The Very Merry Month of May

I know...its not May. I'm still catching up...

May was our crazy month. It just seemed like everything was happening all at once! Here's my recap: 

(Warning: it's not the abbreviated version)

In the first weekend of May, I had two piano recitals, a piano festival, two family birthdays, family dedication at church, and lots of family visiting. It was packed full of things, but oh so much fun! 

Mom and Dad came Friday afternoon. Paul & Valerie also came on Friday, and were able to bring Brian's grandpa from California with them. This was the first time Grandpa was able to make it to Amarillo, and his first time to meet Noah. It was so great to see him! Friday night we celebrated Mom's birthday (and had a belated celebration for mine!). We went out for dinner and had delicious homemade chocolate cake sent with Mom and Dad from Grandma. I had to do a few things for my recital but not too much. Mom and I practiced our duets for the recital. It's such a dorky thing to say probably, but it's so much fun to play piano duets with Mom! Eventually, we will do a duet recital together. We've been talking about it since I finished grad school, but it's a lot of work and practice...that we just haven't gotten around to doing! 

Saturday morning I had 3 students playing in a piano festival in Amarillo. So, I got up and went to the festival while everyone was getting ready to go to the recital. I had just enough time to make it home, practice with Mom, and grab my recital stuff before we went to pick up balloons for recital decorations. We quickly set up the worship center at the church, and soon students began to arrive. (It still just blows my mind that a year and a half ago, I had 4 students play in my first studio recital. In fact, it was at my house! This was my second spring recital, and I had 17 students play. I'll have around 25 in the fall! Wow!) My students all did wonderfully, and I was so proud of them! I had my first graduating senior, and as hard as I tried, I couldn't hold back my tears. She took lessons for a year and a half. I can't imagine what it will be like when my 1st and 2nd graders graduate! 

 My Studio

(As I sit here typing, I keep thinking there is probably something more productive that I should be doing at this moment...maybe like practicing piano music....but I can't really think of much else, so I'll continue on!)

After we cleaned up from the recital, we went out for a late lunch and just relaxed and played with Noah the rest of the day. Sunday was Mothers Day and also family dedication at church. I got up and went with Brian to play for the early service then came back home to finish getting Noah ready. Grandma and Da drove from Guymon for the service. It was a really nice time of dedication. We were presented with a book by our small group leader and a photo frame by one of the childcare workers who takes care of Noah in the nursery. And of course we didn't have any photos taken....oops. After church we picked up lunch from Olive Garden and had lunch at the house. Mom and I went to a recital held by Amarillo Music Teachers Association that several of my students were playing in. Grandma and Da went back to Guymon, and Dad rode with them. The Baileys headed to the airport because Grandpa was flying back to California, and they left after dropping him off. Mom stayed overnight for a few doctor appointments on Monday, so Sunday evening we just relaxed, had dinner, and watched a movie. 

Meeting Grandpa Ted (Mothers Day)

The following week, we packed up and headed to Shawnee for Emily & Cody's graduation. We left late Wednesday night after church and made it around 1:00 a.m., I think. We just stayed the night in Mom and Dad's hotel room. Noah did well on the drive (slept most of the way) but had some trouble getting back to sleep in a strange crib at the hotel. Thursday was her nursing pinning ceremony which was so nice. My Aunt Judy, who now lives in Wichita, KS, was able to drive down for that. Grandma Dorothy and Brady, Grandma and Da, and Coy were also there. Thursday night we left Noah in the capable hands of Dad and Grandma Dorothy and headed to Oklahoma City to help move Emily and Cody's things to their new apartment. Cody will be living there, and Emily will be staying with my Aunt Kathy until they are married. But, Emily was moving all of her stuff into the apartment. We were finished unloading and back in Shawnee maybe around 10 or 11 that night. Friday morning we helped Katey move things out of her apartment. Graduation was Friday afternoon. We went out for dinner with Cody's family after graduation. Saturday morning Brian, Noah, and I drove to OKC to have breakfast at Big Truck Tacos. We decided to stay for a bit and help Emily and Cody unpack, so after breakfast, we met them at the apartment. We ended up staying longer than planned, but I enjoyed helping unpack and organize...2 of my favorite things! :)

My only photos from graduation weekend...the rest are on Mom's camera

Relaxing with Da in the hotel

I finished my semester of lessons the following week. My cousin Megan and her husband Remington flew in from Austin to spend the weekend in Guymon. We picked them up from the airport and drove them to Guymon on Friday morning. It was a short weekend trip, but it was great to see everyone and spend the extra time with Megan and Remington. We headed home on Saturday evening. 

Hanging with Bop in Guymon

After 3 weekends of family visiting or traveling, we had a free weekend. (Although it was Brian's Friday to work at the church, so it wasn't as long as they usually are...but, he did have Monday off for Memorial Day). We decided to work in the yard some over the weekend. We bought and planted some little shrubs in our backyard and also planted some flowers. We raked and cleaned up the backyard some and pulled weeds in the front. We also went to the church to clean Brian's office and hang his pictures. They recently got new desks and his office had been a mess since! With everything going on at church, he just had not had the time to work on rearranging things in his new desk and putting things back on the walls. (Everything was off the walls because when our new youth pastor started at the church, he took Brian's office, and Brian moved into the old youth pastor's office who moved into the former education minister's office. I know...not confusing at all!). But, that was all done. I felt better about having projects done around the house, and he felt much better about having a clean office!