Aleah's 14th Birthday Party

Sun + warm weather + lots of food + presents + pool + 20 girls = Great time!

Goodbye Braces!

The day finally came when Aleah could say Adios to those braces! She wasn't sure she liked how slimey her teeth felt afterward though. :) But she quickly got used to that feeling and absolutely loves her new smile. Mom and Dad aren't liking how grown up she looks now though! But it truly is a beautiful smile on a beautiful girl!

BEFORE...

AFTER!

Whitworth Graduation

Last weekend, Rob and I had the privilege of flying up to Spokane for Kaylyn's graduation from Whitworth. It was sooooo good to see Kaylyn again! It had been 5 months since we'd seen her, which was way too long. The Graduation Ceremony was very nice and we are very proud of her accomplishments. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Business Management. It was fun to see what the graduates put on their caps. Each department decided together what to go with and then each student decorated their own. Kaylyn's business department went with "It's Business Time" along with business socks attached to the cap. There were some very creative caps!

Kaylyn's cap

Grandma and Grandpa Plumb, a very proud Dad...

Jim & Jill...

proud Dad again, Joy & Jeremy (friends)...all came to help celebrate.



President Bill Robinson spoke at his last graduation ceremony.

He's retiring after 17 years at Whitworth.

Could that smile get any bigger?!

Receiving her Degree

Kaylyn's good friend Krista Deitz, goalkeeper on the soccer team.

Another fellow soccer player and friend, Kelly Lunde.

Although she enjoyed school very much, she is relieved to be done...at least for a while. Her plans are to keep working the two jobs she currently has and possibly put her mission papers in this Fall. We're all trying to get her to move to St. George but no luck yet! :)

We also got to see and visit with some of our dear friends in Spokane and spend time with family too. We are looking forward to being back in Spokane in six weeks for the Plumb Family Reunion. Next time, however, we're driving! Between late and cancelled flights, we spent more time in airports than doing all the things we had planned. I like flying but sometimes it would be quicker to drive! But all in all, we had a great weekend in Spokane with our Girl!

Hershey Track Meet

This was a fun, new thing that McKenna was able to do here in St. George. They have what's called The Hershey Track Meet and it's for ages 9-14. They have to place in the top two from their school to move on to Districts. McKenna ran the 800M about three weeks ago at Sandstone and placed first in her age group so she got to run this weekend in the Districts.

She discovered that she got a lot more nervous before her race than she does before soccer games. Ahhh - that's the difference between an individual sport and a team sport. In a team sport, the whole team has to shoulder a win or a loss but those who have competed in running, wrestling or any other individual sport know that it's a lot different being out there on your own! However, this aside, she decided she really likes running track and can see herself as a distance runner.

It turned out that there were twenty 11-12 year olds racing in the 800M race (And really, McKenna is still 10!) which was too many! And most of them were a whole foot taller than Boo! I thought for sure they were going to trample my baby when they started. Luckily, she got off to a great start and ahead of most of the pack.

She would need to finish first or second in order to move on to Regionals but after seeing what she was up against, her dad and I were just praying that she would survive and possibly make the podium! We were amazed at how well she did. She ran in third place up until the last 200 meters and then the fourth place girl caught her but she managed to finish 4th and beat her best time by 5 seconds! She set a personal record of 3:00 minutes flat! Definitely nothing to hang her head about and look out for her next year! Way to go McKenna! We're proud of you!

Running a strong 3rd on first lap

4th place girl catches her on last turn of last lap

Getting her 4th place ribbon