May - End of the school year & Beckham's 9

Beckham boy celebrated his 9th birthday!! I cannot believe how fast the time goes by. It doesn't seem long ago that I turned to Pres and said, "my water just broke." Beckham was the only one that that happened with. He was eager and ready to come to this world. He's been nonstop ever since, haha. 

Beckham is our very active kiddo. He loves moving his body. Football comes natural to him and continues to be a major passion of his as well as... Fort Nite, Madden, and Zelda. He loves his game systems and screen time. When motivated :) he can play outside forever. He loves playing catch, building forts, and drawing dinosaurs with his siblings. He's an easy going kid that is always looking for the laugh. We're doing our best to teach comedic timing and "appropriate" funny. It doesn't always have to be potty talk, but explaining that to a nine year old boy is wishful thinking. It also doesn't help that he makes his dad and me laugh too, haha. We love our Beckham James! 

The theme this year was Avatar The Last Airbender and Fort Nite. He couldn't decide, so we went with both ideas and put them together :) After all it's a party!

He enjoyed getting Chicago Bear socks, Appa (from Airbender), and Big Nate Books. He loved his birthday. We celebrated his special day as a family and then opted to do a "bring a friend" birthday party that weekend.

Beckham chose Boomers as his party destination with his friend Clyde from school. We had such a blast!

We spent several hours at Boomers playing mini golf, eating tasty chicken tenders, riding on the bumper boats, and riding the go karts. The kids had a such a fun time. By the time the sun was going down we were all ready to be done for the day. I think it's safe to say that Beckham had a pretty awesome birthday for his last year in the single digits. 

Academic Awards all around! 

Everyone scored in the 80% or higher in Math, Reading, and Language! We are so proud of our trio!

A day for Mom!

We all headed to the IMAX theatre to enjoy the Blue Angels documentary. It was very fascinating to see the process that these Angels go through to become a part of such an elite team. There was much discussion around G-Forces at lunch afterward, and why people pass out. Haha. 

Cold Stone with Dad!

I volunteered to help out Jack's 4th grade class at the science museum close to us. We had a lot of fun exploring and learning about science.

Meanwhile back at campus, this little girl took over her teacher's desk, haha. I received this pic from Mrs. Inderbitzen stating that Quinn was now teacher for the day ;)

In her happy place!

After all of my leg issues I decided to take some advice from a doctor I chatted with. She mentioned acupuncture to help alleviate some of the stiffness and pain I was still feeling. I talked with Dr. Quan my now acupuncture doctor, and she diagnosed me within minutes. I have piriformis syndrome. Which basically means my piriformis muscle spasmed out and is pushing on my sciatic nerve causing pain. The muscle is having a hard time relaxing, so acupuncture can help relieve some of the pain and move the muscle away from my nerve. The doc always has me do oxygen before my session. I do oxygen through my ears to clear my head first, I have my treatment, then end the session with fire cupping and a massage. The fire cupping has been amazing! It's what pulls my muscle up and away from the nerve. Plus, a massage always feels good :) I was very surprised that after around five treatments I started to be able to stand straight and my pain started to go away. Praying this all ends soon!

I caught Quinnie watching some of the Book of Mormon videos online :) 

More acupuncture! This is when it started to show more results.

Temple day for Momma!

I have found over the past few months that everyone deals with grief differently. Quinnie tends to write her feelings out. I find letters to Uncle Brian in random places around the house. They touch my heart every time I find one. She has such a big heart and she misses her sweet Uncle dearly. Love this girl of mine. 

May turned out to be an incredible month! Lots of endings, new beginnings, and adventure. We took off for Alaska on May 26th! That journal is coming next! I felt that it deserved it's own entry :)

April - SF Zoo, Trip to Montara, AJR Concert

This month started off with a little procedure. I had my first colonoscopy due to a history of colon cancer in my family line. It was not my favorite experience, haha. The nurse had to poke me four times just to get the IV in. This was quite painful due to dehydration from not being able to eat or drink. Not a great start. When the anesthesia was put through my IV it burned like lava going through my veins. I actually yelled out when it hit. The anesthesiologist quickly started rubbing my arm apologizing while informing me that this happens sometimes. Before I knew it though I was sleeping. Once I was awake I got dressed and Pres and I hit up a Greek restaurant for some much needed substance. We got home and fell asleep hard for a few hours. I do love my sleep ;)  Luckily, we got the call that everything came back great. 

However, something had happened during the procedure which caused a pain all the way from my left hip to my feet. My doctor believes that it is my sciatica nerve. I have been unable to stand straight up ever since, yeesh. This preventative procedure turned out to cause a lot more issues than I had thought. Grateful all came back healthy, but I am dealing with the most random repercussions ever. This is not a common thing to deal with after a colonoscopy. Most people walk away just fine. I was the one and a million. I am now going through physical therapy, seeing a chiropractor, and taking meds daily to get my hips, muscles, and nerves back to where they need to be. Hoping I'll be back to complete normalcy in no time. To be continued...

Just a night of making faces on Snapchat.

On April 8th we had the solar eclipse. We also had the kids classroom open house. They were so excited to show us their rooms and what they prepped for us. Jack wanted to snap this pic with his friends while we were visiting his 3rd grade class with Ms. Green.

Date Night!

Pres and I were excited to have babysitters for a night while we attended the temple with friends. We even grabbed dinner at my favorite place afterwards. Our good friends were going through the temple for the first time and asked if we would be willing to attend with them. We of course said yes! It was such a neat experience. We are so happy for them. Their family was sealed the following day for time and all eternity. Such a spiritual moment! 

I was privileged to be the photographer for Elise and Charlie's wedding. It was such a blast! Love love love these two. The three of us had become so close over the last four months. Planning, laughing, and creating a day they'd never forget has been a highlight for me. I am SO grateful to know Elise & Charlie and have them as forever friends! 

Everyday the kids walk to and from school together. I love seeing the three of them chatting and laughing as they walk. 

"Mom take a picture." Haha! This is his smolder look ;)

Quinn's teacher, Mrs. Inderbitzen, sent me this cute pic. She titled it "new sub for the day." Haha. Apparently Quinn went and sat in her desk, put on her glasses, and snapped a pic with friends from her phone, haha. She is too funny!

The Clark crew had a little staycation at the end of the month. We headed to Montara for a night away. It was gorgeous! Everyone enjoyed being at the beach, and exploring yet another town along the coast. 

I had three family shoots on the coast the following day, so we thought we would make a night and day of it. I am so glad we did. We had a great time.

We of course had to stop by a book store :) Everyone walked away with a new book to read for the way home. Love these little book readers of ours.

We had some time before the sunset shoots, so after the bookstore we went to the San Francisco Zoo. 

The gorillas were so fun to watch. 

I think the kids had a blast. We haven't been to a zoo in a few years. 

Kodiak bears are the coolest...from a distance ;) I think these two were my faves.

My cute friend Danicia captured these pics of me in my element. I absolutely love being a photographer. 

Taking a pic of Danicia's little guy. He's such a cutie.

Fun times at church with my girls!

Pres and I bought tickets for the family to see AJR in concert. AJR is the kids favorite band. They were so nervous and excited to see them in person :) I legit got a little emotional as I watched them enjoy the night. There is nothing like concerts, and you always remember your first. Everyone sang, danced, and cheered throughout the night. AJR puts on an incredible show! 

These three passed out on the way home :) 

The concert was on a Monday in San Francisco. I packed jammies and pillows for everyone so they could sleep on the way home. I'm so happy I did that! It was such a late night for our littles. We got out of the concert around 10:30p and home around midnight. I was super impressed that they still went to school the following day. 

April was an incredible month! We started off a little rocky, but we made our way through. We loved our staycation and the zoo. I think going to the AJR concert had been on the count down for a few months now :) I am so happy the kids got to see their favorite band live. I am also so grateful for how many photo shoots I have been able to do over the past few months. It has been such a fun ride, and I am so grateful for the support and love. Looking forward to what May has in store.