May 2010

May brought another first for us, as we kicked off the month by sending our little girl to preschool for the first time.  It is a strange and exciting, but sad experience to watch your first-born becoming a little lady!  What happened to our baby girl?!  She was a little hesitant at first, but quickly let her excitement overcome her nerves.  She attended the BYU-Idaho preschool from May 4th to July 14th, 2010, and it was a really good experience for all of us!  I especially appreciated that her Aunt Sam was the head teacher and could help keep an eye on her and report any problems to me.  I always worry as a mother that Abby won't behave appropriately in a social setting, but she always comes through like a champ!  She did really well and her teachers always had such nice things to say.  She learned a lot, but mostly, I think she just enjoyed the interaction with the other children.

 Mommy and Abby excited for her first day of school!  May 4, 2010

  Heading into school!

Abby's "locker"

 

 Daddy was so proud of his BIG girl!

To celebrate her first day of school, we went on a Mommy/Daughter date to the bowling alley.  This was Abby's first time bowling, and I think she did pretty well! 

 
 

May was also the month for us to show our support for loved ones who are/were struggling to over come potentially life-threatening diseases.  The first weekend in May was the Susan G. Komen "Walk for the Cure" in Boise, ID.  We decided to surprise Nate's mom who had been under going treatment for breast cancer for several months.  She, of course, got teary-eyed when she looked up and saw Abby running towards her in the crowd of people!  We loved the experience, and it was definitely moving to see the survivors of breast cancer and those who were honoring their loved ones celebrating their victories and showing support for one another!  Way to go, Grandma Law!

  

The following weekend, we also joined Abby's Aunt Sherri in the annual Walk for Multiple Sclerosis.  Sherri found out a little over six years ago that she has MS, and we were honored to walk with her and my brother, Martin, in order to try and raise money for research.  It was definitely great as a parent to show Abby the importance of standing behind some great causes, and the significance of caring about those around you!  We love you, Aunt Sherri!  We hope someday they will find a cure for you and all the thousands who suffer from this horrible illness!

 

Memorial Day weekend was spent relaxing with Rita, Aaron, Mary Alice, and Kirsten!  We are so grateful that they could come visit for a few days!  The girls played so well together all weekend, and we enjoyed a fairly low-key visit.  On Saturday, we went to our favorite restaurant for all-you-can-eat Sirloin.  The girls had fun pretending their napkins were hats! 

 Beautiful, Mary Alice!

 Kirsten Paige ~ Such a cutie!

On Memorial Day, we took the girls for a little photo-shoot at a really cute park in town, but the look on their faces says it all:

 When we told them we could stop taking photos and go feed the ducks, instead, they couldn't run fast enough!
 

 

And on the way home, we got a phone call from a friend saying someone was selling Basset Hounds in front of the Sportsman's Warehouse.  Even though, I swore I would never own a dog (they are just too messy for me), we had finally caved and told Abby she could get a puppy.  We did our homework, though, and even attended a breeder's event to learn about lots of different kinds of dogs.  In the end, we had decided we wanted a Beagle, but (with a little lot of encouragement from Rita and the girls) we figured it couldn't hurt to check it out.  One look at this face...

 

and we were goners!  Who could say no to that saggy, adorable face!  I just wish that in all the excitement, we would have thought to take a few more pics of her first day home!  We settled on the name of Chloe (much to Daddy's chagrin) and she instantly became a part of the family!  Poor Aaron and Rita had to deal with two very unhappy girls when it was time for them to head home!  Douglas definitely didn't share in the excitement of the family addition, but since then, he has really warmed up to our little Chloe girl!  In fact, he now frequently seeks her out to cuddle with her and to nuzzle one another.  Puppies are certainly hard work, as I had expected.  It took a couple weeks to get Chloe house trained, and she still needs a little work in the obedience department, but overall, she's doing pretty well.  Just know that if you decide to get a puppy right after buying a brand new wooden swing set, it WILL get chewed to bits!  

PROOF:

 

By the way, they will also chew up stairs, base board trim, socks, flip-flops, and their FAVORITE, little girls' stuffed animals!

Perhaps the biggest and best news for the month of May, was that Nathan started a new job with CH2M Hill at the Materials and Fuels Complex of the Idaho National Lab.  He is a Hazardous Reduction Technician, which is just a fancy way of saying that he is now qualified to tear down buildings and structures that were/are hazardous.  (i.e. - radioactive, highly explosive, etc.)  The new position and accompanying salary, allowed me to negotiate a part-time position with my company, and beginning on June 1st, I started working on Mondays and Tuesdays only!  May was definitely a great month for the Law family!