1st Day of Kindergarten. . . Finally!

Kassie has been waiting her ENTIRE life for the first day of Kindergarten. Then she had to wait one more day.  Our family has been enjoying the stomach flu. It started with Mikele on Monday night. Then on Wednesday Jason came home from work early, cancelled his class and went to bed and I didn't see him again until morning. Kassie started throwing up late Wednesday night. She woke up at 7:00 am Thursday and said that she thought she felt good enough to go to school but not 5 minutes later she threw up again. Sadly I had to inform her that she would not be going to school. She camped out on the couch and was dealing with it pretty well until Mikele left for school and then there were tears from both Kassie and I. She was suppose to be going to school after waiting what seemed like and eternity and wasn't.  Kassie slept and rested most of the day and was feeling great by dinner time.

   Bright and early this morning Kassie was up, healthy and ready to go to school.  She had been rather nervous leading up to the first day but today it was pure determination. She was GOING and nothing was going to stop her. I was so excited for her to go that I almost forgot I was suppose to be sad that my little girl was growing up. As I walked back into the house after taking pictures, I have to admit I got a little choked up.

Back to School - Part 1

  Sadly summer has come to an end and it is time to get back to school.  Brock starts 6th grade this year which means lots of changes. He is at the middle school now which means a locker, 7 different classes and teachers, riding the bus home from school and school starting 2 hours earlier then what he is use to! Because of Brock's new schedule we have to all adjust. Jason is taking Brock in the morning (convenient that Jason's office is across the street from Brock's school and it let Brock have an extra 15 minutes in the morning) but that means that Jason has to leave 30 minutes earlier then he use to. The flip side is that Jason will be home 30 minutes earlier at night. I have to get up earlier to get Brock off and then hopefully I will begin running again before i have to get Mikele and Kassie up and off to school.

   Jason is also picking up our friend's son who is in the same grade. This picture cracks me up. Poor Brock is a tad short compared to his buddy. Hopefully he will have a growth spurt soon.

  Mikele is starting the 3rd grade. She will continue to walk with her friend and neighbor to school. She was very excited this morning and was up extra early. She even saw Brock off to school.

 Mikele is very excited about being able to wear dangley earrings now. 

Norris Family Weekend - Photo Caption Fun!

  A couple of weeks ago we went up to Rexburg to spend the weekend with Jason's family. Caitlin, Jared and their girls were visiting from back east and Jon, Daryn, Bree, James and their girls were visiting as well.  We had a great time together celebrating Mckenna and Hayli's birthdays', playing at Rigby lake and goofing around. 

  When I went back through the photos there were a number of treasures! I thought it would be fun to play a little game. I have numbered the photos and would love to have you leave a caption for each of the photos in the comments section.  I have left mine below the pictures. 

1. "Come here my pretty and have a cupcake!"

2. "Oh, she poisoned me" 

 3. What is this strange thing they call a cupcake? 

 4. Monkey See. . .

5. Monkey do! Very mature boys. 

 6. Why does this creepy man keep talking to me? 

 7. Babysitting a doll is exhausting.

 8. I am in soooo much trouble.

9. Man in background is thinking "That chick with the cone hat is HOT!!!"

10. Hum, do you think I look as good as Bree in this cone hat?

Roy Water Park

My fabulous friend Cindy has been telling me about the amazing aquatic center in Roy for years. This year we finally made it and it was totally worth the drive! They have an awesome kid pool and separate toddler pool. They also have slides and a diving pool (we didn't make it over to the diving pool).  What I loved about the pool is that the bottom is this soft cushiony rubber so your feet don't get all scrapped and chewed up. The kids played, swam, snorkeled, did hand stands, went down the slides and had a blast. Cindy and I enjoyed chatting, watching the kids and I went down the twisty slide with Kassie a few times. The weather was perfect, the pool wasn't busy at all and it was a perfect afternoon. 

When we got home I sent Allie to go get her pj's on. We found her half way down the hall sound asleep. To be that exhausted is a sure sign of a fabulous day!

Denver Trip

  Jason and I had the opportunity to take a trip to Denver. The purpose of the trip was to attend a memorial for Jason's Grandmother who passed away the beginning of July. We decided that instead of driving out and taking the kids that Jason and I would just fly out. It was a fabulous decision! We had such a great time spending quality time together and checking out sites that we normally don't visit when we have the kids with us.  
  Friday we left Logan around 4:00 am. Our flight was REALLY early. We arrived in Denver shortly after 8:00.  We headed over to the hotel, checked in (they had our room ready for us early) and picked up our rental car.
  The first thing we did was head over to the Molly Brown House Museum.  Daryn went with us.  It was fun to check out the historic home and learn about the "Unsinkable Molly Brown."
  After the museum we dropped Daryn back off at the hotel and then headed to an amazing cathedral in downtown Denver that is famous for its stain glass windows.  The pictures do not do the windows justice. It was breathtaking! We left the cathedral and headed to the 16th street mall. I was excited to check out H & M. I had great success and was able to find new shirts. All the shopping made us hungry and we ended the evening by joining the rest of the Norris' family for a barbecue at Steve & Jackie's home.

  On Saturday we attended a memorial in honor of Marjorie Norris.  She was an amazing women who made the most of her 101 years of life. I enjoyed the stories and opportunity to celebrate her life. All the girls wore a piece of Nana's jewelry to the memorial.

   We enjoyed lunch back at Steve and Jackie's home.  After the luncheon we headed over to the Hammonds candy factory to take a tour. How can you go wrong with a tour in a candy factory? They make an incredible amount of candy including candy canes, flat taffy and some fabulous chocolate.
  That evening we enjoyed a fabulous Italian dinner at Maggianos. It was fabulous! We flew out the next morning and arrived home to find all was well in our absence.

 A little bit of heaven!

 Look how carefree and relaxed we are! That is what happens when you leave your kids home for a few days. I highly recommend it. Thank you to Shannon and Cindy who took care of our kids while we were away. It made it easy to relax and have fun knowing that our kids were in good hands.