How did this happen?

I knew it was coming, she is 12. I had been mentally prepared, or so I thought, but as I watched this darling, sweet, innocent girl walk across the street for a ride to her first day at junior high I thought, "How did this happen?" How did my little baby get here so quick?

I said a little prayer in my heart that she would be prepared for all that is about to hit her.

Junior High, where crazy life seems to begin. You leave the cocoon of one sweet caring teacher that loves you (and they all loved her-how could they not, look at her!) to a whole different world. 8 teachers, running from one class to another (in a school twice the size and population of the high school I went to),  trying to find where you fit in to a much larger pond, wierd kids to deal with, scary kids, hormone filled kids, not nearly so innocent kids. Learning, experiencing and seeing all sorts of things never on your radar before. Things that shouldn't have to be on your radar at 12. Big changes.



Is she ready to deal with it all? Is she going to share all the craziness with me? Or is she going to clam up and hold it all in because she thinks I won't be able to handle what she faces each day? I sure hope she continues to be a talker and I can be a good listener. What a difference that will make.

Not trying to be dramatic. Just wondering what this crazy transition will bring upon us. I think she will do great. She is a smart girl. She is fun and open to change. She seems to adapt well to new things. She had the normal first day jitters and didn't sleep well last night in anticipation, but she was so excited. I am so excited for her. She has so many good times ahead,  fun memories to make, and new friends to find. What a great new adventure!

7th grade! Wow! Look at this cute girl. She is going to love all this growing up. And I can't wait to love it all with her. I just don't know how it happened so fast. . . . .

A Party And A Little Addition To The Family!

Nat went to a party last Friday night. It was a teen mystery party and she had to dress as a cheerleader. Luckily a neighbor had her old cheer outfit! She looked cute huh? Maybe she should be one someday?

Here she is with Abbey from down the street. They had a great time at the sleepover!

Ok, not the greatest picture, but we have a baby goldfish! See the mom and dad on top? And the cute little baby by the statue! Who knew we would be starting a goldfish farm? Shane thought the one goldfish looked preggers, but we didn't know what to expect. What if the other fish in the tank would eat the babies? Maybe there were more, we don't know. But we have this one and all the other fish are nice to it. So far so good!What a fun surprise! Jace has his face pressed to the glass all the time just watching our new little friend!

The Last Adventure!

Last Wednesday we headed up to the canyons for some end of summer fun and school shopping! I say canyons, because we hit two! We started off the day at the Patagonia Outlet to get Nat a jacket, then on to Park City for some school clothes. We got all our school shopping done at once.

Maria took the day off to come with us. She needed a summer adventure-especially since summer is almost over!She says she likes shopping with Shane because he just buys everything. Really, we knew this was the only day we were shopping, so if if fit and we needed it we grabbed it. It seemed like a lot, but there are a lot of us! Maria was also super nice and got everyone something for school! Thanks Oma!

Then we headed up Little Cottonwood Canyon for some fun at Snowbird. We rode the tram to the top of the mountain.

Then we went on the slide. Maria got some pictures of us on the lift going up and impressive ones coming down! We ended our fun by filling our bellies to the brim at Macaroni Grill. What a fun filled action packed day!

And so it begins!!!

Here we go again with another school year! Hallie started the 5th grade yesterday. She has the same teacher she had last year. Miss Holtkamp. She was fine with having the same teacher because she is sure that she will get to help with more things. She was so excited to get back with friends. She loves school. She also spent a long time picking out her first day outfit and accessories! I think she did a great job! Hallie thought it was going to be weird to be the only one in our family at school yesterday. I thought so too.

Abbie's first day was today. She was a little nervous about school because she "doesn't know how to read" but we met her teacher yesterday and now she feels a lot better about school. Her sisters helped her pick out her first day outfit. It was cute to see them all working together to get it just right.

I refuse to buy a new backpack every year. They don't wear out that fast. I buy one every other year-mean huh? So they have the same packs as last year (Abbie is using one of Nat's old ones for something different). They will get over not having a new one. They always do. In fact they are over it already because we aren't at the store seeing new ones!

Here are my cute elementary school girls! Man, are they growing quick! This year I hope to be really organized with our lives. Our calendar is filling up fast!

Simple Service!

Ok, I will admit, I am not the type of person that makes the bed right when I get out of it. I usually work my way back to it. Lately, Abbie has been really sweet and sometimes I will walk in my room to a beautifully made bed, and a very smiley child. I have been so impressed that she would give such simple service. She had been so proud of herself too. This sweetness seems to be rubbing off.

This morning Jace said - come in your room I have a surprise for you! This is what I found. He made my bed. What a sweet boy. Not bad skills for a 4 year old. He was so excited to show me and to get a huge hug!! What a great way to put a smile on a mom's face in the morning!

Summertime Swimming!

For the month of July we could be found at the Riverton Pool.  I love this place. It is tucked away from everything, so I think it is overlooked by a lot of people. It isn't very crowded (except on 2 dollar Tuesday) and lots of times you practically have the place to yourself!

We went at least every other day. I was excited to see that they offered a 1 month pass. I knew we could make the most of it. Shane could even join us on Wednesdays.

I thought swimming a ton could take the place of swimming lessons this year. I thought the kids would probably learn just as much if not more. I was right.

Abbie got over her fear of water. She started the month panicking over all aspects of swimming. Now she will swim to the bottom of the pool for rings and things.

Jace thinks he is the best swimmer that ever lived and he tries all sorts of things he shouldn't, and goes in way deeper than he should. We have really had to watch him so he didn't drown. Nothing scared him.

Natalie and Hallie just got their strokes down stronger and got more confident in the deep end!

We had a ton of fun together and it was definitely money well spent.

Land Grab

Have you ever seen the movie "Far and Away?" It is one of my favorites. All about the idea of having your own land and making a life with it.  Remember a few posts ago when I said Shane and I like to dream of the future together? One big dream is that we might have a cabin somewhere someday. Well, we took the first step toward the dream. We bought and acre of property in Garden City, UT. A few minutes away from Bear Lake!

From the back corner of the lot you can see the lake, but mostly we are nestled into a little valley. It makes it seem pretty secluded and far from the hustle and bustle even though it is really close to town. Our friends bought some property across the street. We are close to some 4wheeler trails and snomobile trails and the Cache National Forrest. It will take a long time to actually own the land and even longer to ever build something, but we felt like we couldn't pass up the opportunity. The chance at the dream and a place for our family to gather someday. Who knows what will happen down the line. It might just be an invesment to sell later, but we would like to build a fun family get away. This seemed like a good place and a halfway point to family in Idaho Falls.

It seems a little scary looking at all the sagebrush and nothingness now, but potentially it could be great!

Pretend this picture is of us putting our stake, with a pretty piece of fabric on it, into the ground. Making our very own land grab!