First Day of School

Today is the first day of school.  It is a bittersweet day.  Britton is going into ninth grade.  Bryson is starting sixth grade.  Parker is in fifth grade.  Abby has begun third.  Brynlee has started first grade.  So I am home without any children to care for during the day. 
I love being married.  Dan is a wonderful man, who works so hard.  We have a great marriage and have a lot of fun together.  We have been married for seventeen years.  We have learned a lot together and will continue to grow and learn more and more each day. 
I love being a mother.  I love life with my children.  We play, play, play.  We enjoy doing so many activities each day.  So I would like to share our lives with you.

First day of school

Today was the first day of school and it was a great day all around.  The kids all wanted to ride the bus so I waited for the bus and then hurried off to try and beat it to the school.  I won thank goodness.  Abby was so excited to get to ride the bus with the boys.  I took Abby to her class and she was so happy to be in Kindergarden.  She has Mrs. Dallof and Dan and I are so happy about that.  She is such a great teacher.  Abby doesn't know anyone in her class but was just happy to be at school.  Parker got a little lost at school.  He couldn't find his class.  Luckily after I dropped off Abby I went looking her him and I found him wondering around.  He is in 2nd grade and has Mrs. Dixon.  He was glad to have her as his teacher.  He has a few friends in his class.  He had a great day and was able to find some other friends at recess.  Bryson is going into the 3rd grade and has Mrs. Palmer.  Bryson is so excited because his best friend Bridger is in his class.  He had a wonderful first day of school and loved his teacher.  Britton is going into the 6th grade and has Mrs. Cooke.  Britton was happy to be in her class.  He has lots of friends in his class.  He was happy to be the big kid at the school.  We are all looking forward to a wonderful year.
Britton also had his first game of the season.  He played really good.  And his team finally WON!!!  Good job Strikers.  Britton was so happy to have a win.  They played great as a team and never gave up.

Labor Day Fun

Today we decided to have one last water day before school started.  We went to the South Ogden water pad and brought our lunch.  It is such a nice place to play.  The kids had a lot of fun.  They have a nice splash pad but they also have a small playground and a large playground and a large grass area to play on.  The kids were so happy to be their.  The boys raced a few times.  Brynlee and Abby went from one playground to the other.  It was a great final day for labor day. 
The kids were excited to get ready for school.  They said they were not ready for homework but they were ready to see all of there friends again.  Dan gave each of the kids a fathers blessing before bed and we had a traditional role play for family home evening.  We make up situations that the kids might get into a see how they respond it is always an fun night.  The kids are excited for school to start but I am not.

Sleeping on the trap

Today we had a treasure hunt.  I found a treasure hunt online.  The kids ran all around the house finding clues for the treasure.  At the end the tresure was a jar of salt.  They were a little disappointed until they realized the salt meant that they each got to make ice cream in a bag.  They each got there own baggie with ingredients and got to make homemade vanilla ice cream.  The ice cream turned out really good and we will be doing that again.  Then after there ice cream the kids put on a puppet show with the sock puppets they made a few weeks ago.  That was so funny.  They all did a very creative job.  Even Dan and I did a show.  I think that the favorite was Dad.  And last of all we had a sleep out.  All summer the kids have wanted to sleep on the trampoline.  There is was always some reason why they couldn't.  So tonight we finally made it happen.  We all slept out on the trap.  We all had our sleeping bags and blankets and a lot of bug spray on us.  It was a fun night.  I love sleeping under the stars.  It was a clear night and really cool evening so that made it quite enjoyable. 

Jake and Gavin's Birthday Party

Jake and Gavin's birthday party was celebrated together this year.  Michael and Lisa decided to have the party at Michael's office and they hired a magician.  The party was a lot of fun.  The kids all got magic wonds.  The magician made a bunny appear, a ketchup bottle disappear, changed rings into diferent colors, had an extra large straw for his drink(Parker's favorite part), a trick with flowers, had a large stuffed dog(Brynlee favorite part), and a few other tricks.  He also made all of the kids balloon animals or swords.  The boys opened presents.  The kids had all kinds of treats and food.  It was a really fun birthday.  The boys loved the magic wonds because now they can play Harry Potter even better.

A play date for Abby

Abby got a call from one of her pre-school friends named Cami.  Her mom called and wanted to get together.  So she told us about a splash pas in South Ogden.  We were suppose to meet at 10:00 and bring our lunches and let the kids play.  I got a little lost and didn't get there until 10:30.  The weather wasn't the greatest it was a little rainy.  But we went anyway.  Abby friend never showed up but we stayed anyway.  The kids had so much fun.  I think that next year this might be a weekly spot.  It is free, and clean, and close and a lot of fun.  I wish that I would have known about it earlier in the summer because it closes on Labor Day.  After the splash pad Cassie's family came over and everyone played, played, played. 

Swimming and the Brigham City Temple

Today we went to Cassie's and swam.  The kids always have such a great time swimming with cousins.  Abby was happy because I forgot her life jacket so she got to swim without it.  She did great and she loved diving to the bottom of the pool looking for rings and torpedos.  We couldn't stay all day because we had tickets to go to the Brigham City Temple Openhouse.  My young womens group was going and they had some extras so we took all our family with the girls.  It was so beautiful.  The kids were so revent and well mannered.  Britton's favorite part was the mirrors in the sealing room.  Bryson's favorite part was the mirror's also and the baptismal font.  Parker's favorite part was the baptismal font.  He thought that that was so cool.  Abby and Brynlee loved the light and the paintings.  It was a great opportunity to teach that the only place that we want to be married is in the sealing rooms of the temple.  After we went to the temple we went to Peach City and got an ice cream cone.  This was a fun day.

Brynlee is turning 3!!!

Our sweet little girl is turning three today.  She is so fun.  She brings such a light into a room.  Her nickname is Angel and she is exactly that and Angel sent from heaven.  She is really funny.  She quotes movies all day and says some of the funniest things.  She loves all of her brothers and sister so much.  She loves to play animals with the boys.  They are all such good sports to play whatever she asks of them.  She loves books, My little pony, Dora the explorer, strawberry shortcake, princesses(especially her babies), to color, and play doh.  She loves to watch movies.  She also likes to sing and tell jokes.  For her birthday she wanted a My Little Pony birthday.  I made a Twilight Sparkle cake.  I drew Pinkie Pie on a posterboard and they played pin the cutie mark on Pinkie Pie.  We galloped with a stick and had a relay race.  They played hot potato with a pony, they played horseshoes, and we had a giant coloring book with My Little Pony pictures.  We had the cousins over for the party and everyone had a lot of fun.  She had a great birthday.  Some of her presents were all 6 of the main my little ponies, a baby pinkie pie doll, and dora the explorer back pack that sings, a puzzle cake, some little furry animals and a new baby doll.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYNLEE!!!

WICKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got the greatest opportunity ever.  I got invited to go and see WICKED.  Brian called and said that he had an extra ticket to Wicked and wanted to know if I wanted it.  I was so excited.  We went to dinner to the Macaroni Grill in Salt Lake and then walked to the Capital Theater.  It was Hillary, Mom, her Mom and Me.  We had awesome tickets.  We were on the floor on row U and on the side towards the aisle.  The show was absolutely amazing.  The cast sounded just like the CD.  I was so floored by the performance.  It was a best thing I have ever been to.  I had no idea that the wicked witch didn't really die.  I loved this play and if I could I would see it again and again.  Thank you so much Brian and Hillary!!!!

Camping at Mirror Lake

We finally got our camping trip in for the summer.  We have done a lot of fun things but the one thing that I wanted to do was go camping.  We got a late start but found a nice camp spot in the mirror lake camp grounds.  We were right next to the bathrooms which is what we needed for Abby.  We were also not to far from the lake.  It was a beautiful night.  It was a lot cooler but we had a fire, so we were all nice and toastie.  We roasted hot dogs for dinner and marshmallows for dessert.  Out tent is pretty small so we all spent close.  We kids all slept good.  In the morning we had eggs, sausage, and banana bread.  We made hot chocolate to warm us up.  Dan made a nice fire.  The kids had fun exploring and playing games in the woods.  At 1:00 it was time to check out so we drive to the lake and walked around the boardwalk again.  The kids saw tons of baby fish and some larger fish also.  It was lots of fun.  After that we drove all around and checked out lots of different camp sites.  We wanted to find the best ones for next year.  Then we went to the Provo Falls.  The kids had there swim clothes on and were able to play in the falls.  At one the falls Britton and Bryson found a huge hole.  It was so deep that Dan could hold on to Brittons hands and lower him into the hole and Britton couldn't touch the bottom.  So Dan filled the hole with huge rocks to try and make it a little safer for a little kid that might fall in.  This was such a fun camping trip.  It is amazing how much easier camping gets when the kids are a little older.

A Day of FUN!!!

We had such a fun time.  We had a list of things that the kids wanted to do.  So we did them.  First we did a little finger painting with pudding.  The kids had a vanilla and chocolate cup and a poster board.  They would swirl the pudding with their fingers and sometimes noses.  The kids were covered in pudding and the table was a mess.  What a great time.  Then we mixed potions.  We had test tubes, baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, and baking powder.  They exploded and bubbled all over the place.  After potions they did bubble making.  We poured liquid soap all over the table and had straws and they made the biggest bubbles.  Then we went to Cassies house for cousin play date.  It was so wonderful.  I love summer.

Spencer's game and the Davis County Fair

Today we went to Spencer's final play off game.  He was in the same tournament as Britton but a different division.  He plays for SWAT.  Spencer is the goalie for his team.  He did such a great job.  His team got 2nd place in his division of the tournament.  It was fun to get to see Spencer play.  Then we went to look at some houses with Matt and Amy.  They were pretty cool.  Awesome layouts.  Then we went to lunch at Subway.  This was a great Saturday.  We came home and just played around the house.  Then we decided to go to the Davis County Fair.  We watched the dog competition.  The dogs would try to jump as far as they could into a pool of water.  Then it was measured to see how far they jumped.  The kids loved watching the dogs.  Then the kids got to pick one ride to go on in the kid zone.  The boys all rode a twisty ride with Ethan.  The girls rode the purple train roller coaster.  They all had fun on the rides.  Then we went to the bunny house and the hen house.  The kids decided that they need a bunny.  Then they went into the petting zoo.  They got to pet goats, sheep, ponies, bunnies, a camel, a kangaroo, a donkey, a turtle and a mule.  They all loved to touch the different animals.  After the petting zoo we got in line at the sting ray area.  The kids got to touch a sting ray and also horseshoe crabs.  It was so slimey.  They thought that that was so cool.  Then we walked around some of the booths.  It was a really good night.

Britton's last game, friends over, and outdoor movie night

Today was Britton's last game in the tournament.  He played another great game.  I think that this was his best game in the tournament.  They played good as a team but were not able to win this one.  After the game Britton invited Weston and Hunter over to play and Bryson invited Bridger.  Parker was good to play with everyone.  We went and got some pizza for lunch.  We put the sprinkler under the trampoline and the slip-n-slide under the pvc sprinkler.  We also put the pvc sprinkler over the playground and they had races it get through the playground.  The boys had fun playing in the water.  Britton then had a birthday party at Surf and Swim.  He had fun with some kids in the ward.  After dinner we went to the Parkin's house for our outdoor movie.  The kids all decorated a car to take to the drive in.  Dan had some boxes left over from work and the kids were able to decorate those.  Abby's was spray painted gold with pink trim.  It had pink polka dots and pink flowers.  We put pink wheels and a pink license plate that said Abby G.  Brynlee's was spray painted pink.  We made hers look like a airplane.  We put a propeller on the front and rounded the sides to look like wings.  She also had a license plate that said Brynlee.  Parker made his car into a limo.  He painted the outside black with gray trim.  The inside of Parker's car was a spy car.  He made wheels and a license plate also.  Bryson's car was the batman mobile.  Bridger helped Bryson finish his car.  Bryson painted the outside black and put a yellow ovals with a black bat into the middle.  He also decorated the inside with lots of guns and different gadgets.  Britton's car was decorated to look like a taxi.  His car was painted yellow with a black stripe on the side with a white checkered boarder through it.  He also made a license plate and decorated the inside like a real car.  We all brought a treat to share.  We brought our popcorn maker.  Amy had treats and drinks it was set up so cute.  The kids watched the Lorax and The Princess and the Pauper, barbie movie.  The kids had fun in their cars and also playing around the backyard.  It was such a fun night.  The kids love this tradition.  We can't wait until next year.  Thanks Parkin Family.

Swimming at Cassie's house

Grandpa and Grandma Mack were able to come to Brittons game today.  He played great again today.  He got a lot of game time.  He enjoys playing forward and he is getting more and more confident the more he plays with this team.  He didn't win this game but he did tie the game.  After the game we went to cool down and go swimming at Cassie's house.  Amy, Cassie and I swam today with the kids.  We had fun playing games with the kids.  We made a whirlpool.  Abby got to take off her life jacket and she was so excited to swim without it.  She did good swimming and practicing he skills in the water.  We had a fun day in the water.

Summer Olympics

Today we invited all the cousins over for our own summer olympics.  We had sprinting, long distance run, balance beam, trampoline routinue, discs throw, shot-put, javelin, long jump and volleyball.  The kids were all timed and were able to participate in each event.  They all had fun.  It was a nice to see them all cheer each other on.  They were happy when each other did good.  The cousins are good to encourage each other and not worry to much about 1st place and so forth.  After all the events were finished we rewarded each of them with a gold medal.  Then we put the sprinkler under the trampoline.  We played in the water until Brittons game.  Then Cassie and Amy brought there kids to watch Britton play.  He was excited to have his cousins at his game.  He played good but didn't win this game. 

Striker's Cup

Today Britton has the start of another tournament.  This one is close it is in Layton.  Britton played really well today and he had a lot of fun.  He didn't win but it was a close game.  His team is good but they just turned off there fuel after the second half.  Hopefully tomorrow will go a little better.  After Britton's game we came home I was able to clean house and the kids just played.  It was a good day to get caught up on all the odds and ends.  Our power went out today and I decided that we need to be a lot more prepared.  I had no way of making dinner and I need to be able to cook even if i don't have a oven, microwave or a grill.  I need to get organized in emergency preparedness and have a plan.

School shopping and Sadie's birthday

Today I decided to take all of the kids for a little school shopping.  I needed to return some shirts that I got at Ross.  So we returned the shirts and started to look for the right sizes.  I bought the boys some shirts and the sizes on the shirts were all so crazy.  It could be the same shirt brand and same size as the shirt we tired on before but fit totally different.  After trying on a bunch of shirts and shorts we left with some good finds, but I will not go clothes shopping again with all five kids without Dan again.  It was to crazy.  After shopping we went to Cassie's house for some swimming.  It was Sadie's birthday.  The kids swam all day.  We stayed and had Sadie's party that night when the men got off of work.  We had fun watching the kids swim and visiting with each other.  Sadie turned 2 today, happy birthday.

Olympics closing ceremonies

Today was a nice peaceful Sunday.  The kids played so good together.  I love Sundays when we can just relax and take it easy.  We watched the last of the events for the Olympics.  The kids loved to watch the events.  Britton would check all day to see if the coverage had started.  Then while the events were going the kids would be re-enacting the events at home.  The girls practiced there gymnastics and the boys mostly practiced there wrestling and running.  The Parkin's air conditioning wasn't working so we invited them over for dinner and we all watched the closing ceremonies together.  That was a little different.  We enjoyed the music but I wasn't quite sure on the storyline.  It is amazing to watch people fulfill dreams and goals they have set.  We also liked to listen to the stories behind the athlete.  Britton has decided that he wants to be in the Olympics he just needs to decide what event.

Britton's final game and Caren's wedding

Britton had his last game of the tournament.  Unfortunately they lost.  It was a good experience for Briton.  Next week he has another tournament, this one is in Layton.  He is hoping for more time on the field and also more wins. 
Caren Anderson got married today.  I was the only one who went because Brynlee has a fever again.  So Dan stayed home with the kids.  I left at 3:30 and went with my Mom and Cassie to the wedding.  We got to the wedding a little early so we stopped at the Chocolate Cottage.  Mom bought us all a treat.  It was really yummy.  We tasted a chocolate covered grape.  It sounds yucky but it was really good.  Then we went to the wedding.  Uncle Doug married Caren and TJ.  He did a great job.  Caren looked beautiful and so did Cora.  It was a really pretty reception hall.  The hall was like a greenhouse, plants and flowers all around the outside of the room.  They also served coldstone and cupcakes.  It was a fun reception.  Great music and awesome company.  It was fun to sit and visit with cousins.  After the wedding we went to dinner.  Michael and his family came with us and Amy came home with Mom, Cassie and Me.  We had a fun time together hanging out with family. 

More SOCCER

Tonight was a crazy game.  It was a little cloudy.  But after a few minutes into the game it was raining and then lightning and thundering.  The game was called after the score was 2 to 1.  We waited for about 15 minutes then they decided to play again.  We scored and tied up the score.  Then they called the game again because of the weather.  Bridger invited all the boys to go home with them.  They even asked Parker.  They ended up going to the Shaw's grandparents house for popcorn, ice cream and a movie.  They watched Little Giants.  The boys said that they had a great time.  Dan and I and the girls went with Grandpa and Grandma Gardner to get ice cream.  We had a nice time.  They came to Britton's game to support him.  We are so blessed to live so close to so much family.