First Day of School

I know that school started a couple weeks ago, but I just barely got the pictures off of my camera to blog them. I can't believe the kids are in FIRST grade now!! It is so crazy to me. This year they are attending the public school in our neighborhood. Everyone we've talked to said they love the school, so I think it will be a good year. Plus, it's only a mile away from our house, so the daily commute is a lot easier. I told the kids that if they get better on their bikes they can ride them to school once the temperature cools down a bit. We're still in the 100s every day!

We wanted to put all the kids in the same class, but they were separated into three different classes because of how late we registered. Fortunately, there was one kid from our ward in each of the three classes, so they each had a familiar face in their class. Phew!

Emma has Chloe in her class. It was so cute when we walked in to class because Emma & Katelynn ran up to give her a hug. While they were doing that I overheard another parent voicing concerns to the teacher about her son, since he was new to the school. I said, "Oh, this is my daughter's first year here, too!" The teacher looked at me funny because the girls were hugging Chloe. I told her they knew her from church.

Katelynn has Brandon in her class, as well as a boy named Jude that was in their Soccer Tots class a couple years ago. Michael was bummed that he wasn't in the same class as Brandon, but after watching those two in Primary the last few weeks I'm thinking it's a good thing they aren't in the same class!

Michael has Samantha (Sammie) in his class. When Michael came in Sammie got up from her desk and came over to say "Hi" to him. Then, when she went back to her desk, she said to the boy across from her, "I know him because he goes to my church, and he was on my soccer team. He's a really great goalie!" That made me smile.

After school I realized that I hadn't gotten a picture of all three of them together yet. They got impatient with me to take the picture because I was busy talking with my friends! That is one thing I've really liked so far about having them at the local school. Several of my friends' kids go there, too, so I can ask them questions, see them at drop-off or pick-up, see their kids at school, etc. It's nice to have that built-in community from church. It makes starting at a new school a lot easier!

Oh, and what is one of the kids' favorite parts about being in first grade now? Eating lunch at school! It's the little things, I guess. They think it's even cooler now that they can get their lunch from school. Good luck this year, babies big kids!

Swimming with Friends

A couple times this summer we've been able to go over to our friends' house to swim and play. It's always a lot of fun. The kids play well together, and I love hanging out with my buddy, Risa.

Ward Campout

The day Scott got home from Florida was our ward campout. Scott's been dying to go camping, so he was all for it, even though he'd just spent several hours on a plane. The camp was help up in the National Forest east of Camp Verde. We had a great time!

Princess Party

The kids were able to attend their friend's Barbie Princess birthday party.

They danced around with the 12 princesses on the movie.

They decorated tutus.

And they had this awesome ice cream cake that my friend made! The kids were so excited when they saw it! Here is Emma with Lexi, the birthday girl.

Playdates

Last week the kids had a couple of playdates with friends. First, their friend Bradley from church came over. Here they are eating popcorn and watching "Justice League".

Then, later that day, their neighbor friends came over to play for a little while. They were running around the house and having a blast! I think they were vampire clowns or something? I don't know. 

Bike Wash

Yesterday the kids asked if they could have a bike wash. Sure!

When I came outside to see, Katelynn said in this announcer-type voice, "Welcome to Katelynn's Bike Wash!!"

Funny Kids

As we were driving through Utah and Arizona on the way home, the kids said some funny things.

There are letters on the mountains in Utah. When driving through Beaver Katelynn said, "Remember Y, G, B. It might make a word!"

While driving through the desert in AZ, Michael said, "This looks like a desert that cowboys are supposed to ride in."

As we were driving, Katelynn started saying she missed Jesus and wanted to see him and give him a big hug. Then she was asking me about when he died, the holes in his hands, etc. One thing she said I thought was really interesting. She said, "He died for us first 'cause it would be kinda dangerous." Hmmm...something to think about.