Back to school!

It is that time again!  The kids started back to school on Monday.  1/2 were excited and 1/2 were not.  Since we moved the kids had to start a new school.  I can't imagine, since I went to the same school with the same kids my whole life, so needless to say they were quite nervous. 

Bryce is in 4th grade this year and 1 of his teachers is Mrs. Bond.  In 4th grade they do part of the day with 1 teacher and part with another teacher.  He has Mrs. Bond for homeroom, math and science.  He has Mrs. Grimmes for Language Arts and Social Studies.  He is growing up so fast, I can't believe he will be 11 soon.  Where does time fly?  He is really nervous about 4th grade and about making new friends.  I hope this year turns out to be a great year for him!

Brayden started 3rd grade this year.  He was disappointed at first that his teacher is not a cute, young, blonde but after the first day really loves his teacher Mrs. Beasley.  She is super sweet and has been teaching for 30 years.  I think he will have a great year with her.  He can just learn from her instead of worrying about being cute for a cute teacher!

Savanah girl is in 2nd grade and loving it!  I was worried when we found out she has a guy teacher, but she loves Mr. Rhynes.  He is super fun like her dad so it makes a great fit for her. 

My girl Sierra is in 1st grade this year.  I can't believe it!  She just turned 6 and is getting so big, although she still loves being mommies baby girl!  Her teacher this year, Mrs. Ellis, is super sweet and very soft spoken which will be awesome for my sensitive child.  And the fact that last year, in Kindergarden, she had 4 teachers by the time the year was over.  Not a great experience for a kindergardener. 

I love you guys and hope you have a GREAT year at school!

My baby is 6!

I can't believe Sierra girl is 6!  Time sure does fly by.  Since she wanted to have a pool party we decided on a Luau Theme.  She had lots of fun with her friends and family here to help her celebrate.

My dad has an awesome waterslide that he brought for the party.  It was a big hit! 

Sierra and her 3 best friends playing on the waterslide!

Fun in the pool!

My niece Adalynn could not wait to get outside and in the pool.  Hurry dad!

Yeah!  I finally made it!

Fun on the slide!

We were also blessed to have my sister-in-law and her sweet family in from Arizona so they got to be here for Sierra's birthday.  My niece Autumn and Weston having fun in the waterslide pool.

Instead of cake Sierra wanted Ice Cream sundays which were a big hit and nice for mom, less work.



It was fun having my niece's and nephew over to visit.  They loved the hot tub!



Autumn took right to the girls room.  Barbies and dress up, every little girls dream!

Even Weston liked playing barbies with the girls.

And sweet baby Bailey.  She is the sweetest happiest baby!  It was fun getting to spend time with all of them!

Happy Birthday Sierra!  I hope you love being 6!

See if you can guess?

We had an exciting day today!  We had our ultrasound to see what our baby is.  Can you guess?


Yes, IT'S A BOY!  Baby #5 is due December 29th, but mommy is hoping for December 20th.  We are super excited about our surprise baby joining our family.  (And I really hope it is before Christmas because I think it would be exciting to have a new baby for Christmas, but we will have to wait and see.)

Out of the Mouth of Babes!

Today in Sacrament Meeting Bryan and I had to speak.  The Bishopric asked us to speak about Personal Revelation, from a talk given by Elder Bednar in this past conference.  In our talks Bryan and I both shared some personal experiences that we have had.  Some from before the kids were born and some from after but when they were small.  After church Bryce came up to me and said "Mom, I am a little upset about some things!"  This kind of shocked me and I asked him what he was upset with.  He then proceeded to tell me that he was upset because we had never shared those experiences with him.  WOW!  1. My kids were actually listening in church and heard all that Bryan and I said in our talks.  I never know if they are listening or not to what the speakers are saying, they are pretty reverent but didn't know they were REALLY listening.  And 2. I need to share these experiences with my children, all of them, so that they have a stronger testimony of the gospel, so they KNOW their Heavenly Father hears and truly answers their prayers and cares about the details of their lives.  What an amazing teaching moment we can have in our homes as we share our testimonies and stories with our children.  So, Bryan and I have repented and we will be having a sharing time FHE tomorrow with our children.  I can't wait and I know that the spirit will be here as we share the amazing experiences we have had where the Lord was and is leading and guiding our lives.  I realized today that children are never to young for you to involve them in family fast and prayers over big decisions in your life and that them knowing these experiences will truly touch their lives and stay with them forever. 
How blessed we are to have the gospel in our lives!  How blessed we are to have these sweet spirits in our homes who teach us!

Life is Good!

We love our new house!  The kids are especially loving the new pool this hot summer!

This pool has saved me this summer being so sick, with the pregnancy.  The kids practically live in the pool.  I usually take the kids on alot of outings in the summer but this summer, with this heat and pregnancy, I am home bound.  So, thank heavens for a pool!

Bryce is learning to mow.  Dad will love his help with this big yard! Did I say it was 2 acres?

Our neighbors have a zipline and the kids love playing on it.  It is pretty cool!

The other night the boys asked Bryan to come play baseball with them.  I went to watch and saw the cutest sight.  The boys had made bases out of old plastic, in the pastor, found a stick and an old small basketball and were playing baseball.  This is why we moved to the country!  So the kids could be outside, could explore and use their imagination and have fun!

To a mom, PRICELESS!  The boys also love going outside finding grasshoppers and frogs!  They love living out here!  The kids had gotten to where they didn't want to go outside and play all they wanted to do was play the Wii with their friends.  Kids in Frisco hardly play outside.  So sad!  I guess with such small back yards it isn't very fun but so sad to me that kids don't use their imagination and explore outside like I did as a kid and all they want to do is play game systems.  So, we put the house on the market and got out of Frisco so our kids could have FUN growing up!

Here are a few other reasons we love it.  Our big front yard with trees.

Here is part of the back yard, barn and pastor.

Pastor and corral area

Koi pond

My large covered patio where I can sit and watch the kids play or swim.

Our awesome new pool!  Life is good!  We love our new home and hope you will come visit us here.  Then you will see why we love it so!

Changes!

 Wow!  Life has been crazy busy lately.  On Friday April 8th we put our house on the market.  3 weeks later, on Friday April 29th we got a contract on our house.  Super fast!  We were very excited and felt very blessed that it sold so quickly.

 Then on Monday, May 9th I found out I was pregnant.  Yes, that's right baby #5 is on the way.  Way surprised and a little worried since we had already put a contract on a house that was smaller and had a pool.  When the kids were little I wouldn't even look at a house with a pool but wanted one now because they are bigger and all know how to swim.  Yeah, fun stuff.  But we prayed about it and felt like the move would be good for our family.  We can raise our children in the country with land to play on which is much better than city life in a big house.  Who would've knew!

So, on Friday June 3rd we moved into our new home out in the country on 2 acres.  We love it!  It fits our family perfectly!  The kids love living out here, and so do Bryan and I.  Hopefully new baby will love it also!

Easter 2011

On Good Friday my mom invites the grandkids over to dye easter eggs!  We always have lots of fun!

My 1 year old niece decided it was more fun to ride the fourwheeler than dye eggs.  What a cutie!

On Saturday morning we head to my cousin Debbie's for our family easter egg hunt.  We have been having this for 62 years and it is a BLAST!

Debbie has this fun kids table for the kids to draw.

And there is always FISHING!

Just hanging out!

Every year there are TONS of eggs!  This year we had almost 1200 eggs for 30 kids.  Needless to say they didn't go home empty handed.

It takes lots of people to hide that many eggs.

Adalynn getting ready to hunt!

And they are off and running!

Oh, and we caught one of these too!  Yes, a baby copperhead that I almost stepped on. Thank goodness I was looking down for eggs or I would have stepped right on him in my sandals.  And my crazy cousin picked him up, while he was alive, to show everyone.

The boys trying to kill the snake.

My sister and her cute little girl!

Cute cousins!

My cuties and their loot!

And you can't miss a chance for a family photo.  We had an awesome Easter and loved spending it with family.