First Day of School

Okay, so I am probably the worlds worst parent, but this is the first year that I have taken pictures on the first day of school. (The first day of school was 2 weeks ago!)

Before, it was always Jonah trekking off by himself and since he started going to preschool when he was almost 3, school really didn't seem like that big of a deal to him. Or me.

Well, then comes Ryanne. She has been at home with me for 5 years and almost 10 months. She didn't know what to expect with school, but she was a nervous, excited ball of energy. So many questions about the teacher and the other kids and worries about whether anyone would like her. Sheesh. Who wouldn't love her? She is happy, confident, fun, playful, a good listener, cute, smile-y, eager to please and so much more.

Needless to say. I had to take a picture this year. And I am glad I did.


Girls have lots of cute clothes options. Boys, not really so much. Jonah chose this plain t-shirt (which was new) but, still, it is a t-shirt, as his first day attire. Somehow I talked him into using his lunchbox from last year here and the year before that in Utah, again. We also recycled his backpack, since it is still in good condition. He couldn't care less about all that stuff. He was just super excited that his 2 best friends were in his class again this year.

Since this whole experience was new for Ry, she chose a few outfits, a backpack, and got a haircut the day before school started.
They both love school. I decided to let them ride the bus home and they love that.
The hardest part is getting to bed early and waking up early. Three of us are on that schedule. Savannah and Matt still get to sleep in.

I am not really sure what exactly happened in this succession of pictures, but they made me laugh.
Happy Back to School Everyone!

Kids

I love it when I "catch" Jonah reading to the girls. He is such a good big brother. He plays with them and reads to them and it makes me really happy.
For Father's Day the kids wanted to do a restaurant for dinner. Jonah was in charge of making the menu and the sign for our restaurant.
He made up all the names of the categories all by himself and then he and the girls decorated the table with all sorts of sports stuff. Basketball cards and stuffed animals that were sporty.
I wish I would've taken a picture of the table and how the decorated it, but I was too caught up in getting the food on the table.
We all had a lot of fun with our restaurant.

Summer So Far

It has been ages since I updated this blog.

Summer is here and we are loving it. We swim at Grandma Becky's everyday and that is really fun for us.

One of my bestest friends in the world, Heather, flew out here to visit. She had a few other friends and destinations to get to, but we were her home base.
We went to a concert in Atlanta and took her to Chattanooga to meet up with a friend the first week she was here.
I am not good at taking pictures sometimes when we are out and about, so I have no shots of our trip to Chattanooga.

We also drove to DC. It was a 2 purposed trip. Me and the kids stayed with Audrey and Scott and got to play with the cousins. Heather got to stay with us too, but was also able to see friends in that area.

Audrey recently acquired a ice cream maker and put me to work showing her how to make custard-based gelato.

We went to "spraygrounds" which are playgrounds that include spray parks- where water shoots up through the sidewalk. The kids really enjoyed it. One of the days we were out at a sprayground it just happened to be the hottest day recorded in 100 years. It was hot!


Jonah has radar for Silly Bandz. It seemed like everywhere we went he zoned in on other kids/teens that were wearing them and began trading. It was very entertaining to watch.
We went to the FolkLife Festival that the Smithsonian hosts every year and were able to see some neat performances and do some fun things for the kids.
They were able to try on Air and Space outfits from the past.

(If you notice in any of these pictures that Savannah has very short, uneven bangs, then you will know that Ry took the scissors to her hair a couple of weeks ago.)

We also walked to the Jefferson Memorial.
It was so fun spending time with cute little Lucas. He is such a well behaved baby. He nevers cries and is so happy all the time. A pure joy to be around.
We went to the cousins' favorite museum- Air and Space museum, where the boys told us all about their favorite planes and we learned lots of interesting facts.

Audrey also took Heather and I to a delicious dinner at Zaytinya. It was the perfect girls night out.

We had to make a trip to the National Zoo. The weather cooled down a little bit on the day we went, which made for a pleasant walk to see all the animals.
Jonah and Savannah comparing their hands to lion paws.
Jonah caught in the silly bandz action for the bazillionth time







One of the best parts of the zoo is the Pizza Park at the end. Ryanne is sitting inside a giant olive. The other kids are running around on the crust by the giant tomato.
Everyone took turns sliding down the cheese.

We went to the Cactus Cantina, after a fun day at the zoo. Jonah remembered this restaurant from our trip to DC last year and wanted to be sure that we could go there again.

We tried to get a picture of all the kids smiling together, but it was nearly impossible.

From DC we drove down to Savannah to meet with another friend so that Heather could go visit with her for the rest of the trip. Tiff and Russ (my sis and bro-in-law) were so kind to let us stay with them overnight, so that we could get a good nights rest before our meeting in Savannah and before we drove home. I should have taken a picture of the kids that night that we stayed because they had so much fun catching tiny frogs in a jar on a dirt road behind Russ and Tiffany's house.

We had a great 4th of July with all of Matt's family, swimming and enjoying each others company.


Here is a picture of me kissing little Lucas. So sweet.

Jonah and Ryanne go to school in a month. Summer has flown by too fast!! There is still so much summer stuff we need to do!

Feels like Summer

Yesterday we bought a plastic pool. Ryanne wanted to play in water and we really didn't have any options to do that outside until the pool purchase.
The weather has been really nice, not too hot yet, in my opinion. But, it started getting warmer yesterday.
As soon as Jonah got home from school, they put on their suits and started playing.
These little pools are great for occupying children for extended periods of time.
Hours later, they got out and we dried off.
This morning Ryanne asked if she could get back in the pool.
Sure, why not?
So, the girls have already played for hours. We are taking a short break right now, so that when Jonah comes home from school he can play too.
Hurray for water and swimsuits and little plastic pools.

Jonah's Baptism and My Family's Visit

Jonah decided to be baptized and we decided to wait until the end of March so that my family members from Utah could come and share the special occasion with us.
I am so happy that Jonah wanted to be baptized and that he wants to follow in his Savior's footsteps.
It was a beautiful day and it was so wonderful to have all of Matt's siblings and their families and almost all of my siblings (We missed you Jake!) and their families, plus our parents there to share in the special day. It was the first time that all the grandkids on Matt's side have been together since the youngest, Lucas, was born. It truly was an experience!
All the cousins had so much fun playing together for a few days.

My parents and younger brother came during my brother's spring break, so they were able to stay for a week and a half. We enjoyed the beautiful spring/summer-ish weather and sunshine.



We took a trip to the Aquarium in Atlanta and my brother Jacob met us there, so that he could spend a few days with everyone.






My brother celebrated his 18th birthday while he was here, so I reserved a karaoke room at Shokitini, downtown in Athens, for the party. It was so much fun. We had our own private little room with a couple of mics, remotes and big screens.
We sang, danced, laughed, and ate some delicious food. It was a blast.

I think that everyone enjoyed it. Doesn't that look like a happy birthday boy?
After the exciting karaoke party, we went home and enjoyed some homemade angel food cake and homemade ice cream. I sure had a blast and I think Andrew did too.
The last of my family visitors left earlier this week.
I have the best family. I love them so much!
Thanks for spending so much time with us.
Love you!