Growing Up

Yesterday, we had a little back to school party for Brycen. He was a little unsure about starting school, not really nervous, he just thought being able to stay home sounded like a better idea. So we had my parents and my sister come over for homemade pizza, root beer, and warn chocolate cookies with cold milk for dessert. It made Brycen feel special and kept his mind off starting school.

(Those are root beers they are drinking!)


Today, he loved his first day of school. He is goes to a very sweet little school. The class size is rather small so they really work with the children at their individual levels. They had a balloon at the school that had the school's name on it then under it it said, "Smart kids getting smarter" I read it to Brycen and he said, "You mean I'm going to get even smarter?" I guess he has a lot of self esteem. His two best friends from preschool are in his class, so he is very happy. It was cute to see them together again. This morning, the house seemed a little too quiet for my taste. I kept hoping that I'd get a call from our case worker saying a birth mom was ready to meet us. Our family is so ready to love a new child and welcome a birth mom into our lives. I even went out and bought a sweet little baby outfit today.

Brycen poses in his first day of school outfit. When I pick him up after school he was telling me that his friend wore a shirt he had never ever worn before; I told him that his shirt was new too and he said "I know we're both the same today!"

A Whale of a Time!

Growing up my mom sometimes let me skip school usually to go shopping or even just to spend the day in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. These times created some of my fondest childhood memories. I always felt sorry for kids who had a perfect attendance record--it seemed to me they were missing out on a lot of fun. Of course, school is important, but there are some things that you just can't learn in school. On my special days with my mom I learned how important I was to her and how much I was loved.


So now I'm the mom, and this past week one of those opportunities to learn more outside of school than in school arrived. (Brycen actually hasn't started school yet his school starts on Monday;I can't believe my baby is going to kindergarten.) On Wednesday, Lance took the day off work and we pulled Zac out school and went to Six Flags Marine World. We didn't bring Scott because he gets sick on rides and doesn't like to be in the sun for very long. Marine World was one of my favorite places to go when I was little. Going during the week was great--there were NO lines and No crowds.


We had absolute blast. Zac and Brycen are both thrill seekers, the faster and wilder the ride the better. The animals were great too. We sat in the "splash zone" during the killer whale show and we got drenched. Unfortunately, so did our camera so I was only able to take pictures of the first part of the day. My camera did start working the next day though. Brycen was pulled from the audience during the killer whale show to answer a question and received a free stuff killer whale.


Our family day together was much better than spending a day in fourth grade. I hope my children will always have fond memories of these special times.


We finally found real elephants!


Having a bite to eat while waiting for the Orca show to start.


A can of root beer and a whale--life is good!




Whale Watching

I Left My Heart in San Francisco

Lance and I at the reception in the Marina.


Zac loved the cotton candy.


Scott liked the gift shop bear.


Brycen thought the lion was pretty cool.

I love the fact that we live close enough to San Francisco to visit for the weekend. We went to San Francisco on Saturday for my cousin's wedding. The wedding was wonderful; I can't believe my little cousin Christian is all grown up and married now. We also took the kids to the San Francisco Zoo. I grew up just south of San Francisco and I just love to take the kids to all the places I use to go with my family. We wanted to spend some time on the beach in Half Moon Bay, but we ran out of time. I guess we'll just have to make another trip.

Cold Feet

Brycen found the perfect way to cool off during our Pioneer Day celebration. I bet the real pioneers would have loved a bucket of ice water to cool off in!

Back to School

I LOVE THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

And not because it means I get to lay around all day eating bon bons and watching soap operas. I actually have never watched soap operas and I'm not really sure exactly what counts as a bon-bon.

I love coming up with creative ways to get everyone as excited as I am about going back to school...

Like back-to-school cupcakes

And serving dinner in lunch boxes--Surprise!

I love buying new clothes...

And having the TV on less.

So I woke up bright and early this morning at 6:00am...

Made the kids a healthy breakfast,

we got beds made,

the dog walked,


and some cute pictures taken.


We were even ready when the buses arrived.

Both of the boys made it to the right schools on time!

So what am I going to do in two weeks when Brycen starts kindergarten and I have five mornings a week to myself?

I guess I'll just have to go shopping!

Actually, I worry a little about being lonely having the house to myself every morning for the first time in 10 years. Now would be the perfect time to have an new baby!

The Final Days of Summer

The pool was well used this summer, not just by us, but by lots of kids from the ward who took swim lessons in our pool. This is Brycen's swim lesson group-- I think they will be ready for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Brycen loved the idea of learning how to be a "swim racer"!



Our end of the summer famliy night swim party and BBQ. A new annual tradition. I wish had taken time to take more pictures, but we were all just too busy having fun.

School starts tommarow, for Scott and Zac (Brycen gets two more weeks of summer), and from the looks of it our trees in the backyard seem to agree with the school district's early definition of Fall. Tune in tommarow for 1st day of school action shots.


Funny quote from today:
A saleman came to the door today, after he left, Zac came to tell me all about the stanger that Daddy talked to, this is how part of our conversation went:
Zac: Why was that man shivering?
Me: I don't know, I didn't see him. Was he an old stranger?
Zac: No, he was a brand new stanger!

Back in Time

I love old fashion pictures. My friend took these for me last week. Now the only problem is finding a spot to hang them in our house. I already have lots of pictures up, but there is always room for more. Maybe next time we take pictures there will me a new baby too-I hope I hope I hope!

Breaking Dawn

On Friday Lance and I had conflicting party plans. He was suppose to go to a surprise laser tag birthday party for one of his good friends and my friends and I were planning on going to the Breaking Dawn release party at Borders. I figured a friend's birthday was more important then getting my book so Lance went to the party. However, being the wonderful husband that he is, he braved the swarms of women at Borders just after midnight and stood in line to get a copy of the book for me. (Thanks Honey, you're the greatest! ) Of course, now that I am again addicted to reading he maybe regretting his act of kindness, but he hasn't said anything. I am really enjoying cruising through Breaking Dawn; I'm about a third of the way through it now. Maybe I should slow down a little so I won't be so sad when I finish--I had to finish a fun book!

We also just realized theat brycen could be the next American Idol! Click on the picture below to check him out:

Baby Bumble Bee