Reading is a Must

We love to read at our house that is no secret but most days when we pull the books out a camera is the farthest things from my mind. I really do love the fact that Matt caught some pictures of us just being us

Gracie's in Kindergarten

When we went to back to school night. Gracie's teacher had a scavenger hunt to get to know their class room with treats at the end. Gracie is pretty excited although she has to wait another wee til the 29th to start

 The same day Hallie started school Gracie had her kindergarten assessment...she was pretty excited to go. She did fantastic. She is an amazing little reader and will keep her teacher busy challenging her. She informed me that curly hair is her style for the year and she'll wear her hair straight again in 1st grade..lol

 Poor Em will be so lonely with just me

 Gracie was very excited that it was her turn to ride the bus and go to school. she picked out her outfit and once again wanted her hair curly

 I know she'll do great but I can't help but feel sad that she is growing up but it doesn help that she is so excited and SO SO ready

And The There Was One

All the girls are super great helpers but Em has really stepped up her game as the girls have gone back to school. I went ot grab a few stray towels and came back to find her loading the laundry in the washer. 

 Sometimes when Em is quiet I worry because she can be a busy mischievous child so I was thrilled when I couldn't find her today until I looked in the piano room and found her "reading" her Mickey books with her self reader. I think we have another reader on our hands which is ok with us.

I was not thrilled for the kids to go back to school because we have had a really great summer with them home. But Im so glad the girls were super excited or I would have probably kept them home...lol. Em seems to be adjusting well

Boating with Andy & Ari

After our crazy first week of school and the fair I wasn't sure I was up to hosting another weekend with boating friends but it ended up being a blast. Em helped me make salsa and ate a bunch of it. I was surprised she liked it as much and ate a bunch. 

She loved helping me load the boat and has found this little cubby to hang out in

She is also a super great helper when unloading the dishwasher. Her job is to unload the plastic kid forks, spoons, and knives I can't believe how big she's getting.

In honor of our boating Saturday we picked our first watermelon and it was so good. It was not red but pink but it was so yummy

Off to the lake we went about 10:30 am. The girls were all so excited and couldn't wait to swim and got on the lake.

It was so relaxing to be on the lake. The water and weather were great and we did a ton of swim breaks while the dads did a few things including wake boarding, knee boarding, and tubing. 

Ari and I manned the boat and all the kids

7 girls, 2 moms, and 2 dads hanging at the lake

About 3 we headed for home and got off the lake and home about 4. We had tacos and cheesecake for dinner and then decided an hour later to go get slushies in downtown Huntsville. They were so yummy it definitely wont be the last one we eat.

That night we hung out and put the kids to bed pretty early considering what we had been doing. The adults stayed up and visited. The next morning we had a big breakfast before they headed home and we headed to church. It ended up being a very fun weekend just really easy going

More kitties and the Dentist

I assumed Sparkle was pregnant but when she came back one day I assumed they had died or that she lost them until this morning. Gracie went out to feed the kitties and saw a bunch of paws behind the couch she was freaking out when she came in and couldn't wait to tell me. There are 5 of them and they are all different looking. They have their eyes opened so the girls have loved playing with them. Some of them are more tolerant than others

 This is Gracie's friend Bronson his birthday is in June and so he doesn't go to kindergarten until next year but that doesn't stop him and Gracie from having a good time. He came over the other day and asked for Gracie to read to him. They're so cute

 The first week of school was also time for dental checkups. We are really loving our new kids town dentist. Unfortunately Gracie has 3 cavities and Im blaming it on Matt and his genes...although Im sure its not that. We will have them fixed int he near future

Our first week of school was so busy but it has been good to get going back on a schedule. 

Parade & Fair Time

Wednesday Hallie got home from school and we headed to pick Matt up from work to head to Tremonton for our annual trip to the parade and fair. On the way up I realized I had spaced calling grandma to see if she wanted to go with us. So I called her and she said she would love to go with us. So we swung by and picked her up and headed to the spot Joy & Kerry had saved for us. We were just in time for the parade to start.

Grandma was so cute and wanted to sit by the kids 

Emy became her buddy and didn't leave her all night. Grandma even showed her how to open the tootsie rolls

After the parade we went out to the fair to grab dinner and see the animals. The kids were so cute with Grandma and wanted to make sure she was with us all the time and holding her hand.

We found this really cute cut out the kids couldn't seem to get it together one minute Hallie was smiling and the next not...hence the multiple pics

The kids loved all the goats there were a couple of them tied to a fence and the girls stopped to pet them and Emmy tried to talk to it

At that point we decided to call it a night but we realized we didn't take a family pic so we took one with all our goodies from the parade

Then Friday we were headed to Tremonton again. This time for the rodeo and Kerry's retirement party. Joy ordered Panda Express so we picked it up and had dinner at their house before heading to the rodeo. We got there early hoping for good seats but I was disappointed I guess we needed to be there right when they opened the gates. We figured that 2 hours early was enough! Then we had a bunch of time to kill. It was hot, the kids were restless, and it was really boring. So I took the kids to venture out and see the animals that were in the rodeo and even found someone to let us pet their horses.

Finally the rodeo started and I was thrilled that Nic and Ky joined us as well. We did remember to take a family pic though

Gracie found her way onto Grandpas lap pretty quickly and he didn't seem to mind that at all

Here's most of the crew that came to the rodeo. 

It was a week at the fair and good family time spent. Until next year Box Elder County...we will be back