Bradshaws' end of school update

Becca can crawl up the stairs! She's very proud of herself and makes a break for the stairs whenever she can. She has discovered the joy of making it to the landing and then throwing anything that is there off the edge and laughing. The downside is that she can not go DOWN the stairs. So I am constantly dropping what I'm doing to stand behind her as she summits. She will also now eat a bit of ice cream off a spoon. Progress!

Hannah had her big dance recital. She was a sheep in the opening ballet and about as cute as they come. Her class did a danced called "Falling Stars." She is a voracious reader. She's been reading the fairy books (Rainbow Magic by Daisy Meadows if you want to give them a try) and so I put a few at a time on hold at the library for her. The other day, we picked 3 up from the library on our way to dinner. Then on the way home, we got gas and John and the kids waited in the car while I ran into the grocery store. By the time we got home, Hannah had finished all three!! The next time I went to the library, I determined to get longer books and more of them! Hannah also turned 7! She had a fun party with lots of friends at an art studio. We were so glad to have Mom & Dad here to help with the party! She requested Dad's steak and beets for her birthday dinner.

Josh had his piano recital. He played his two pieces very well (Ecosaise by Beethoven and then an arrangement of the Darth Vader Imperial March). When he finished, his teacher announced that he had something else to play. I couldn't imagine what it was! She went on to say that one day at his lesson he said, "Look what I can do" and proceeded to play the left hand of one song with the right hand from the other song and then vice versa. He did it in the recital, and we were all amazed. When we came home, he showed me some of his other tricks. He can play backwards (standing up with his hands on the keyboard behind his back) and doing a backbend over the piano bench with his hands up above his chin. We obviously have had some very effective piano practicing going on at this house! He's playing tennis and soccer and working on his Webelos badge. Here is his at last week's Raingutter Regatta:

John has been working and playing tennis. He spent several days last week in Dallas at a medical conference for radiology geeks. He was one of three presenters at a round table discussion (which went great) and attended lots of sessions. He can't wait to have our pizza oven in . . . we've been a little slow on our plans but we've got a good plan in place.

The MBA program asked me to mentor a couple of students during their summer internships so I've been getting to know them and helping them establish their goals. I am still working with World Joy (training teachers in Africa). This summer we are rolling out a reading instruction program. One of the tools it suggests the teachers make is sets of ABC "tiles" for the kids to learn letters and make words. I decided that we ought to send a bunch with the trainers . . . and recruited friends in my ward to cut up 250 cardstock alphabets and they're in Ghana now. And I've been playing a bit of tennis too! 

The kids' last day of school was June 11th so welcome summer. Here they are on the last day:

We are heading up to Sunriver tomorrow for a little start-of-summer vacation and a tennis tournament! We'll be there for most of Father's Day so send our best wishes to all the dads and especially to Dad for a wonderful day!
(And yes, I noticed that all my text is highlighted in annoying white. Not sure why or how to undo it . . . but I do need to pack, etc for our early departure tomorrow and so am posting as is even though it is annoying).