Heigh ho, Heigh ho, it's back to school we go!!

So, it's the middle of the week, but my kids started school today!! CrAzY!! It makes me a little sad that the "lazy days of summer" are over! I love summer! It's good to get them back in school and a little more regimented, but I'm really sad to see summer end!

Jayden is super excited to be getting up at the butt-crack of dawn again. He has to catch the bus at 6:30 so I get the fun task of prying him out of bed and getting him moving. Actually, he's really good about getting up and getting himself moving. He's a great kid! He had mixed emotions about starting school this year. He was excited to go back to school but was anxious and worried about the bullies from last year. He looks a little startled in this picture because it was still dark in our house, the flash was so stinkin' bright, and he was trying really hard to keep his eyes open!!






Braedy and Masen don't have to be out the door until a little after 8:00 so that's a little more manageable. Braedy is always nervous for the first day of school but she was pretty excited too. We met her teacher on Monday and she seems super nice. She also has a lot of friends in her class so that always makes it easier. Masen has been excited for school to start since it ended last spring. All summer he kept asking me, "When am I going to be in first grade?" I think he was just excited to be like the big kids and go all day and eat lunch in the lunch room. His teacher seems really nice, too. When we met her on Monday, Mase wouldn't even look at her. I asked him if he was going to talk to her on the first day of school and he said, "I'll probably just talk to her on the second day." He was kind of bummed because his two best friends from last year aren't in his class. Oh, well.






Wednesday is early day so Brae and Mase got home first. Braedy had a great day. She really likes her teacher and had a lot of fun. This is her last year of Elementary School! Time goes way too fast! Masen found one of his friends from last year at recess so he was pretty excited about that! He had a lot fun, too. It was funny because he was so excited to eat in the lunch room but ended up taking his lunch today. He says he's going to do a "pattern" and switch off every other day. He's so funny!! They both seemed to have a great first day!

Poor Jay doesn't get home until almost 4:00! It's a long day and then he has homework on top of that! He scared me when he came home because he came in the door with a frown on his face and acting like he had a terrible day. But then when I started asking questions, he broke out in a smile and told me how awesome it was! He has a couple of friends in most of his classes so that helps. But BEST of all- the bully is not in ANY of his classes!!!!! I couldn't be happier and I'm sure Jay feels the same! I am so relieved that he had a good day! I hope this year turns out as good as the first day was!!

Our very own metal mouth!!

Today was the big day! Jayden got his braces!! He wasn't very excited about it and was even a little nervous. But it wasn't as bad as he'd imagined and he thinks he looks OK. Here is a picture of him right before we left for the appointment.





And this is a picture of the end result. Pretty handsome if I do say so myself!!



He will have them for about 2 years. I can't believe he'll be in 9th grade when he gets them off! CRAZY!! He also had to have some bite blocks put on his back teeth which make it so he can't bite down all the way. It's going to be a little hard for him to eat for the next couple of months. I keep telling him it will all be worth it in the end!

Our 2 week road trip!!

We took an insanely long road trip! The kids and I left for the Provo area on the 26th of July. My sister-in-law, Heidi and her family do swimming lessons in the summer so we took advantage of that. Then we headed to Ogden for a week and then to Bear Lake for a few days. It was so long and exhausting but so worth it! We all had so much fun!! Here is a little bit of what went on.....


Kaylen was a little too young for lessons this year so luckily, there was all kinds of toys and a nice playground to keep her busy! Next year, she'll be in the water!!





On the first day, Masen wouldn't even put his face in the water! By the end of the week, he was doing front stroke, back stroke, knee dives off the side of the pool, and jumping off the diving board! He rocks!!







Braedy wasn't too excited about swim lessons but ended up having a blast. She struggled with diving until Heidi told her, "It's just like doing a handstand in the water!" and then she was doing perfect dives!







Jayden had no desire to take lessons. He was actually mad at me for signing him up. But by the end of the week he didn't want it to end! He struggles with diving but so did I. He learned a lot and got so much better!!






After swim lessons, we headed to my parents house for a week. We got a very pleasant surprise when Dave and Leah and their girls decided to come and spend some time too!! They only pics I got were of the kids "swimming" in the hot tub! They had so much fun catching up with their cousins and spending time with their grandparents! It was a lot of fun and went by way too fast!










The last weekend of our trip we had a mini family reunion on Scott's side. Scott flew into SLC and then we drove up to Bear Lake and stayed the weekend with Robert and his son Cody, Troy and his family, Byron, Kevin and Heidi, and our family. We went up Thursday and came back Sunday. We rented a jet ski and had a blast on that. It was a little colder than I would have liked but it was awesome to just hang out and relax with our family. Here are a few pics.








We picked a bad weekend to go to Bear Lake. It was so cold! The water wasn't bad but I don't think the temperature ever got over 80 degrees! So, we spent a lot of time playing in the sand on the beach! It was so fun! The kids had a blast burying each other and Uncle Kevin and Aunt Heidi!












Beautiful Bear Lake in the background!!



Troy and Lisa's cute kids!!



Kaylen usually missed out on the first part of each day at the lake. She always fell asleep on the way there.



Crazy Mase! We were freezing so we hung out in the car!!




On Sunday, we decided to take a tour of the Minnetonka cave in St. Charles Canyon. It was really cold but lots of fun. The kids loved it, especially Mase and Ethen because the were vampires the whole trip and vampires live in caves! They even turned into bats a couple of times.

The crew-Braedy, Zak, TaeLor, Ethen, Jayden, Masen, Kaylen, and Rian.




While we waited for our tour to start, the kids had a blast feeding the chipmunks. They were really friendly and not at all scared of us. Kevin told Jayden and Zak that if they caught one, he would give them $100. I told Jayden he wasn't allowed to pick one up because I didn't want him to get bitten. He thought I was ridiculous and just plain mean until he say another boy pick one up and get bitten! After that, I think Jayden thinks I might be a little smarter than he previously thought!!





I just have to say how blessed I am to have such a great family! I had so much fun with everyone and I'm so glad that I have such a great relationship with each one of my family members! It sucks living so far away but I guess that just makes the time we have together even more special! Thanks for everything, everyone!!