Maddie Turns 11

Maddie turned 11 this month, and a lot of things have been about her! Let's give her the floor for the month. ;)

First of all, Mike and I were invited to attend an assembly at Meadow because Maddie was being awarded the House of Robur. It was a surprise and it was so fun to walk out and give her a hug when her name was called.

The House of Robur Award means that she exemplifies the traits of all the 7 houses, including being honest, reliable, responsible, courageous, persistent, respectful, and being a good friend.

The nomination (I believe by her teacher, Mrs. Martins) said "she never seeks praise, but deserves a lot of it, does good in a quiet way, and excels by working hard. So grateful for a school that rewards and incentivizes building positive character! The assembly afterward about being reliable brought tears to my eyes... we love Meadow so much!

Monday the 5th (Mike's birthday! which we celebrated that night with dinner and carrot cake, of course) we had no school. Maddie had been planning and saving her money for a long time to be able to take 4 friends swimming for her birthday. She paid for each of them! Ella also paid for her buddy Cambry, and we took the littles too. It was a fun morning for all, except the water was freezing!

Maddie wasn't supposed to have a party this year (we do every other year) but if she wantd to pay for her friends and make her own cake, it was hard to refuse!

Since we were headed to St. George over her real birthday, we let Maddie open her presents before we left. They were a little too big to take in the car.... a bedroom makeover!

Before we left for our trip the kids enjoyed Teacher Appreciation week, and dressed up as what they wanted to be when they grew up. Maddie wants to be a author and illustrator, and I really hope she does it.

(Ty wants to be a Dad and took a briefcase to school, along with painted on whiskers. Ella was maybe the most endearing--she wants to be herself!)

And on to St. George we went! I will do a separate post about the other shenanigans of the weekend, but on Saturday for her birthday we went swimming at the clubhouse pool, ordered Thai take-out for dinner, and ate yummy ice cream cake. The best part was being with cousins!!!

When we got home, it was time for the room re-decorating! We took pictures to document the ladybugs that she had for 11 years.

Ta-da! The finished product. So cute and grown up.

Speaking of grown-up, it was time for Maddie's 5th grade overnighter to Clear Creek. She almost didn't make it because of a fever for a few days, but she woke up fine and was able to go!

Maycee's mom (Natalie) and Paige's mom (Sheri) went as chaperones, so they kept a good watch on our girl, and took lots of pictures for us! We missed her on her first night away from home (not with family) but they had good time. 

  

Maddie's Jr. Jazz team won the sportsmanship award for the season, so they were invited to attend an awards ceremony and celebration event at the Vivint Arena. Despite behind-the-scenes difficulties (including forgetting jerseys and gym shoes) these pictures are gems! Kate will never forget the scary bear that played peekaboo with her, and now we have an expensive ball signed by Jazz player Alec Burks that can't be played with! Ahhhh, the memories.

Also not pictured because I only have a video of it, but Maddie got her back handspring by herself last Saturday! She has been taking coaching lessons from a girl name Abbie who is helping her be a lot more confident and practice good technique. Maddie's goal is to do a back handspring in her gymnastics exhibition this May.

Maddie and Mike decided it was high time she try out skiing for the first time. Today was the day! She started out on the tow rope. A couple hours later they were at an elevation of 8250', the top of the mountain. They almost went on a black diamond run, but it was pretty steep up there! They lived to tell. Mike says Maddie was a natural and took to skiing quickly! She's already saying she wants to go back.