May 2026 - Uncle Andrew and Aunt Jen get married, caving, dancing, and Lily's birthday.

May 1 Friday - We started the day with a swim.  It was really neat to have so many of the cousins together.  From the left clockwise: Eli, Finn, Andy (not a cousin, just and old man), Lily, Luke, Evelyn, and Hannah. 

It was supposed to be cold and rainy all afternoon and possibly through the wedding, so we spent entirely too long at Burlington Coat factory that afternoon wandering through all the wild non-coat items.  The girls all got new warm tops. The wedding venue, Chandor Gardens, was very pretty.  It was modelled after an Asian garden with lots of water features, sculptures and plants.  

Everyone wandered the grounds to take in the beauty. From the left: Mya, Eli, Ava, Hannah, Luke, Evelyn, Finn and Lily. 

It really happened!  They're married!

Everyone had a nice time eating and talking at the reception, then they cut the cake!

Then it was time to clean up.  Part of the deal with the venue was no help with setup or take down.  They were responsible to provide their own decorations and the kids all had fun helping with clean up. 

May 2 Saturday - We had a birthday party for Grandma Workman at Holland Lake Park in Weatherford.  It was a fun brunch.  The park had a big pond with ducks and turtles and cypress knees (plants are weird where there's lots of water).  

Every 5 years, or so, Uncle Mark tries to teach Finn "sports."  Pretty sure this was the first time Finn had ever worn a baseball glove.  He had fun though.  

May 3 Sunday - We started back west on Sunday morning and ended up attending a nice branch for sacrament meeting in Eastland, TX.  It was a fun meeting, non-stop testimonies and wonderful banter between the members.  At 6 PM we arrived at the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns.   

We brought leftover sandwiches from Grandma's party with us in the cooler and had a picnic at the bat flight amphitheater.  We watched the birds, then bats fly around.  The cave swallows spend an hour flying around munching bugs before sundown, then they all enter the shallow/twilight section of the cave before the bats start spilling out.  Hundreds of thousands of bats poured out of the cave.  It was a neat evening activity. 

May 4 Monday - After breakfast we headed back to the park to explore the visitor's center and the cave.  

Four switchbacks down at the bottom right of the picture Melissa and the kids are celebrating their approach to the cave mouth.  It was a 1.25 mile walk down into the cave, all steep switchbacks. 

Melissa and Finn were so brave.  They were fighting claustrophobia the whole way down. The cave had sections of dimmer or brighter light, with a few highlights on neat formations. 

Once we reached the Big Room, we had the option of another 1.5 mile walk around the perimeter of the room (yeah it is that big), but we decided to just head back up.  Thankfully, there was an elevator. 

Hannah at the 750th floor below ground, "Going up!" The ride was actually quick, much to the joy of all on board. 

May 10 Sunday - after a week at home Melissa is enjoying an "eagle's nest" for breakfast.  Lily has been getting special creature boxes in the mail to teach her about animals.  The box about eagles had a yummy breakfast parfait recipe.  

Sunday morning slime time, another less delicious recipe from one of Lily's creature boxes.  

And a naan bread assembly line to prepare for Grandma's birthday dinner at home.  

May 11 Monday - Dance recital for the girls. "The seasons." Lily is at the far left as they represent Spring. 

Spring and fall enjoying a moment together.  

Hannah in the very center of her troupe. 

Each dancer brought a partner up to learn some steps.  Lily brought Finn and Hannah brought dad.  Those girls are lucky we don't perform, we are full of natural talent. 

Grandma and Grandpa Workman came to watch. 

And Melissa made sure to order bouquets to celebrate our ballerinas. 

May 14 Thursday - the kids have been obsessed with Greek mythology for months. I think it started with Hannah and the Percy Jackson series, but everyone is reading about ancient Greece.  We are trying to put together a trip to Greece for this fall, but is a challenge.  Greece is logistically much harder to visit than the rest of Europe. 

May 15 Friday - Melissa has been helping with the forest school project this summer. Most Fridays they go up to the Life Mission School area and participate in the lessons.  This week was "bring something to shoot a watermelon."  So Hannah brought her plastic bow and arrow and Finn brought his sling shot (birthday presents).

When that didn't work, they smashed it with a baseball bat!

May 21 Thursday - After MONTHS and multiple companies failing to come through, we finally got our trash pile hauled away at the remodel! 52 tons across four semi truck dumps.  I think seeing that bare patch of dirt might be my favorite part of the whole remodel. 

May 22 Friday - Lilian's 8th birthday!!! I had to work, so I made her cinnamon sugar tortillas and egg and cheese scrambles all cut with our cat cookie cutters.  

She opened her family presents before breakfast. 

May 23 Saturday - She had a friend party at the park.  Everyone pretended to be veterinarians and adopted a stuffy, gave it a check up, and made it a home. 

Then our local large animal vet, Dr Magdalena Niedermeyer, was kind enough to bring her mobile clinic to show the kids and talk about her work. 

Melissa taught about skeletons with full body animal x-rays. 

Then it was time for cake, I mean French browned butter dark chocolate tarts with raspberries and pistachios.  This is Lily's favorite dessert.  She had been asking/reminding me for months that we needed to have it at her party.  She even helped me make them.  

May 30 Saturday - A little sneak peak of what is coming in June.  Lily sat for a baptism dress photo shoot when our friend Mallory Lyman came to visit for the weekend.  These two are Lily's favorites from her pictures.