty great day to see two people who we like so much make a commitment to spending their lives together serving the Lord and each other. It was such a fantastic wedding and we had such a fun time! Between the rehearsal dinner last night and the wedding tonight, you danced, made new friends and reconnected with family. I’m already praying that you will find a partnership like this — one where you are made better and your spouse is made better because you are together.
Love you,
Mama
Rehearsal dinner:
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Wedding:
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Beach Fun!
Dear H, O and B,
We spent yesterday driving from home to Simi Valley! We spent today at the beach! You had a great time splashing and playing. We swam in the hotel pool and just generally relaxed. It was a great first day of vacation.
Camping Fun
Dear H, O and B,
This weekend we went camping! The Burbanks had the campsite right next to ours and the Stanfords came up for Saturday night, too! You all had such a grand time!
Love you,
Mama
Blub. Blub. Blub.
Dear H, O and B,
We took some underwater pics this weekend and we got a few good ones! You are all becoming such great swimmers!
Love you,
Mama
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Last Day of the First Year
Dear Hayden,
Today, we dropped you off for the last day of kindergarten. I know that I say it all the time, but I just cannot believe how quickly you are growing up. I fully expected you to go to school and make brand new friends this year, with whom you’ll grow over the years. What I didn’t expect is that I would make some brand new friends, with whom I’ll grow over the years. I fully expected you to gain wisdom and learn countless new things. What I didn’t expect is that I would gain wisdom that will carry me into the unknown parts of parenthood that lie ahead of me. I have so enjoyed watching you grow and change this year, Hayden. I love the little baby they placed in my arms on your BIRTHday. I love the little girl you are at this very moment. I love the young person you are becoming.
This year, you learned to handle some of your own business with friends, specifically on the playground. By the end of the year, you had become friends with a girl who, at the beginning of the year, you called, “The Meanest Girl in School” all the time. Your music teacher told me that you sing back to her in perfect pitch, and that you are the loudest, most enthusiastic singer she has. Mrs. Swinford told me that you always share insightful things with her on the playground. All of your worksheet assignments came home with your drawings and doodles on the back — nothing made you happier than to make art this year. You lost 4 teeth during this school year and wore two different pairs of glasses. You and Dad read the first 4 Little House books at bed time this year and one Saturday in March, he helped you learn to ride a bike with no training wheels. You had your first away-from-home slumber party at Allison’s house. You met your kindergarten class friends at a park to trunk-or-treat in your Halloween costume, had them all over to our house to build gingerbread houses for Christmas and went to a Valentine’s Day party at Jack’s to exchange valentines with them. Your brothers missed you terribly when you were gone every day, but when you were home, you were the best sister I’ve ever seen. It was a good year.
You were challenging for your lead teacher — I think she really didn’t know what to do with a student who is as creative and quick as you are. I struggled a lot with that, Hayden. My first instinct was to move you, immediately, when I realized how misunderstood you were. Then I took a step back and realized that you were learning and happy, and so it was okay for you to stay where you were and learn what you needed to learn from this situation. I learned that even at the age of 6 and a half, some things are between you and God — like the way you think and tick and how you are meant to express yourself. This year was also hard for me because I missed you! I learned a lot about the value of prayer — I prayed for you so many times every day — it felt like the only thing to do when what I really wanted to do was drive to your school to hang out with you!
So, here’s to the last day of the first year of school… I’m so grateful that I get to be your mom because I am learning things I never expected.
Love you,
Mama
PS – When I picked you up this afternoon, I started crying on the way home, but you didn’t realize it because you were singing along with the radio. About 20 seconds after I started, you said, “Mom, can you do that thing where you cry because I finished another school year?” And then I looked at you and you said, “Oh! You already are!” It was hilarious!
Pictures from this year:
Pictures from today:
Family Time
Dear H, O and B,
We spent this weekend in Tucson with family. You all had fun playing with cousins and relaxing!
Love you,
Mama
