Our vacation--Getting there

This year we were sooo blessed to find amazing plane tickets--$99 RT!--so we were able to take a 2 hour direct flight--instead of a 17 hour ordeal. Heavenly!!

Here are a couple shots of us at the airport. Since carry-ons are free I made everyone take the biggest ones possibe. It did look a little silly all four of us walking in a row with our kids dragging these big suitcases. And you might be a little curious about Lance's suit?...well, it didn't fit in the suitcase. Seriously; so I made him wear it.

Don't laugh...

So, we got this fertilizer spreader from a friend. They had mentioned to me something about how it doesn't spread very well...but I didn't think much of it when I handed it over to Lance. Well, little did I know that IS a big deal. Now our lawn looks like Steve (from Blue's Clues)'s shirt.

It's a Fiesta!

Today was the Public Library Fiesta! It was fun to get out with Layc and Masen while Andersin was in school. They had live Mexican music and dancers, carnival games, crafts, face-painting and lunch! It's all free, so we look forward to it every year.

We went with our good friends, the Labrums. Laycie just loves Max and it was fun to enjoy the festivities with someone else!

Oh, the drama that is Kindergarten

In Liberty School District they offer a "Summer Adventure" (summer school) for the month of June. It's has more of a summer camp feeling--fun activities, more laid back. So, we decided to send Andersin to get him ready for the fall. Here is his first day of school:

Good morning sunshine! Ready for your big day?

Start off with a good breakfast

Unfortunately, they have all day Kindergarten here--bus comes at 7:24 a.m. and drops off at 3:17 p.m.. Can you believe it! What a horribly long day--for both of us! I hate it. He hates it. He ended us being a car rider since he struggled with the bus. The bus driver was super ornery and rude. He couldn't handle all her yelling and "angry faces" at the older kids.

He liked his teacher and classmates, but he would just be in tears almost everyday saying, "I just like home better." It broke my heart to see him so homesick and say things like "Mom, I just miss you too much and it makes me have tears." What Lance and I struggled with was finding that thin line between being sensitive and validating his feelings without babying him. We wanted to show him how important it is for us for him to always come to us when he is struggling while still encouraging him to 'toughen up'. He's just so sensitive.

You wouldn't believe how much prayer, fasting, tears, and thought went into trying to help him through this. After getting some great council from my mom, Lance and I developed a game plan. Thankfully, most of our ideas actually worked really well, and although he still didn't like going, he was at least not an emotional wreck. Hopefully fall will prove to be a little easier transition...with a bus driver that doesn't hate children.

27 going on 13...

I was able to go to girls camp from Thurs to Sat and it was sooo much fun! I really felt like I was 13 again. I thought I'd just be thinking about my kids and everything back home, but instead it was as if I was in a different life where those things didn't even exist. My girls are so great and it was nice to see my hundreds of hours of hard work finally pay off. The weather was perfect and my family was alive and well when I came home. I absolutely loved it! Unfortunately, I was released as Camp director Sunday :o( but.....I was put in the YW presidency! Hooray! You can't get more celestial than our group of girls.