First Day of School

Emma is in 5th grade, Ben is in 3rd, and Spencer is in Kindergarten! This will be my only year to have 3 kids in elementary school together. Then next  year we will start into middle school! Ugh. So I plan to enjoy this year to it’s fullest. Love those kids!

Groundbreaking Ceremony

So back in March (I think) we were talking to some friends of ours who had recently bought a lot that they were going to build a house on. And there was an open lot next to theirs. So, though Adam and I had no plans to be moving, we decided to at least look into it.

After much discussion, thought, and prayer, we decided to buy the lot, build a house, and move our little family! Sometimes it still seems crazy and unbelievable that we are doing this.

So before any digging began, we decided to have an official ground breaking ceremony. :)

One of our new neighbors invited us, the Jensen’s (who are our friends we are building next to) and everyone else on the street, to have a BBQ at their house before we broke ground.

Our new street is a cul-de-sac with seven houses on it. And once the last 3 lots are built on, there will be 24 kids on the street! We are so excited for that, since it’s not like that where we are now.

       

I don’t think we would have seriously looked into buying the lot except that it is still within our same school and ward boundaries. The walk to the elementary school will be a little bit longer, but we will now be in the walking zone for the middle school (instead of getting bussed) and we will be a little closer to the high school (also in walking distance).

      

We are super excited! Of course the process is taking longer than we had expected, but we have blueprints now and digging should start next month. Our friends house has been started, and all their basement dirt was put onto our lot, so we have some fun pictures of that that I’ll post some time.

      

Summer Fun, and Some Exciting News!

At the beginning of the summer, the (big) kids took swimming lessons. And they did so great! (Spencer told me many times how he was the brightest kid in his swimming class. Brightest, meaning whitest. Ha!)

Growing up with a pool, I don’t remember not being able to swim. Well, that’s not totally accurate. I just remember hanging out in the pool until I could swim.

It seems like I just watched everyone else, and eventually I knew how to swim. Realistically, this probably happened over multiple summers, and with a lot of practice.

But it doesn’t cross my mind that kids don’t know how to swim automatically, and that they need lessons and/or exposure to water in order to learn. Adam has had to remind me a few times that they need lessons. :)

So we did it, and Emma and Ben are officially swimming, and Spencer is on his way! Sydney wished she got lessons too.

 

Here’s what else we did some of this summer. I think these pictures are technically from early spring, but you still get the idea.

And here is a preview of the Exciting News! that we have going on around here. (Not what you thought, right?) he he

Our Annual Ivins Trip

I love when we get to visit my parents! This year on our way to their house we were able to stay the night at Adam’s mission president’s house. President and Sister Paulson are such amazing people!  Since we’ve lived in Boise, we have been able to stay with them, or visit with them many times on our way to or from Ivins.

When we got to their house they weren’t home yet, so we took the time to play around in the front yard and take pictures.

Then it was on to Ivins. We mostly do the same things each year we go. Adam took the kids to Dixie Rock again. This time Kayla went too.

Look at those strong kids!

Sydney and Addison were too cute together!

One of the favorite things for the kids was playing Just Dance with their cousins. They were so fun to watch! I loved that all the kids – big, little, boys, and girls – all got into it. That was one of the highlights of the trip for them.

And like always, the vacation seems to fly by, and it’s always too long until we get to see them again! (I wish I had a picture with Adam in it also, but I guess someone had to hold the camera). :)