First Day of School 2012

Three kids started school this week!

Where did the summer go?

I felt like a mom out of practice....Its not like I haven't made a ton of lunches, but for some reason Monday morning came and I looked at their boxes and wondered what to put in them. 

Crazy right?

I think I was preoccupied with the fact that Izzy was actually going to Kindergarten this year!!!

All the days before Monday I kept thinking, she's too small and I'm not ready to let go of her.

She came down the stairs all dressed, so excited and so ready for her new adventure.

She grew up on me that morning and me heart broke a little, but I was amazed all at the same time.  She also had no problem saying good bye to Mom and Dad!  She hopped on the bus super excited to finally have her turn after years of watching her big brothers.  When we met her at the school to walk her to the class door, she told us..."I want to walk with Ethan, not you guys".

She's my sweet little girl, I've missed her.  At least she's only gone half the day!

Cole

5th grade

Mrs. Anderson

 Ethan

2nd grade

Ms. Tiffany

Isabel

Kindergarten

Mrs. Day

Cole and his best friend Brady...what a pair!

Camping at Lake Mary

We went camping by Flagstaff last weekend.  We spent two nights up by Lake Mary, and got away from this crazy Arizona heat.

It was a blast! 

We had so much fun together.  It was great to get away for some much needed R&R and together time.  All electronics were left at home - Loved that!! It was full of good old fashioned card playing, hiking, camp fire poking, and most important....talking!

Almost had the whole place to ourselves the first night.  This camp site was so clean, even the whole in the ground toilets smelled good.  The hosts were great at keeping everything clean!



Cole and Kev on dish duty.



First time bringing our hammock camping...we'll never leave it at home again!

It got tons of use!



 Trying to get everyone to smile at the red flashing light for a family picture is not easy!

Fun times!

Cole turns 11!

My oldest boy turned 11!

Every year I say this, but I really can't believe how fast time flys!

Next year he'll be 12 and in young men's and that is just crazy!

This year is family party year and Cole knew just what he wanted to do right down to the cake.

His request was:

Yellow cake with pink frosting...Yes Pink:)

I had to put on blue, because I ran out of pink.

He wanted it covered with candy and he wanted specific candy for each of his letters.

He was very happy with how it turned out.

Sedona for the 4th of July

We wanted to get away for the 4th of July so we headed to Sedona.

We were trying to go to Slide Rock, but they had closed it.  We spoke with a ranger and he told us about another place we could hike down to Oak Creek.

It was such a fun little surprise, we spent a great afternoon together!

We spent the night before in Prescott, AZ and then took the scenic route to Sedona.  On our drive we passed through Jerome, Arizona.

I wished we would have had time to stop, it looked like a unique little old mining town. 



Lake Powell 2012

We had the best weather and water in the month of June ever!

It made for a super fun trip. 

The only thing missing was Kevin, hopefully some day he will join us again. 

School keeps he pretty busy!

Ashton just loved being with his Grandpa...

by far his favorite thing to do was go for rides in Grandpa little boat.

"Us girls need to stick together"

Izzy and her cousin Maddie swimming. 

 

Ethan learning how to wake board!  This Auntie Sallie was such a great teacher. 

Both Ethan and Cole got up this trip.  Staying up will have to wait until next year:)

Tanoai just had to try as well!!  His little almost 3 year old has no fear!

Cole riding the knee board...it was a new fun toy all the older kids loved.
Cole also tried to slalom, I was so proud!!

Ashton was eating an orange and was super cute. 

Sand sculpture building.

We had it all this year except the sunburns!

The parents rocked the sunscreen!

Isabel turned 5

Isabel turned 5 at the end of our spring break trip. Her birthday was on the day we were to go home.  So we surprised her with a surprise party that morning.

I got up early and went over to grab some donuts, fruit, and a few other things.  We all waited in my moms kitchen to say surprise when she came down stairs.

She loved her donut cake and now wants everyone to have one for their birthday.

Not so awake yet, but very happy!

We finished her party at home with Kevin. 

He had some more presents for her when we got home.

Izzy is very happy to be 5!



Spring break in St. George

I took the kids to St. George for their spring break. It was fun to get away and spend time with family.  Izzy and especially Ashton hung out with the horses as much as they could.

Snow Canyon

One of the days my sisters and I took the kids to Snow Canyon for a picnic and hike.

It was a beautiful spring day and we all had a ton of fun. 

Andresen's Visit

Back in March my sister Sallie and her family came down to visit.  We had a lot of fun with them.  We went to the Zoo, shopped, picked lots of lemons, and went to a baseball game.

Spring is a great time to have visitors and we enjoyed having their family come down!

At Midwestern picking lemons.

Baseball game:

It was cold and windy, but we still have fun.

We almost made it to the end, but the little ones were getting tired.