Friday, September 30, 2016

September Shenanigans

- Preschool buddies - Cole & Kendall at Ms. Jill's


- Kendall & Avery (two doors down) are best buds and both super picky eaters, which sometimes calls for cereal for lunch!



- Snowcones!  Check out Kendall's disgusting, dirty face - yuck!



- Date night with Rachel to the BYU women's volleyball game.  Rachel can eat almost a whole cougar tail!  

 - Soccer game vs. Chase & Chris' team and it was so fun to cheer for both boys!  My favorite was at the end during the high fives, Andrew went in for a big hug!




- The family tagged along for mom's drive to see fall colors - beautiful!


- Dance & gymnastics for my girlies.  Kendall started in dance, but then wanted to switch to gymnastics so that she could be like her big sister!  




- Another good little buddy, Zac (Shalauna's son) & Kendall making her own hot dog for lunch!


- This is my view on most nice days after picking up Andrew from Kindergarten - cuties!


- New cousin, Gavin Parker!!  I got to take some pictures of this handsome newborn!



Wednesday, September 28, 2016

School Pictures

I decided to take my own school pictures of the kids at home with my gray background.  I liked them better than the ones they brought home and saved myself some money, so I will call it a win!  



Monday, September 12, 2016

Back to School

Rachel started 3rd grade at the neighborhood school, Barratt Elementary.  She is signed up for soccer and gymnastics and takes piano from Grandma Nancy.  She loves the color black, Ninjago legos & Star Wars (although she has only seen the first movie so far, her cousins fill her in on the details and characters of all the other movies).  

She has an opinion about what she wears and how she wears her hair.  I can't quite figure out her style, but she definitely likes her clothes comfy and loose (baggy).  

She tells me a lot of what happens at school, and for that I am so grateful!  After the first day, she told me that her day was 90% great and 10% not great because of what the boys at her table were talking about.  She said her favorite color was black and a student said that if she liked it she should paint her face and body black so that she has black skin.  That made her feel uncomfortable, and we were able to talk about why that wasn't appropriate or respectful for him to say.  Then they told her all about how both of the presidential candidates were liars and if Hillary Clinton was elected that she would kill babies (translation=abortion) and that they were voting for Donald Trump because they want a boy to win.  I know she's our oldest, and consequently not exposed to as much as others who have older siblings, but I didn't think we'd need to talk about these adult topics with her yet!  But thankfully, she told me and we were able to have a really great discussion about politics/party system,  and standards and values.  


Andrew FINALLY started Kindergarten.  In Utah, Kinder starts a week later & it is only half-day.  Rachel told me this week that it wasn't really fair that Andrew didn't have to go full day like she did and she feels like he should make up for all that school time that she had to do.  Ha!

He was a little nervous the night before, but the morning of, he woke me up at 7am and was completely ready for school - he even had his backpack on.  So I knew he was excited!  When he got done, he said it was "boring" and that "school stinks", so we will see how the year goes!  :)

Andrew still loves clothes (mostly athletic wear & pajamas).  He loves playing on team sports (mostly for the snacks and a new jersey), loves pizza & Chick Fil A (eats a 12 count and then wants more!) and he loves to jump on the trampoline.


Kendall started preschool at Miss Jill's preschool (two weeks after Rachel started).  She gets to be in class with her cousin, Cole & friend, Mia.  She is so excited and wishes preschool was everyday!

She chose her outfit on the first day and wanted to wear a scarf.  She is definitely a girly-girl.  She has been putting lots of things in her mouth these days (her shirt, pillows, stuffed animals), so Brandon commented that the scarf looked like it was in good chewing position.  That made me laugh because her and I had to have a full-on conversation about what she should and shouldn't chew on when we were on our way to school.

Kendall loves to play!  She plays well independently, but also plays well with friends.  She also plays well with Andrew and Rachel (they sometimes fight over her).  She is still a picky eater, but she is starting to try bites of things, which is huge!  She still loves chocolate milk, Sonic corn dogs, hot dogs, Chick-Fil-A nuggets, and a few soups that I make.  She dislikes all fruit, unless they are in smoothie form.  She tolerates cooked carrots sometimes.

She says the sweetest things and has the cutest little voice!  She loves chatting with anyone who will listen.  She's confident and tries her best.  She is a light in our lives!

Saturday, September 10, 2016

A Weekend of Sunshine

Brandon made plans to go down to the BYU vx. UofA football game with Shane (from Osborn Maledon), and invited us to come along for Labor Day weekend!  We told the kids about a week before, and they were so excited to get to see their friends!

We stayed in Las Vegas the first night on our way down at whatever $30 hotel Brandon could find.  It was extremely run down, but the kids thought we were living large!  At the "continental breakfast" (if you can even call it that), Andrew thought we were actually in China because they had a few lanterns and Chinese signs.  Hilarious!  Glad we can impress our children with so little - they are just too easy to please at this age!

The kids each chose a friend to take to Krazy Air Trampoline Park (Rachel-Holly, Andrew-Maddox, Kendall-Brooklyn) and then we met the Tompkinson's and Gunnell's at Organ Stop Pizza.  We also saw the Hawk's at some point that weekend too, I just can't remember when.

We stayed at the Arizona Grand Hotel for one night and that was very fancy (especially comparing it to the Las Vegas hotel).  They had multiple pools, lazy river, waterslides, etc.

I met up with Kasey to take some quick baptism pictures of Cole at the Gilbert temple, and they took me to breakfast.  Later that weekend, we stayed with Kasey's family at her "farm" which my kids love.  They also have a slide that goes from the boys room to the toy room - so fun!  They had just had baby turtles and oh my word, they were the cutest little things I have ever seen!

On Sunday on our way to church, we had a tire pop/rupture.  But since we were with Brandon, we had plenty of time to put on a spare tire and still make it to church on time.  The Lehi Crossing Ward has already changed so much!  Brandon unfortunately had to leave from church and get the tire fixed.  That was kind of a nightmare getting figured out on a Sunday + holiday weekend, but it worked out and we were able to get on our way.

I even got to sneak in a quick visit with Sarah before we headed back home - lucky me (I think I promised her I wouldn't post the pic of her and I anywhere - oops!  Sorry Sar!)!  It was a quick weekend, but good for our souls to get some sunshine and see our Arizona friends!











(Cole's baptism pictures below)