Picture Day!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE: I am blogging about something the day it happened!

TODAY is picture day at school, and while I am not ordering any pictures (because they are too expensive and we are having family pictures done next week) I still wanted my kids to look nice for their school pictures of course. I was planning on having to drive them to school, but they were super speedy and we were done in plenty of time to catch the bus...only I forgot to make their sandwich (had already packed the rest) and had to send their lunch with a neighbor, lucky for me I have awesome friends!
I kind of cheated and did a messy side bun for Hailey so I wouldn't have to curl her hair! BUT it will show off her newly pierced ears. Yesterday she came home and picked out her clothes for the pictures, she is really coming into her own style this year.
Ally lost two teeth this weekend just in time for picture day, adding to the one she lost a couple of weeks ago makes for the PERFECT first grade toothless smile and I love it! This little girl is so full of personality I can't get enough of her.
It was so cute I told her to take her backpack off for the picture and Dawson rushed over to hold her backpack for her. These two are so cute together! Ally says Dawson always lets her be in front of him in line, they walk home from the bus together and he always makes sure Ally is taken care of. If they really grow up and get married someday like they say they will, I think Ally will be a lucky girl.

Back To School!

The first day of school turned out to be rainy and cold, so last minute we switched our first day of school outfits to include long pants and rain jackets!
Here is Hailey all ready to head off to her first day of 3rd grade. This is strange for me because it doesn't seem like she should be old enough to be in 3rd grade! This year her teacher looped up to 3rd grade from 2nd grade so she will have Mrs. Julian again and we are both very excited about that.
Here is Allyson all ready for her first day of 1st grade. For her this means being at school all day long and eating lunch at school everyday. She will be in Mrs. Martineau's class. Ally is getting so big and she loves school, mostly because it means she gets to spend all day with her friends!
And so they were sent out in the rain to catch the school bus. I am glad they are such good little friends.
Later that day Natalie had her first day of Preschool. The rain had stopped by the afternoon.
Natalie is such a cutie pie! (I am not at all biased) She loves to pick out her outfits and bows and is all girl. When she was ready she looked in the mirror and said, "I look fabulous!" She is a crack up.
Here is Natalie in her classroom showing off her name tag. She has new preschool teachers this year, Miss Wendy and Miss Barbara. Ally had Miss Barbara 2 years ago, so that is kind of fun. I am sure she will do good, Natalie seems the least interested in academics, but loves to go to school and I am hoping this year she will be more excited about learning letters and sounds and numbers.

Last Summer Road Trip

Two weekends before school started we headed up to our cabin once again for a fun filled weekend with some of our very best friends!
Some boys never grow up, Steve and Jaren twisted Allan on the tire swing to see how fast they could get him spinning.
The best thing about this trip was that we had no plans, we just went up to relax and enjoy time with our friends.
I love Brayden's tongue in this picture, he is such a crazy boy!
This is little baby Austin, he is so sweet and tiny still, it doesn't seem like very long ago Brayden was this small, it goes by too fast.
Silly Lilly fell asleep out on the front porch.
Steve and Allan went with some of the bigger kids exploring down the creek. They found this big toad.
They also found this interesting wood fort thing.
Some of the girls went inside, but Sydney wasn't about to go in there, I don't blame her though, it wasn't the sturdiest of forts.
Here is a silly picture of the girls with Steve.
One of the best things about hanging out with the Laytons and Pettingills is that everyone has a friend. Here are Hadley, Lilly, and Stacey eating cookies.
Ally, Sydney, and Ila out exploring and finding treasures.
Even Brayden has a little buddy. Brayden and Austin are going to have lots of fun together soon enough!
Hailey and Maddie, the biggest of the bunch!
And the four year olds, Natalie, Spencer, and Jayce, hanging out on the tire swings. I am so grateful to have such wonderful friends. We have so much fun with these guys I can't imagine life without them!
On our way home from the cabin, Allan and I took a little detour over to Mesa Falls.
Allan was a trooper to carry Natalie and Lilly up the stairs.
We also went on a little hike down Bear Gulch.
It is so funny attempting to get a picture of all 5 kids! Right as we were headed back up from the bottom of the hike it started to pour! The kids did so good though and we were very proud of them.
On the way home after the rain there was a double rainbow. It was a full arch and amazing, although this was the best I could do to capture it with my cheapo camera. I think I have seen more rainbows this year than the rest of my life combined, I love summer and am sad to see it come to an end, but we have had such a great one this year and I am excited to get back into a routine and have the kids back in school...well mostly, it's going to be a very busy year and I hope I can stay on top of everything!

a little of this and a little of that (a.k.a. pictures from Jean's camera!)

Just Hanging Out

A few times in the summer we go over to the Staker's house and play on the waterslide and have dinner and roast marshmallows. It is so much fun and I love having so much family so close.

More Staker Family Reunion

These are the pictures I took on my MIL's camera from our Staker Family Reunion

We started the reunion off by going to our ward luau, it was so much fun!
The girls took some pictures with some of the dancers.
Hailey and Ally wanted to take pictures with some of the little girls too.
Then we roasted marshmallows and camped out in the backyard.
And here we are at Ross Park the next day.

PARKER FAMILY REUNION

Every year we head up to the cabin for our Parker Family Reunion. This year was lots of fun, although our numbers were few (for Parkers)
This is the kids playing "Fox and Geese" a tag game.
Poor Lilly looks so beat up, the week before we went she tripped and hit her cheek on the couch and then while we were at the cabin she fell off the slide and got this huge goose egg on her forehead.
Here we are gathering around the fire roasting hot dogs and s'mores while the kids play.
We drove up to Sawtelle and hiked around a bit.
Here is Amber with Ally (above) and Hailey (below)
All of the kids overlooking Henry's Lake.
Allan, Dave, Kylee and I hiked out a little farther. It was really beautiful up there.
Back at the cabin there is a little creek that the kids like to play in and catch frogs.
Me and the kids waiting for dinner. Poor Brayden gets strangled more than he would like.
Talk about kissing cousins, Ally and Asa had a little "wedding" in the garage.

$50 Anthropologie Giveaway!

Jessica at Breakfast At Gigi's is giving away a $5o Anthro gift card AND a cute bracelet because her blog reached 200 followers. I love her blog as well as her sister's blog Tricia's Take! Go check them both out and enter to win!!!