First Day of School

Jack is finished with grade school and on to Junior High.  I remember being in Junior High, so it feels strange for hi to be there already.  After a week, he loves it.  He's been good about managing his time so far, let's hope starting with good habits keeps them up. 

 

He still humors me about first day of school pictures.

 

The girls and I walked him to school.  The first day was for seventh graders only.  The student council had music blaring and balloons as the kids entered.  

  

Bella is going to a new school this year, we moved just outside of our old boundaries.  She is in fourth grade this year and was excited for a new experience!

She gets to ride the bus this year.  When we moved into our first house in Lehi seven years ago, it was just before Jack started kindergarten.  We had been in Midvale before and Jack loved seeing school buses and city buses and such, like any little five year old boy.  Well, when he found out that we lived too close to the school for a bus and we would be walking he was really disappointed.  Funny that now we live where we are too close to his school for a bus, but his little sisters will get to ride, life is unfair! ;)

Trip to Idaho Falls

In early August we went to Idaho Falls for Nate's 20th high school reunion.  This is the first time that we have gone and really walked around the river and done fun things there.  Admittedly, it is usually winter when we visit, so this was a nice change.

There is a sign for the Miskin Scraper company just north of Idaho Falls that we took the kids pics in front of.  They had been swimming prior to this and look a little tired.

This is on the river, we walked all around.  They were having a duck race and farmers market that day, so there was a lot to see and do.

 

Dropping the ducks into to river.

They blocked off part of the river so the ducks could be caught at the end.  This made the current slower and the ducks went pretty slow.  It was fun to see them all though.

Nate had a good reunion and it was a nice little getaway before school started.  The kids got to see places their dad lived when he was little and schools he went to.  We also saw a baseball game and went to some parks.  The kids loved seeing the grandparents for a bit as well.  Nice way to cap the summer/.

New Family Pics

 

 

Our friend Sanae came out in July and we were lucky enough to have some family pics taken by her.  She does an amazing job!  I have a lot of blogging I keep meaning to do but haven't done.  I think it may be better to sum it all up.  Isabella turned nine at the beginning of the summer and Tessa turned one three days later.  We then moved into our new house.  We got settled in then went to Oregon for a week to help my mom with a yard sale.  While we were gone Nate painted the garage floor.  We had two state baseball tournaments to attend in Salem in July.  I turned 35.  We had a few family BBQ's mixed in there and hope to have one more before it gets cold.  We went to Idaho Falls for Nate's 20th high school reunion.  Jack started football.  Then he started middle school.  Bella started fourth grade at a new school and loves it so far.  The little girls and I miss the big kids while they are gone.  That sums it all up so far. 

Baseball and Softball Season

May is such a crazy month for us.  It seems like it happens every year.  This year both Jack and Bella are playing baseball and  softball respectively and we spend our evenings at games and practices.  Bella played t-ball and coach pitch, but then took a year off, so it's kind of new again for her.  She plays all over in the infield and outfield but hasn't pitched or caught yet-not sure if she wants to.  Her league is really about learning how to play, they usually get in two innings in their allotted time.

                                  Doesn't she have the cutest stance.

Jack has been playing all over this year.  He has been catcher, pitcher, first, third and shortstop.  He is pretty speedy and athletic.  He really grasps the game and the play is pretty fast.  He has a lot of kids his age on his team, so they are a bit older in the 5th 6th grade league and play pretty well together.

                                Sadly this is my least crazy picture of Jack pitching. Need to do better.

The rub in all this is their games are on the same nights at pretty much the same times.  So Nate and I divide and conquer and go to opposite games.  We switch on and off.  I take Tessa with me and he takes Sophie.  What has really been great about this season so far is there have been no rain outs.  Rain outs=makeup games=season seems sooo long. 

On the house front, we are so close.  They were cleaning it today and the front door has been painted.  All they have left is the touch-ups.  We will hopefully be there in just over a week!

Another House Update

The house is looking almost like a house on the outside.  We are getting to the end.  We are scheduled to move in at the end of May. 

This is on April 21st.  They have the stucco on and are ready to paint.

The walls on the inside are ready to be painted. 

They started putting floors in on the 25th.  This is the main floor.

The stone and stucco were all done by the 28th, when this picture was taken.  When I picked out stucco, I chose the grayest of the colors they offered, however it doesn't look terribly gray.  I do like how it turned out though.  It's hard to pick from tiny samples and guess how things will look.  We are pretty happy with how it has turned out so far.

This is the tile in the laundry room.  We kicked out one side of the house five feet and it made the laundry room pretty big, I am excited about this!  Last I saw they had started putting up the baseboards and trim.  Also they were working on the soffits and such.  I am starting to think about packing up again and getting stuff moved.  It should be a pretty busy few months ahead.

Jack is 12!

Jack turned 12 on the 22nd of April.  I can't believe how fast the years go by!  We had Miskin family over on his birthday for cake and ice cream.  We out to eat the day before his birthday.  He opened presents before church.  Sophie got him an Aluma Wallet, which was the funniest gift, she is obsessed by all as seen on TV stuff.

Later in the week his class performed Hamlet and Twelfth Night for parents.  Jack loved it and they all did so good tackling the Shakespeare.  We went out for shakes afterwards-the kids always want to do that.

Twelve great things about Jack:

1. He's a great big brother-his sisters love him and he loves them.

2. He has a great love for athletics.  The kid would play every sport there is if he had the time.

3. He loves playing with good friends.  He has always had some really great friends that we love and he has been missing seeing them as much while we are in transition.

4. He is dependable-as he gets older I put more and more responsibility on him and he handles it so well.

5. He is so smart-he aced all his tests to get into honors stuff in middle school.  I am grateful for google, how else would I help with homework.

6. He is learning to be patient in acquiring new skills-he learned to play the ukelele and crochet this year in sixth grade and has kept practicing throughout the year.
 

7. He loves being with extended family and playing with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

8. He is a budding photographer-he loved having access to the camera on vacation.  I love seeing him focus on creative things!

9. He does hard things.  He is brave and kind.

10. He is always ready for the next thing-he is excited about junior high next year!

11. He is great at setting goals and working toward them.  He is planning on going to the Boy Scout Jamboree next summer and has been saving ever since-usually he has holes in his pockets.  His determination has been impressive.

12.  He is a great kid and I love being around him!  Nate and I feel so lucky to know Jack and love spending time with him!

House Update

Stuff has been happening on the house! It looks looks a house for starters!

This was on March 31st.

We went by the next day with the kids.

It was windy and freezing-thus the crying and hunching.

This is on April 6th.  Just before we took off for Spring Break.  We have windows and a roof, and the electrical work inside was finished.  Along with bathtubs and plumbing installed. 

This one is on the 14th.  They are starting to wrap the house for stone and stucco.  And we went inside and were pleasantly surprised to see the sheet rock is up. 

This is Sophie and I in the front living room.  I will use this as my sewing room and I love the big windows and all the light that comes in. 

That's it for this week-hopefully next week the outside will look pretty finished-but who knows.

Spring Break 2012

The kids and I drove out to California to visit my grandma this year for spring break. Jack and Isabella hadn't been out since the summer of 2007.  Sophie and I flew out in March of 2010.  It was clearly time for a visit.

My cousin and her two kids got to stop by and visit, which was so fun, we hadn't met her kids before and they are so cute.

After they left we hid Easter eggs all over the front yard.  Now, my grandma has a lovely big garden-filled back yard which would be great for hunting Easter eggs, except for one thing-we discovered a snake in the back yard the night before.  We managed to see it three times, and while it was certainly frightened of us, no one really wanted to reach their hands into various bushes.

We hid the eggs again and again until everyone had a chance to hide them and find them.  We managed to find all of the hidden eggs-no small feat.  The weather was beautiful and I could have spent all day outside.

The next day the kids and I drove through Berkeley to go into San Francisco.  We went over the Bay Bridge where we encountered an really bad accident.  A small pickup had a run in with a van and the pickup lost and left it's innards over three lanes of traffic.  There were all sorts of people trying to pry open the drivers side door which was mashed shut and the passenger was clearly injured and on the ground on the other side of the pickup.  The accident must have just happened as no emergency assistance was there yet.  I tried to distract the kids from looking, but we moved by so slow.  After we passed the scene, we headed across the bay bridge, this bridge is the big one.

  It goes across to Treasure Island (man made) and then into the city.  We drove through San Francisco and to the Golden Gate Bridge.

  There is a vista point at the far side where we got out and walked over part of the bridge. 

 I had Tessa in the wrap, and I don't know if Sophie could have made it the whole way.  Then we headed over the Richmond bridge.  Sophie really wanted to choose where we ate and I thought maybe she would see somewhere we hadn't been before and pick that-but no, she chose Applebee's.

Tuesday we planned to go to Tilden Park to ride the carousel and see the little farm and such, but it was raining and when we got there everything was closed.  In a bit of desperation we called Nate and had him google and few things so we could decide on an activity.  We decided to go to the Exploratorium in San Francisco and headed back into the city.

  It is a museum of science and experience and the senses and all sorts of fun things.  The kids loved it.  I think all day wouldn't have been long enough to see and try out everything.  We stayed until it closed and then walked around back to the Palace of Fine Arts.

  Jack took about 400 pictures in our two days in the city-I will let him have the camera more often, I certainly don't take that many.

Everyone was getting hungry, so I drove down to Fisherman's Wharf and we got out to find somewhere to eat.  The kids were all for Subway or In-and-Out, but I vetoed on the basis of going somewhere we can't go here at home.  We ate at Boudin, a sourdough bakery.  It was really yummy, Jack and I are big fans of sourdough and could have eaten twice as much I am sure.  The girls shared a cheese pizza on sourdough crust and it was so yummy.  

We then walked down to Pier 39 and went out to see the sea lions laying on the docks. 

 It was a bit rainy, so no real crowds.  Their was a giant cruise ship in port and the kids were totally fascinated by how big it was.  We got some salt water taffy and cookies on the pier and bought a few t-shirts and headed back to the car.  We then headed over to Lombard Street.  We drove down it and then through the city before heading back to my grandma's house.

The next day we stayed around my grandma's.  I hemmed some pants for her and we talked and talked.  I love hearing all her stories and histories and anecdotes.  I think we stayed up past eleven every night talking.

  She has all sorts of stories about my dad and his childhood that are new each time I visit.  She has a lot of family history gathered and knows a lot about her ancestors.  I love visiting her and love taking the kids there.

  California at this time or year is so lush and green and I always wonder why I don't live there.  The kids played with toys I played with when I was small.  They were reluctant to wander around the backyard too much with the garter snake back there. 

 They played dominoes and found an old ping pong set and made up games.  Sophie loves Grandma Penny and snuggled her and played with all the dolls and stuffed animals she could find.  

We had to head home on Thursday and drove through snow in the Sierra Nevada's.  The whole drive home is one long day in the car.  We were all happy to see Nate and be in our own beds, but all want to go back soon.