Back To School 2015

The big day came. It was a great day for everyone! We have no new schools this year and Eli and Emma both are enjoying not being the young ones on campus anymore:) Next year we'll have no one on at the Jr High for just that year.

Dana walked to school with us for the first day :)


I went into to the girls' school and took their teacher pictures. Sadie has Ms. Gerber who seems wonderful!


And for 5th Holly has Mrs. Kelly but they're trying a new program where they switch classes for different subjects, so she actually only has her for a few mins in the morning and AP hour in the afternoon (to finish any unfinished work). We are LOVING the 5th grade team so far! 
Holly volunteered for student council and she gets to be in ALP for the first time.

Eli and Emma both seem to have great teachers and good classes as well!
We're off to a great start for the school year.

Summer Wrap-Up

We had an awesome summer. It was hardest it's ever been for me to gear up for school and schedules again. Here are some of the reasons why:

The girls were in a fun singing group. They sang songs from musicals and put on a great performance.


We had an awesome "girls" book club. We were going to discuss "Land of Stories", when my friend found out the author, Chris Colfer, was going to be in Mesa doing a book signing the very same night our book club was planned! So the girls had pretty memorable bookclub.

We started with pizza and discussing the book.


Then we went to the venue and listened to him talk about his book and being an author.


And last, the girls got to have him sign their books and meet him!

He looks a little tired :)

We went to Sunsplash.


We had lots of playtime. And swimsuit time.

This is actually a sad picture because two of these girls moved away with their family to Idaho. They also took their mom with them (how dare they!) who was one of my favorite people :(

We ignored bedtime alot.


The kids love going running with dad when it finally cools down to 95 or so at night.


More bedtime ignoring...
Holly reading Anne of Green Gables to Sadie.


We hit a D-Backs game.

I think Emma was babysitting.


Up high but dead center :)


They were pretty excited about getting cotton candy AND kettle corn.

My best friend Hiedi came to visit :)

Love her forever.

Our kids are growing up.


Especially these two big girls.


I got to have a cute dinner helper for two whole weeks while Emma passed off a Personal Progress experience.

That was just plain awesome.

Finally, I came to terms with the fact that school was coming whether I was ready or not. The girls got to find out who their teachers were...


I spent too much on 4 pairs of converse (They were all dying for new Converse) and back to school clothes. (Okay- I admit to liking that part) (the spending no, but the shopping, yes:).



All those never-ending forms, supplies to sort out, plus 3 back to school nights! Yep- I could've done summer awhile longer.

Except- the fall weather always calls my name :)

Pioneer Day

I think this is the first year we've actually sort of celebrated Pioneer Day! First we had a family night lesson about our pioneer ancestors.
As you can see, we really dug into the pioneer spirit. That's Sadie being a boy. Haha:)


I read from my great, great, great grandfather, Mads Christensen's autobiography, and the kids acted it out :)

These are 3 brothers from Denmark migrating to America.

Then on Pioneer Day, Amy asked if we wanted to go to a celebration at the Mesa temple. She even supplied some appropriate apparel.


Love that these cousins love each other so much!

They had a lot more people show up than they had expected, so the missionaries running the show seemed a little overwhelmed. The kids were pretty much on their own to try and figure out how to use this homemade pioneer toy.

But once they did, they loved it!

Emma too :)


Of course there was a little stick-pulling competition.


Since it was Mesa in July, it was hot so we went inside the visitor's center to cool off.


Then we went to a little story time performance in the visitor's center. These cute older missionaries led the kids in a little dance.

Fun stuff!

Hopefully we'll be better about remembering the sacrifices made, and celebrating the pioneer's accomplishments each year!

Benson's Blessing

July 12th was a special day. Benson was blessed, James turned 4, and Dana and I had our 18th wedding anniversary! We're calling our trip our celebration this year:)

Jeff and Carrie had a luncheon before church at Carrie's brother's house. It was perfect! Carrie has an awesome family.
Uncle Roger and Aunt Anne came down from Utah.

He's looking a little like I remember my grandpa looking and it makes me wonder what my dad would look like now if he were with us.

This boy's a cutie!

I LOVED holding him. Jeffy gave him to me at church and it was pretty much Heaven.

Eli loves babies too. Always asking to hold them.


He's such a sweet, mellow baby.



The darling family of four!


Pretty mommy and baby.


It was such a wonderful blessing and we were so grateful we were able to be there. Perfect ending to our trip.

Utah to Vegas With Lots of Family and Treats in Between

Friday our goal was to get from Ogden to St. George with a stop in Provo and a stop back in Mt. Pleasant to pick up our portion of a cow (beef) that Dana's mom and dad gave us for Christmas.

We always love visiting BYU and reminiscing about our time there.
We went to the Cougareat and the kids (and Dana) chose ice cream over getting a bag of candy at the candy counter. Ice cream is the one treat that never really tempts me.



We checked out the new "Heritage Halls" that replaced "Deseret Towers" where I lived (Sweet S-Hall Babes 4eva!)
Our niece Keena gets to be one of the first residents this fall!


Then we went to the Monte L. Bean museum which is way awesome compared to the last time I was there. And still free!



For lunch we looked up a yummy pizza place and it was SO good! I got a calzone which I haven't had in years. And then we tried "Swig" which was also REALLY good. Rumor has it we'll be getting one soon.

(The kids were definitely over pictures by this point in our trip!- note fake smiles).

We drove past the new temple in downtown Provo and you can see on the far left of the picture that they were putting in the doorway. Such a beautiful bldg! Loved seeing that Angel Moroni on top!


Our stop in Mt. Pleasant included singing to Aunt Vandla on her 92nd birthday:)


And hanging out with cousins again a little longer than we had planned on:) Emma was back to back with Keena first and said she was taller, and this is her and Lars. She actually just passed up Dana by a smidge and he's not too happy about it.

She was trying to figure out a way she could stay at the last minute but we couldn't work it out :)

The kids got to be pros at the traveling thing.


We had a wonderful time staying with Uncle Steve and Aunt Joyce (my dad's sister) in St. George. Talking to Aunt Joyce reminded me of talking to my dad and how he could talk forever. She has a "Holland" room and I loved seeing old pictures of my grandma and grandpa.
In the morning Steve made us one of his famous breakfasts.
Family is the best blessing in life.
We started off in the morning and then thought we should take a picture. So we grabbed the selfie stick again and headed back to the door.
Totally worth it.


Saturday we headed to Vegas for the last leg of the trip. Jeff and Carrie have passes to a children's museum so we met them there first. It was so fun to see them again. The girls loved playing with Berkley!


Eli and Holly were hilarious in the Hurricane tube.


Emma even had fun and made this parachute. She's a scientist at heart.


Next, we checked into our hotel, "South Point". It had a pretty sweet pool.


The kids had a great time playing with cousins :)


I realized I had met Dana 20 years ago that day! A pretty wonderful day in the history of my life.


My whole family ended up being able to make it except Dan and Jane who was at Girls Camp.




Sally put on a birthday party for James while we there since he his birthday was the next day.
What a cute little 4 yr old!



That night we saw the Minions movie (BIG mistake) at the hotel's theater and then squeezed our family into 2 queen beds which wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Our girls are still small enough that we can pull it off, but those days are coming to an end :)

Next up- Benson's big day!