Goodbye Summer....Hello School Year!

Yes it is officially over! Summer has ended and the new school year is here! We have all survived the first week back, amazingly enough. I knew the kids would be fine, but this was my first time working the first week of school AT the school! Let me just tell you it is a totally crazy thing! All is well now...I have gotten caught up on my sleep this morning and I'm ready for another week! I can now reflect on those things that we will miss about the summer and take a look at the first day of school for the kids!

Collin's greatest joy was getting up before anyone else on those joyous summer mornings....can't drag him out of bed when it's a school day, but armed with the knowledge of a computer all to himself and total control of the TV remote....he's flying out of bed before dawn!
And my darling Samantha...her true summer joy was endless sleep! I just can't really blame her. She is totally her mother's daughter!
And it begins......at the bus stop by 6:50 a.m., not even really light yet, here we are at the bus stop. He even has a smile on his face. Lovely.
McKenzie, Kyler (now the big 6th grader!), and Collin......all together.
They really do love each other......
Then the sun was finally out and about and we were ready for the next group to get to the bus! Samantha was ready to go around 7am....bummer that the bus doesn't come until about 7:50. But she was ready and able to help her newest school attending cousin, Cade, get to the bus as well!
Doesn't she look so cute! I can't believe she's already in 5th Grade.

Here's the whole gang.....(from left to right) Eliza, Ali, Cade, Kavan, Karlee and Samantha. Eliza and Ali are not attending school however...just there for moral support.
Faces only mother's could love! Don't they look like brilliant students. Gotta love them!

More Summer Fun!

It was Collin's first year at Scout Camp! It was something he was really looking forward to, especially since his dad was going to be able to go with him. How fun is that! Since I wasn't there, I don't have first hand knowledge of all the scout stuff that happened, but here are some photos you might enjoy.

Swimming Hole fun!

Hangin' with a fellow scout and good friend, Bryant!

He's not tired is he?

A skill taught at camp of balancing water bottles on your

head is very critical to learn as a first year scouter!

That's my boy!

Quite the fisherman!

While I was in Oregon and Kirk and Collin went to Scout Camp.....Samantha got to go spend time with her Atlanta cousins and Grandma and Grandpa! She was not sad about this at all! She had so much fun I think she got a bit spoiled!

Swimming in Grandpa's pool!

Going to Six Flags...

Going to art class with Grandma! What an artist!

And finally, going to the lake house to find some fish!

Thanks to Aunt Betsy, she also got to go horseback riding, rollerskating and more...thanks Aunt Betsy and thanks to Grandma for keeping her plenty busy and having fun!

Summer Swim Team

The third season of "The Fins" Swim Team has now come to a close. I know it's sad, but I don't think the kids are missing those morning swim practices too much. I must admit, it's been nice to be a bit more lazy now. Anyway, for the past couple of years, the kids have been involved in swim team. We think it's great because they stay active during summer, get some good exercise and have become quite good at swimming! We would go to practice each morning during the week at 9am and workout for a hour. I even got in a workout, by walking the neighborhood, while they were in the pool! So it was really a win win situation for everyone! Each Tuesday evening we would then have "The Meets". Those are always fun because the kids get to hang out, eat a bunch of junk food and swim a few races here and there. Then afterwards we always had to hit the local Sonic for a milk shake or something to top of the junk food requirement of the day. It has really become a fun summer tradition!

Here with Kirk figuring out where she needed to be. They write all of their races on their arms. She enjoyed having graffiti all over her body! Yes it washed off in a few days!

Just after a race....what a pro!

You go girl!

Having a ball!

Showing off all his ribbons!

Doesn't Collin look like a stud!?!

Fun Projects!

Now that I'm working at the elementary school, I have really appreciated the oodles of time I've had this summer to get stuff done! One of my projects was redecorating the kids bathroom. Before it was done in lovely yellows, purples and greens with a rubber ducky theme. Collin informed me that it was way to babyish for him to use. So it needed to be updated and have a more "grown up" look! So this is what I came up with and I must say, I'm pretty excited about it. I used some left over paint from Samantha's room, made some new curtains and bath drapes, and got some vinyl from my mother in law! All of that made it not too expensive either. I'm happy with it! And now Collin is able to use his bathroom without feeling ashamed. Yeah!

Collin - Like You've Never Seen Him Before!

I came across this video that Collin had done. This is a side not too many people see of Collin, but he does have a pretty good sense of humor. Enjoy!

Summer Fun!

So I've finally taken a bunch of pictures off my camera and decided to share with everyone a few things that our family have been up to. Of course there is a bunch to catch up on, so I'll be posting more soon. But here's a few goodies.....

Back during Spring Break.....my dear son and nephew Kyler, decided to have some fun swinging on a dead vine. Well wouldn't you know it, you can still get a rash from poison ivy, even after it's been dead for a while. Poor boys were miserable for a week. And of course it was SPRING BREAK! So they were really bummed. This was supposed to have been a great week that Collin and Kirk were going to spend hiking together, but alternative plans were made. So sad!

Samantha decided to cut her gorgeous long locks for a better cause! She donated her hair and ended up with a really nice new look! You go girl!

Collin turns 12! Yep it's true, can you believe it? He got the priesthood and went on his first Temple Trip only a couple weeks after that! It was also his good friend, Bryant's first time! It was great they could share that together!


He's destined to be a rocker dude now with the new guitar he received for his birthday! He just sort of fell right into character when he picked the thing up. Amazing.....

And yes...the boys finally got to go on the long awaited father/son hike! It wasn't quite the hike they had expected (that's a whole other story), but they did have a great time doing all that male bonding stuff!

More fun activities at Grandma's Camp!  I had the important job of holding Eliza!  and I did it well!  =0)