May's Marvelous Madness

May has been overwhelmingly busy, with last-of-school programs, birthdays, missionaries, a baptism and graduations. Allison and Dallin graduated from EAC, Devynne and Bethany graduated from high school, and Brianna, Ellie, Brynlie and Camille all graduated from kindergarten. Shadrach and Lillian even "advanced" from 8th grade into high school. We had some opportunities to travel this month, to Nebraska and to Colorado, as well as a trip or two to Mesa. We got to see a little of everyone this month, except Thomas' family, whom we miss like crazy. We have been serving in the Temple and my knee, for the most part, has been on the mend.
Here are all the beautiful children whose birthdays we celebrate in Marvelous May:

Ellie-6 on the 5th


Harrison-11 on the 6th


Isabel-11 on the 9th


Luke-8 on the 10th


Thomas-30 on the 19th


Analynn-7 on the 24th

The first event of May was Brianna's play "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride." She was a rabbit in the forest.

We went out to eat Chinese food with the Alders on Harrison's birthday...of course, Harrison, it was in your honor! We thought about you while we were eating our egg rolls.

We celebrated Mothers' Day by attending Dallin's farewell in the Singles' Branch. He gave a very good talk and we were glad to be able to go since we were not going to be here for his farewell in his ward. Mothers' Day was a lovely day for me. I received calls from all our wonderful children and cards and flowers from Dad and Joel and visits and gifts from the Safford kids. One of the gifts I received, from Dad, Esther put together...my 2nd Blog book. I love it. He also gave me a Kindle. Wow! Perfect for traveling and reading at night when I can't sleep but I want Dad to be able to.




Mary had Carson's preschool party at our house on the 9th. It was cool, but the pool was warm.


Also on the 9th, Isabel celebrated her 11th birthday at our house. The centerpiece, besides the lovely Isabel, was the decadent, delicious "Oreo" cake her mother made.


















Luke had his 8th birthday party at out house on the 10th.


Here is his fabulous Mario cake, made by his talented sister, Rylie.

I was able to go to Grandparents' Day at Dorothy Stinson School on the 11th, to see Polly, Luke, Brynlie and Camille in their programs. They were so cute and the programs are so well done by Mrs. Dosier. She, all by herself is a good reason to go to Dorothy Stinson. However, this is her last year! Anyway, Polly and Luke each had special parts and the whole program was good even though my pictures are not.


















Allison and Dallin graduated from Eastern Arizona College in May. Dallin, of course went to the MTC, in preparation for his mission to Argentina, and Allison is headed for Dixie College in St. George. She won a super tennis scholarship and is excited for this new adventure.



Shadrach won the election at his high school for 9th grade class president.

Tayte won the election at his elementary school for student body president next year. Go Tayte!


While we were in Mesa, preparing to fly to Omaha for Bethany's graduation, we went to see Jeremy and Erika's new house. It is huge! And very nice. I think they will enjoy living there.

































We also had the chance to go shopping in Joel's closet! Fun!

























And we went to Harrison's band concert while we were in Mesa. It was actually very good for a beginning band. Harrison plays the trumpet.

We flew to Omaha on the 13th to attend Bethany's graduation from high school. On our way from the airport, we stopped at the monument to the Pioneers. It is very grand and extends around the block. I only saw a fraction of it. That very night we went with her and her family and her Fincher grandparents and aunts to eat at a very good Omaha restaurant to celebrate her graduation.




































Bethany's graduation was on Saturday, May 14th. It was a rainy, windy, cold day in Omaha (Bellevue) but fortunately, the ceremony was held inside so we were pleasantly warm and dry. They even got a seat for me on the floor of the gym so I didn't have to climb to the top of the bleachers where everyone else sat. While we waited for the graduates to enter, there was a slide show, featuring each one. Here is Bethany's. The pictures all mentioned where each graduate was going to go after graduation. Bethany will go to Western Iowa College. She received a choir scholarship. she sang with the choir for the graduation, as the lead soprano, and the whole program was very nice. Hannah is following in her sister's (and her brother's, too, for that matter) footsteps and was chosen for two of the top choirs, as a Sophomore, for next year. She was featured in their final program of the year and was the star of the show. After Bethany's graduation, that evening, she had a graduation party and barbecue at her house. Her aunts, Emily and Leslie came to help decorate and also helped us prepare food. She had a good crowd of well-wishers and lots of cake left over...yummy chocolate.









































We enjoyed attending church with Nathan & Shauna. We especially enjoyed attending Bethany and Hannah's Sunday School class. Nathan is the teacher and oh, my goodness, he is really good. They got a Gospel Doctrine lesson that anyone would profit from. I learned so much in their teenage class. On Sunday night, Bethany graduated from Seminary and we got to be there for that occasion. She sang in the small, but very beautiful choir, and also led the music. Her best friend (also very tall...Nathan calls them the "twintimidators") was there. She is not a member of the Church but feels comfortable going to things with Bethany .






















While Stetson and his family were in Safford to attend Dallin's farewell, he took that opportunity to put his missionary card on our family missionary board.





Thomas' family received the basket of things we sent to Mexico by way of Richard Curtis. Kirtlyn finally got her birthday present, a month late. There were other things for the other kids, too, and some things Jenn wanted for Thomas' 30th birthday.
I can't seem to make the picture any bigger. It is one I stole from Jenn's blog.



It was so special to be able to be present when President Sanders set Dallin apart as a full-time missionary on the 17th (Grandma and Grandpa Hiatt's 67th anniversary, by the way.) He had his farewell the previous Sunday, and from all reports, it was very good. His family invited everyone to an elaborate brunch at their house. Esther and Shad, Jeremy and Erika and Joel and Stephanie all came to support him. His aunts, Rachel and Mary, of course, were there, bringing food and supporting him as well. (I inserted this later so we would have it as a matter of history that all his Arizona aunts and uncles were there.) His Evans family was all there, too...everyone, in fact, but his loving grandparents. We really missed being with him, but were where we needed to be, with Bethany and her family. And we were glad we had been able to hear him the week before when he spoke at the Singles' Branch.





One of the highlights of May was Luke's baptism on the 21st. We had taken him a couple of days before to get his CTR ring, but they didn't have one his size, so we ordered it. It didn't get here in time for his baptism, but he has it now. Esther and Shad and their family came for the event, so we had a really nice crowd. He was baptized and confirmed by his dad, Tony, assisted in the confirmation by Dad, Tim Alder, Tyson, Shad, Jake Alder, Jared Bingham and the counselor in the Bishopric who presided. Isabel and Esther sang a special number, accompanied by Rylie. It was beautiful. He asked for Mary and his Uncle Jake Alder to be the speakers. There was also a video that Mary made, which they played while he dressed. Everything was so well done. After the baptism, Rachel had a swimming party at our house and the Alders came as well as our family. There was a lot of food and a lot of fun, but in the end, Tony finally gave out and caught a few winks when he thought no one was looking.












































Isabel and Esther and Rylie practicing to sing at Luke's baptism




Brody finally warmed up to me and felt comfortable enough to fall asleep in my arms.














A baby bird dropped out of its nest in the tree in our front yard and Dad found it, struggling on the ground. The parent birds, Robins, were frantic whenever Dad got near it. He put it in a box to protect it from predators and when Rachel and her kids came over he had them put it back in the nest. It was a real chore to do it too, with the parents flapping all around them. Isabel and Luke tried to reach the nest, but it was just too high for them to reach, so Rachel got in the tree and after some scary moments, put it back in the nest. Everyone had plastic gloves on, but Isabel finally realized that they were really useless because they all had to touch the gloves to put them on, so their smell was on the gloves anyway! After the bird was safely in its nest and Rachel had climbed down from the tree, she turned around and there it was again...struggling on the ground! They took it home to try to save it, but it was a lost cause. Too bad. Too bad my pictures aren't very good either. I still haven't figured out everything about my camera.















































Brianna had her first piano recital in May. She is really enjoying her lessons and plays very well.



Rebecca and Scott and their family spent several days traveling around Utah, visiting Temples and enjoying each others' company on their way to take Dallin to the MTC. The week was wonderful, according to Rebecca, but it was such a tearful experience when they were actually dropping him off.




















Joel sent us a picture of the boys enjoying a ballgame...Diamondbacks I think? This is the season, right? I just hope this was a pre game shot, otherwise the game was not very well attended. We also found out that Docker qualified for the accelerated learning program at his school for next year. Good job, Docker.







On the 27th, Dad and I drove to Colorado to attend Devynne's graduation from high school. We got there in time to see Rebecca and Scott and their family, who had been visiting on their way home from taking Dallin to the MTC. Daniel took them rafting on the Colorado River and killed the fatted pig in their honor. They had a great time and were glad they went out of their way to go to Glenwood.





















We really enjoyed visiting with Daniel and Connie and their family. The little girls were sweet and attentive, the boys gentlemanly. Shadrach gave us his speech with which he won the 9th grade presidency for next year. Albert and Porter and I enjoyed the word game on my new Mothers' Day Kindle, Parker sang his solo from their choir concert, Dad and Daniel and the boys planted a garden, I went with Devynne to get her hair trimmed.









We went to Devynne's graduation on Saturday. Most of the time we were in Colorado, the weather was cool, windy and sprinkly. In fact, it snowed the day we left! But as a special favor to the graduating class of Glenwood Springs High School, there was a window of beautiful, warm, calm weather for their graduation ceremony, which was held outside. It was a very nice program and Devynne sang the Star Spangled Banner with her choir. Also, she received a very hefty renewable scholarship from Rotary for college expenses. She has been accepted to BYU and will begin attending during the summer session in two weeks! She will live on campus at first, but eventually plans to live in the house that Daniel and Connie bought in Provo. She is so excited for the whole adventure.













Devynne's scholarship certificate





Devynne and 3 of her friends had thrown a graduation party the week before we came, so she had time, after graduation to eat dinner with us and her family.







For dessert, after Sunday dinner, Connie made chocolate mortar boards in honor of Devynne's graduation. I'm including pictures because it is such a good idea I thought maybe one of you would like to use it sometime. They are Reese's peanutbutter cups (small ones) topped with a Ghirardelli chocolate square. She then cut strips from a fruit roll up for the tassle.


















I asked Devynne to let me have a picture from her trip to Disney World for the national DECA competition. Her state champion team did very well although they didn't win...but they had a great time.







On Sunday, we went to church with Daniel and Connie and really enjoyed that experience. It was a Biggs family meeting. Devynne spoke in Sacrament meeting, Parker blessed the Sacrament, Porter prepared it and Shadrach and Porter passed it. Then, Connie taught the Gospel Doctrine class. She is a very good teacher and we really enjoyed the class. That night, the boys had a court of honor at the church. Albert got his Tenderfoot badge and the other boys received a patch for a hike they had taken. The neat thing was to see all of them in their Scout shirts, looking so spiffy. It reminded me of our own boys in their Scout finery.





Finally, on the last day of this marvelous month, Dad and I served at the Temple and rested up for whatever June has in store for us. It's already shaping up to be a busy month too.