First Day of Kindergarten

Well, the first day of school has finally arrived. Leah has been ready to go for weeks and she was excited for the big day. She kept calling today her "special day" and asked if anyone was going to say congratulations for her "special day." I told her if she finishes kindergarten she will get congratulated, but today we would wish her good luck. She went right on in and had a fantastic day. They read a story about a raccoon on his first day of school. He was a little afraid and a little shy, but he made it through the day because of the advice from his mom. The kids colored a picture about the story and sent home their handprint. It was quite tender. They learned the rules for the playground and played hopscotch. All in all, I think it was a success. The only one to get emotional was Annie. She said that she missed Leah and wanted her to come back. Brian even got to sneak away to see her off. It is official, I have a kindergartener.
The traditional porch picture

Getting some love from the wise, old owl

Giving Annie a comforting love
Leah with her friends from the ward, Mallory and Elizabeth (who are both in her class)
Proud mom on the first day of school
Brian wearing his Del Sol shirt for the first day back
Posing with the cute neighbor girls
Marching into the classroom
Waving good-bye to mom

Utah Extravaganza

We were in Utah for almost two weeks. We crammed in lots of fun things and it was fun to spend time with the fam. Here is a quick run down of some of activities we participated in.

Oquirrh Temple Open House Joy's RN graduation-my mom is awesome!!! Annie enjoying a s'more
Yum-o-gotta love the mallow, graham, and chocolate
Old Faithful
Peek-a-boo at the cabin in Asthon Climbing the pig at the Frostop in Ashton, IDLucy enjoying a kid's meal treat-OREO The SWEET Candy Factory tour-it was fabulous (Lucy has a beard net on her head) Enjoying the Pionner exhibit at the Treehouse On the boat at Pineview Snoozing on the beach Leah taking a plunge Annie hanging on the beach Making the best of the broken boat situation

So proud of herself for sneaking a Capri Sun and drinking from it

The new dragon ride at Lagoon

Brushing a ginormous cow at the fair

Getting our redneck on at the Demolition Derby

We also went to a Raptor's game where Leah received a ball from the 3rd base coach. She got three autographs and then signed her own name on the way home. We went to Bear World, which was phenomenal, but I forgot my camera. We went bowling, ate at lots of our favorite haunts, had a BBQ with friends, tried a fun new ice cream shoppe, partook of numerous snow cones, and stayed up too late. It was quite a trip, and we had a blast.

Survival

I returned from Girl's Camp on Saturday. We went to Pine Valley, Utah (near St. George). It was quite fun and the girl's had a good time, which is most important. I was a loser and didn't bring my camera, so I will try and steal some pictures from the other leaders.

p.s. This was my 101 post. That is pretty amazing considering I was a non-blogger for such a long time.

9 Months

Lucy turned 9 months old on the 13th. She is quite the mover and shaker. She is growing up just way too fast. Here are a few fun facts about Lucy.

-She weighs 16 lbs

-She is a master army crawler

-She can pull herself up

-She loves Cheerios

-Her mouth is constanly in an "Oh"

-She has started to really interact with her sisters, especially Annie (watch out!)

-She is adorable and we love her lots!

Tonsil removal

Leah had her tonsils removed last Monday. She was having lots of throat infections, so I took her to an ENT and he said they definitely needed to be taken out. I decided that we should do it before she starts school, so Monday was the big day. Leah was not very happy about this decision. She was not excited to have her tonsils taken out. She did really well though and is recovering nicely. She is eating lots of ice cream, popsicles and Ramen. She should be back to full capacity in another week.

Anxiously waiting to go back Not exactly thrilled to be going under the knife Getting her vitals taken with Minnie Sleeping off the anesthesia
Finishing off her popsicle so she could go home

Fourth of July-part 2

There was a lot of snacking going on during our day. Annie just cracks me up with her swimming style. She swims for a minute, gets out, has a little snack, swims some more, gets another snack. I think she has the right idea. Lucy also had some first foods. She discovered Cheetos and enjoyed them immensely. She had three in her hands and Brian tried to take a couple away. She grunted at him and wouldn't let go. She also partook of her first Red Vine. Leah refused to get out of the water for anything. It was a fight to get her to choke down some lunch. What a day!

Needing a sugar rush

Annie having an apple

Annie and Lizzie enjoying the cheese balls

Dangerously Cheesy
Loving the licorice
Not letting go of the candy

Fourth of July-part 1

We had a great fourth of July. Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays. I love everything about. We decided against going to the parade and sitting out in the heat. Our friends in the ward always have a big party at their house and they invite all who want to attend to come on over. I made my flag cake, which is delicious (six sticks of butter between the cake and frosting, it better be good!). We swam and had a BBQ for lunch. We went home for a rest and then to In n Out for dinner. We returned to our friends' house for a fantastic fireworks display. Leah and Annie opted not to watch the fireworks, so they went inside and watched a movie instead. Lucy loved them. It was a great way to celebrate America's birthday!

The delicious flag cake

Lucy enjoying a dip in the pool Lucy and our cute neighbor Audrey

Leah after her long swim (p.s. I made their shirts)

Lucy feeing refreshed after her nap Leah and Annie avoiding the fireworks show
Lucy enjoying the fireworks and her glow-in-the-dark bracelet