BEST JOB IN THE WORLD

The BACK TO SCHOOL morning started WAY too early. It was dark out and I realized VERY LATE last night that I forgot to buy lunch meat! So I was off to the store at 6:15 am today and saw 2 neighbors there. Each of us had that glazed over look, like this is too early to be at the store and we each were only buying 2 items.

Abby has had her outfit picked out since July and was VERY excited to start school today. She got the same teacher that Camille had last year. She made her own lunch and did her own hair. She's growing up way too fast!
Camille did NOT want her picture taken this morning because it is embarrassing. Although she did love wearing her brand new skinny jeans.

I love when I go to the doctor's office and have to fill out the parent questionnaire.

Mother's Occupation: Homemaker, I write with pride.

There is something about THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL that my heart just swells with pride and joy for my children and for the joy they bring into my life. I love them all SO much and I LOVE more than anything being a mom!

Tanner was not happy to pose as the carpool was quickly approaching. I saw on his junior high registration that he is the Class of 2015. WOWZERS! I can't believe how quickly that is approaching (quicker than the carpool!) He is an amazing young man! He loves his friends, the school bus, lacrosse and anything DC or Hurley.

I even made it to the gym after they all left. Now off to make our traditional chocolate chip cookies for when they all come home. (3 bites of 1 cookie for me--1 to say HELLO, 2 to say oooh that is good and 3 to say ADIOS and GOODBYE!)

I can't wait to hear about their day.

ON MY OWN

I went to a new gym tonight for the first time. It felt strange. I guess I'm a creature of habit and changing to a new gym was more difficult than I had anticipated.

But on the positive side, I went in and knew exactly what to do! That was a great feeling and even though things were different than what I'm used to, I felt excited to be able to complete a circuit.

I REALLY missed her...

A LOT! I feel like a child learning to ride a bike. My training wheels have been taken off and I'm on my own wobbling all over the road trying to balance.

She warned me about this and talked me through what would happen when I came back home and started up at a new gym. I believed her. I just didn't think it would be this hard and lonely. I missed having her there pushing me, counting, and telling me what to do next. The altitude is KILLING me! Daren and I have been running twice and both times my lungs burn! I'm just so grateful for the things I have learned from her and I can't wait to see her again!

This is the only gym I have EVER worked out in:

So it felt like I was cheating on it when I went here:

And, I really missed my old gym. Because at this new one, some smelly, tattooed guy took my stability ball, made it all sweaty and then gave it back to me. YUCK!

I don't know whether I'm going to join this gym or another one. It will be fun to try them all out and decide which one will work best.

BIRDIE BIRDIE

Just before we left for Las Vegas, there was a mommy and a daddy bird building a nest by our front door. We had fun watching them build the nest. Twig by twig they would carry them to the nest and build.

When we came home, instead of seeing the mommy and daddy bird in the nest, we saw these 3 ADORABLE little birdies. They are SO cute! We were all really excited to watch them.

UNTIL...
We looked down and saw this:

And this:

Daren wanted to take the nest down but we all yelled, " YOU CAN'T!! Those cute little birdies can't fly yet."

But as soon as they can, that nest is SO out of here, he said. It reminded me of a poem I learned when I was young.

Birdie, birdie in the sky

Dropped some white wash in my eye

I'm not sad, I won't cry

I'm just glad that cows don't fly!

HOME SWEET HOME

For the past 2 1/2 months, this is where I have been almost everyday. The kids are as tan I have ever seen them. We rented a condo in Las Vegas for the summer. We had a lot of fun doing a whole lotta nothin! It was a wonderful summer and we spent a lot of time at this beautiful pool. We enjoyed seeing old friends, staying up late, sleeping in, watching TV, and playing games as a family.

This morning when we left Las Vegas I was kind of sad to leave the rest and relaxation we had enjoyed during the summer. But yet I was ready to come home and start having a normal routine again.

Then as we came to our freeway exit and I saw beautiful Mt. Timpanagos, I was SO HAPPY to be home. I love when Mt. Timp is bald (no snow)! It is beautiful. When we arrived home, it was 69 degrees. I couldn't believe how cold I was! I know it will warm back up but it was surreal going from the hot desert to the cool mountains. I LOVE Utah and living here.

There's no place like home!

A BIG THANKS to our wonderful neighbors and friends who looked after our house, mowed our lawn, pulled our weeds etc. We love you and appreciate your kindness and friendship!

NEW DIGS

I heart The Meadows Mall. I know my Las Vegas friends are thinking...WHAT? Are you nuts? But I really LOVE Meadows Mall. It is in a horrible part of Las Vegas and the locals call it "Ghetto Meadows" but I ALWAYS find THE BEST deals there.

Daren and I were shopping there recently because I have very few clothes that fit me these days. I found this beautiful red (my favorite color) jacket. I LOVED it and it was 50% off. He could tell I was eye-balling it BIG time! I put it on over my shirt and fell in love with it. I put it back on the hanger and started to put it away because I didn't want to spend the money. The kids need school clothes, shoes, etc. more than I need a new red jacket.

Daren said, "Hey I will put this away for you." But instead of putting it away he walked straight over to the cash register and bought it! It was so sweet. He also bought me one of the most BEAUTIFUL dresses I have ever had to congratulate me on the new healthy lifestyle.

Thank you SO much Daren for the fun trip to the mall.

FIRST HIKE

We have NEVER been on a hike as a family...until this weekend! Daren has gone with the kids, Tanner has gone more times than I can count with the Boy Scouts but today was the first day we ALL went.
It takes a MAN to carry the PRINCESS backpack with water and snacks!

The kids dragged me up a large red rock mountain.

Since I am afraid of heights, I was REALLY nervous.

It was fun to spend time hiking as a family.

It made me really nervous that the kids kept climbing on rock formations that were really large. Daren kept telling me, "THAT'S WHAT KIDS DO!" But they had SO MUCH FUN!! I tried to just relax and enjoy watching them.

As we were walking back to the car I heard Abby and Tanner talking. They were sharing with each other their favorite parts of the hike. I heard Abby say, "My favorite part was watching mom climb that really big rock with us." My heart melted. I'm so glad to be doing things like this with my family.

FASHION SHOW

The girls were in the Back To School Fashion Show at Dillard's today. They were able to pick out 2 outfits to model. We had a lot of fun shopping this week at Dillard's trying on outfits.

After the show, they had a drawing for several prizes. They had a Nintendo DSI, gift certificates for shoes, jeans and a backpack and a candy basket.

Tanner WON 2 out of the 6 drawings! We couldn't believe his luck!!

He won a $60 Ecko backpack and he could pick ANY pair of jeans he wanted. Of course, I said...PICK THE MOST EXPENSIVE jeans but they were kind of girly looking. So he picked a sweet pair of black DC jeans that were $46. So he won over $100 worth of merchandise!

It was a fun day!