She's Growing Up Too

Two BIG things happening for Summer this fall:

1.  Gymnastics

So far she LOVES it.  It is just adorable to watch her follow the teacher around, asking her questions and trying to figure out how to do everything.

2.  Preschool

(this was when she got to see the classroom for the first time and meet her teacher)

Today was her very first day and she came home so happy!  Hopefully, she continues to love it.  As we were driving to preschool, Summer discovered I wasn't actually staying with her....I honestly thought she knew.  I could see her holding back tears when she realized it.  But I was so relieved when she walked in with no problems and a big smile on her face.  Such a sweet little girl.

I left feeling a little sad.  I am excited for her to have fun and learn and play with friends, but I will miss my baby.

(First Day)

Mrs. O 

Back to School 2018

Grade 8--Leota Middle School

Grade 10--North Creek HS

Grade 12--North Creek HS

Her last first day of school!!

Since this is Jordan's senior year, they had "senior sunrise" on the first day of school 

(hence the blankets)

Here she is on her first day of Kindergarten...how fast it all goes...

Surprise!!

We decided to drive up to Canada to surprise Grandma for her birthday this year.  We were just up there a couple weeks before but since the girls hadn't been up, and we actually didn't have anything we needed to do, we decided to go for it!

First, we stopped by Tina's new house and got a great reaction!!  She had NO IDEA and almost started crying.  It was great.  It was so fun to see her new house, it is beautiful.

We headed over to Lisa's for Mom's party.  We parked around the corner so Grandma wouldn't see our car.  Mom and Dad were pretty excited to see us...and surprised!!  Mike was supposed to come too but when we got home from church to change, we couldn't find his passport so we had to leave without him.  Turns out it was in his backpack at work--too bad.

It was so nice to have all the cousins together.  Everyone gets along so well and they have so much fun together.  Amanda and Jordan even made plans to apply to BYUH together:)

Evergreen State Fair 2018

Mike actually got to come to the fair with us this year!!  We had to go in the evening again because of volleyball practice, but I am pretty sure we were still there long enough.

A few disappointing things this year: 

1.  The baby pigs hadn't been born yet:( 

2.  We missed the lumberjack show

3.  Mike wouldn't let me buy a blow-up dolphin for Summer

But...

Mike was really excited to find the exact kind of pigeons his family used to raise when he was growing up!

 Summer was so happy to get to go on some rides this year!

I got to try my first ever elephant ear--pretty delicious.

The kids went on a ton of rides as usual...when they were on this one (Freak Out), Summer and I just stood underneath and watched--yikes!

ED SHEERAN

I bought the girls Ed Sheeran tickets for Christmas last year, and as soon as I did, I regretting not buying one for myself.  Ed Sheeran is probably my favorite singer...so when one of my friends suggested getting a group together to sit in the nose-bleeds for just $40 each I jumped on board.  I am so glad I did--it was an amazing show!!!

The girls were A LOT closer!!!

One Week in Canada

Our week-long trip to Canada this year was just me, Summer and Tyson...because the girls had youth conference.

Tyson had an Epic 8-hour fishing trip with Grandpa and Ben and Luke.  

They brought home 4 giant sockeye salmon.  

Tyson got to go on a second fishing trip with just him and grandpa...they didn't last as long but still brought back some beautiful fish!!

 And Summer did a lot of playing with her cousins and petting Peeta!

Philip Philips

This was my first ever Zoo concert experience, and it was awesome.  The only complaint I have is they should have given us zoo admittance along with the purchase of our tickets--that would have made it even more fun!!  

Lawn chairs, picnic dinner, outdoor air, performers walking through the crowds AND being able to walk right up to the stage--AMAZING!!

Gavin DeGraw walked right into the crowd and sang an entire song standing THIS close!

I just HAD to go up close when Philip Philips came on!!!

Glad to have a husband who goes to things like this with me...even though I know it's not his favorite thing to do:)

Rexburg, ID {Post 6--Sand Dunes}

Because our first sand dunes outing at Elgin lake was such a disappointment, I was determined to go back (playing at the sand dunes had been one of my favorite memories from Rick's).  So when we were talking to the owners of the house we were staying at and she talked about how beautiful the sand dunes were at sunset, I knew we had to go.  Luckily, the family was willing to humor me:)  I am so glad we did because it was such a fun and unique experience...and we got some amazing pictures.

It was the perfect way to end our family vacation!

Rexburg, ID {Post 5--There are fun things to do here}

It's no secret that Rexburg is a tiny town, so when we booked a 6-night stay I was a little worried we wouldn't be able to fill the time.  But, I think we managed ok. 

Monkey Rock

When planning for this trip, I tried really hard to find things to do that were unique to the area.  I thought this waterfall was pretty cool.  The current was a bit stronger than I anticipated and the water was colder, but we all thought it was a pretty cool place!

Idaho Falls

It was a bit of a stormy day when we went to Idaho Falls...still warm but just dark and windy...and the temple gates were closed:(  But the visitor's center was great.

 Summer tripped and hurt her leg on the rocks, which was sad, but her expression in this picture is priceless...poor girl.

Mini Golf

Bowling

Jordan surprised us all with three strikes in a row!!!  She almost beat Dad, which is unheard of in our family.

Elgin Lake

This trip was a bit of a fail on my part.  I read about this lake that was right in the middle of the sand dunes, so I thought it would be great to experience both at the same time.  Well, it was SUPER hot out and the entire lake was only ankle deep (not much for teenagers to do) and the sand surrounding the lake were so hot that we literally just about burnt our feet.  It was awful.  Plus there were a lot of bugs and we saw a snake--yuck.  So after we helped Summer trap a few fish, we decided to call it a fail and leave.

Restaurants

Had to go to Big Judd's.  Only we went to a different one than I went to as a college student (kind of disappointing) and none of the kids wanted to try the challenge of eating the entire burger and fries.  So Mike and I shared it...and still couldn't eat it!!

Frontier pies used to be the fanciest restaurant in Rexburg.  It was THE place to go back in the day.  Well, now it's like a ghost town:(  The food was still good (the kids got to try scones) and the pies were delicious (although I don't think they had quite as many to choose from as they used to)...and I think our waiter was training.  I asked if I could have a salad instead of fries with my meal and he was like "I don't think so" and just disappeared.  But eventually, he came back with my salad--haha

Summer and I stopped by Mill Hollow for frozen yogurt.  It was completely unchanged and just as busy as I remembered it.  I was a little confused about the sizing and ended up with this giant yogurt--Summer didn't seem to mind (until I made her throw half of it way).

And we can't forget our Sonic experience--hahaha!  Somehow they messed up Tyson's order and got him a giant chili dog and then when he finally got his breakfast sandwich it was moldy--yikes.  And he sat on a table and it fell over, and we had no ketchup and giant Ice creams!