Dallin

A quick post about my awesome son, Dallin!!

Dallin has had a couple of exciting things happen to him over the past few weeks. . .

First, he moved up to the Intermediate School.

Second, he ran for student council at the Intermediate School - - and won!!  Way to go Dallin!!!

Do you love the Napoleon Dynamite inspired campaign slogan?  The intermediate school does not waste any time. Dallin came home one day and said he was running for student council and the election was the next day, so we hurried up and helped him write a speech and I silk-screened this shirt for him. We told him that none of the kids would get the humor, but a few actually did, and even those that didn't thought it was a dang cool shirt. :-)

Finally, Dallin turned ten years old.  He thinks it is pretty cool that he can claim he is a whole decade old now.

Dallin is an all-around great kid.  We could not ask for a better boy to be the oldest in our family.  He sets such a good example for his little brothers.  He is friendly and kind to everyone.  He is obedient and helpful to his parents.  He is a really great big brother, and most of all, he tries his best to always do what is right.  I feel so blessed to be his mom, and our whole family loves him with all our hearts and we are so grateful that he is part of our family.

Catching Up!

I imported the pictures from my camera onto my computer today, and decided to do a quick catch up post with a little bit of what has been going on lately and a couple of other random pictures.

This summer went soooooo fast.  We were in transition the entire time, due to the timing of the sale of our house, moving, family reunions, and other travels.  We never really settled into a routine, and that made things hard on everyone.  I think for the first time ever, I have been completely ready to send the kids back to school, and they were ready to go.

Right before school started Jeremy and I and the two little boys took a quick trip to Laramie, Wyoming.  We drove up the fast way I-40 to I-25 to I-80, but on the way back we took the scenic route through Colorado.  It was sooo beautiful and we had such a good time.  Here are a few pictures from that trip.

We drove out to the Lincoln Monument, just outside Laramie.  It was pretty interesting, and is a cool sight as you are driving along I-80.

A little rest stop along I-70 in Colorado.

More scenery along I-70.  I had never driven this far on I-70 before and was shocked by how beautiful it is!!

Beautiful Ouray, Colorado.

More views in Ouray.

 We took the short hike to see these Box Canyon Falls in Ouray.  They were really cool.  Definitely worth seeing.

Another picture from our hike.

We took a little time to stop and enjoy the river in Durango.

Isn't it pretty?  We loved it, but of course we are from Arizona where we are pretty parched most of the year.

Now onto some random pictures.

I had to take a picture of this little lineup in our bathroom the other day.  Scenes like this are a common occurrence at our house, but when I saw this, I had the sudden thought that I had better take a picture.  My youngest is three and I have a feeling that the days of seeing these cute little scenes at our house are coming to a close. Sigh!!

Future awesome husbands in training!! The days of scenes like this are, thankfully, not coming to a close anytime soon at our house.

This is the view from the backyard at our apartments.  At our old house we had a lovely backyard view of our neighbor's house.  I have made no secret about the fact that I have had a hard time with leaving my house and squishing into our little rental property, but this is the one area where I believe I traded up.

This was the scene that greeted us in the backyard the other morning.  The boys love it!!!

Finally, the boys started school again yesterday.  I took a couple of quick pictures before we headed over to drop them off.

Jack started first grade.  His teacher is Mrs. Gillespie.  She is the same teacher that Dallin and Thomas had for first grade and they loved being in her class.  She is one of the nicest ladies of all time and I know that Jack will love being in her class too.  Sadly, she is retiring after this year, so my other boys will not get to have her as a teacher.

Thomas started third grade.  All of the second grade teachers moved up to third grade and kept their same classes, for the most part.  So, Thomas gets another year in Mrs. Birtcher's class.  He is sooo happy because he had a great year with her in second grade last year.

Dallin started fourth grade and moved over to the Intermediate School.  He used to visit that school a lot when he was little, since it is the school where his dad taught, but he was still a little nervous about starting there as a student.  He had a great first day yesterday and was looking forward to school this morning, so I think the nerves are gone.  His teacher is Mrs. Olsen.  I don't know her, since she started teaching there after Jeremy left, but we hear good things about her, so I think Dallin will have a good year there.

We had some fun travels this summer, and we are grateful that our house sold so quickly, but Summer - - I am not sorry to see you come to a close this year. We are looking forward to a good school year ahead (and hopefully a move to a larger home sooner rather than later.) ;)

The End of an Era

Yesterday, it was closing day on our old house.  We finished moving everything out and tidying up.  Then, we took the boys over for one last walk through the old place to say goodbye and give them a little bit of closure.  I have been feeling a little down since then.  Maybe because we are trying to cram our entire family into our tiny little rental property.  Maybe because now that we have everything out of the old house, I have a lot of work ahead of me trying to make it all fit .  Maybe it is because we still don't know whether we are building, buying, or moving out of Taylor altogether.  (I don't do too well if I don't have a plan.)  But, I think the real reason that I am down is because it is hard to say goodbye to a house that holds so many memories. We lived in that house for nine and a half years.  It was the home where I brought four of my five babies home from the hospital.  It was the home where they all learned to crawl, walk, and talk.  It was the home where I got to spend those quiet middle-of-the night moments that only mothers get with babies when they are nursing, cutting teeth, or sick.  It was the home where there were a lot of sibling fights, but even more laughter and play.

We put our blood, sweat, and tears into that house making it a pleasant, and pretty place to live. As I think about that house, I have so many sweet memories, like rocking my tiny babies; watching my little boys push their big dump trucks around and around the living room and kitchen in a big circle; cooking together in the kitchen; sending my boys off to preschool, and first days of school; waiting for the school bus to bring them home and talking about how their days went; homework; and Friday night pizza and movies.

It is really hard to say goodbye to a place that has been such an important part of our family for nearly a decade.  So, please indulge me as I share the last pictures I took of our little house.  These were taken during the moving process, so some rooms may seem a little sparse.  I know I took way too many pictures, but my mom has assured me that you tend to forget exactly how your house looked over the years, so I overdid it, getting every angle. ;)

Goodbye house. We will miss you!!

Utah Trip

I am a little slow in getting these pictures posted.  Life is still a little crazy around here and it is tough to find time to sit down and get a blog post up.

I am sharing some pictures from our recent trip to Utah.  I will be keeping commentary to a minimum and letting the pictures mostly speak for themselves.

Lake Powell on the way up.

Tad helping Grandpa Teichert mow the lawn.

Drake and Tad learning to skate at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

They boys at the newly renovated Monte L. Bean museum at BYU.  (This picture was snapped with my phone, so the quality stinks. Sorry.)

Drake on a hike just outside Bryce Canyon.

Jack in Bryce Canyon NP.

Dallin

Thomas

The boys at Capitol Reef NP.

The whole family at Capitol Reef.

This was a quick, but fun trip.  It was nice to see my family and some of my extended family again.  And, of course, I always love getting back for a visit to my home.  I miss all of you already!!