I wasn't gonna...but I gotta!

Ok so I wasn’t planning on posting my kids off to school for the first day but they just look too dang cute not to. I got up just after 7 am to go wake them and came around the corner to find this. The two of them were sitting on our antique just as you come up the stairs, dressed and ready to go. It made me laugh.

I wish the entire year would continue this way, however I know that will not be the case.






And their OFF!

Brian's Back!

Last Saturday Brian returned home from a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Joao Pessoa, Brazil. I didn’t realize how much I missed him until he came home. I’ve always held a special place in my heart for Brian. He's one of those good people you have to love. I fell in love with him the first time I met him. He was ten years old. He was and still is an amazing boy. It’s still hard for me to say man, although that’s really what he is. We all look forward to him spending a lot of time with us. We are blessed to have him in our family. I am a much better person for being able to learn from him.

Kennedy and Max watching for Brian's plane.

Megan and Jack anxiously waiting for Brian.

He's HERE!

Kennedy and Max

Mimi and Rylee

Brian with all the little ones


The Girls

Ken, Ry, Ellie, and Siena

Jack and Claire (to bad their related, they'd make a cute couple)

My first float, We made a huge bowl of green jello salad with, what else, shredded carrots.

What are Utah mormans without Jello?

Hiking in the heat, a little CRAZY!

Family Reunion!

Niki, our shiba inu, had 3 puppies back in January. We sold two of them and kept one. It's been 4 months since we've seen the other two puppies so we thought it was time for a family reunion. I am a little biased however I have never seen more beautiful dogs.

Rylee and Max

BRAVO!

Last week was the opening week of the Utah Shakespearean Festival. I was fortunate to attend 5 out the 6 plays that will be performed throughout July and August. Kennedy and Rylee even attended 2 of them. Saturday we (Me, Steve, Ken, Ry, and Megan) saw "The Secret Garden". It was spectacular. The girl who played Mary was phenomenal. She couldn't have been more than 14 and was in almost every scene. We were also pleased to watch Brian Vaughn, one of the theaters top performers. Every time he is performing at the festival we are honored to see him. Another favorite was Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors". The costumes were wonderful and eye catching and the performers were top quality. The other plays I attended were Shakespeare's "As You Like It", "Foxfire" and "Private Lives" by Noel Coward. The only Play I did not see is "Henry V". I hope to see it before the end of the season, mostly in part to Brian Vaugh playing Henry. I can appreciate the play because I enjoy Shakespeare tremendously, however I believe I would not enjoy it as much as the others.

I would recommend to anyone living in or near Cedar City to take advantage of the renowned theater and festival that is here. People come from all over the country to see the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City and I am sad to hear that most residents here do not attend even one play throughout each summer and fall season. It is expensive, however when we consider the culture that we are privileged to have in such a small town, I believe we owe it to the members of the festival if not to our children to keep it alive, and the only way to do that is to attend. They really do hire some of the best actors I have ever seen. I hope it will be a great year for them.


We love it when Megan's here with us!

NEW INSPIRATION

Every week, or day for that matter, I recommit myself to my workouts and eating healthier. As I sat in the dentist's office waiting for all my children to have their teeth cleaned, I open a magazine and was hit with this picture. I ripped it out immediately (which normally I'm against). Dara Torres is my new hero. We'll see how my commitment goes waking up to this picture each morning.

Rylee's 6 year old pictures

(taken only a few days before she managed to acquire scars on her face)

Rylee's Crash

Rylee had an awesome 6th birthday. She now believes she is too big for her bike. She wants a bike just like Kennedy's. She can't even get on the bike without help but then she can ride it pretty well. Her bike is the perfect size for her but she feels it is just too easy. Monday night she was turning on her bike just a little bit too fast on the loose gravel and here are the picture of what happened next. Needless to say she will not be getting a bigger bike for the moment.





On her 3rd birthday she feel in the bathtub and busted her two front teeth. They are now a very dark color because all of the nerves died. Luckily they are her baby teeth and for 3 years now we have been waiting for the day they will fall out. I really hope we have somewhat of the same chance with this incident. I hope her scars will not be permanent. Rylee has a perfect face and I feel so bad this happened.

Rylee's 6!

Rylee turned 6 on Friday. We had her birthday party with friends on Thursday. She had a cooking party. It was all girls this time. She did feel a little bad because she has several boys that are her friends, but the numbers are climbing rapidly and therefore, we limited it to only girls. I love throwing parties for my girls. I say girls, because up till now that’s all the parties we’ve had. Jack is expecting a party this October when he turns 4 so I’ll have to start figuring out what to do at a boys party. I made each of the girls an apron with their name on it. I’m pretty sure they all liked them. The party lasted 2 hours and I’m sad to say that we ran out of time and didn’t get to everything I had planned. They did get to paint plates, decorate cupcakes, make pizzas, play games, and make brownie sundaes. The build up is always so great and then in a short time it’s all over, but it’s definitely worth it.










Out of all my children, Rylee is the most like I was when I was a child. I’m not happy to admit it, but that is not a positive thing. She is very stubborn and quite a bit defiant. No one can tell her what to do. She does what she wants, when she wants. The reason that I have hope is because I was the same way, and look at me now. (What else is there to say!)

Rylee is very smart. Kennedy was always so easy to teach and advanced very quickly with everything. I was quietly a little worried that Rylee was not progressing in quite the same manner. Kennedy was reading to her class in Preschool and Rylee didn’t start reading until the end of Preschool. Kind of a silly way to judge it right! However, Kennedy was almost an entire year older than Rylee was when she went into Kindergarten, because of their birthdays. Anyway my point is, is that Rylee is just as far along. I have very smart children and of that I am very proud.

Rylee is left handed and we think she’s extra special for it. I’m sure it has a little bit to do with her creativity. She is, of all my kids the most creative. She loves doing crafts and is very much a perfectionist. She is also good at figuring things out and is the most patient at things like that. The largest puzzle our family has is 750 pieces. Rylee would sit at the table for hours working on the puzzle, day after day until it was finished and this was over a year ago. (She wasn’t quite 5 yet!)

Rylee is an amazing girl. She will go very far in her life. I am positive she will achieve great things. With all the hardship she gives me, there are way too many positive things about her that I would be very ungrateful if I didn’t tell everyone how blessed I am to have her as my daughter. I wouldn’t want her any other way.

Happy Birthday Rylee! I love you with all my heart.

Friday Rylee picked Chili's for her birthday dinner.






Friday my mom arrived from Connecticut for a weekend visit. Saturday we went to Kanab to visit cousins.