Back To School

We have been through the rounds of emotions this week. Excited, nervous, happy to see friends and sad to be back in school ALL day. Honestly mom has the hardest time adjusting to each new school year. I hate to have my girls gone for such a long period of time each day.

Abbie was ecstatic to find out that she did get her second choice in 3rd grade teachers. Ms. Deitz was at the top of her list, and she couldn't wait to meet her. Abbie is our little social butterfly that couldn't wait to get back to see all of her friends. She did shed a few tears nervous that she wouldn't have any friends in her class, but we all know that she will be fine. Last year the only trouble she had was keeping her mouth shut because everyone in class ended up being her friend. The night before school started she was showered and ready for bed at 7:00. She had her clothes all laid out and backpack ready to go. When she asked if she could go to bed I wasn't going to stop her. Needless to say she didn't go right to sleep, but had plenty of rest for her first day of school.

Avery on the other hand was very nervous. First grade is such a hard adjustment for all of the kids. I honestly thought having a first grader for the second time would be easier, but it's not. It seems so strange to not have her around the house today. We met her teacher Mrs. Cowley last night and she seems fantastic. Avery thought she looked cute (a huge deal to Avery) and was excited that she had a baby in her tummy. Avery was insistent that we stopped by to say hello to her Kindergarten teacher and then the nerves set in. Mrs. Wengreen (her kindergarten teacher) was hugging her and being so cute with her like she always is, and at that moment Avery wanted to have Mrs. Wengreen again. After a lot of tears and explaining that Mrs. Wengreen picked this new teacher just for her I wondered if I would get her to school the next day. To my surprise she was up bright and early with her school clothes on ready to go. I noticed that she didn't eat a lot, but kept asking if it was time yet. When we drove up to the school I was getting ready to park the car and walk each of them to their class, but she didn't want any help. Her and Abbie hopped out of the car and ran off. Avery is just full of surprises. Let's hope she had a great day so she will do the same tomorrow.

Camping with Grandma and Grandpa

We were so lucky to get one last little get away in before school starting. Grandma and Grandpa Chidester invited us to Trial Lake for a fun camping trip. Though it was cold, we still had a great time.

Abbie was insistent on fishing as much as possible. Her grandpa was so patent with her, and sat by her side the whole time. She never actually caught anything, but had a great time casting her line out over and over again. I don't know how many times he had to redo her line due to bringing it into shore for no reason.

Avery did her fare share of casting also. She didn't enjoy the fishing as much as just hanging out with her grandma. This is a picture of her kicking back and relaxing on the shore.

Aliza was kicking up her feet fishing too. The funny thing was that she would just hold the pole even if the line wasn't in the water. Totally content just thinking she was fishing.

We did sleep in the motor home due to the cold weather. I'm so glad we had a place to keep us warm all night. All six of us crammed into their motor home. We were tightly packed, but warm and cozy.

Avery really enjoyed walking on all the fallen logs. I had a hard time watching her balance beam stunts, but there were no injuries.

Miss copy cat at work enjoying the campfire and smores. Yummy!

This is my cute dad trying to read. I'm sure he didn't get far in his book due to having to fix a fishing line every two minutes.

Yucky worms!!!

What fun memories were made on this trip. I loved how Aliza would say "I saw a munk" whenever the chipmunks came by. Or that Abbie was completely inthralled with lighting and keeping the fire burning. We ate a lot of yummy food, played games, walked, and enjoyed just spending time together. What a great trip!

Visiting Dad

With it being Micah's last week of work in downtown Salt Lake I decided we needed to take a day trip to the city. We wouldn't have gotten the full experience without riding public transportation to and from his work. Aliza was so excited to ride on "the train," as she called it. She was so excited until we actually got on. For a few minutes she was insisting that we needed to get off "the train." Handing her something to munch on out of my purse to distract her we were off. Then of course after a few minutes she thought it was great.

My sweet girls.

I'm starting to realize that I am never in any of our pictures. When my kids are older they will be wondering who took them from place to place. With that being said I have been trying to take pictures with me in them. Not a fantastic picture, but I can prove that I was there with them.

We did get downtown early enough that we were able to walk around to see the beautiful flowers on temple square before meeting up with Micah. The girls loved looking at all the water fountains. We then met up with Micah for a quick lunch together. I felt a little out of place with everyone in their business attire, but we had a great time.

Micah and I celebrated out 10th anniversary on August 6th. When I look at this picture it reminds me of the picture we have of us standing in the same spot on our wedding day (our scanner is broken or I would love to have posted it). It's crazy how time flies, and what we have accomplished in the past 10 years. I feel so lucky to have our little girls with us now. What a great day!

At The Beach

Today we were able to go to a small little beach in Herriman discovered by my sister in-law who lives there. Tucked back in behind some homes is a small lake of sorts with a beach. We had a great time playing in the sand, swimming, and relaxing.

This is a picture of my poor niece Taylor who was stung by a bee right after we arrived. They were just swarming around her. She was very worried that she would get stung again so covered herself with beach towels. After realizing that it must be the sunscreen they were attracted to she spent the rest of the time in the hot car.

This is Aliza with her cousin Tobin. He was making her a big hole to sit in. She of course thought it was the greatest.

Tessa, Tevyn, and Abbie floating around.

Aliza loved running up and down the shore yelling "splash" as her legs splashed in the water.

Tobin and Avery building a spectacular sand castle.

At one point during swimming Abbie did get a little bit too far from the shore. The lake wasn't that big, but with the wind factor Abbie was in a panic. Luckily Tessa came to her rescue. We had such a fun time at the beach. It's too bad we hadn't discovered this great place until end of Summer vacation. I hope we can visit there again soon.

Our Garden

Last night the girls and I had a fantastic time getting all of the goods out of our garden. It is so fun to plant a little seed and watch it grow into something so yummy. We were giggling and having so much fun trying to find the "biggest" of everything. Avery at one point said "this is the funnest work I have ever done." I'm glad she enjoyed it.

They were more than willing to strike a pose with their veggies.

We were having such a silly night that we needed a silly picture to go a long with it.

This picture was to capture my sunflowers in the background. Every year I plant tall sunflowers around our garden, and love to watch them grow. This year we will be moving before I can really enjoy them grown and blooming. So this picture is for me to remember them.

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Our First Trip To Vegas

We decided a few weeks back that we all needed a trip to Vegas to check it out. Micah had a business trip planned, so me and the girls tagged along. All I have ever know of Vegas was the strip. Considering we hadn't even been to the strip for almost 10 years we all needed to see another side of Vegas before we move there. Thank heavens there is a lot more to Vegas than the strip. It actually does have some beautiful areas when you head into the suburbs.

We were excited to check out all the palm trees. It's crazy to think that we could have them in our own front yard soon.

We did head to the strip to check out the RainForest Cafe. I think this was one of the highlights for our girls.

Love this picture of the two monkeys we took back to the hotel with us.

Aliza was completely fascinated with all the animals at the cafe. She was so excited that she was dancing on her chair to the music the whole dinner. It was really funny to watch.

We did pay a visit to the M&M store while we were there. I made Abbie get this picture with the green one because green is her favorite. Mom's make you do crazy things sometimes. She wasn't as excited about it.

While Micah was working we ventured out of our hotel room to visit the Las Vegas Children's Museum. Thank heavens for our GPS system Micah won at a work party a few months back. We joked when he won it that we would never use it. Turns out that we used it a lot this trip, and I'm sure when we move it will really come in handy. I would have been really nervous to go anywhere without it.

The Museum turned out to be a lot of fun. This picture is Abbie and Avery in a wind tunnel. It starts out really slow and then works it's way up to hurricane speed winds. They thought it was great.

What child doesn't love a pretend recording studio? Avery was having a great time singing to High School Musical.

We spent a few hours at the chocolate factory. Unfortunately we went on a Friday when they are not actually making the chocolate, but we could see all the machinery. It was fun to see and sample the chocolate. We will have to visit again some day soon to watch them making the good stuff.

Right outside of the chocolate factory was a cactus park that you could walk through and see all the desert plants. When we first arrived in Vegas Avery asked us when we would be in the desert. When we told her we were already in the desert she informed us that we were not because there are no buildings in the desert. This little park made her feel more like she visited and actual desert. My mom was kind enough to make the trip down for one day so that Micah and I could look at homes. We didn't find anything we loved, but more found the area's we do want to live and do not want to live. Considering we knew nothing about the area this was a huge step toward our move. Our kids now officially think that if you are in Vegas you just have fun and swim every day. It will be a rude awakening when we actually are living there. Blistering hot weather here we come.