Another School Year Comes to an End!

Along with the end of the school year comes lots of celebrations and awards. I am always so proud of my children for their achievements each year. We had an ice cream party in Zach's class after the teacher presented lots of awards and certificates. Zach managed to receive an award for each category. Letter grades aren't given in the 1st grade. We are always in awe of his reading skills and he even received a ribbon for having the second highest accelerated reading points in the first grade. He is now working on the Harry Potter series in hopes of getting a jump start on AR points when he returns to school in the Fall. Zach also received a "Three Musketeers" award along with his two buddies, Jason and Jeff. They are definitely quite the trio.
Zachary posing with Mrs. Schlanger, his first grade teacher. We LOVE Mrs. Schlanger. She has taught 3 of our children so far and pray that she doesn't retire before Ellary enters the first grade.

Zachary posing with Jason and Jeff after Mrs. Schlanger awarded them the "Three Musketeers" award!

As you can see, they are quite the trio!!

Sara's class also had a celebration with lots of awards. She finished 3rd grade with straight A's every quarter and ACED the EOG's (end of grade state tests)!! Although, she would probably say that her most proud achievement this year was earning the National Physical Fitness Award. She takes great pride in the fact that she is a fast runner and has a lot of physical strength and endurance. We are so proud of Sara!Sara posing with Mrs. Brewer, her 3rd grade teacher

Jace has finished 6th grade, his first year in Middle School, with straight A's every quarter! He has really worked hard and developed some great study habits and organizational skills that hopefully will carry on with him throughout the remainder of middle school and high school. He also ACED his end of grade state tests!! Today, we received a letter from the school letting us know that Jace will be receiving an academic award at the end of year assembly on the last day of school. Richard and I are looking forward to attending the assembly so that we can congratulate Jace and let him know how proud we are of him!!

AND AFTER ALL OF THAT....WE ARE READY FOR SUMMER BREAK...MYRTLE BEACH HERE WE COME!!

No More Diapers....a New Scooter....and One Less Tooth!!!

We are so proud of our Baby Girl for deciding recently (at 2 1/2) that she would like to wear "big girl panties". She woke up one morning and told me that she is now a big girl and big girls wear Dora panties! She then pulled her Dora panties out of her dresser drawer and put them on. I went along with her plan fully expecting that I would be cleaning up a lot of messes. I guess I didn't give her enough credit because she went straight to the potty and did her "business" and has only had a few accidents ever since. And....it has been nearly 6 weeks!! As a reward, I took Ellary to the toy store and told her to pick out a "potty training prize". She picked out a Barbie camera and a pink Radio Flyer scooter. She loves the scooter and especially loves trying to keep up with her big sister, Sara as they ride together.


After reading the title, you might be thinking that the "one less tooth" has something to do with the new scooter...Actually, I think that would be a better story. Along with the potty trained child, comes the excitement of a two year old who loves the freedom of going to the potty and washing hands "ALL BY MYSELF"!! There are just some things that Ellary insists she does not need help with. Today, Ellary yelled to me in the next room that she had just gone potty and was now washing her hands. I might add, that she takes a little long to wash those hands and there are usually more than the normal amount of bubbles in the sink AND on the bathroom counter. During the middle of her hand washing I heard a crash and went running to see what had happened. Ellary was laying in the bathroom floor with her wooden stool on top of her and one of her front teeth sitting on her chin. The amazing thing was... she wasn't even crying much. I, on the other hand, wanted to cry after I talked with our dentist (my brother-in-law) and came to grips with the fact that the tooth CANNOT be put back in because it could cause problems for the permanent tooth underneath. So, we will see the dentist in two weeks about having a bridge put in or she may sport this sweet smile for a few years to come. Either way, we think she is ADORABLE!!!!

The Love of a Two Year Old

So, Richard surprised me last weekend with a spa getaway for the two of us! It was so nice!! I sure love that man!! When Ellary heard that we were leaving for the weekend she broke down in tears and said "Oh, Mommy! Please take me with you! I need to go with you because I Love You!" I picked her up and gave her hugs and kisses. While consoling her I asked "Oh Ellary, is Mommy your best friend?" Her reply was, "No, Sara is!!" You have to love the honesty of a child!!

Ellary and Alana in Utah for a week of Fun,Food, Family and Friends!!

What a great trip Ellary and I had visiting in Utah! There is just never enough time to see everyone and do everything we would like while we are there. We've decided that we need to start staying for 2 weeks instead of 1!! We had so much fun with my sister Shay and her awesome kids. Those kids always make me smile! I hate that we live so far away. Shay and I especially enjoyed our two day BYU Women's Conference! It was an amazing experience to be among the 18,000 women who attended. I can't wait to go back next year!

The Clark Family...Hannah, Mallory, Scott, Shay, Morgan, Lindsay and Evan


Shay and I at our first day of BYU Women's Conference

Our great friends Emily and Grant Pohlsander visited us! We had a great time playing at the park!

I Love my Dear Friend, Leslie Jane!!


Ellary and her cousin Harrison had a great time at Kangaroo Zoo! Ellary sure wishes Harrison lived closer by!

Hannah,Ellary, Evan and I were waiting in line at Snowasis for the second time of the day!! Love those snowcones!!

Mallory, Lindsay and Shay

Waiting to be seated at Los Hermanos! I had to have my fajitas and Diablo Verde.
I Love my Morgan!! Those girls are growing up way too fast! They will always be my baby girls!!
Ellary is proud of her BYU shirt!!
On our way home, we had a stop in Minneapolis. The pilot just loved Ellary and invited her to visit the cockpit and take pictures with him! She was thrilled!!!

What on earth have we been doing lately?

Life is so busy. Our four children are always on the go and keep us constantly running. Sports are a major ingredient in our household. During the spring Jace plays lacrosse and Sara plays softball. Zachary has tried a little bit of everything and is now working on earning his belts in TaeKwonDo! Ellary, for now, is just the all around good sport. She doesn't complain as she gets toted from one event to the other. Sometimes it can get really tricky when we have two games starting at the same time on opposite ends of town and both parents want to be with both children!! Cheering for the kids on the sidelines is one of our greatest enjoyments!!


Zachary with one of his instuctors right after earning his yellow belt!

Jace has become quite the lacrosse player. He just playd in four games on Saturday during a tournament. His team won 3 games and lost one!

Sara with Coach Tina! We were so proud of Sara as she earned the game ball during the first game of the season!!

Aaron David Lee 11/24/77 - 4/9/09

Last month we experienced one of the toughest moments of life. On April 9th we were extremely devastated by the sudden death of our 31 year old brother in law, Aaron Lee. Aaron was married to Richard's sister, Katherine. What a great example he was to all of our family members. He will be terribly missed by so many. We traveled to Indiana and Idaho for Aaron's memorials and had the opportunity to bond together as a family during a most difficult time in life. Our lives are changed forever after our experiences. I am so grateful that I know that Families are Forever! Life is such a precious gift that we should enjoy everyday! Aaron will definitely leave a big hole in the Yeoman family, but we are so grateful that we will all be united together again one day! WE LOVE YOU, Aaron!



<

Jace is Turning Twelve!!!

It seems that it was just yesterday when I finally had one of my biggest dreams fulfilled....I became a mother on April 2, 1997! Richard and I had been wanting a baby for a few years and were so excited to finally welcome our first son into the world!! My pregnancy was wonderful from beginning to end. We were living in Utah and I was working for Franklin Covey and Richard was finishing his last year of BYU Law School. Jace was not due until April 22nd. On April 1st, my friends at work tried to coax me into calling Richard and telling him that I was in labor as an April Fools Joke. I just laughed at them and told them that there was no way Richard would fall for it bacause my due date was 3 weeks away!! Little did I know that my water would break just hours later. He was almost born on April Fools Day!! Needless to say, we were delighted at our early surprise. Jace has been a great source of joy in our lives every day since. I am so grateful to be a mother. I can't even begin to describe what it means to me in my life!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACE! YOUR FAMILY LOVES YOU SO MUCH!!! We are so proud of you!!



Jace Loves Playing Lacrosse!




Jace Experienced NCAA March Madness This Year Like Never Before!!