FREEDOM!!!! Oops, I Mean The First Day Of School!

Well, as the saying goes, "It's the most wonderful time of the year!" No, I don't have Christmas on the brain already, I'm talking about back to school time!

All of the kids were so excited to be going back. The girls got to spend a week with Grandma Geneal and she did her best to spoil them. They came back with darling clothes and so we had to put on a fashion show. They looked great!

The first day of school was good. The mornings are always a little hectic and frazzled, but at least on the first day, everyone is willing to get up and get moving. Katie left for the junior high bus at 7:30. She was bursting with excitement! I'm excited for her and her new adventure. She has been looking forward to this for a while now. She looked great in her new clothes and contact lenses.

Lauren has always been a morning person, waking up at 6:30 whether she needs to or not, so getting her ready isn't too hard. We curled her hair and she looked darling. I love her scarf...what a cutie!

Braiden was excited, but a little more apprehensive. He gets more nervous when it comes to new things. This picture says it all. He wants to grow up, but sometimes it's a little scary. I'm proud of him for going even when he was worried about it.

The day turned out great for all of them. Katie is really going to love junior high. Lauren is going to love her teacher and Braiden felt much better about school after making it through the first day. It looks like it is going to be a great year.

I do get a little more freedom now that school is back in, but yes, I am going to miss having them around all day...

Salvaging Summer

As I've written about recently, we haven't had the greatest of summers. Between getting ready for Trek and my shoulder surgery, my kids have been jipped. But when my little sister, Jessica came into town for my Grandma's funeral, she decided to stay for the month. She has two cute little kids and my kids love them to pieces. We had a great time just being together.

To kick things off, my mom got the boys these darling superhero capes. Superman on one side, Batman on the other. They ran around the house having a blast. So cute!

We then tried to salvage summer by cramming in tons of activities in August. We had a blast together! Some of the things we did that I don't have pictures for are: swimming in Grandma's backyard, going to Grandpa's work and sitting in the Army Tanks, going to movies, going out to lunch A LOT, and shopping.

Also, Katie and Lauren got to spend a week with Grandma Geneal. They had a great time, but I really missed them. They have really helped me with my bad arm. But I'm glad they got to go!

One day, we went down to Thanksgiving Point to their huge Dinosaur Museum. The kids LOVED it! We had a blast.

We had a lot of fun there. The kids' favorite parts were the two sand tables. One was a wet sand table and the other was the dry sand box. They had a great time!

We also went to Lagoon. We always have fun there. The kids loved going on the rides with eachother. This is a picture BEFORE Rattlesnake Rapids, but after, well, we were drenched!

Holland has really taken to Braiden! She loves that kid and he loves her. It was so cute every time she asked to sit by him in her cute little voice!

We had a fun backyard bash celebrating John's birthday. Of course, we ate way too much delcious food and yummy desserts. It's just so fun to get together!

And finally, we went mini-golfing. We love doing this. The kids are so funny! Holland got her ball stuck in the little tunnel, so she went after it. It was so cute!

Jessica and the rest of her family have headed home and we miss them so much already. We have so much fun together. The kids are sad, but we are heading back there to visit them in a few short weeks, where we will play some more!! Thanks for the great month, Jess!

So, as you can see, we packed quite a bit into a few short weeks. I'm feeling better about giving my kids a fun summer before they go back to school, piano practice, homework and other crazy stuff! I guess summer wasn't too bad after all, and I know that next year will be even better!

I Are Getting Edjumacated

I have at least four posts in the works, but haven't posted them yet because things have been so busy. But I just wanted to let you all know that I am officially a student again!! I am completing my associates degree before I reapply to nursing school. I only have five more classes left!!

This semester, I am taking the two computer classes that are required for my degree. Next semester, I will complete my math and my creative arts requirements.

I am excited to go back. My college transcript is pretty complicated and all over the place. It has been a crazy road. After high school, I went up to Utah State for a year. I loved it, but I had no clue what I wanted to do. Then Ry and I got married and he transferred to the U of U. I took one class there and I absolutely hated it. So, I transferred up to Weber and took some classes with Denise (which was fun). Then my girls came along, and I took a break from school to be a mom. I still didn't really know what I wanted to do anyway, so it was OK. I knew I would finish eventually.

When Ryan was in law school, a lot of the wives in our student ward were nurses. I would talk a lot about their jobs with them and decided that was what I wanted to do. I started back at Weber after we moved home from Idaho. I loved all of the medical classes. Anatomy and Physiology were my favorites!! I applied to Nursing school part way through my generals thinking that it would take me at least two tries to get in.....nope. I found out I was accepted into the nursing program the same week I found out I was pregnant with Braiden!! It was a hard decision, but we decided that the timing just wasn't right and I withdrew my place in the nursing program.

I wasn't bitter about my decision, I have been so fortunate to be able to stay at home and raise my children and I knew that was where I needed to be. I also knew that my time would come if I would just be patient. I was definitely going to go back, it was just a matter of when.

Well, that time is now!! Ethan is in preschool three days a week, so it's time for me to finish up. My plan is to complete my associate degree and start the nursing program when he is in first grade.

I guess we will see where this new adventure will take me, but for now, I'm excited to get out and learn new things....you know....get edjumacated!!

Grandma Rosalynn

This is my Grandma Rosalynn (in this picture she is holding my little Ethan). She was such a neat lady! Sadly, she past away a few weeks ago. I want to write down a few memories I have of her....

I loved going to her house when I was growing up. She lived on J Street in the Salt Lake Avenues. Her house was very old, but neat. She loved collecting little figurines and pretty things. She had a wall of shelves in her hallway that was filled with pictures and knick-knacks. I remember looking at all of them, taking some down and inspecting them, and even playing with the figurines. I remember her green ceramic box that had a gorgeous rose on it. I loved looking at it. She also had a round black box filled with pennies. My siblings and I would play "store" for hours with that box!

Another thing I remember about her was her jewelry. She had a whole closet full of beaded necklaces and clip-on earrings. I would sit in her closet (which was connected to the closet for the other bedroom, so it was like a secret passage to the other room) and try on all of her jewelry. I didn't have pierced earrings for a long time, so I loved wearing hers!

A funny memory I have of her was her false teeth. As kids, we would BEG her to take them out and try to talk to us. She sounded so funny and we would all wind up in fits of laughter! Looking back, she was a really good sport about that!!

She had a really neat piano in her living room, from around the 1920s I would guess. Although I can't really play the piano, I always loved the way it looked and sounded. She would play songs and sing, all by memory and by ear. I didn't know this until the funeral, but she also played the violin!

But the best part about her house was her amazing yard. Years before, she opted to park on the street and had taken out her driveway so she could plant more flower beds! She had so many rosebushes in every shape and size!! I would guess she had at least 30 different rosebushes in her yard. But she didn't just have roses, she had a huge variety of plants and flowers. We would walk around her flower garden and she would tell us about each and every one! She never forgot a name! What a green thumb! I took several of her house plant starts and garden starts for my house, but unfortunately I didn't inherit her green thumb!

So many neat memories of my Grandma! Here she is at our wedding...There is such a neat story about my Grandma and my wedding. My Grandpa was never a member and my Grandma became active in the church only after he passed away. At my wedding ceremony, the sealer told my Grandma that my Grandpa had accepted the gospel after his death and was attending our sealing that day!! What a wonderful experience for us and for her!


We will miss her terribly, but know that she is in a better place. The funeral was really nice. Earlier in the week, I got to go with my mom and help dress Grandma for the viewing. I had never done anything like that, but really enjoyed it. It was a special experience to get to spend a little extra time with her before the funeral. At the viewing I talked with a lot of my relatives that I rarely see (including the former governor Norm Bangerter! He and my grandma were first cousins). It was nice to get re-aquainted.


The kids got a little bored at the viewing, but they were all really good. They spent the morning coloring and playing with our phones.

The funeral was very nice. My dad talked about the Plan of Salvation. He did such a good job!! What a wonderful son he was to her. He took such good care of his mom till the end and I know he will be blessed for it. I love him so much!!

Grandma loved music, so there were a lot of musical numbers. Denise, Kaylee, Jason, Jessica, John, Ryan and I sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives". Denise, Kaylee, Jessica and I sang "The Lord Is My Shepherd". And the Great Grandkids sang "I Am A Child Of God". They all turned out nice.


This is the flower arrangement I got for Grandma...it reminded me so much of her yard. I knew she would have loved it....


The grave site was very peaceful. She is in the Kaysville Cemetery, so we can visit her often. Ethan, at this point, was a little tired and hungry. He laid down until it was time to go.

It was a very nice day....full of emotion, but peaceful. We know she is no longer suffering and that we will see her again. Until then, we love you, Grandma!

Let's Move On!!

I have started a few posts, but haven't found the time to finish them.... This summer has been absolutely crazy with Trek, Ryan's work schedule, my surgery, my slow recovery, Grandma's funeral and a whole bunch of other stuff going on!!! I think we are just going to throw in the towel on this summer and try again next year!!!! We are all ready to just move on!

School starts in less than two weeks for almost everyone (including me) and I think we are all very excited to get going.

Katie is the most excited-- starting Junior High! Grandma took her to get her hair cut and colored. It looks so cute with just very subtle highlights!! She then wanted contact lenses, so she had to help pay for them and she is doing well and looks great!! She is excited about her classes. Her electives are Orchestra, Choir, and Art.

Lauren is in fifth grade now!! Her teacher is teaching a fifth/sixth split class. We are excited for this because we love the teacher and she will get to participate in both grade's activities. A lot of her friends are in there as well!

Braiden's teacher is new, so we don't know much about that, but he is very excited to go back. He has done well on his reading over the summer, so he will do great!

Ethan won't start preschool until after Labor Day, but most of his friends are going with him. They have a blast together and I'm so glad he has so many friends. He will go three afternoons a week (free time for Mom!!!).

As for me....I am taking two computer classes at Weber, one on Tuesday nights and the other is online. Getting closer to my Assoc. degree! I'm so excited to be going!!

Another reason we are all excited for summer to be winding down is that we get to go on a few fun trips. We are heading to Jackson and Yellowstone for our annual trip in September. We didn't go last year because of our Colorado trip, but have gone every year since we got married. We absolutely love it there!! Can't wait!!!

We are also heading east to visit the Gittins!!! I'm so excited!! We haven't been able to visit them in Wisconsin since they moved there. We will stop off at Mount Rushmore and maybe a few church sites along the way. Plus getting the cousins together is always so wonderful!!

Ryan and I have our fourteenth wedding anniversary coming up (wow!) and the firm's partner retreat to look forward to!!

My arm is slowly getting better!! Can't wait until I can really use it!! I'm so blessed to have a wonderful doctor, great physical therapist, fabulous husband and kids, sweet and caring mother, and helpful friends and neighbors.

So, life may be crazy, but it is still very good!!! And hopefully next summer will be even better!!!