Kindergarten

Chloe went to her first day of kindergarten last week and even though I was nervous for her, she did great and is loving school. I am not sure what she loved more about her first day- going to school or wearing her new outfit!  I took her shopping the week before and told her she could pick out one outfit to wear on the first day of school. I had to steer her away from a few choices but I think we ended up with a winner. Chloe was also excited to pick our her new Barbie backpack and waited patiently for the first day of school so she could carry it to school.

 Her school's name is Amelia Earhart and her teacher is Mrs. Pace. Chloe has a few friends from church in her class so that is really fun for her too.  I had requested A.M. kindergarten, but since so many parents wanted it, I didn't get it, but so far it has been nice and we have to morning to just relax before school. Aaron was also able to work from home that day so he was able to drop her off and pick her up with us on her first day.  Chloe walked right in like a pro and didn't have any problems with us leaving, unlike me who as we were saying good bye, got a little teary eyed.

 I am so excited for her this year and love having her tell me all about what she learned/did at school that day. After we dropped Chloe off on the first day Abby asked "are we going to leave Chloe here?" it was really sweet. Here's to a great year!

30!

Yep, as of August 16th, I turned 30!  It is weird to think that I am officially an adult and no longer in my 20's. I mean I have known for a while that I was an adult- husband, kids, mortgage, car payments, college graduate.... but I still felt young.  Oh well, time to embrace my new age and enjoy it!

 I had a nice relaxing day at home with the girls and then we went out to dinner as a family that night. Aaron also made me some delicious brownies so when we got home from dinner we sat out back and enjoyed them while the kids played. Then to top it off, Aaron surprised me with a gallon of BYU chocolate milk for a special birthday treat for me- my husband knows me so well!

 Then on Sunday, we got together with my mom and did a joint birthday party for us. Since their new place has a fire pit in the back yard, we decided to have smores for dessert.  We all had a great time and enjoyed relaxing around the fire (ok, we were technically around the fire but it was too hot to want to be close to it, we all stayed pretty far back from it). Happy birthday Mom!

Quick over night Camp-out

For me, summer is not complete without a camping trip. However, since our annual trek to Whiskeytown Lake didn't happening this year, we planned a little camp out for our family. We coerced Heather and Travis to come with us and we were glad that they came.

Since it was just an overnight trip, we tried to keep it as simple as possible and only brought the basics. Also, since the only way to get where we camped was in the Jeep, we didn't have much room to bring anything anyways. =)

We found a great spot to camp up American Fork Canyon and set up for the night. After we set up, we put the tin foil dinners on the coals and took the kids exploring. They spent most of the time hunting for sticks to burn in the fire, which they loved doing. There was also a creek nearby the kids were able to splash around for a while too. It felt so refreshing I almost wished I had brought my swimsuit, too!

After dinner we made smores and Heather made us some delicious pies over the fire. Before long, it got late and our family crammed into our little two-man backpacking tent. We didn't want to bring our big one since it was only for one night. Needless to say, it was cozy! Good thing our kids are small, right?

The next day we woke up to some rain, but it was light and came and went throughout the morning. We had a yummy breakfast and broke camp early (due to the rain). The kids played around some more in the water and after lunch we headed home. I love camping, even if it is for just a night, and can't wait for our next trip.

Swing Set!

We finally got our swing set and after about 10 hours of work putting the hundreds of pieces together, we are happy with the results. The kids couldn't wait for it to be finished and now that it is, they are on it constantly. We don't have a great park within close walking distance, so it is so nice to be able to just go out back and play whenever we want! All we need now is to finish the shrubs along the back fence and the landscaping will pretty much be done; however, that will likely have to wait until next spring.

And here's a picture of the front of the house with the landscaping complete (including our poor, dead Japanese Maple that just couldn't take the Utah summer heat...Aaron was pretty bummed about that expensive little bugger's demise). The only thing you can't see in this picture are the quarter circle flower beds we have at the front of the yard on each corner.

Grotto Trail

I have been wanting to hike the Grotto Trail in Payson Canyon for quite some time now and with Aaron having some time at home before he started his new job, I figured now would be a good time to finally do it. We invited the Cummings to come with us and are so glad they could make it. Chloe and Abby love playing with Ashley and Owen and having them along with us always makes for an enjoyable trip.

 This hike was just the right length for our kids and it had a bunch of fun bridges to cross over. It takes you to a small waterfall with a pool of water at the base of it. It was really cold water, so the kids didn't want to go in it. However, Aaron grabbed each kid and dunked their heads in it. They thought it was so funny and tried to get out of it by running away, but he got them all! It was a great way to spend the afternoon and I'm glad we finally got around to doing it.

Splash Pad Mini Reunion

We met up with a bunch of our friends from our last neighborhood for lunch at the Highland splash pad and had fun catching up with everyone. The girls took off with their friends and loved playing in the water and I got to enjoy time with my friends as well. It was wonderful. There were a lot of new babies there that I got to hold and Abby also got a turn holding the them. I think she could have spent the entire day holding them if I let her. She loves babies so much; it's pretty cute. Before everyone left we had all the kids sit down for a picture. What a bunch of cuties right?

 Chloe and Bentley

 Abby and Vienna

Pioneer Day

This year for Pioneer day we went over to the Searle's house for dinner and then went to a carnival in Spanish Fork with my dad. The girls were timid at first about going on the rides, but after we finally got them to try one they had a blast! We went on a couple of  huge slides and the carousel. After we were done with the rides, we got some cotton candy and headed over to the park for fireworks. The Cumming's met us there and we watched the fireworks together. For some reason, the show didn't start until almost 11 p.m. so it turned out to be quite a late night, but it was a good show and we had fun talking and playing while we waited.

This ride totally didn't go well, we ended up getting off!
And yes, my dad was missing one of his front teeth =)

 Fun slide

 Yeah, they really enjoyed their cotton candy!

 Waiting for the fireworks to start