{My Place}

I found my "place" in this busy city. Its in the mountains. When Rod & I were first married we would drive through the canyons of Utah on Sunday afternoons after church. I especially loved doing this during the fall months when the mountains looked as if they were aflame. After Church yesterday we put comfy clothes on & drove just 20 minutes to Mount C.  The temperature was 20 degrees cooler & perfect. We climbed out just to feel the cooler air on us. We have been struggling to adjust to 105 + degrees everyday. Being in the mountains felt good. I see many visits in the years to come.

{Madd's turn!}

Poor Maddox. Because he is baby #3 he always seemed to be dragged from activity to activity for big brothers. This year is his year! Yes it will mean a whole lot more driving & a fuller calendar, but seeing how excited he was tonight at his first ever soccer practice will more than make up for it! He was thrilled & did so well listening & learning! I love that he is on a coed team with Audrey & Cameron's little Madalyn! Those two!  Maddox is going to love these next few months of Soccer! I love this boy. He look so much like my Grandpa! The ears, the smile. The other kids played at the playground & sand box. They were all super tired after their 2nd day of school.  Tre will have Lacrosse starting up again soon, Maddox & Tre & Presley will have dive try outs in a week & Presley starts gymnastics next week too, Britt well...he is not sure what sport he wants to try next. He did good with lacrosse, but he never really loved it like his Dad. Britt is old enough for scouts now so that will be fun for him, & Tre is a web this year. Piano is just around the corner again for the kids too. I love watching these babies find their strengths & talents! 

{1st day}

Tre-5th 

Britt-3rd

Maddox-1st

Presley-Kinder

Cooper-Mama's buddy

Everyone did super well at drop off. The school playground had music playing to get the kids all pumped up. teachers were dancing. It was super cute. Thank goodness Omah was here to help me find where each kid was supposed to be! Its so funny going to school 90 minutes later than we did in Texas. We now have time together in the morning. Its so much more relaxing. Scripture study & prayer is at the table instead of in the car! I hope the children are happy & making new friends! I am eager to see their faces! 

The boys were being silly & copying their sassy little sis! 

Tre is so lucky to have 3 buddies from church in his class! 

{Back to School Dinner}

School always gives me some serious anxiety. I worry about the kids. Will they eat enough at lunch? Will they have a friend to play with at recess? Will they be good? Will they find their way around? I am a worrier by nature, so school starting is just torture! Now add that 4 of them are at a new school! My heart has been racing for a week now! I need them to be okay here. Britt & Tre are in the accelerated learning classes which is super neat & something that H.O. did not offer (but don't mistake me! I lovveeeddd their school in Texas. Loved it enough Id marry it!) Maddox' teacher is just the sweetest thing that ever lived, & I have only spoken to her for 5 minutes. The class is small, & the room smells like apple pie. She is a BYU graduate so...yeah. We love her! She is a good fit for Maddox. Now Presley...we couldn't get her into full day kinder here. Everything is full! Its not great. Her teacher has yet to wow us. Her class time is 2 1/2 hours which is actually less than last years pre school classroom time. I am giving it a week, I found a school a bit away from here that has a spot. Ill tour it next week, but then again maybe this is what she needs this year, & then next year we will tackle all day school?! who knows. Can you tell how undecided I am?  She's the smallest & youngest in her class this year. She is a peanut. Friday we Met the teachers & Saturday we did our annual back to school dinner. We usually do it on Sunday, but with Rod going out of town we bumped it up on the calendar. We decided to make the theme the 6 be's from Gordon B. Hinkley's talk from General Conference in November 2000. Rod had been choosing each of the 6 attributes for Family Home Evenings lately so I took a cue from him. He is such a good Dad that Man. After our dinner we had our annual Father's blessings to prepare the children for the school year ahead. The kids were going bananas & the spirit seemed far from our home, but we gathered together & put on hymns & then Rod pulled each child aside to give them a blessing. Sometimes its hard to feel the spirit in our crazy home, but when we move forward & do what is right & good regardless, we know we will be blessed for trying! Tre really took to heart what his father said in his blessing. I have seen an eagerness to be kind & service oriented...more so than ever.