Day 3- Hallie's "Pretend" Birthday Party

After finding out my family would be here we decided to put together a party for Hallie. We are planning on going to the circus on her actual birthday but decided to do most of our celebrating this weekend. Sunday afternoon we all got together again to enjoy more time together. We BBQ'd and just enjoyed being together. Hallie was so funny she asked grandma when she had brought the presents in if they were her pretend presents for her pretend birthday...silly girl. A couple weeks ago Hallie and I sat down to pick out what kind of cake she wanted. She decided she wanted another princess cake and this time Snow White was it. Here it is.

 Kinley using her rolling skills

 Hallie with her "pretend" presents

 Hallie got a states puzzle to help her learn them and where they are. Papa was showing her where we all live...a sweet moment

 Hallie favorite gift was the princess game from grandma and papa. She has played it multiple time since then.

 Matt and I got her more dress ups(actually I made them) she is pretty excited.

 Rigs and Luke even got in on the dressing up. Rigs wearing some of the high heels she got and Luke wearing ribbon bows.

 Maddi was excited about Hallie's game too so she was the first one to volunteer to play with her.

 This cute little boy also started walking the same day as our party

 Hallie and her cake

We had a great day and weekend. Monday morning we took it easy. Grandma and papa left around 9. We did laundry and cleaned. Matt did some much needed homework. It rained on and off and it was nice to just have a day to catch up on everything. What a fun weekend we had and I can't wait to do it again in Oct.

Day 2-East Canyon Boating

 Saturday morning after cleaning the church and packing up we headed up to East canyon. The weather was great and we were all thrilled to get into the water to cool off. We found a nice beach space and set up our sunshades. We took turns in the boat and on the beach so we could play in the sand. It was so fun to be all together but we really missed Nate....I assume it will stay that way until he comes home.

 Kinley loves to roll over but then seems to get stuck on her belly. She had a great time hanging out on her belly...she even took a rest while we played. 

 Oh the people I love the most

 Shortly after lunch the clouds came in and the wind, rain, and lightening started. So we packed up and headed for the marina...all a little bummed our fun day was being cut short. We waited in line to load the boat and of coarse just as we got the boat out it all blew over. So we took a vote and put the boat back in the water. Then it got hot again so we all got in for a swim break. Initially it was so cold but then we got used to it and enjoyed our swimming.

 Then it was time for quiet time...at least for the kids

 While the kids had quiet time the adults blew up the tubes and had a blast. In the picture below those are Maddi's legs over her head! My dad is seriously the best boat driver and has so awesome tube driving skills

 Then the sun started to set so we decided we better call it a day. Gracie got to help drive the boat to the dock.

 Grandma and papa took all the kids to get situated while the rest of us organized the boat and Kyle backed the truck in and got his SEXY on????

 Oh the laughs we had

By the time we loaded up it was 7pm and we were all starving so we called in an order for pizza and all of us headed to our house. We ate 4 large pizzas in a matter of minutes and then all headed  home for the night for some rest before another fun filled day. Oh how I love my family and the fun we have together.

Day 1 Labor Day Weekend-The Zoo

 A couple weeks ago Matt started looking for another job, not because he doesn't love the company he works for but because he felt like he need a bigger challenge. After a few interviews we ended up with 2 written offers the beginning of last week. Matt went to Wadman to give them a heads up with what was going on. Wadman immediately asked if we would wait to make up our minds until they could give us a counter offer. Wed we had the offer in hand and we were more confused than ever. The offer from Wadman was a job Matt has always wanted(business development). Wadman had been talking about starting this branch for a couple years but it took Matt receiving other offers to start the ball in motion. We told everyone we would have an answer by Friday. Thursday we asked our families to help pray with us and attended the temple. By the time Thursday ended we knew what we wanted to do and Friday morning Matt went to Wadman to let them know we would be accepting their offer! So in the long run not much changes. Matt moved his office upstairs, we did get a pretty good raise, and an extra week of vacation. After he let everyone know his decision he took the rest of the day off so we could all spend some time together. So after a long week contemplating and stress we headed to the zoo. We called Kimber and she said her and Luke would love to join us. My favorite is almost always the polar bear and this trip he didn't disappoint. He came quite frequently to the glass for the kids to get up close and personal. Luke on the other hand hated the closeness and every time the bear came close he would cry..it was so sad. So Kimber sat back with him so they weren't to close.

 After some lunch and visiting we headed to the bird show. The kids loved how close the birds flew to our heads.....minus Luke hating when the parrot squawked. 

 After the bird show it was time for some water fun...it was 97 degrees and plenty hot. This was the 1st time we had been since the "splash pad" opened. It wasn't quite a typical splash pad but it was different in a good way.

 Of coarse we had to ride the carosel and both of the girls loved it...as you can see by their faces

 And poor Grace was so so sad when it was time to get off

 Then it was time to head for home....since grandma and papa were almost here. We headed home and got dinner started and got a phone call from our great friends Mindi and Corey that they were in the area and wanted to stop by so we added another table and a few more chairs so there was room for everyone. We had spaghetti, garlic bread, ice cream, and apple and cherry crisp for dessert. The kids played great together while the rest of us visited til well after our bedtimes but it was definitely worth it. Gracie found some cucumbers out of the garden and was content to sit at the table and eat them while we visited.

This was a great start to our amazing and exhausting weekend...stay tuned.

1st Day of Preschool

 This year, after ALOT of discussing, we decided to put Hallie in "real" preschool. We and anticipating starting her in kindergarten next fall and wanted to have someone else let us know if they think she is ready in all aspects not just intellectually. She has been so excited and asked everyday for the last month if it was time to go to preschool. She is going to a place called Preschool Express pretty close to our house.  They take kids 3-5yrs old and have 3 classes but they don't separate them by age but by skill level and where they fit the best(this was a major plus for us). The week before the teachers did assessments to decided how to align the classes. I was thrilled when they said they were going to start Hallie with the 5 year olds! They anticipate by spring she should be reading and be more than ready academically for kindergarten. The one thing we have to work on is writing so it will be fun to see where it all goes. But anyways she was thrilled when the 1st day of school finally came. I had to wake her up to make sure she was ready and had time to eat breakfast. She goes Tues and Thurs from 9-11:30am. There are 2 other little boys in the ward that also are in her same class so its nice we can carpool. So the other 2 moms usually take them in the morning(since we aren't really up early) and I do most of the picking up. Thanks heavens for the suburban...even if you don't have a lot of kids you need a bigger vehicle for the carpool). Here are the pictures from her 1st day.

  When she got home and after she had had some lunch she asked if I would take a few more pictures of her and I was happy to oblige. 

  I decided instead of keeping all her papers I will take pictures and add them to the blog so I have them in one way or another. Here are her papers from her 1st day.

 I decided to do a little survey with her...I think it will be fun to look back and see how she grew and changed.

I hope she continues to love school and learning as much as she does at this point. We bought a small white board to practice her writing. She often times will find it and ask me to give her a letter to draw. I am already surprised by how quickly she is catching on. We are also starting to learn the states and there capitals...I never even thought to teach her something outside of colors, shapes, the alphabet, ect. I think preschool will be great for all of us and we are excited to watch Hallie learn and grow this coming school year. If you notice on her survery she put some thing she wants to accomplish this year is to go to kindergarten...silly girl.