Am I going crazy?...

Has anyone seen my dish towel?...

 Oh there it is! It didn't occur to me to check in the shoe baskets!

Now where are those darn paper towels?

Oh right!  I strung them down the hallway for more convenience.

 What's this?

I forgot I had decided to keep my sandal in Lauryn's toy box...I'll look there first next time instead of searching the entire house!

 Anyone need a Q-tip? 

They're just scattered all over the bathroom floor if you do...

Mixing bowls, mixing bowls... now where did I put my mixing bowls?....

Oh that's right! I lined them up in front of the fridge.

Wait a second...it seems like someone is playing a trick on me! OR...that's what 5 minutes of my day looks like!

And here's the lady behind the action!

This is Lauryn folding her arms for prayers.  It's probably the cutest thing you've ever seen...
Every time she hears the word "prayers" she immediately folds her arms. And we can't get enough of it!

She's loves to "Help" with everything! 

Preston has always loved helping with the laundry and now he has an assistant.

Lauryn is learning from a washing machine expert!
(Although I think Preston would prefer to work alone:)

Couldn't Come Fast Enough...

For HIM!!! 

He has been waiting A LONG time for this day to come...

When we got to the line of kids waiting for the bus, he hesitantly said, "So I can really get in the line?" He has watched Spencer get in this line everyday for a year and almost every time he has asked, "Can I get on the bus with Spencer?" And now today - he finally got to!

All aboard!

Later Mom!

Off I go!

Here he is coming home.

He said it was a great day! I asked him what he did at school and he said he played in the toy kitchen, drew a picture of a farm, talked about French, played games, played at recess, played duck-duck-goose and chose Tyler, and played with Jackson (notice his response to his first day compared to Spencer's...:).

Yay for Kindergarten!

My Big 1st Grader!

Here is Spencer on the first day of school.

Look how BIG he is!

Preston had his Kindergarten orientation today so he needed to pose for a picture also.

And I had to document the first of MANY school lunches I will make over the next several years.

 

(grapes, cheese sandwich cut into dinosaurs, chips, capri sun, and a treat. And I think it's still cool in 1st grade for your mom to put a mushy note on your napkin:)

I took Spencer to school on the first day.  Here he is waiting to go inside with his class.

And here he is coming home off the bus.

Cooling off with an afternoon snack.

He said it was a good first day.  When he got home I asked him how school was.  He said, "Good."  Then I asked him what he did at school all day and he said, "Nothing."  And I said, "You didn't do anything at school?"  He said, "Nope. Well I did color a little."  Then I said, "So you had a good say?"  And he said, "Mom - I already told you I had a good day." - Alrighty then.

Spencer and Preston are both in the French Immersion program at their school and we are excited for them to learn French. So because he is in the immersion program, Spencer has two teachers this year.  He'll spend half of the day in a traditional class with Mrs. Smith, and then the other half of the day will be with Mademoiselle Smith in French (a different teacher, same last name).  We're hoping for a great year and so far we are off to a great start!

A Final Hurrah!

We went camping last weekend to get one more bit of fun in before school started. We went to Stillwater campground in the Uintas.

This is Lauryn after approximately 1 hour of camping

I don't know how she got so dirty???

Maybe from eating dirt?

Doesn't taste so good!

Going for a hike with Daddy.

Preston playing "Angry Birds" on Daddy's phone with Luke.  What else would we do while roughing it in the wilderness...

Hanging out by the fire (Aubrey, Emily, Lauryn, Larry, Preston, Luke, Brenda, and Nate).

Yet more Angy Birds...

Rock painting...

and smores!!!

more smores!

and more smores!

And the best part of all...warming up in the cool mountain air with a cup of hot chocolate around the fire!

Goodbye summer vacation!

We landed on the Moon!

A couple of weeks ago we went exploring at the Clark Planetarium. It was fun and there were a lot of interesting things to see.

We also landed on Mars...

Afterwards we cooled off in the fountain at the Gateway.

 

 Just trying to live up the last days of Summer...

Davis County Fair

We haven't had a chance to go to the fair for the last couple of years and we were excited to be able to go this year. First we made our way through the petting zoo. It was absolute craziness- in a good way.

There are like 50 (slight exaggeration, maybe more like 20) animals in a corral just wandering around. They let you just walk in and mingle. There are goats, miniature horses, calves, alpacas, CAMELS, sheep, turtles, rabbits, donkeys. And it's not like there was a "sheep" section and a "turtle" section;  they are all just chillin' in a small corral together. So while you're petting a goat, a turtle is trying to get past you and a camel is licking your leg. It was weird to be in such close proximity to so many animals. Had there been some sort of stampede... none of us would have survived.  But it was cool because all of the animals were very tame and gentle.

This was the first time our family has pet a camel...

A kiss from a sheep...

The kids loved the animals

After the petting zoo, we were ready for dinner. Nate and I had some yummy Gyros, Spencer had pizza, Preston had a hot dog, and Lauryn had a little of everything. Then the boys were desperate to go on some rides. First they "Walked on Water".

It was so cool. They got into these huge inflated balls in a big swimming pool and then the balls were zipped up and they floated on the water.

The boys looked like hamsters rolling around in a plastic ball.

They were laughing so hard they could barely attempt to stand up.

Then it was off to the miniature roller coaster

Weeee!!!!

We also watched a Rattle Snake show. Spencer was entranced! Unfortunately I didn't get very good pictures of the snakes.

We finished off the night with some goodies. Spencer chose a caramel apple (dipped in M&Ms), Preston got a donut, Lauryn got some Italian Ice, and we all shared some kettle corn and lemonade. It was a fun night!

Our Heritage...

I forgot to post this last month. I just remembered about it and it has to be added to our "Book of Life".

During July on a Sunday after church, I asked Spencer what he talked about in Primary that day.  He said they talked about "primates" in his class.  Now I've been a primary teacher - and I know that the lessons can often be misinterpreted by children, so I didn't think much of it when Spencer said that's what they talked about (Spencer has previously told me that he learned that the Holy Ghost is a scary ghost that comes out at night to scare people).

Nate immediately asked why they were discussing primates in Primary.  Spencer said, "My teacher taught us that the 'primates' came aross the plains with Brigham Young to Utah."

The House of the Lord

For Family Home Evening this week, we talked about the Temple.  I have been wanting to hang a picture of the Temple in the kids' rooms for a while and I thought it would be more meaningful to them if we reviewed the purpose of the Temple and it's signifiance first.

So I gave a lesson on what things we can do inside the temple (be baptized for people who died, get married, etc.)  I showed them several beautiful pictures of rooms inside the Temple and different Temples around the world.  They were really attentive.  Then we drove up to the Bountful Temple and walked around and talked more about it. 

When we got home, I gave them the pictures of the Temple that I had framed for them and we hung them on their walls.  They thought it was pretty cool and I hope that some of the things we talked about actually sunk in:).

After Family night, I was helping Preston get ready for bed and he was saying that he can't wait to get baptized when he turns 8.  I told him that it will be so amazing.  And he asked about the baptismal font and if the water is cold.  I told him it will be nice and warm and Daddy will be right there to help him so he doesn't need to be scared.  Then Preston said, "So when I get baptized, all my skin will wash away?"  And I said, "Oh no Bud!  The water is just like a warm bath.  It won't hurt you and your skin will just be nice and clean after."  And Preston said, "Well, that's what my teacher said...She said when I get baptized, my skins will wash away."  And I said, "Do you mean your sins?"  And he said, "Oh yeah, my SINS."  I reasurred him that he is right!  His sins will be washed away, but his skin should still be intact:).