In Honor of School Starting...

First Grade!!!

I can not BELIEVE that Maddi is old enough to be in First grade! I'm feeling super old. This may sound weird but I felt all motherly and good, getting up early to shower and then making french toast and getting her all ready to go. Probably because I missed last year's first day of school, seeing how I was a little busy. I was so sad not to be there the first day of Kindergarten. So I tried to make up for it. We had a little impromptu Family Home Evening last night about making good choices, being nice, and working hard. Then Jesse gave the kids father's blessings. The kids LOVED them. They sat so still and listened to every word. I say "they" because Andrew will be starting Pre-school tomorrow! What will I do with myself!!!

The Epic "Picture by the front door with backpack on" Doesn't she look so grown up?

This is when I dropped her off and was yelling for her to turn around because she jumped out of the van and ran toward her friends.

Maddi and Jonah. It was really bright!

It's hard to see, but here is Maddi going inside. I wasn't fast enough to get a better shot. She was too excited, she was going to fast!

Family Pictures

Yay, family picture time! My amazingly talented and beautiful friend Julie took some pictures for us a few weeks back. It turns out the twins were totally sick (which we found out the next day) so they were a tad grumpy. And Andrew was grumpy and insisted on holding a stick the whole time, but since they were outdoor pictures, we decided to embrace it.

I'm starting to miss it.....

I'm been trying so hard lately to learn new things and to really stretch myself. Canning, sewing (lol......it ain't pretty, I need a lot more practice) making magnets, you know...all that crafty stuff that I've never been interested in very much 'cause I wasn't good at it. I'm kind of tired of making so many mistakes and starting over, or just sort of pretending I know what I'm doing. It makes me miss stuff I know I can do, like catering. We've taken a couple of years off, but I think I may be ready to jump in again. I miss the fast pace, the craziness and then everything coming together in the end. So intense, so stressful, so tiring and so incredibly fun!

Sigh..... I miss tablecloths.....

A Life Worth Remembering....

On Sunday night Jesse and I attended a memorial for my friend Dave. He would have been 30 on July 4th of this year. It was so wonderful to see Robin and Janene, it's been too long. We had dinner in a Pavillion behind a church house and then went inside and watched a video. It was so surreal to see Dave in the videos, so full of life. It was so great. Robin then got up and talked about how they wanted to have this memorial because all of his grandchildren didn't know a lot about Dave. He said everytime they asked about him, he just cried, and he wanted them to know more about him than that.He said, Dave's life was a life worth remembering. So we then took turns standing and sharing memories about Dave, with the children gathered in front, while they videotaped it. It was really fun to hear some of the fun memories people had of him and the touching ones as well. Afterward, we all walked across the street to gather at his grave. It was crazy, I hadn't been there in soooo long, but I had spent so much time there. Hours and hours and hours. Luckily Sarah had brought some pennies with her and so we were able to leave some. Just like we used to do for YEARS. Good memories. It was an event that shaped the rest of my life and taught me a lot about life, love and living your life to the fullest. And it helped me form some of the most important friendships of my life.

Some of the most precious people in my life, Sarah, Robin and Janene.
( and yes Janene is holding firecrackers. That's just how she rolls!)

More info on Dave (this was more for my benefit so I have everything electronically)
:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/494248/UTAH-BOY-DIES-ON-REMOTE-HIKE.html

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/494487/BOYS-RUSHED-FOR-WATER-IN-TRY-TO-SAVE-SCOUT.html

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/494703/DEATH--DAVID-BLAINE-PHILLIPS.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898555/

Old Friends and Treasure Hunts

Jesse and I went to my friend Jeanette's concert at the Assembly Hall. It was AMAZING! Seriously, this family is so talented. It was so awesome to hang out with Sarah and John and to see Jeanette!!! She looks absolutely fabulous. Here is some pictures from the concert:

( Yes I stole this from you Jeanette, thanks!!!)

While we were at the concert, my sister Cherilyn did the greatest job babysitting all the kiddos. Here is a post about the fun they had. Thanks Cherilyn!!!

My babies

My amazing friend Julie snapped some pictures of the babies today when she babysat. We're planning on doing a formal picture taking with all the kiddos next week, but these pictures are just too cute. Thanks Julie!!!





Next time you babysit Julie, I'm sending the babies over in their Sunday best and their hair all done up!!!