Tonight we went to Alissa's opening School Social. She got to meet her teacher Miss Kayla and five of the kids from her class were there. There are only ten kids total so that was pretty good. They got to see the playground and where they will sit and hang there bags. She was actually pretty shy but had a lot of fun! She was very focused and even got a class room with a window! I can not believe I am sending off my first born to school. Time sure has flown and I am so happy for Alissa.
This morning while the kids and I were getting ready to do crafts I heard the strangest noise only to look over and find Taft snoring on the couch. he has been teething and so he has been extra sleepy, I couldn't help but take a picture!
Here is a picture of the kids most recent favorite activity. They LOVE to "do chalking" as they say. Taft has even decided that he is old enough to do it too. He can color pretty well. The other two have had so much fun drawing many of their favorite things. My favorite day was when they decided to draw their Birthday Parties. Alissa drew and ocean, palm trees, tables of food and cake and music. She even drew Hawaiian dancers and sand. I wonder what kind of birthday party she wants in October?
Well, it is finally happening. Ryan and I are taking our first trip officially alone since our honeymoon. We went to the Caribbean four years ago with Ryan's brother and his wife and had a blast!! We are both very excited and to tell you the truth I am a little bit nervous. We are leaving on September 12 which is just a few weeks. We had not originally planned on going that soon, but plane tickets pretty much double after September. We feel very blessed to be given this opportunity and can not wait to see what Oahu is all about. We are also excited to see Ryan's cousin who lives there and spend some time soaking up some aloha spirit! I will definitely miss my kids too.
My cousin Heather was so sweet to put together a play date for all the munchkins. Heather, Katie and I all had our last two kids within a few months of each other so they all had other munchkins there age and Alissa just took charge. It was so fun to get to spend time with them both and hear about how they are doing. Thanks again Heather and Katie!
The kids and I had an opportunity to drive up to Northern Utah for Brandon and Marie's wedding. It was so much fun to see all of the people there from when I was a kid and especially fun to spend time with family. I definitely consider Donna and her family my family too. The kids had a blast and everyone was so much help with them. 
Not the best picture, but the kids enjoyed petting the animals at the petting zoo, especially cause Papa was there.
Alissa was a natural roper if I do say so myself. She did such a great job both times she roped this cow.
Kenzie also did fantastic roping the cow. He liked to be closer to the cow and get him nice and tight. The kids loved this!
There was a fun activity tent by the petting zoo where the kids could dig for bones, make silly faces out of paper, get the picture taken in dress ups and make their own rocket. These are there rockets and they were so excited to hurry and finish making them so they could launch them.
This is "The Launch Man" He helped prepare each rocket by inspection and then launched them off the tall thing. They both shot up very high and out of the gated area we were in. Way to go guys for making some great rockets!
Next we went into the commercial booths area and found this. It is a souped up golf cart and the kids love to play in it. We had fun just walking around and seeing all there was to offer until Daddy got there.
After the family had some yummy food from a booth done by some of the members of the Samoan Branch in our ward. We headed over to let the kids each ride two carnival rides. On our way back we stopped at the corals to look at the horses and I saw a little girl about Alissa's age on our horse. I asked if they were giving rides and how much they cost. The man actually explained that they were there to compete but that he would be happy to give the kids a ride if they would like. Wow, what I kind person! The kids were so excited to ride a BIG horse and I love the way this picture turned out. Isn't Hurricane beautiful?
Taft loves to look up at the sky! He also loved being on Papa's shoulders
I am so glad that the kids have opportunities to spend time with their grandparents. This is one of the the great reasons for living in Southern Utah!
Our Set up
On Saturday, August 9 Ryan had to work. So, we woke up and I looked at the paper and decided that we would have just enough time to hop in the car and drive to St. George for the County Fair parade. The kids had so much fun, especially because they gave out lots of cool things besides candy, like hats, balls, Frisbees, markers, glue sticks, etc. We went home with full bags of stuff and it was all free. I love taking advantage of all the wonderful free things there is to do here. I love the views of the mountains from just sitting on the street watching the parade. What a blast!
Written August 22, 2008
Taft pre-party.
I never post my pics but decided why not? Kenzie took this picture.
The Guests. Mema, Grammy, Daddy, Papa and Grandma Joyce. I made a Japanese dinner for everyone.
Alissa, Uncle Trevor, Braxton, Aunt Shayna and Taft.
Taft eating dinner.
Taft got his own individual cake. I have video too I will post.
He had a blast and was way too dainty at first but then kind of got the hang of it.
He loves to feed himself now. Here he is eating sorbet.
If you notice he is taking the paper off himself.
I love how even though you can't see his face, you can tell he is smiling.
Playing with the blocks I think Papa built.
Alissa holding her brother. She is a wonderful big sister.
Taft loved the balloons! We even kept them on the ground so he could play with them. He would squeeze them to make a horribly loud noise just to watch everyone's reaction, it was hillarious!