Carley's first day of school

These pictures are of Carley's true first day of school. I can't believe that she is 5, but she is totally ready for school. She is such a social butterfly and loves school and loves learning. I have already seen a big jump in her learning and she loves coming home to do homework. She also comes home telling us about her new friend of the day

canoeing and catching fish

After surviving Swiss Days, which I have no pictures of, we decided to go up in the mountains and go canoeing and fishing on Labor Day. We took a friends canoe and Eric took the kids and went fishing up at Mill Hollow Reservoir in the Uintas. The kids had a blast and were super excited when they caught the fish.

The first day of school

Bryson is a big 3rd grader this year and has Miss Kelly. Carley started kindergarten this year and has Mrs Kohler. They didn't start school on the same day, but the day that Bryson started, Carley had kindergarten testing so I took pictures of her that day also.

Boating

Before school was to start we asked Bryson what he wanted to do for a day. He said he wanted to go boating. Eric took the day off work and we borrowed our neighbor's boat and had a great day boating. We did it two days before school started and because it was the middle of the week, the lake was empty and the weather was hot and perfect for a day of boating. Just like swimming the kids love the water and love to spalsh around.

Eric and Maddy driving the boat

Bryson on the boat

Carley enjoying the bow of the boat

My kids love the tube and Maddy is no exception. Some of the time she was on her knees, but when she sat down on her bum she would say "my bum tickles" It was so cute

Eric and the kids on the tube

Because we drove slow when Maddy was on the tube, bryson and Carley were little dare devils and tried to stand up on the tube

Eric and maddy

Eric and Carley in the water

A summer full of swimming

This summer we spent a lot of time at grandma's pool. (we are sad she has moved and can't go to the pool next summer) My kids love the water and have so much fun splashing and swimming around.

Maddy, William, Carley and Bryson

Maddy wanted to be just like Bryson and Carley so she wore the goggles

At the beginning of the summer Maddy was wearing the yellow tube you see in this picture. She held on for dear life and wouldn't let go of an adult. By the middle of the summer she would float and swim by herself in it and then by the end of the summer we put her in water wings and she would swim around all by herself. She didn't really like to put her head under water, but she loved splashing and playing in the water. She even liked going to the deep end with Bryson

Bryson got to be a very good swimmer and even swam the length of the pool all by himself. He was also learning to tread water.

Carley really learned to swim this summer with strokes and breaths. She could almost swim the width of the pool

Maddy, Grandma and William

Maddy in her water wings

Carley and Eric

One of our favorite swimming traditions is to take a boogie board to the pool and pretend like we are surfing. Eric did this as a child with his pool he has in his backyard. He and his brothers would run on the cement, drop the board in the water and then skim across the top of the water. We brought this board home from Hawaii when we went last summer. Maddy just likes to lay on top of it and get pushed around

Carley standing on top of the boogie board

maddy and Grandma

Bryson's baptism

Bryson turned 8 in July and had a very special baptism in August with family and friends. A year or so ago a friend showed me a cute invitation for a baptism that I wanted to copy so I did. I got Bryson dressed up in Eric's suit (which also happened to be his Dad's) and took some pictures. I them used photoshop and made a cute invitation. I also made a cute wall display for his room that has 4-5 different poses and on the top it says "I hope they call me on a mission"

Eric and Bryson

Bryson and I before the baptism

Eric and Bryson all in white, ready for baptism.

My parents were able to come out and we had other family and friends which made it a very special day. I only wish I would have taken a picture of the whole group.

Bryson's birthday party

This year for Bryson's birthday he wanted a plants vs zombies themed party. Because the game has plants vs zombies shooting at each other I thought it would be fun if they could make marshmallow guns and have a little fight. I cut all the pvc pipe and had it ready to go in kits and the kids assembled them and then had fun spitting marshmallows at each other. It was a fun inexpensive party favor. I also made some hats based on the game and let the kids wear them. I decided to just buy an ice cream cake, which made it lots easier for me. The kids had a fun time

Camping

In July we went up camping in the mountains. The kids love it and I love it. We take the tent and the 4-wheelers and have a fun weekend enjoying nature dand outdoors. This year Kevin, Eric's brother, was able to come and also Eric's aunt and cousin. I love taking pictures of the kids even if they are all dirty and non-showered.

Bryson loves to ride his bike on the dirt and over bumps

Maddy with Eric on the 4-wheeler

Bryson had fun carving and whittling and learning how to use a pocket knife

Carley with Eric on the 4-wheeler

Maddy and Kevin

Bryson with his camel-back ready for the hike

Maddy enjoying the hike and sleeping on Kevin's back

Carley also liked to play with the saw and pocket knife

Eric and Maddy cuddling by the fire.

Camping each summer is one of my favorite family traditions