The First Day of School - 2010

The First Day of School

I can't believe it's here. The kids were excited, although the older ones wouldn't admit it.

Tyler starts 5th Grade with Mrs. Houser.

Jenna begins 3rd Grade with Mrs. Lima

Megan starts Kindergarten (yes I said it!) with Miss Salisbury

Megan was so excited to start school.
Here she is standing in front of her locker.

I think Megan was ready for me to go. She just sat down, put her drink next to her and started to work on her puzzle. For those of you who know Megan can attest to her "fussy-side." Well, she did not show it at all today when dropping her off. She was a CHAMP! No fussying. No clinging to my leg. No tears. I on the other hand could not get out of the school fast enough! I have been so excited for this day and now it has finally come and I am sad.
On to life's new adventure....

Temple Square

After our adventure in Park City, we took the high road and went through Salt Lake to get home (to Provo). I am not sure my kids have had the Temple Square experience so we decided to take advantage of where we were and do it. It was a hot day and the kids didn't last as long as we would have liked, but we did it.

Megan is being the example and posing for a picture. This is so not like her. She (as you will see soon) is not one for getting in and smiling without some tears.
Here we are resting in the shade and having a snack.
I love the flowers all over Temple Square.
They are so beautiful!!
Here is Justin giving Megan a pep talk. As you can see she is not willing to sit close to her sister for this picture. She was hot and hungry. We tried to explain if she would cooperate, we'd be done a lot sooner.

Summer 2010

We took our usual trip to Utah, but this one included a few special events. The first being my 20th High School reunion. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures (I didn't want to carry my camera around with me). It was so much fun seeing so many familiar faces. Although Justin didn't particularly enjoy it, I still had a great time and do not regret attending!! The second big event was to celebrate my parents 50th Wedding anniversary. They did not want a big party, but instead wanted to get us all together to spend a few days in
Park City, Utah.

Since we were able to get everyone together, Dad took some pictures of us all. A professional came later to take the "real" pictures, but these are the ones my dad took.
My family
Bert & Sherice's Family
Brent & Kim's Family
All the grand kids with Mom & Dad
I love this silly picture. It was the best!!!

These pictures are of us at Jordanelle Reservoir. We had 3 jet skis which were lots of fun. It was a beautiful day on the lake.

The water was really cold, so Megan enjoyed watching the others from the shore. Ashree took her on a the jet ski, but we couldn't get her to go out again. Too Cold!Tyler swimming with his cousins: Shelby, Madison, and McKenzie.
Nanie and Papa hanging out with Meg in the shade.
Justin and Ashree being pulled by Brian (Justin's cousin). Great times!!
Justin getting Jenna ready to ride.Braxton celebrating victory. Hannah was pitched off!

We stayed in some condos there in Park City.
Here are some random pictures of the fun had by all.
Waking up with cousins readily available was awesome!!
Jenna and Megan sitting with Shayla.Breakfast!
Nice face Ash!!Bert and Sherice making Pancakes.
We did all the cooking in Mom & Dads's condo because it was the biggest. We split up the days and took turns cooking.Megan loves her cousins. She wouldn't leave Housten or Brennon alone.
Here she is getting loves from Housten.Bert with two of his beautiful girls, Madison, 11 (left) and Shelby, 9 (right)

We went to the park to play soccer and volleyball.

One night the girls went to see Twilight: Eclipse at a special preview (awesome by the way) and the boys stayed back and had ribs. Tyler Loves Ribs!!
Here is another picture of them all eating such a "manly" meal!!The kids loved the pool. They would have gone swimming 24/7 if we'd let them.
The start of the pool pictures:
Megan and Brennon in the hot tub
The "Bun-head" table is ready!!!
This is our favorite game.
Tyler wanted to have a ping pong tournament, so he recruited the players, made a bracket and saw it through.
McKean was the champion.
Tyler wanted to have a ping pong tournament. He signed up the players, made a bracket and saw it through to the end. McKean was the winner!

Megan's Preschool Graduation

Maplewood Preschool Graduation
May 14, 2010

Megan was so upset. She wouldn't put on her cap or go up and sing with her class. We tried to get her all excited days before. Having her sing her songs for us. Telling her how great she would do, but starting an hour before she was hysterically crying. (Could have been partly that she fell asleep and had a nap, which she usually doesn't do) I felt like I had to force her to get dressed, do her hair and get her in the car.

Her teachers, Deb and Vikki, knew she was having a hard time and when they got all the other kids positioned on the stage they noticed that Megan was not up there. Deb came and pulled her from me and had her go sit with her. Here Deb is telling her that she will not make her go up there, so they just sit and watch the kids sing. Then Deb tells her that maybe she could go up and get her piece of paper (Diploma) because that isn't scary.

She did it!! She's not wearing her cap, but she is up there participating. We were thrilled.

It's hard to believe our baby is done with Preschool and on to Kindergarten.
Good work Megan!!

Megan is 5

I almost forgot to post pictures of Megan's 5th birthday!

Every year the kids get a very special birthday breakfast!

I can't believe she will start Kindergarten next year. What will I do with my day? No one to ask where we are going? And where after that? And after that? She is always in the know!

That made doing the Pinata a little difficult. I was scrambling at the last minute to clean out the garage so we could hang it by the garage door opener.

She was so excited to pick out what "toy" she could put on her cake. I was very relieved she decided on this because originally it was supposed to be a castle cake.

We upgraded Meg's bike too! She was riding around, on two wheels, on a little bike. She needed this one since she has really grown. She is almost as tall as Jenna!!

We love you Meg! You are so much fun to have around. You keep us busy and laughing.

National Elementary Honor Society

Tyler was inducted in to the National Elementary Honor Society on May 4, 2010. This is the first of this type of program for our district in the Elementary schools.
Tyler and Justin (his mentor) holding his certificate and showing his medal.

Membership demonstrates outstanding Scholarship and Responsibility and a commitment to excellence in Leadership and Service.

The National Honor Society Pledge
As a member of the National Elementary Honor Society I pledge to:
Be a strong student, achieving the most from my education;
Demonstrate Responsibility, showing enthusiasm and working hard in all that I do;
Learn the skills of Leadership, practicing them in all aspects of my life;
Be of Service to my school and community, showing that I care;
And be a role model for my peers, helping us all to achieve our best.

Great job Tyler!! We are so proud of you.

Happy Easter!

In our Easter outfits! I bought Tyler new blue pants, but they were too small.
I sure wish he'd stop growing. He is sporting a new tie (not a clip).

The "goods" the Easter Bunny brought! They were each set up with their own Jump Rope, a book of sorts (Tyler got Diary of a Wimpy kid and the girls got coloring books), candy and a little stuffed animal. They just can't seem to get enough of them.We hid eggs for the kids in the backyard. Basically because there is more room and we thought it would be harder for them to find.

Dinner was at Jammie and Daniel's instead of Grandmas because of her broken arm. :(

Jammie did a great job with dinner and getting all 144 eggs stuffed and hidden. Minus the 7 we couldn't find. We are pretty sure the squirrels took off with them. We found an egg in the neighbors yard all broken. Thieves!!

All the cousins after we have found the eggs. Such fun!

Ian, Brandon, Megan, Jenna, Mya, Andrew and Tyler.