Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Labor day weekend

Tanya, Candace, Jesse, and their families all came for the weekend. It was a lot of fun to have everyone come stay with us. To actually have room for everyone and a nice place for them to stay felt great. The guys played on the quads most of Monday and were so dirty. But at least they could leave from our backyard and explore the hills behind us. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Cache Valley? Well, I do. A lot.






The view behind Dylan is what we get to see everyday. I feel so lucky.

First days of school

Dylan started 2nd grade this year. This is the 3rd school he's been to in 3 years. Hopefully they won't switch things up again.



Cassie started Kindergarten. She is in love with it. Except the bus ride. I have to pick her up from school because she can't handle the45 minute ride. We are only 2-2.5 miles from the school, but she is the last one off. But I don't mind.





Claire started preschool and also loves it. But I'm not sure how long it will last. I was hesitant to start her so early, but she is 3 and I wanted her to learn some social skills. Not sure if that is working.




And for the first time in my life as a mother, I have 4.5 hours a week without kids!! And those are also the fastest 4.5 hours of my week. =)

Claire's birthday

Claire turned 3 in August. It's no surprise that her favorite gift was the bike from grandma and grandpa Folsom.

Hmm, what can I say about Claire. I keep a journal of all the silly little things she says and does everyday. She is such a cute little sweetheart and looks so kind and innocent. And sometimes she is those things, but everyday she is learning how to be more kind to others. Especially in nursery and preschool. She's been kicked out of nursery at least twice in the last little while and is on the verge of not having a preschool to go to anymore. We can't do play groups or be around other kids that are smaller than her for fear of her attacking them. Sad. But that's how our precious little Claire-bear rolls. Lots of energy that needs an outlet. Hmm, wonder where she got that from? I just wish I had the energy I once had. I often tell Nate that I think I used up all my energy when I was a kid because I sure can't seem to find it anymore.

We sure love having her in our family though. She keeps us laughing and on our feet at all times. I really think it's a blessing that we waited until she will be 3 1/2 before this baby comes. I don't know how I would have done it any sooner. She loves babies so much and I'm a little worried about that, but it will be fun to see her with him. We love you Claire!










Nebraska

In August, our nephew Jake got married in Nebraska. We decided to make a little trip out of it and went camping on the way there at Flaming Gorge. That place is so pretty! I always loved camping growing up and thought for sure I would be a camping mom. But seriously, I think having a trailer would make it much more enjoyable for me. Maybe someday.




The wedding was very interesting. There are some different folk in that neck of the woods. But I'm glad we could be there to support the family. We were able to see some pioneer history sites too. We saw Chimney rock in the distance, we were just too tired to drive right to it. It is a really neat landmark for the pioneers. We were in Scottsbluff and this pass below is where some of the pioneers crossed.


This is the original pioneer trail. Most of the Mormon pioneers crossed on the other side of these hills, but some came on this exact trail below.








Speech graduation

Cassie has been in speech therapy for the past 2 years and graduated this summer. This has been an awesome program and not only helped her talk better, but also helped her grow in many ways. She looooved going to speech and participating in all the fun activities they had. I was sort of hoping Claire would qualify, because it is so fun for the kids, but she didn't.








The cabin, again.

After some time in Canada, we met our husbands down at the cabin for some more fun. This year, we put up a vollebyall net and had some pretty competitive games. The guys also built a zip line over the lake and that was probably the biggest hit of the week. It took a while to get it just right, but I think it will help create lots of memories for many summers to come. It was funny watching Nate and Jason test it out and slowly make their way down. They didn't even have to drop, it took them right to the surface of the lake.































The picture above is one of my favorite. Dave's brother Matt was there, and he got a video of Nate falling off the back of the boat while Dave was wake-boarding. We watched it over and over and had a good laugh. I guess he could have been hurt pretty bad. But since he wasn't, we can laugh. I didn't get any pictures of boating, probably because I only went out once. I just wasn't feeling it this year. I was a pretty boring person to be around this summer, pretty much just sat there or plopped myself on the couch. I did enjoy the food though, it's always one of the highlights when we are all together.

Excuses

I'm alive!! Just being a slacker. Actually, I have some very good excuses as to why I haven't been blogging.

First of all, Prison Break. Enough said. But we are finished the series and I miss it. A lot. Go and watch it if you haven't already.

Second of all, moving into a new house and keeping the computer far away, downstairs.

And my biggest excuse, I was really sick and feeling awful all summer. And now I am just really tired and have no energy or motivation to do anything productive. It may be the result of another child growing inside of me. I'm due the end of February and it's a boy!! We are more than excited to even the numbers out. And there is no exaggeration in that.

So anyway, we had a pretty good summer. We moved into our house July 9th and the next day the kids and I headed to Canada. We had that trip planned for a long time and there was no way the kids were going to let that change. They looooooove going to grandpa and grandma's farm. Dylan disappears almost the whole time with his cousins as they "help" grandpa and uncle Chad do chores. He learned to drive the 4-wheelers by himself and was proud of that. Cassie joined in with the chores a few times and she loved every minute that they would let her help out. We love spending time with all the family up there and going to get ice-cream too.