First Day of School...

Here are my baby boys.....not so much anymore. They were in a silly mood that first morning. Anyone like the gnome? I couldn't resist buying a three pack that were on sale for $5 and putting the cute little things in random flower beds in my yard. Gnomeo and Juliet is one of my fav movies of all times. Apparently the kids are pretty fond of them too. Nick is in 5th grade this year and J.D. is in 3rd.

Nick was asked to be on the Youth 2000 group again this year. It's such a great experience for him. They help will all the school activities and give presentations at the assemblies and in classrooms. Here is the group on the first day of school ready to greet and help the students. These students are recommended by teachers. What a honor for Nick to be asked two years in a row. Way to go bud!

Abi started 8th grade this year....a new school....and way too far away for my liking. It'll definitely not be as easy to stop by and bring her stuff. It's about a 20 minute drive :(. Anyway, one night Abi was really letting her personality shine. I was gone and she sent me this pic she had taken. Not sure why, but I think it's super cute...maybe it's because she resembles a little kid here and it's just so crazy that she's growing up so fast.

And here she is at the start of another school year

Meili started full-time preschool this fall. This girl has quite the schedule this year between preschool, ballet, speech, and Tavaci. I think it's going to wear me out just getting her where she needs to go. But she's loving it all.

And here's the big man on campus. He thinks he's pretty cool being able to drive and come and go as he pleases.

And can you guess what his main focus is? Yep, it's that time of year again....although I'm pretty sure golf is on his brain all year.

Happy school year kids! Do your best and work hard!!!

Mei Mei's Surgery...

I think we've been on a honeymoon with Meili since we brought her home. We haven't had to worry about surgeries or any dental work so far. I think the honeymoon is officially over and we get to start on the heartbreaking yet necessary process of helping our angel start on the long list of procedures that await her.

As we prepared for this first surgery I just didn't think she could handle much more after having the trauma of falling out the window and going through what she did with that experience. Sometimes we don't realize how much our kids really understand. I could tell she knew what was about to take place and wasn't one bit excited about it. And all I could think about was how awful it was in the emergency room when they were sticking her with needles and IVs etc. But our doctor felt it needed to be done and I just had to come to grips with that.

One day as Russel and I were talking, the name of the doctor slipped his mind and he said to me, "remind me of his name?" Meili piped right up and said "Dr. Poopface." We tried hard to hold a serious face but all three of us ended up laughing hysterically.

The big day arrived and we went into Primary Children's Hospital very early. Of course they were amazing. Meili was nervous but they have so many fun things that she was quickly distracted. The very hardest part of course is when they take your baby out of your arms and go through the big doors.

It takes a lot of faith and trust to let a complete stranger take your baby. But she did okay and the anesthesiologist told us later that she got a little teary but was easily distracted with a story she told her. Thank goodness for doctors that are moms too.

The surgery went well and she came out of recovery doing pretty good.

Our little girl was a total champ and did great. The "candy striper" volunteers were great and came to our room to color with her and brought playdoh for her. Russels office sent up some balloons and the cutest stuffed animal. It brought some much needed smiles to her sweet face.

We love you brave girl! One day this will all seem worth it. Until then, thanks for being such a sweet little trooper.

Last Days of Summer...

Oh how sad we are to see the hot days of summer coming to an end. School is fast approaching and schedules are filling up. We took advantage of every minute we could in Bear Lake before things and kids get going in a million different directions.

Our good friends, the Adairs, from Arizona, have moved back to Utah after moving back and forth a couple times. When they lived here, it was tradition to go to Bear Lake at least once a summer. We were happy to make that tradition happen again. We love their adorable kiddies!

We also were so excited to have our friends, the Brooksbys, come spend a few days with us. We have been good friends with them since medical school and they were even at Utah State...so we go WAY back. It was great for the kids to get together and have some fun.

Limber Pines

Go-Karts

The adults raced and of course the girls dominated!

Mindy and I being so awesome!

And of course you can't have a great time in Bear Lake without a shake. While we waited for our shakes, Abi's friend, Hannah, tried to show us a cool trick. I couldn't figure out why we couldn't do it very good. After looking at the pictures, we clearly weren't incompetent, we just didn't have the correct arm positioning. 😑

YUM-O!!!

We also were able to get most of Russel's family up here to spend the night and go see our favorite show at Pickleville Playhouse, Juanito Bandito! Here is the famous Jaunito with some of the cousins.

 

Raspberry Days....

Raspberry Days is a big celebration Garden City holds every year in Bear Lake.  Bear Lake is famous for their raspberries, better yet....raspberry shakes, and my personal favorite.... chocolate covered raspberries.  We had a great weekend.  There were lots of things to do and lots to keep the kids entertained.  Grandma and Grandpa joined us as well the Hirsts.  The Hirsts brought their boat and even called in a favor to find us a perfect spot on the beach.  The kids loved it and were well entertained with the amenities of a swing set, sand box, and trampoline...oh and HUGE trees providing the perfect amount of shade.  It was awesome.

Wonder where she gets it from??

And the boys loved having Daddy take them for a round of golf

And the most favorite activity?  GO-KARTS!!!