Back to School (For Some)

Heather, Savannah, and yes, Matthew have started school.  Heather starts her sixth grade year.  She has moved to the oldest class at the school.  I know she was excited and nervous about starting but she has a great teacher and has made some friends in her new class.  Savannah is always happiest when school is in session.  She likes her teacher and has quite a few friends from our ward in her class.  She couldn't be happier.  Matthew has started Kindergarten, finally.  He wondered why he wasn't going to Kindergarten two days after preschool ended.  He has an awesome teacher, Savannah also had her for Kindergarten.  The joy of living this close to the school is I get to catch private moments between siblings as they walk to and from school.  They are all sweet to each other and watch out for one another.  I love watching them out the kitchen window.

Ashlyn 6 Months

Ashlyn is six months old.  I can hardly believe it.  She is growing so fast.  She is a calm baby and generally happy which means the kids all love to hold her and play with her.  They are usually fighting over her, especially during church.  She has been a great blessing in our family.  I can't imagine our family without her.

Independence Day to Pioneer Day

It seems like July is a month long of celebrations, family, camps and fun.  When you have kids on year-round school, July becomes the only month where everyone is home together.  When your husband is the bishop, July becomes the month that he attends every camp imaginable.  And when you have teenage kids, July becomes the month full of activities.  When you are the mother of all of this, July becomes the month you anticipate, plan for, and enjoy-- being careful not to blink because before you know it, it's gone.

We have had a very busy but fun summer.  As I mentioned, James is quite busy during July and ends up taking most of the month of July off.  He attended Youth Conference, Scout Camp, Teacher High Adventure, Priest High Adventure, and Girl's Camp.  He came back from most of these trips sunburned, tired, and happy.  I think Teacher High Adventure was his favorite because he got to spend a few days with Luke down in Southern Utah biking, hiking and four-wheeling.  I've decided four-wheeling is a "guy thing."  They were excited to show me video of the jeeps trying to drive over boulders and I think they were a little disappointed when I didn't show their enthusiasm as I watched, well, jeeps trying to drive over boulders.  I learned a great lesson though as I watched video after video of teenagers and grown men standing around cheering on drivers and jeeps trying to get over the rocks-- these boys truly had learned to enjoy the journey.

Luke had the busiest Summer.  He started off with Youth Conference, then he went to BYU for EFY.  He enjoyed both very much and made a lot of good friends.  He then had football camp and tennis camp, both at BYU-- I think he felt like a regular student minus the books and studying.  He ended his summer with a trip to London with his dad.  All in all, I think he enjoyed himself.

Lindsey had cheer camp which meant they started having practices in July.  They go three mornings a week and condition and practice.  Her squad participated in two parades, Heritage Days and the Fourth of July.  Despite the heat and bleeding ankles, Lindsey loved it.  I have been surprised at how hard the girls work.   They spend hours running, weight lifting and running the bleachers. They have to run 21 miles in September (they get to spread it out over a few days).  I told Lindsey they should just enter a marathon, it's about the same thing.  Lindsey also went to Girls Camp and had a fabulous time.  She always comes back wishing it were longer.  She ended her summer with a trip with her dad to Florida.

Heather, Savannah and Matthew had a quick summer following Luke and Lindsey to parades and hanging out with us.  We went boating a few times which was nice.  On the fourth we spent time with the Andersons at Stadium of Fire where we listened to the Beach Boys and enjoyed the fireworks.  Afterwards, the cousins all worked out sleepover schedules and spent a few days and nights at each others homes.  We enjoyed having the various cousins at our house getting to know them better.  Matthew was finally old enough to have a sleepover at his cousin Gabe's and loved it.  We went to Beaver for the 24th of July and enjoyed the traditional activities there-- gathering candy in the parade, getting sprayed by the fire hose, running in the races.  Of course, seeing Yardley cousins and family is always the highlight.  It was fun to catch up with everyone there. 

All in all, we have had a very busy Summer which seemed to fly by.  We definitely made a lot of good memories and enjoyed spending time with everyone that we saw.  I think that's my favorite part of summer, taking time to see family and friends and enjoying all of the many celebrations.

 

Savannah Says Goodbye to Second Grade

Savannah is the only elementary student who had a final year program this year.  It was a fitting goodbye to second grade.  Savannah has had an awesome second grade year.  She absolutely loved her teacher, Mrs. Fitzgerald, and everything she learned.  She also loved all of her friends.  In fact, Savannah would get very upset if she had to miss a school day for illness.  When they would go off track, she would count down the days until she could go back.  I cannot express enough how much she loved school!

Their end of year program was a medley of music and skits expounding on the greatness of having friends.  At the last minute, one of the students didn't show up, the teachers were scrambling to fill the child's speaking part.  Savannah volunteered saying, "I can do it, I have the whole play memorized."  She did a great job, you would never have known she hadn't been cast in that part.  As soon as second grade ended, she started counting down the days until third grade!

Fun With Cousins

We had a treat in June when our Texas cousins visited.  The kids got to hang out at our house while their parents ran the Ragnar.  Everyone had fun playing tennis and video games, watching movies, and various other games.  In fact, by the end of the visit, they were all exhausted!

Baseball Season 2012

Baseball season came and went before we knew it.  Matthew played T-ball and Heather played Ponytail League (that is where the girls pitch to each other).  Each game was unique and had fun highlights.

Matthew had a great coach who actually pitched to them first before he would bring out the tee.  This made the game longer but totally worth it for the boys.  Matthew had fun playing outfield, talking to his teammates and those of the opposing team.  He would also start his own game of tag.  When the coaches would yell "tag them," Matthew would take off and chase the runners to tag them.  The only problem was, he didn't have the ball.  He was happily playing tag with the kids.  I finally had to explain to him that is not what "tag" means in baseball.

Heather had her first year in player pitch league.  Despite an unfortunate coach assignment, she had a great season.  Heather played third base and got many outs with fly ball catching and tagging runners (she actually understands what "tag" means).  She also hit nearly every time she got up to bat.  I loved watching her play.