We Closed!!!!!

Well it finally happened after almost 6 years we are homeowners again. It was a long and grueling process but in the end the house we got was worth the wait. :) We found out we had closed at 4 pm today (Friday), when we got the call we were so excited, we thought we were going to have to wait until after the Memorial Day to close. So being true to our promise we all put on our swimming suits and headed over for our first swim. Here are a few pictures of us this evening....


Blake loves his new swing set and jumps on the swings every time we go over to just hang out in our backyard. Hey now we have the key! We can actually get inside.


Elizabeth and Kayla waiting for us to get ready for the big jump...


Fake pose before we have the count down. 3-2-1 JUMP!!!!



I was a little nervous to jump in, it has been raining all week and I thought it would be really cold but it wasn't the water felt great.


Jared trying out the diving board, we had thought at one point we would get rid of the diving board for safety reasons, I doubt that's going to happen though... Diving boards are too much fun. :) Well tomorrow is going to be a fun day, yay we get to pack and haul stuff over to the new house all day long, bleh.... Can't wait for the work to be over with. Goodnight everyone.

Hawaiian Luau

Even though Elizabeth's birthday is not until the end of July we usually have a "fake" birthday party for her at the end of the school year so it is easier to get all of her friends together. This year Elizabeth fell in love with some Hawaiian invitations, so a Hawaiian Luau we had! The night before the party Elizabeth and I went to the 99cent store and found hula hoops, grass skirts, beach balls and other great Luau decorations. When the girls arrived they each received a lei and began making flowers out of tissue paper. While the girls made their flowers I began whipping up Mango/Pineapple/OJ/Strawberry/Guava fruit smoothies. They were a big hit. We had a hula hoop contest (we thought the hula hoops were not going to work because we bought them at the 99cent store and none of us in our family could get them to work but apparently it is just us lame Dutton's that can't hula hoop :)) They had a limbo contest and Kayla won. We had a relay race where the girls had to put on grass skirts, flip flops, sun glasses, straw hats, leis, and carry a beach ball. They dressed and then ran around the "island" and quickly took everything off for the next girl to put on. It was a big hit and really fun. I also made coconut cupcakes that the girls are eating in this picture. Elizabeth sure is pretty silly when you get her around all of her friends. We are pretty sad to be leaving this great group of girls but with Elizabeths fun personality I'm sure she wont have much trouble finding new friends.









Jared took Blake to an urban lake to go fishing while we had our Luau. Not thinking he took the camera with him in case he caught a fish! About thirty minutes into the party I went to get the camera and could not find it! After calling Jared to learn he had taken it (which he felt bad about) I had to call our next door neighbor and borrow their camera. Oh well it worked out. Elizabeth got mostly jewlery from her friends, which she has been wearing all week. Her friend Jenny made her a rag time High School musical quilt, I was very impressed that she took so much time to make Elizabeth such a thoughtful present. Jenny's mom told me that on their way over to the party Jenny had put a kitten into her bag to also give to Elizabeth for her birthday.... Good thing her mom found out before it got here!
Well this saturday we will be again having another Hawaiian Luau. Apparently Kayla is old enough now to realize that she too needs a "fake" birthday party before school is out and we move away from all of her friends.

Angels

Last night (the Saturday before Mother's Day) Kayla gave the prayer and asked that when the primary was singing for the moms during church that the angels would touch my heart. How sweet is that. So this morning when she came to sit back down after the primary had sung I told her how the Angels had touched my heart while she was singing. :) I love my Kayla what a sweety.