"By Mom"

Jacob started kindergarten on Monday and I decided two of the worst words in the English language are "by Mom". He was very excited and walked right into class without even looking back. Mom was the only one having to fight back the tears. He is having a great time and has already made new friends.

Lizzo Loves The 4th

Elizabeth moved into the 4th grade this year. All of her friends are in her class so that made it very exciting. She's excited about the "lifebook" they're using in class. It's like a journal they were able to decorate and she's been writing in it since she got it.

Emily Is A Dolphin

Emily started at Greenspun Junior High School on Monday. She was very excited and has enjoyed the first two days. She has friends in all of her classes and made it into the advanced women's choir. She is also hoping to join the student council. She can't wait to go to all of the basketball games and wants to buy a foam finger from the student store to show her school spirit.

Emily Had a Birthday, Shout Hooray!

Emily had her birthday last week. We got her a cell phone for her birthday. She was so shocked. Many of her friends have had cell phones in elementary school and she was pretty sure she would never get one until college. With her going to middle school the phone is definitely a gift for me too. Hopefully it will help me find her after school when she's off doing some project with her friends.

Shoshone Falls

While we were in Idaho we went on a picnic to Shoshone falls. We've been there before, but never have we seen the water coming over quite like this. It was very beautiful.

The next day we went to the bridge farther down the canyon and watched people base jump (jump off of a bridge and parachute to the ground). I was so busy trying not to have a heart attack that I forgot to take pictures. To quote Jake after the first person jumped, "That was scary!"

I Love To See The Temple

We went to Twin Falls, Idaho a couple of weeks ago to for the temple open house. It was so nice to be able to take our children through the temple and let them feel the peaceful spirit there.

Ben's parents and great aunt were able to go with us and that made the experience even more special.

Look What We Got!

Here's our new piano. We got it last Friday and everyone is very excited. The girls have done nothing but play it since it came.

Baseball Boy

Jacob starts Kindergarten in the fall and just finished his first season of Baseball. He played T-Ball on a team with 3 & 4 year-olds. He decided to opt out of soccer for this fall and is starting golf lessons next week.

Elizabeth Is a Junior

Elizabeth is heading into 4th grade and decided this last year that she liked Girl Scouts. She was a Brownie and has bridged to Juniors. This is a picture of her holding her rainbow bridge and wings. She attended a Girl Scout Day Camp and had a lot of fun. She was so excited that she got to use a sewing machine at the camp. She said to me, "It's really not that hard."

Church Today

Our church building is notorious for being cold enough to store meat in. I know everyone says their church is cold in the summer due to the air conditioning running constantly, but ours really does take it to a whole new level. My children bring jackets or sweaters to wear in order to stay warm. So today when we showed up to church and the doors to the chapel were open I wondered if the air conditioner was working overtime. It wasn't. In fact, it wasn't working at all. Sacrament meeting was extremely warm. The current temperature outside is 94 degrees and the humidity is at 33%. I couldn't help thinking about the early pioneers that settled this area and how they not only didn't have air conditioning for church but had to deal with mosquitoes, no running water and had to ride in a wagon over dusty roads to get to and from church. As I looked around Sacrament meeting many people had made their programs into fans and were fanning themselves. My son Jacob's hair was wet with sweat. At the end of Sacrament meeting the Bishop stood up and said that he had consulted with the Stake Presidency and we would be cancelling the remainder of our meetings. He was especially concerned about those with health problems that would stay for the remainder of church when they shouldn't. So they sent us home.

Emily Ends 5th Grade

Emily finished 5th Grade in June. She will be starting middle school this year and is nervous and excited. This is a picture of her at the 5th Grade Celebration. She was involved in lots of activities and received the principal's award for good citizenship. It was quite an honor since she was nominated by her fellow classmates.