Picture Day My Way

With the beginning of a new school year comes school pictures.  I have only ever bought one or two of Stryder's and none of the other two.  I got into photography and felt like I could better capture their personalities with better backgrounds for much cheaper.  These are quick pictures I grabbed the morning of picture day so I could at least remember what they wore that day.  Hopefully we can get out and have a more formal session soon.  It was kind of freaking me out as I edited these just how grown up these faces are getting.  Good thing I've been purposefully loving on them lately.  

A Tribute to Ben and His Selfies

My husband is pro at selfies and making me laugh.

I Love Primary!

Today was another one of my favorite Sundays. It was the Primary Program in our ward. Words can never describe how wonderful it is to sit and feel of those amazing kids' spirits. The theme in Primary this year has been "I am a child of God" and they have been learning all year about this and what it means to be a child of God. It was so neat to hear the kids share their testimonies through words and songs. Of course the songs are always so beautiful and brings the Spirit so strongly. Hearing them sing about how Heavenly Father loves them with a sweet sister playing the violin was incredible. They sang another song about Noah and his ark. It talked about how Noah listened to God and built an ark to protect him from the rain and then how if we listen to God we can build an ark and be protected from life's rain. I loved it and want to get the words and music so I can learn it. My favorite song, however, was the final closing number. It was written by the Primary choristers' sister after she challenged her Sunday school class to write a song about their testimony. When our chorister, sister Stolworthy, heard it she knew our primary had to sing it. It was all about this life's plan. It talked about how He never said it would be easy but that it would be worth it and that coming to families was part of His plan and just how important it is to remember we are children of God and follow His plan. Stryder told me yesterday how much he loved the last song and that it gave him chills every time they sang it. Well, he definitely felt the Spirit today and said that he almost couldn't finish singing it. After the program was over, all three of my kids came to sit by me and their eyes were glistening and I know that their hearts were full and that all three of them felt the Spirit so strongly today. It was a special moment for me as I wrapped my arms around them all and reminded them that what they were feeling was the Holy Ghost testifying to them that the words they sang were true. It was such a tender moment that I had to record it here for a reminder on those hard days. I'm so grateful for our primary leaders and teachers who work so hard for our kids. I'm so grateful for the experience I shared with my kids today and so grateful for primary music.

Randomness

We survived the first two weeks of school!  The kids are still loving their teachers but the novelty is definitely wearing off.  Homework is hard and annoying, according to them, and waking up early is for the birds, according to me.  The house is very quiet and it's still really weird being home without my little munchkins around but I have goals of finally getting things more organized and taking the time to create.  I have to admit that some days it's kind of boring around here but hopefully I can find more and more things to keep myself busy with this year.  

And here's some pictures from my phone from the last few weeks.

 We went to Fuddruckers with my family and our other family the Russells to celebrate birthdays.  I love my dad and I'm so dang lucky to have him in my life.  I hope I look as good as he and my mom do when I get to be their age.

 Trevor came to hang out with us for the weekend before school started and we took the kids to see Despicable Me 2 as a final good-bye to summer.

 Us on the first day of school proving that we all survived the day.  It was pretty hard for me that day but I'm hopeful of good things to come this year for all of us.

 This is something Stryder filled out the first day of school.  It's kind of hard to read but number 2 is the reason I took a picture of it.

2. When I grow up I want to be "A desiner at NVEnergy" because "My dad has that job and I want to be like him"

Pretty much stopped me in my tracks and made my heart burst.  Hopefully we grows up to be just like his dad.

And yeah this happened.  She's had a hard time washing it by herself and hates to comb it and will rarely let me braid it so we cut it all off.  She loves it, I have my moments.  But all that matters is that she's happy and there are no tears when it's time to brush her hair, which in turn, makes me happy. 

All Three All Day

I never thought this day would come. When I was deep in the trenches of no sleep, diapers, potty training, babies and toddlers, I never thought I would see the day where all three of my babies are at school all day. Time is going by too fast and it seems like just yesterday I was sitting in my recliner with a newborn asleep on my shoulder, a baby curled up in my lap and a toddler wrapped around my legs. I'm really missing those days right now, but it's exciting to see them grow up and learn new things and have new experiences.

 Soren made a big step to 1st grade this year and is at school all day. He's got a great teacher this year and I'm hopeful he will have an awesome first grade year. It was pretty hard saying good-bye to him this morning, I'm not going to lie. I think he was a little nervous but he smiled and walked on in. I can hardly wait til I get to pick him up and hear all about his first day.

 Shelby is a third grader this year. I think this year is going to test and stretch her, in a good way. She's starting cursive, multiplication, and G.A.T.E. She's got a great teacher as well (but really at Dooley that's not too hard to do) and I'm so excited to see her progress and grow, except I think she needs to stop growing taller.

 I could not believe the smiles I got out of him this morning. He had been kind of whiny about school starting the last few weeks but this weekend something shifted and he was one happy boy this morning. He's a big man on campus as he starts his fifth grade year. He's in a class with two awesome teachers and tons of kids he knows and has gone to school with since kindergarten. He did ask me not to kiss him good-bye and I was surprised at how hard it was to walk away from him.  He's growing up and moving forward and it's going to be an amazing ride for him and me.

 New shoes and new backpacks and new shirts.  

We walked to school this morning in the drizzly rain, something that rarely happens here in the desert.  The kids are excited about living here on Derby and getting to walk to and from school. 

I'm trying to adjust to this quiet house and counting down the hours till I pick them up.  

Our Cabin Trip 2013

Late into August with only a little time before school started, we packed up and headed to Ben's family's cabin.  It's been 2 years since we were there last but of course, nothing really changes.  We still eat really good with lots of junk food, play games, and stay up WAY to late.  This year was a little different for us in that we stayed an extra night after all the rest of the family went home.  It made for a little bit more work for us but it also made it super for fun for us as well.

 Kids never get to sleep in the bedrooms and all three of my kids shared one of the beds.

Then we woke up super early, before the sun, and headed to the Benches to fish.

 Each of the kids caught a fish, Shelby reeling in the biggest.

 It was a beautiful and chilly morning and I just could not get enough of these adorable faces.

Still Summer

School starts in 2 weeks and we are trying to suck every last fun thing out of summer and sure crammed alot into August.

 We spent an afternoon at the water park.

 We babysat my nephew.

 Enjoyed a free lunch at Burger King, thanks to some awesome coupons.

 Made a quick weekend trip to Salt Lake and had to stop here for dinner in St. George.

 We are crazy for chicken and wish we had a Chick-fil-a in our town.

 I love these boys!

I required an extra potty stop along the road and we pulled into this awesome joint.  Cute wagon wheel benches...creepy elk and deer heads (like 15 at least in this store).

Spent a full Saturday with family at our nephew's baptism and a cousin's wedding.  I really loved her backdrop and all of her decorations.

Found my lane...oh and I'm blonde now too.

We still have one more trip planned before it's backpacks and homework time.  Hopefully we can drag these two weeks out as well as try and switch out schedule to one of early mornings.  Summer sleeping in has rocked!