First Day of School!

August 26, 2009
First day of school for the kids. Jackson schedule starts sooner than the others and so we didn't get a family picture. I don't think they even woke up until after Jack left. They each had a great day, love their classes, and their teachers. My little Jackson fits in his locker as he tested out on the first day of class when he had his friend lock him in the locker. The friend, Logan, couldn't get the combo to work for about 5 minutes so Jackson was stuck inside and got a little claustrophobic. What a goofy kid!

Shane's 7th birthday!

We celebrated Shane's 7th birthday with a bowling party with his buddies and then dinner and pinata with friends. He had a great time and even learned to "land" a back flip. He was pretty excited about that. This is Braxton, Shane, Jalyn, Cole, Mariah, and Jackson eating dinner outside. Shane requested steak for his birthday dinner. Good choice, buddy!

This is Shane trying to get our attention so he can show us his back flip. I am sure there is some safety rule of how many kids should be on a trampoline but the net will save them.

Is that 8 kids on the tramp?

Here comes one more!

New posts to come!

It has been a busy month and I realized I haven't posted anything for a while. I am going to get right on that. I start school on Monday and then my life will be extra hectic so I better get posting soon. So much has happened...I finished summer term, we celebrated Darren's 30th birthday with a disc golf tournament and bbq, we hiked the Y, we played, we attended the dedication of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, Jackson got locked in a locker at school, and the younger kids started school today! So much to talk about. Stay tuned...

Spudman in Burley

After taking the kids to the Days of 47 parade on the 24th (loved hanging out with Travis and Andrea Williams that I haven't seen in 12 years!), we headed up to Burley, Idaho to hang out with the Downs and then watch Krissie in the Triathlon. We had so much fun. My kids are farm kids. Juli's backyard backs up to some horses and the kids just have a ball. This time we were there the kids found 3 barn kitties and tormented the poor cats. They spent all their time outside, playing with the cats, jumping on the trampoline, and climbing trees to rescue the kitties that probably ran up there in the first place to get away from the kids.


Finally a good picture worth posting of Juli and I. We keep trying! Watching the runners at the finish line truly inspired us to enter next year's triathlon. That excitement lasted almost 24 hours for me and then reality set in. Doing a triathlon will hurt!

This is Mariah and Shane running the final bit with Krissie. It was so cool to see all these runners come in with cheering crowds. It makes me all emotional. Shane almost tripped Krissie (sorry!) on that final stretch. Remembering those feelings I had watching Krissie makes me almost want to train for next year. Oh wait, see above comment...that will hurt. :)

No kids!

My wonderful mother left this morning with my four children to California. She has been staying with me for the last few weeks to watch the kids while I am in school full time. It has been a life saver. I have 2 1/2 weeks left in the term and my mom needed to get back to California. So she took all four kids with her! How wonderful is that? Now I have almost 3 weeks to enjoy a clean house daily, not hear yelling, and no whining! It is going to be very quiet...I miss them already!

Poor Jalyn

Broken teeth!

My poor Jalyn Rose...

We were at Lagoon yesterday and had a great time. About an hour before it was time to go, Jalyn was excitedly waiting in line for her turn on a ride. She was first in line and when the gate opened, she stepped forward. Apparently though, the gate was not ready for her to go yet. It snapped back and smacked her right in the mouth. I am sure she was laughing or smiling or something because she got hit on her two front teeth and we now have a dental procedure ahead of us. The poor thing broke both of her two front teeth. She is absolutely devastated but thankfully it wasn't worse. There was no bleeding and her gums seem to be ok. She is going to the dentist this morning with Matt to get the lowdown on what needs to be done. Photos will follow...

Utah State Capital

We went on a field trip with the kids to the Utah State Capital. The kids actually enjoyed it and had some fun. We tried to learn the legislative process by singing "I'm just a bill on Capital Hill" but I don't know any more of the words so that was as far as we got. I guess we will need to do some more research and studying about that subject. The kids loved the dome and even laid down on the ground to check it out fully. We walked over to Memory Grove too and enjoyed the park there. It was a fun day.

Fun in the Park...

While the Downs' were here for the 4th of July, we decided to go play at the park. We thought we would be so clever and take some fun pictures of the kids hanging from the soccer goals with the gorgeous mountains in the background. We tried and tried but every time we would get close to getting them all up, one of the kids would drop. Juli and I tried to work as a team to get them up fast and some guy even offered to take the pictures as we were loading them up.

Mariah lets go...

Hang on Quinton...we are getting Jackson up there.

We are getting closer...just hang on!

Oh, forget it...we moved to the other side of the field, out of the shade, and this is what we got. Jalyn was too worn out -her hypochondria was acting up - but we did get this. It was a fun day at the park.

Mariah and the platform...

Every year she says she is going to go off the first platform at the pool and every year she chickens out. I thought for sure that this would be the year. But no, she climbed the stairs, looked over the platform, and headed back down the stairs. This child doesn't back down from much but apparently heights are too much. Maybe next year!

Summer is Great!

Mariah, Jalyn, Shane, and Teagon Downs swimming at the pool. The weather is hot and the pool is cool. Perfect summer day!

Me and Lauri at the pool. Lookin' good!

Shane is doing a flip off the high dive! That kid has no fear. He impresses me all the time as he tries new things and challenges that come his way. I was scared to go off the high dive and here he is doing front flips like it is nothing.

Mariah going off the high dive, too.

Just like old times!

 

 

Just like when we were in Dallas...Juli and I went for pedicures in honor of Juli's 30-something birthday. It was so fun and great to spend the day with my good friend. Happy Birthday Juli!

Stadium of Fire!

Fun, fun, fun...however, I don't think I could sit in that traffic again. I need someone bigger and better than the Jonas Brothers to get me back down into those crowds again. But the girls had a blast and I had a great time on the drive home singing to Lexi Downs all the old classic songs that her parents haven't exposed her to. She was cringing but I am sure it was because she was enjoying it so much.The fireworks were amazing and we even had 3D glasses to make the show more spectacular! At the end of the night, everyone was exhausted and fell asleep on the drive home. Well, not me of course, I was driving and singing to Lexi :)

Happy 11th Birthday Mariah!!

We celebrated Mariah's birthday at a new waterpark in Draper called Cowabunga Bay. It was great fun. Mariah invited her two good friends, Jecely and Jaclyn. Mariah wanted to rent a limousine and be driven around at her beck and call but I put the kabosh on that. We compromised instead and turned the van into a limo of sorts. We took out the middle seats and Mariah decorated it with a rug and pillows. As we drove around the neighborhood to pick up the friends, I let them sit on the floor and recline on the pillows. They thought it was great! It was a great day and I can't believe my little baby Mariah is 11 now. She is turning into a beautiful young woman.

Camping at Tanners Flat

 

 

 

 

I love camping with the kids even if I don't sleep well because my toes are so cold. It was a cold night but the kids slept great and we went on many mini hikes along the creek. The creek was running super high though because of all the rain and snow we got this last winter and spring. We picked the best night to camp...it's been raining for the last two weeks, took a night off, and it is supposed to rain again today or tomorrow. We got lucky. It was a beautiful campground and the kids had a great time. They loved making smores and eating mini cereals right out of the box for breakfast. What could be better? We didn't have any major casualties although I think almost every kid fell in the water at some point. Just their feet got wet, we wouldn't let them too close to the creek because all it would take was one little misstep. We had lots of fun!

End of Spring...beginning of summer!

If only the weather would cooperate. It has been a cool and rainy spring which is great for the water bill since I don't have to turn on the sprinklers but really bad for my Vitamin D intake. We just haven't had enough sun. There hasn't been a good day to go to the pool since Memorial Weekend and I didn't even make it to the pool then. My tan at this point consists of a line on the back of my calves from Field Day at the elementary school. I look like I have a pair of socks pulled up. I feel like I have been living in the Northwest with all the rain. Hurry up sun and come out! I want to go swimming...although I may have to hit up a tanning booth before I go to even out my lines. My kids now think of me the way I thought of my parents- how embarrassing and uncool!

Darren's One Year Anniversary- We miss you!

I can't believe a year has already gone by since I got the horrible call that Darren had been hit while riding his motorcycle and died. We miss you and think about you all the time. Brown chicken, brown cow!! Love you, bro!

Air Force Week

This was the coolest thing ever to see. The Air Force chose 3 cities in the US to do Air Force Week and Salt Lake City was one of those chosen. It was so amazing to watch. Most of us didn't know what was going on and so we thought these fighter jets were escorting a plane and maybe something serious was going on. They circled the whole valley for hours, getting really low, and it was super loud. So cool. I think the purpose of it is to get people excited about the Air Force. Which worked at our house. Jackson now wants to join the Air Force and be a fighter pilot.

These clouds have been our typical weather this spring. Gorgeous morning, lots of sunshine and then the storms move in for the afternoon.