FIRST GRADE!

Drake was pretty excited to head to first grade. I had him in a different school for Kindergarten, so the whole thing was a new experience. This year he gets to ride the bus to school and home. He is feeling very old because of it, in fact on the 2nd day of school on the bus ride home, he didn't even come home. There I was waiting at the end of the street(only because I was told " Mom, you don't need to come to the bus stop, you can just be at home."), and here come the 2 girls that he walks to and from the bus stop with and no Drake. Of course I was a little worried, maybe he didn't get on the bus, maybe somebody took him, or he forgot to get off...anyway all these thoughts were going through my head but I did have a pretty good feeling that he was alright. He's pretty obedient, so I knew he wouldn't have gone too far. Anyway, come to find out he was just heading over to a girls house to play and he was just going to call me when he got there. First of all I don't even think he knows our number very well, so I don't know how well that would have gone over. I ended up walking around the neighborhood and found him walking with a couple friends, so I let him know that the rule is after you get off the bus you come straight home and then we can figure out if we will play or not. He didn't quite know that there were bus rules, he was just feeling pretty independent with the whole idea of getting himself home without mom. I am proud to say he's made it home every day from then on and has been an excellent student! I hope he eventually likes to learn, he's never been too into school. I'm hoping first grade will change all that. We are so excited for our first grader, but also very sad to send him away into the real world. Mike and I took just him out to dinner just before school started and kind of explained a few things that were going to be happening in first grade and certain situations he's going to have to deal with. We just pray that we've taught him well and that he'll live up to that and be a great kid--especially to other kids. So far so good! WE love our Drake!

Drake and his new teacher Mrs. Campbell

Thumbs up Dad!
off he goes....

Coming home off the bus...

My SISTER'S Trip

Every other year my sister's and sister-in-law's, get together for a girls getaway. No boys allowed, except for this year we made an exception for my Dad. We went to Utah this year instead of California, where we usually go. It all started off with all of us running in the 10K/5K in SLC. We had all been working up to this run and we all did great, I'm so proud of all my sister's, and also for my cute niece Emily who joined us that morning(we missed Staci, Emily, Tina, and Kristen who couldn't make it this year). Here is a link to some pictures of all of us during the race http://www.zazoosh.com/members/viewGallery/799

Holly, Carrie, Me, Melinda, Sarah, and Emily
(we're feeling "tough" and very glad that the run is over!)

Way to go Girls!!!We spent a couple of days at Sarah's house where we lounged at the pool, read magazines and books, ate lots of treats, and then made it over to her house to play(or at least attempt) Rock Band.

One of the days we went to Thanksgiving Point. We rented these things called Segways, I'd never heard of them before, but they were so nice to sight see around the beautiful gardens. We especially enjoyed watching my Mom try and figure out how to ride them. She doesn't look nervous at all.

Looking over the amazing Gardens!

They had these flowers everywhere, I thought they were gorgeous!
This is Holly and I riding the segways through the gardens

Me and my 4 sisters!

I didn't have my camera for the other events, but we took a day and spent it in Salt Lake. Some of us hadn't ever been to a session at the temple there, so we did that in the morning and amazingly enough, President Uchtdorf was in our session going through with his 2 grandson's who were preparing to go on missions. What a neat experience to have an apostle right close to you. It was so neat to see him and we even got to shake his hand afterward. After the session we ate at the Nauvoo Cafe, and then went and saw the Joseph Smith movie. We shed a few tears in that one, what a great show! After that, we took the trax down to the Gateway and did some shopping, and by the end of the day we were beat! It was pretty hot outside so we were all tired and ready to go back to my Mom's house. We did a lot of eating out at really good restaurants and playing a few games, but mostly just visiting and sleeping in. Gotta love not having any responsibilities. Thanks to our husband's for that. They stayed home with all the kids and sacrificed for us to get together! It's been a great tradition and I'm grateful to have such a great family!

Thanks girls for a wonderful trip. Hopefully we'll see each other soon!

I love you so much!!!

4th of July

We had a pretty relaxing Holiday. We went swimming over at Mike's sister's pool with some cousins, and then headed home so the kids could take naps to be ready for the fireworks that night. We tried to snap a few family shots before we left so we thought we'd share with you all. Better late than never -right?

Happy Happy Birthday Charly Dear!

Our baby is 2, it's so hard to believe how fast these last 2 years have gone. I can't tell you how fun it is to have a 2 year old around the house. She is so full of life and grasping every minute of it--and even keeping up with her 2 big brothers. She's learning great wrestling techniques and even taking them down every now and again--she'll throw her share of punches too. Just lately after the boys have seen "Kung Fu Panda," she's been learning all kinds of karate moves and even has the "hai Ya" sound effects. She'll stub her toe and kinda cry and say "kill" a term meaning "that killed" heard from the boys quite frequently. Even though she comes across as pretty tough, she still remembers that she's a sensitive precious little girl even with all the boy influences around her. She loves little babies and I'll catch her singing to them, bouncing them, and rocking them to sleep--oh so cute--girls are just way too fun! I love her so much right now! She just brings a smile to my face every second of the day. I can't even get mad at her when she calls me "meanie"(a wonderful endearing term used at her mother and on rare occasion to her father, that she learned from her brothers) I just have to laugh. She is talking so much and making our whole family crack up laughing at her little quirky things she does. What would I do without my sweet Princess?

I love you Charly!
Charly is trying to figure out how to get those 2 fingers to work ...
still trying, can't quite figure out how to get the other ones down. She'll get it soon enough. Charly and all her presents
Charly's first nightgown, she would wear it every night if she could.
I think the "girl" thing is rubbing off a little bit on Drake. He's liking these babies. What a great big brother!

The Big Day!

My good friend from High School got married the same weekend I was in Logan. It was so great to see most of the gals that I haven't seen in so long. Paige looked amazing, what a beautiful bride!

Katy, Brittany, Marasol, Paige, Me, Danya, and Sallie

Back to Logan!

My sister Carrie and I were able to head up to Logan for a few days after our reunion. We stayed at our brother, Glen's house. They just moved back there from Lehi and absolutely love it at their new home. It is just beautiful and in a perfect part of town. They are surrounded by horses and farms and lots a land and the mountains right behind them. My kids had so much fun hanging out with their cousins, exploring, eating, roasting marshmallows, going to the zoo, feeding the horses and keeping an eye on the chickens. Thanks to Glen and Emily for being such great hosts, we had a fabulous time!

Sam and Charly trying to figure out the slip n' slide..

Gotta love the CHUB! Check out that belly!

Cute little Gabriel!

Drake must have some pretty good bounce for them, seeing that he's the only one on the ground. He was just helping everyone else get high, I'm sure he wasn't trying to be high at all.

I think he just needed to be alone, now he's catching some air!

devouring the fudgesicle

mmmmmm..

some of the cousins....

Jake, Drake, Evan, Maddie, Eli and Sam on the bottom

(Wesley's probably feeding the chickens)

Family Fun!

We had a great time at Aspen Grove this year. With our kids being a little older, I think it was even more fun to watch them enjoy themselves so much. We went with my whole family, all my brother's and sister's and all of their kids. It was the most relaxing time I've had all year. I recommend this family reunion to anyone, just go to http://aspen.byu.edu/ and check it out. Your kids are taken care of mostly all day, they cook every meal for you, plus there is so many activities to choose from and even special seminars for adults and you are surrounded with an amazing scenery--beautiful!!! We look forward to next year where we get to go with my whole extended family on my mom's side--over 100 people. So much fun!!Wesley and Drake doing a little rock climbing!
The boys performing skits in their groups.

Charly and Mom
Aunt Sarah and Princess Charly

Mom, Dad, Mike and my sister Melinda
My mom and Dad with all the grandkids


Charly and her Dad!

What a precious smile!


waiting to ride the train..

here we go.
My cutest little nephew, Griffin(John's boy)
couldn't be happier!


Never ending slip n' slide