Lake time

We tried a new adventure today.
I packed the boys into the bike trailer and rode down to Utah Lake. It took about 15 minutes to ride there and 2 dollars to get in. We played at the beach there for a little while and ate a picnic before afternoon kindergarten.
We had the beach to ourselves, which was nice, but we were unsure of what to expect. The boys were a bit shy about swimming and splashing. We hit a beach ball around and waded out to their waists where the mud grabbed at your sandals nice and tight.
I'm glad we tried it before the summer ended. Next time I think we'll need some kind of raft to play on.

Ashby's first day of Kindergarten!

....And he's off....!

Ashby's ready to take on Kindergarten.
Luckily, he changed his attitude about going to school this morning - phew! Just in time! He'd been pretty apprehensive about it all summer long.  This morning he even begged me  to give him a hair cut, and he sat totally still the whole time! Amazing what that boy can do if he puts his mind to it.
I'm so thrilled that he is excited to be in school. I always hope my kids are enthusiastic about learning.

SWEET & SOUR by Ashby

Sweet: My sweet part was the whole thing! Having one piece of candy and going to music class. We sang a train song - Engine, Engine number 9. 

 Sour: Getting hit in the face with the hard, giant ball at recess. And falling down and hurting my knees and my hand on my scooter on the way home from school.

Mrs. Sarkady's classroom

Holding his ME-doll that he turned in for Kindergarten. Ashby wanted his doll to be dressed ready for a mountain bike race - complete with medal and a grasshopper that Ashby likes to catch near the biking trail.

Sleepy

Guess who woke up last night?
 ... absolutely nobody!

No middle of night potty trips, no bad dreams, no extra bottles.
Nothing, until my alarm clock went off this morning.

...mmmmm....felt good!

Rumor is, we are Barn Swallow experts

We have hatched seventeen baby Barn Swallows this summer. That's right....seventeen! With only one casualty.  With a nest in the back yard and a nest on the front porch and two sets of parents occupying each this summer, we turned out to be a baby bird factory.

It was fun to watch the process. From the first little mud ball on the windowsill, to all the babies venturing off on their own. My favorite memory was unloading the car late one night and getting caught off guard when I noticed one of the baby birds sitting on the giant sunflower next to me, sleeping. It was also exciting when one baby ventured out and landed right in the kiddie pool, surprising all the kids.

But it wasn't so fun to get dive-bombed every time we wanted to check the mail, or have visitors at the door. Plus all the bird poop everywhere! - porch swing, backyard pool, porch lights, windows and a humongous mound under the nest. Bleh!

I'm happy to report that today I reclaimed the front porch.  Lots of sweeping and a good power wash. But, turns out I'll need a shovel for the mound on the ground.

Mountain Bike Date

My friend and I had been planning it for months, but it was a surprise to Brian.

Around 5pm, before Brian arrived home from work, I wrangled up the kids and brought them over to her house to babysit. I then borrowed her mountain bike and rode home.

When Brian pulled into the driveway 10 minutes later I was sitting there with two bikes and a cooler full of picnic food. Brian looked confused and I asked him if he would take me mountain biking.

Mountain biking is Brian's favorite past time. When we were dating he got me a good deal on a bike and we went a few times together. I would complain about the uphills and usually end up walking. Then one time after we were married I crashed pretty hard on a downhill. Then I started walking on the downhills as well as the uphills....hmmm...I was just hiking with a bike at my side - not so fun. Our second year of marriage our mountain bikes were stolen. We were eventually able to replace Brian's bike, but with one kid after another, I didn't really see a need to replace mine.

Over the last couple of years, Brian has really made mountain biking (his form of exercise) more of a priority. He has entered many races, sometimes two per week. He has done really well and he loves it. Of course, he always wants me to come with him. And I say, "How? I have a bunch of kids to take care of and no bike."

So, knowing how important it is to him, I found a way to surprise him with a mountain bike date.

I went with an attitude to work hard and not complain about anything and have fun. Sometimes it was easier than others.

We went toward Alpine to Lambert Park, hoping it would be a good enough beginner course for me. It had been 10 years since I'd been mountain biking. It was pretty challenging and there was lots of tricky stuff, but it was fun to be in the trees and we enjoyed being together. I know I got a good work out, but I'm sure Brian didn't. It was a very successful date.

And I'm happy to report that all my many bruises are finally starting to fade.

Bosom Buddies

 Have you ever had a friend you did everything with?

Most of my life I have had someone like that...my twin sister Tasha. Maybe that's cheating, but I was grateful for a built-in friend. I've found its harder to make really good friends as you get older.
But since Tasha and I split ways, I've had a new twin - Angela Parry. 

There were times when we saw each other almost every day. Between aerobics three days a week, co-op preschool for four years, play dates at the park, Primary singing time, Relief Society board meetings, ward and stake choir, Enrichment nights, and YW sports - we did a lot together.

Angela is inspiring in so many ways. She taught me so many things about loving motherhood, setting goals and especially taught me about listening to the spirit.

Yesterday morning, our dearest Parry family moved to Logan. No longer around the corner, now two hours away. I'm excited for them and their new adventure, but I'm sad for us that are left behind. Yet, I know that these best friendships can span long distances.

Thank you Angela, for being my friend, in spite of me. Thank you for your kind and loving example. Thank you for your laughs and silliness. Thank you for your talents and service. You will be missed greatly.

 ...And then there's Jacob Parry. Ashby's best friend. Aren't they the cutest? They were going to break all the girls' hearts together.
Ashby says, "I love Jacob. I like playing with him and playing sword fight with sticks. I like playing at his house and I like playing at aerobics with him."

Water park

I don't have any pictures to prove it (because my hands were always very occupied), but guess what I did on Friday? ....
I took all four kids to Seven Peaks waterpark - by myself!
All Summer we have had season passes to Seven Peaks, but I just couldn't figure out how in the world I could take four kids that don't know how to swim to a waterpark.
Well, it was the last week of Summer, so I got my courage up, told Brian I needed the car, and went for it. And we actually had fun. I kept the kids' expectations low - no tube, no big waterslides, no food. They did a good job not complaining and following the rules. I'm glad we went, even though it was a lot of work for me on my own.

Paige Remembers First Grade

My teacher in first grade was Mrs. Moser. I love her very much. She's a very great teacher. She does very fun activities. My favorite was the candy rocket. First was when we made a little rocket (except it wasn't actually a rocket - it didn't actually explode or fly). Then we made a little string and cut a hole and tied a little string in it. Next we put another string onto the bottom, so at the end of the week if the rocket was full of sweets, we could pull the string down and let all of the candy out and eat it! There was a rocket over each and every table. And, if we're good in school then we get ten or five candies in our table.

My friends were Kaylee, Grace, James (I have a crush on him), Alizabeth, Naomi, Roselyn, Dallyn, Emilio, Anthony, Jacob, and Jace. At recess usually me and my bestest friend, James, would sometimes play Night Furies. I was the mom and James was the baby. We loved to do the monkey bars - everybody cheered for us, and I'm really good!

I won in the Reflections contest. I got a trophy, my very first one! And I got a green ribbon from the district contest. On the science fair I won first place, too. I won a microscope and a magic illusion game. A magic illusion is when you put something in it, and put the top on and the hole makes a reflection with mirrors come out of the bowl. Its pretty weird. (There are mirrors everywhere inside.) It also came with marbles. It is a really cool toy. Sometimes I even put my platypus in it, and use as a dress for it.

The school play was a really fun thing, too. I got to be Professor Longears (he's actually supposed to be a boy). I got a little embarrassed when we were practicing. I kind of got a little nervous because everybody was watching me in the play, but I was the big hit of the show! The play was called, "Professor Longears saves the day," so, I saved the day. :) It was really fun, we even got to sing some songs about Spring. The rain song is Ashby's favorite.

My favorite subject in school is P.E. Mrs. Robertson is the teacher. I liked the garbage throw best. There are balls in one line, we pretend its the garbage. And on the sides are the houses, so we don't want garbage in any of our house backyards. So we have to throw it into the other neighbors'. I know its kind of rude, but its still fun.

Every morning I rode my scooter to school, and in the winter I rode with the Galvez's and the Lindsey's (my neighbors).

When I grow up I want to be an astronaut. And a little bit of an artist too, because I love art. You know why I want to be an astronaut? Because I want to go to the moon, and maybe to Mars if I can. I also want to learn science and math - that's what astronauts are really, really good at.

I had a great time in First Grade. I love first grade!

First day of 1st Grade

Last day of 1st Grade

Celebrating 11 years

 

 Wedding Day

August 4, 2001

 

 

 2002

 

 

 2004

 

 2006

 

 

2008

 

 2010

 

2012