The Class of 2017

 Ugh.

Well, this is what I get when I wait so long to blog.  I skip something.  

So, going back to the first of the month of June, before everything else I have already mentioned, we attended a high school graduation; a rather important high school graduation.

Didn't I just graduate from high school, like yesterday?

Josh--through the years

Okay, so maybe it was a little longer than that, but seriously, I am NOT old enough to have a high school graduate.

The ceremony wasn't painfully long, just on the verge of painfully long, lol.  But seriously, it was not bad.  They kept things moving rather quickly.  Representative Mia Love spoke, along with Josh's friends, Megan and Gwen.  There were some school administrators as well and the orchestra and madrigals performed.

So lucky to have all of our grandparents there!

I made candy necklaces for all of Josh's friends who were graduating.  It took much longer than I thought it would, but it was worth it. :)

Blast from the Past- May 2017 Happenings Part 2

May was such a crazy busy month, I decided to split it up into a few posts.

Anastasia

Two words:  Cute kitty

Two more words:  Crazy kitty

Bailey

Bailey had to wear a cone for a little bit this month because she had a sore spot on her neck that she wouldn't leave alone.  She tolerated it like a champ.

These two love to nap together.  It's their favorite part (or parts) of the day.

Trying our Hands at Gardening...Again

We have not ever been great gardeners.  We gave it up for a few years, but this year decided to give it a try again.  We thought that container gardening would be our best bet.  Ellie is super proud of her pumpkin plant and she loves to help out with all the planting and harvesting.

Memorial Day Hike

We decided to go on a little hike over Memorial Day weekend.  Okay, it was more like I said, "Guess what, everyone?  We're going on a hike this weekend."  We have a couple of non-hikers in our family and so getting them excited about going is always a challenge.

But we had a good time.  Abbie and Emma made good use of the outdoor lighting by having a mini photo session.  Lol.

Iowa Cubs vs. Salt Lake Bees

Abbie and Dad had a fun night at the Smith's Ball Park.  They watched the Iowa Cubs play the Salt Lake Bees.  The best part about the game was that they got to see Ian Happ play for the Cubs.  That night he got called up to play for the Chicago Cubs so they got to see him in his last minor league game.

MHS Centennial Ball

This is actually a pretty cool year for Murray High School.  It is their 100th year.  They've had a lot of fun activities to celebrate this anniversary, including a Centennial Ball.

Josh asked his friend, Becca, to Centennial.  He sent her on a treasure hunt of sorts to find out who was asking her.  It was very cute. :)

They had a great night and looked super cute, don't you think?

A Nurse in the Family

I have to give a shout out to my littlest sis, Sharise.  She graduated from Nursing School this month and we are just so super proud of her!  She worked really hard to achieve this goal and I am so excited for her.  

The Music Man

If I could choose one word to describe Josh, I would have to say "musical".  This year has been a very busy musical year for him and, although it's been a challenge at times, it has been a lot of fun to see him in action at all of the different concerts and events he has participated in.

Final Choir Concert

Josh participated in the Madrigal choir at Murray High School.  He really enjoyed his time with that group of people and made some good friends there.  The top picture is Josh with his friends, John and Jacob.  Josh and John have been friends since their elementary school days and Jacob was introduced to the friendship in Junior High.  They are all great young men and I am so thankful for all of the friends in Josh's life who have helped him become who he is today.

Final Orchestra Concert and Utah Symphony Side By Side Concert

Josh had the opportunity to play a concerto with his high school orchestra.  He played the Elgar Cello Concerto and man, I teared up a little.  He did such an amazing job.

Here is the video of the performance.

 Unfortunately that same night he had to be downtown to play with the Utah Symphony because the conductor of the American Heritage Lyceum Philharmonic that he is in, chose him to represent their orchestra.  It was such an honor for Josh to do this and we were a little stressed about the time crunch, but we made it to both places and he did an outstanding job in both.

I got some good pics of him and started to get a little video of him because that's what I do at these events...I take video.  Just as I was turning the camera off, one of the ushers came up and told me to put the camera away.  Oops.  Apparently one cannot record video of the Utah Symphony, even if their child is playing with them.  You live and learn, I suppose.

Final Lyceum Concert with Simply Three

What a blessing it has been for Josh to participate with this phenomenal orchestra.  He has grown so much over the past year.

This concert was absolutely incredible.  The group "Simply Three"...there are no words, really.  Just amazing.  

Here are some snippets of what we heard.

Madrigals Concert

Josh has really enjoyed his time in Madrigals this year.  They have had a lot of performances and have done very well.  Their final concert was held at a beautiful church downtown.  Although we got the time wrong and showed up an hour early, we made the best of it by going to find some ice cream while we waited for the right time.  

The concert was really beautiful and I couldn't help but be reminded of my own time in "Trilogy", the madrigal choir at Pine View High School.  I am grateful that Josh was able to have this opportunity.  He will cherish these memories forever.

Here is a video of most of the concert.  Some of the songs are not full versions.

Blast from the Past- May 2017 Happenings

And just like that, we are on to the month of May!

A busy, busy month indeed.

Abbie Kadabbie

Abbie had a busy month which included finishing up her first year of Junior High, going on a field trip with her friends in her peer tutoring class, and playing softball.

She LOVES softball and it has been fun to see her improve her softball skills.  

I love this gorgeous little 13-year old of mine.  She loves to help people, she loves going to the temple, and she still loves anything and everything that has an owl on it.

Ellie Bellie

In my post for last month I mentioned that Ellie found out that she won the Arbor Day contest for her grade at Liberty Elementary.  I love, love, love her poster and I am so happy that Mark and I were able to go with her to the awards ceremony.  This little gal is a pretty amazing artist and I am excited to see where she takes this talent of hers.

Ellie finished up the 4th grade this month and received a "Math Magician" award for her hard work in math this year.  

She also survived a session in the van where I was teaching Emma to drive (the picture of her wearing Abbie's softball helmet.)

She took a baseball apart because she 

A.) Saw someone do it on YouTube

B.) Wanted to try it for herself

She is such a cutie pie and I cannot believe how grown up she is getting.

Emma Lemma

Well, May brought us another legal drive in the house.

It takes her almost a full minute to adjust the seat every time she gets in the car, but she is turning out to be a pretty good driver.

She still gets distracted easily, so we are working on that.

But, she does know that you

A.) Should not drive with both feet.

B.) Should stay away from garbage cans

C.) Cannot wave to her friends while driving.

She is definitely part of the "selfie" generation and I find a lot of pics of her by herself and with friends on her phone.  Josh happened to be the lucky victim of one of her photo sessions.  She is going to miss that kid when he is on his mission.

She finished up her Freshmen year of high school and is gearing up to move on to being a Sophomore this fall.  Y-I-K-E-S.

Mother's Day

It was a pretty low key Mother's Day this year, which was just fine by me.

This little cutie instructed me that I was not to get out of bed in the morning until she had brought me breakfast.  So, it was a breakfast of toast with strawberry jam and a heart cutout in the middle, scrambled eggs, and water for me.  I loved it.  She also made the flower centerpiece.  I love her.

After church, I just basically did nothing, and it felt so good.

I read for a bit, took a nap, and then we went over to Mark's parents house to have dinner with everyone there. 

The perfect Mother's Day if you ask me.

I think I will continue the glorious month of May in a few more posts, so stay tuned...

Blast from the Past- March 2017 Happenings

*Sigh*

I am naming the most of the following posts "Blast from the Past" because that's exactly what they are.  Between school, mom taxi duties, retiring from preschool, and just life in general, I have not had enough spare time to keep up on this blog.  But, I have to!  It's my only way to scrapbook at this point in my life.  

So...sit back, relax and enjoy a major catch-up session on what the Ogden clan has been up to the past few months.

Mom's 39th Birthday

It was an absolutely great birthday this year.  I definitely got spoiled. :)

Mark took me to lunch and then we stopped at Baskin Robbins to get one of my favorite birthday treats...Clown Ice Cream Cones.

Before lunch, I taught preschool.  I love it when my birthday falls on a preschool day because I always pull out the Dr. Seuss stuff.  I share a birthday with Dr. Seuss and this year was even more special because I had my very own Cat in the Hat!

Ana was a good sport and tolerated a few pictures, but then she decided that she would rather attack the hat then wear it.

 Mark rarely surprises me, but when he does, it's always a fantastic surprise.

He actually found me a Red Panda Onesie!  I definitely did not see that one coming.

All of the girls have at least one animal onesie and now I can join the club!  Emma and Abbie were not too excited about that, but, as you can see, Ellie couldn't wait to jump into her panda onesie and get a picture with me.

I have always loved birthdays, and I don't see that changing, even though I am getting older.  Through some difficult life experiences I have developed a deep gratitude for birthdays--for the opportunity to turn a year older.  I love that I was able to share this day with my favorite people on this planet, and I look forward to spending many more birthdays with them.

Abbie's 13th Birthday

Abbie turned 13 this month, but I am going to do a separate post about that. :)

Josh's MAG Dance

Josh had the opportunity to go to MAG with his friend, Lucy.  It was an animal-themed dance and, wow, did they find a great outfit for Josh at the Goodwill store.

I think he needs to wear it more often.  Lol.

Josh's Lyceum Concert

Josh has really enjoyed playing with the American Heritage Lyceum Philharmonic this year.  We are so grateful for this opportunity and it has been so fun to see him grow as a musician.  They are a group of extremely talented kids and I love every chance we get to listen to them.

Abbie's Junior High Musical--Shrek Jr.

Abbie had the time of her life being a part of her Junior High's musical.  She was a Dulocian from the musical, "Shrek Jr.".  Her friend's, Abby and Noah were in the play as well.  She has definitely been bitten by the acting bug and cannot wait to be in another play.

I was so proud of her!  She did an amazing job and was even able to do a little mini skit during intermission that she and her friend, Abby, wrote together.

Ellie's Elementary School Musical- 

Conquering the Pillaging Pirates

I think one of the main reasons Ellie was excited to go back to regular school this year was because of the school musical.  She was one of the knights and had a fun time dancing and singing her little heart out.

Josh's Acceptance to BYU

Josh received his acceptance letter to BYU!  He was also accepted to the University of Utah, Utah State, and BYU-Idaho.  But...BYU it will be.  It's been his dream since he was a little boy.  We are so excited for him and proud of him for his hard work.

Odds and Ends

Ellie and Dad had a date to our favorite ice cream shop.  As you can see, Ellie had fun with the hot fudge.

Ana is growing every day and we absolutely love having her in our family.

She is a funny cat.

We celebrated Bailey's 9th birthday this month.  She is definitely showing a few signs of age, mainly her cute little gray face, but other than that, she is still as hyper and fun as ever.  She sleeps a little more than she has in the past, but as soon as someone knocks on the door or rings the doorbell, she is barking up a frenzy to make sure that we know someone is there.  She loves visitors, and that is an understatement.

These cute kiddos make me happy *nearly* every single day.

On the days that I am not happy with them, it is usually because I am stressed about something else and take it out on them.  They really are great kids.  They are not perfect and they have their moments of sass, frustration, and eye-rolling (lots and lots of eye-rolling at our house), but I wouldn't trade them for any other kids in the world.  I love 'em to pieces.

Prince Charming 2017

My son.

The musician.

The giant brain who can remember anything.

The...dancer?

Josh was chosen to be one of Murray High's Prince Charming Pageant contestants.  To say that he was embarrassed about that would be a huge understatement.  Seeing that the pageant involved a group dance number, a swimsuit competition, lots and lots of screaming girls and making a fool of oneself on stage, I don't know why he felt so uncomfortable about it.  Lol.

I think he ended up having a better time than he thought he would and it was SO much fun to watch him.  And although he did not win the title of Murray High School's Prince Charming, he will always be my Prince Joshie.  :)

Homecoming 2016

Josh had the opportunity to attend his very last high school homecoming this month.  He asked his friend, Makayla, and according to Josh they had a great time.

(I only get one word answers to the questions I ask him.  For example...

Me:  "Josh, how was homecoming?"

Josh:  "It was good!"

Me:  "Good, huh.  That's good."

Josh:  "Yep.  It was fun.")

You know.  Typical conversations with a 17-year old boy. :)

Anyway.  I am happy that they had a "good" time and the pictures that his friend's dad took turned out great!

A little High School Musical action. :)