With May comes the end of the school year. This year Derek was preparing to go on a medical mission to Panama for about 2 1/2 weeks. I hosted our annual end of school bash party at our home. I love being able to host parties at our home. This year it got a little crazy. We had a lot of people moving, but also a lot of big families move into our ward/school. I didn't mind, it just made it a LOT bigger party. It turned out to be a blast! We had about 40 kids in my house/backyard, pot luck lunch, tons of water games, and crafts, and just so much fun. It is such a great way to say goodbye to our friends who are moving because of the military each year and a fun way to welcome all the new faces as well. Being a part of the military has really stretched our family in so many positive ways. We have learned to keep in touch with our friends long distance and we gain an amazing bond with so many wonderful families who are in similar situations to us who have "been there and done that" and can empathize for us and who help us in so many ways.
So, as sad as May can be with PCS season, it is a happy day as well.
Kael earned his Bear badge. These are the photos you get when your 5 year old takes over camera duty while you go up to get presented a pin by your son...
I took Connor to ToysRUs for their close out sale... Biggest mistake...
I wanted books... He wanted these.
Presenting:
Elara Miss Potato Head
In a rare last minute the stars aligned moment Derek was off work and able to take Kael to Father's and sons for the first time! Only a couple families in our ward made it, but the boys had a really fun time. We sure are looking forward to many more of these adventures in the future especially as Connor gets older.
Kael and Eden had their spring piano recital and did AMAZING! They have come so far and improve so much for each recital. It has been amazing seeing their growth. They each chose a song from church and asked their teacher to make it their level for the recital and did amazing! Eden played "Nephi's Courage" and Kael played "Gethsemane".
Kiddos got new matching swim suits. Boys matched and girls matched. So stinking cute and protects them from the sun. Mom win!
We had to test out the slip in slide before the end of school party. It worked great!
Because eating food naked is so much better after you play in the water...
The girls did face paints and made homemade flowers. I believe Elara was a tiger.
Dad got a head stone and I think it turned out beautiful!
Connor loves bath time so much. He would probably live in the water if he could.
Our end of school party I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off so I didn't get very many pictures of everything. It turned out amazing though. We had hot dogs for lunch and the kids cut out face mask crafts when they arrived. Then we had slip n slides, water balloons on the trampoline, a water balloon toss for points, balloon stomp, and who could put on an iced shirt fastest.
So many fun games for a warm day and we ended with a huge water balloon fight.
I really look forward to each year and I'm already thinking of fun things for next year.
Derek was able to get so many wonderful pictures in Panama I'm going to put them all together in another post. For Memorial Day the kids and I were able to go up to the Pinkston's to play and as a surprise they got GOATS! It was so much fun being able to put some food in your hand and they would eat right out of your hand.
There is Mr. Tumness, The Weasley twins, and Pippin and Merry.
The kids are in heaven chasing chickens and goats.
End of summer Grandma Sapp dollar store trip did not disappoint. Much needed spoiling while Dad was gone and lots of fun treasures.
The kids found bird eggs in the rocks at the church building during the final Cub Scout Pack meeting.
It was a fun little treasure.
The beginning of May when Derek was preparing for his Panama trip it was hinted he might be deploying soon. It was confirmed right before his Panama trip. We have had several problems working with the property management and the home owners we were renting from. Knowing now that Derek would be gone for most of the next year with the potential to have to move either while he is gone or right as he came back we decided it might be wise to move on base. We were offered a house 2 days after we decided we needed to move and the process began. The property management was threatening me with lawyers when we tried to get out of our lease, which we were legally able to and we had some amazing help with the jag in the military who helped us get everything worked out and before we knew it we had a home and a move in date for July 13th.
The future home for at least the next two years for the Bradley's.
Then, on to enjoy the summer with Derek before he leaves for his deployment in the fall. It was all definitely a roller coaster. It was a learning experience having to make tough choices while Derek was far away and knowing that was going to be in our future very soon. We decided to wait until about a month before he deploys to tell the kids. We feel extremely grateful we had so much advance notice. There are many times when people deploy and are only given as little as a week or two to prepare. The more time that passes the more we feel like this is what Heavenly Father wants of us. We are excited to serve our country in this way. We both have wanted to serve others as best we can. This was not how we had originally imagined when we were first married, but we are grateful for this opportunity. It will be difficult and trying, but we know we were guided on this path and that we will learn and have many important experiences from this journey that we need.
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