The "clipse" dripped in my stomach and made me sick

Keith had a cold last week and this week Caitlyn and Hallee came down with the cold.  Keith told Hallee he was sorry for getting her sick and Hallee said, "you didn't get me sick, the clipse dripped into my stomach and got me sick."  You never know what that cute girl is going to say.

Hallee is loving Kindergarten.  She is excited to go every day and loves to tell me all about her day when she gets home.

It is still really hot.  Last week was the final week for the outdoor pool so we went after school one day.  We had a great time.  I found some water balls on clearance so we had fun skipping those across the water.

Wyatt and Jonah are having fun with flag football.  Last week they had a combine, Wyatt loved it.  Jonah participated for a while and then his team left and had a scrimmage game.  His team is really good.  They have their first game tonight, it will be fun to watch.  Wyatt had his first game on Saturday.  He did awesome.  He worked so hard.  At one point he had to block a kid that was at least a foot taller than him.  The kid was staring Wyatt down and I worried that Wyatt was going to get nervous, but he stared right back and ran right up and blocked the boy when the play started.

Kyler invited Jonah and Kyle to the BYU football game on Saturday.  Jonah was thrilled!  He worked hard to earn money so he would be able to buy snacks at the game.

After the game they went down to give all of the players a high five.  I guess the kids always ask players for their gloves.  Jonah was thrilled when Corbin Kaufusi gave him his glove!  It was a great day for Jonah! He couldn't wait to show us the glove.

Caitlyn and I went to Camp Williams on Saturday for a youth activity.  Bro. Mitchell arranged for the kids to do the leadership course.  I didn't have the best attitude about giving up 6 hours of my Saturday, but I did have fun with these girls.  I really do love my young women!

We did it with another ward and they divided the kids into groups.  Caitlyn's group was all pretty young.  I walked around and watched everyone and helped out some.  They had twenty minutes for each obstacle.

It was fun to see the kids try to come up with solutions.

It was a really hot day.  Caitlyn and Nate decided it was more fun to swim in the water instead of try and get over the water.  Caitlyn had a lot of fun, all of the kids did.

Hallee wanted to start reading.  She is doing well with the first set of Sam books.  She loves to read them to me every afternoon.

Hallee and I have fun together in the afternoon.  On Tuesday we went to the movie.  We saw "Leap."  We both really liked it.  I felt pretty spoiled at the movie in a recliner seat with popcorn and soda!  It was great!

She sure is a cutie!

Last night we took the young women ice skating.  Caitlyn was so excited.

I wasn't sure if I was going to skate or not, but I couldn't pass it up when we got there.

I had fun skating around with the young women and visiting with them.  They are changing our ward boundaries in a week.  I'm nervous, I really don't want to lose any of these girls.  I really hope my kids keep their friends in the ward.

Kindergarten

Hallee was so excited for her first day of Kindergarten this morning!

Yesterday we went to her back to school night.  We were thrilled that she got Mrs. Cox for AM kindergarten.  Hallee went into Mrs. Cox's class once a week with me last year, so she knows her and is comfortable in her class room.  Mrs. Cox is an amazing teacher and I know Hallee will love her!

Hallee was excited with her little treat bag from Mrs. Cox.  She could hardly wait until this morning.

She was a great sport about all of the pictures this morning.

It is hard to believe that my baby is starting school. 

I thought it would be more emotional for me, but she is ready and excited about school, so I'm excited for her.  Lets be honest, I'm excited for three hours a day to myself.

Hopefully Hallee will come out of her shell this year at school.  She doesn't stop talking at home, but she is pretty shy around other people.

She cracks me up.  She was literally jumping for excitement this morning!

She was skipping into the school.  I walked her up to the door and then said goodbye.  I resisted going in with her.  She said I didn't need to walk her to the door, but I at least had to do that!

Hallee is excited that Kinley is in her class.  Hallee told me that she can't wait to play with Kinley at recess.  Nicole sent me this picture. I can't wait to hear about Hallee's first day!

Ashton Gardens

Yesterday we went to the Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point.  It was gorgeous! 

Hallee wanted me to take her picture in front of everything.

I loved soaking up one more morning with Hallee before she started Kindergarten today.

Tiff, Tessa and Damon met us there. It is always more fun with friends!  The gardens were huge and beautiful. 

The waterfalls were amazing.  I love the sound of water.

I was excited to see the sculptures of Christ.  I didn't realize until last night how much it affected me.  I've been feeling negative about my calling lately and last night I finally had the attitude adjustment that I needed.  I think looking at these statues gave me the perspective I needed to get back on track.

The girls asked to sit on Jesus' lap.  It was so sweet.

They had a scripture by each sculpture.  I had to look a few of them up to make sure I remembered the story behind it.

Hallee wanted me to read each plaque to her.

Tiff had the idea for this pose, I love it.

I loved this one of Christ raising Lazarus from the dead.  I also loved the one of Mary and Martha.

Christ appearing to Mary. 

This is my favorite picture ever!  I love the look on Hallee's face!

There were so many beautiful flowers and water displays.

We bought some fish food and the kids loved feeding the fish.  The fish were very aggressive and would jump and fight each other to get the food. 

By this time we were all really hot and ready to go.  We had to walk back up to the top of the hill to get out.  Hallee was so hot and tired.  Tessa made room in the stroller so that her and Hallee could both sit in there.  Tiff was carrying Damon and I was pushing the stroller.  I hit a bump and Hallee went flying out of the stroller.  Luckily she wasn't hrut, but she was not happy and started chasing me around to let me know how unhappy she was.  I felt bad at the moment, but now every time I think about it I laugh.  It was a hot day, but it was a lot of fun!  It was just what I needed.

Father and Sons

Friday night our ward had a father and sons camp out.  They did it at the church building on Geneva.  I love that they did it so close.  They have a huge field and pavilion there so it was a great spot.  The boys loved playing games and sports all evening.

Wyatt was so excited to go he could hardly stand it. The boys got all packed and ready to go after school. 

I bought some cookies and marshmallows for smores.  I bought a lot so they could share.  I'm glad I did because they were the only ones that brought stuff and they had enough for everyone. 

Keith said they stayed up playing games until 10 PM and then they went to their tent. The next morning the ward provided breakfast for them.  The boys had a blast and Keith loved having this time with his boys.

What, Wyatt has Mrs. Heaton

Hallee has started adding, "what" to the beginning of all of her sentences.  "What, Kinley is in my class, What, Wyatt has Mrs. Heaton."  The list goes on and on!

Last weekend Amarie stayed over.  I love seeing Amarie and Caitlyn together.  They have so much fun together.

They had fun playing outside and jumping on the trampoline with the hose.  I'm so grateful Caitlyn has Amaire, she is so good for her.  They are both such good girls!

I love listening to them laugh, they are always laughing!

On Saturday the other kids wanted to join Caitlyn and Amarie on the trampoline.  The kids love to show me all of their tricks.

I found a couple of swimming suits on clearance for Hallee. She looks so cute in them!

I also found this cheer leading outfit for Hallee, she looks adorable in it.

Last Thursday we spent the evening at the pool.  It was so nice to have a fun night together as a family.  Jonah talked me into going down the water slides with him and Caitlyn, that was a lot of fun.

Hallee and I met Keith one day for lunch. 

Keith and I told Wyatt that he needed to clean his room and he was not happy about it.  I walked by and noticed Jonah cleaning his brother's room.  How sweet is that?  He cleaned the whole thing for him.  I love that he was quietly doing it for him. 

Yesterday was an eclipse.  I have been hearing about it for a while, but I didn't think much about it until yesterday.  I wish I would have bought glasses.  It was neat how it got dark and the temperature dropped.  At the last minute Hallee and I made a viewer out of a cereal box.

The sun and moon were reflected onto a white paper inside the box.  If you zoom in on the picture you can see the moon being reflected onto Hallee's head.  It was really neat.  Nadia was outside with glasses so we got to borrow her glasses and look up at the sun which was really cool.  Hallee and I are enjoying this alone time while the kids are at school.