Back to School

So Madelyn's first day of 2nd grade was today. She has been waiting for school to start again since the last day of 1st grade. She could hardly contain her excitement on Saturday, but then when she woke up Sunday morning, the nerves had hit. She was quite nervous all day & had a rough night. (That was made worse by Austin's night terrors, poor kid.) Most of it was just the usual first day anxieties. But she put on a brave face & walked proudly into her classroom, smiling back at me, holding her best friends hand. When I picked her up, she was completely consumed by the excitement again. Her teacher gave each child a big hug before they went in & played fun games with them to get to know their names, & a bunch of stuff that I didn't catch because she was talking so fast. She told me when she got home that she couldn't wait till tomorrow to go back, she wanted to go now:) I am so glad that she likes school so much. It makes it a lot easier to let her go. Of course my boys were asking when she was coming home all day. They get so bored without her. I have no idea what I'll do with Trey when Austin starts next year. I guess I'll have to start getting some ideas right now, maybe then I'll be ready:) And just like the past two years, after I dropped her off & came home, I felt a strange kind of sadness. She has always been such a "light" in our home & when she is gone it just feels weird.
I'm so mad that my camera is still broken. I couldn't get a picture of her on her first day & she looked so adorable (and way too grown up)!! But once again, I am amazed at the strength she shows in overcoming her fears & am very proud of the Independence she is showing. No matter how old & brave she gets, she'll always be my little tiny angel!

Oh Yeah, Baby!!!

I just had to express my complete & utter joy at the news about Twilight. It's release date was moved up 3 weeks to November 21st!!!!!! How excited are we all? Okay, that's all I wanted to say:)

Finally Getting To It

I finally got a slide show put together from our camping trip. It's only a full month late:( I'm tired of my slides being cut off half way through, so I'm trying Liz's way (hope you don't mind, friend!) My entire family went to Willard Bay & camped for a week. We had all but one brother & his family there, which is quite a chore getting everyone (50+ people) together at the same time. It was a lot of fun to be with everyone & my kids had a blast. The camp sites were all together & so the kids rode their bikes all around through the sites & ran & threw frisbees & drank pop & ate junk food & got dirty & did all those great things that go along with camping. The water was so low this year that they weren't allowing boats so we couldn't do any waterskiing, but it was fun to be able to walk clear out to the middle of the bay without the water going past our waist. It made it really fun for the kids. We just threw some life jackets on them & let them cruise around & of course they loved the freedom. We adults had our fun as well. Apparently it is not uncommon for Mike & his family to have mud fights. I wish someone on the beach would have gotten some pictures because I'm sure that it was quite funny to see all these adults out in the middle of the water throwing mud at each other. Later, we were all finding mud in places we didn't know existed. James said he was quite surprised to see me go join the fight. I was surprised that after almost 10 years of marriage, he hasn't figured out that I was raised in a family of boys, & that I can get down & dirty with the best of them. I guess I don't do it enough...maybe I'll have to change that!! He never got involved with the fights & I'm pretty sure that he was afraid his wife would nail him with a mud-ball:) Later on, we had races with a little clown bike that Chad brought & it was hillarious to watch us all try to peddle this little tiny bike. The tall men were definitely the funniest. They had such a hard time keeping their balance & finding a place to put their knees. Josh is definitely the tallest (my guess is that he is about 6'6" - maybe taller) & he had us laughing so hard watching him trying to maneuver that bike. I do have some pictures of that, but I have to apologize for the poor quality, my camera was not cooperating in the dark. At least you can see how silly we all looked.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Broken Camera, Breaking Dawn

Things have been crazy busy around here. Between Summer activities, holidays & vacations, I haven't had much time to keep up the blog. Kerryne tagged me & I promise I'll get to it! I have some pics of our camping trip that I need to get on here too. Unfortunately Trey got to my camera & managed to disable it completely. As far as I can tell, he thought it would be fun to push the power button over & over until the shutter got stuck. It won't even turn on now. CRAP!! I feel just as empty without my camera as I do without my cell phone. So as far as pictures go, don't expect any until we get that fixed. Of course after all the pictures I loaded you all with on the 4th, you may be grateful for that.
Breaking Dawn...YEAH!!!!! My sister Pam invited me to a party that her friends were throwing & it was so much fun. We made some pretty awesome shirts, had some food (they had this whole red, white & black theme & I was quite surprised at how many foods they came up with that were those colors)& of course talked a lot about the books. We played a trivia game & I must say that Shanell (my sisters friend) & I kicked some butt. She is just as crazy about the books as I am & obviously just as competitive:) We were definitely the Twilight freaks of the party. It was nice not to be the only one! I was kind of sad to have to take my countdown off this morning...well actually I guess it's not morning anymore. Not getting home until 2:00am took its toll on me. It's 12:00 & I haven't gotten the kids any food (can you tell where my priorities are? Hee Hee), I'm still in my pajamas, the kitchen sink if overflowing with dirty dishes & my laundry that was supposed to be done yesterday hasn't even been started. Having said that, I think you all know what I'll be doing today...READING!!! Actually, for those of you who know me best, the OCD in me will make sure the rest of that gets done before I can really enjoy the reading, so I can only hope I get to the book today! If that is going to happen I better get off this computer. So...Happy reading, everyone:)

Memory Game

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

4th Of July Fun!

I hope that everyone had a great holiday weekend. We kept ourselves pretty busy with friends & family. It was loads of fun. Every year for at least 4 now, we get together with our friends from the neighborhood on the 3rd & do a bbq & fireworks. It is always a blast. If I can say so myself, I think we have a pretty fun neighborhood full of good friends that are always there for each other & lots of little kids. It's great! If you like lots of pictures, get ready...

Owen, Trey & Will - The little ones of the group.


Tanner & Austin on the 4-Wheeler


All the kids riding bikes together. Yes, right down the middle of the road.


Trevor, Kyle & Marie - note the 2 week old baby girl in Kyle's lap...so cute!


My little ones watching the fireworks...look at Austin's face!


Two of the new Mommie's & one Grandma with the babies!


Dave & Trevor always have a contest to see who lights the best firework. They go through an entire introduction of the name of the firework & make it all dramatic.


I wasn't even aiming the camera at Kyle, but when he made the face, he gave me no choice but to take the picture!


Some of the girls...Keri, Stephanie, Shelbi, Roxanna & Beth


And as asked for, here is a quick one of James & I. I'm still learning how to hand my camera over to someone else, so there aren't any candid ones of James & I. I'll work on that!



Then on Friday, we went to a park with my family for a picnic, a little football & frisbee throwing & then to see the Sandy fireworks. It was also a blast & it is always good to see some of my family that I don't get to see often enough! And the kids got to play with their cousins, which they always love.

My Mom, Dad, brothers-in-law Brent & Steve, & nephew Jarin


More family...my sisters Pam & Alicia, my Grandma (& Steve...again!)


Bryce & Colin thought it would be fun to run through the water with the kids & get a little misted. Little did they know that what looked like a mist was actually quite a lot of water. After that, they figured they might as well have fun & continued to run through the water with the kids. This is Bryce, doing the "dog shake" to get the water out of his hair!


Austin & Trey playing in the water with their cousins.


Ranie, Kianna, Colin & my mom chatting...notice in the background that Bryce is playing on the playground...just a kid at heart!!!


Maddie & Trey in the water. I didn't get a picture of it, but this park has the coolest water playground. It has water squirting in every direction & right in the center there are some rings that form a tunnel of water. To my surprise, each of my kids actually ran through it. I was so proud. If you know my story about my kids & their fears, you will understand why!!


Trey throwing the football to Dad!


Maddie catching our giant frisbee. It's more fun for the kids to play with this frisbee because it is easier to catch because of it's size & the big soft center.


Austin taking his turn catching the frisbee.


This is how Trey watched the fireworks. This is a double "kids chair", but he lounged himself in one side, put his feet up into the other one, plopped his bag of chips next to him & relaxed. It wasn't even his chair, it's my sisters, but no one had the heart to make him move, he just looked too cute. This picture describes his personality perfectly!!!


So, there you go...if you made it through, good for you!!

A Special Tribute

For those who don't know, my niece Cali & her husband Josh, lost their precious baby boy last week. He passed away two days before his due date. I have had so many thoughts & feelings that I have not been able to put into words. I started to post something several times & deleted it because it didn't adequately express what was in my heart. I still don't know that it will come out right, but here it goes.

In tribute to baby Mac...This has been an incredible experience to all who have been a part of it. We know that he is such a valiant spirit that he didn't need to prove anything on this earth. I am comforted to know that he is up there watching out for not only Josh & Cali, but his entire eternal family. And I am grateful to be a part of that. I am in awe when I think of how, in such a short time, this little baby has touched so many lives & left such a lasting imprint on us all.


In tribute to Josh & Cali...What an amazing couple they are. They are so young to be going through what I think is one of the whoppers of all trials. And they are handling it so remarkably. Their strength almost radiates from them & is inspiring to us all. It is very fitting for them to have been chosen to be parents to such an amazing spirit. My heart is breaking with the pain that I know they are feeling. I just want them to know how much I admire them & love them.

I wish I could express everything to them that I want to, but it might take a few pages - I can't say enough about my feelings for them & their sweet baby - so I hope that this will do. Josh's sister has put a beautiful blog together for Mac, the link is at the top of my blog. It is truly amazing, you all should take a look!