Tay's 1st day of 2nd grade!

My baby girl is growing up too fast. She started 2nd grade this year. She is so fun and sweet and cute, but boy I still wish she wasn't this old yet. She was so excited for school that when I woke her up she literally bounced out of bed and said "Is it time for school?" (In one of my better parenting moments she was telling me why she was so excited the night before, but I fell asleep in the middle of it. I know, I am an awesome mother. ) She was very excited to go. It was great, if only I had her enthusiasm about going to work on the first day of school.

After school, my friends Jill, Jaime and I took our girls to Dear Lizzie for a tea party. They loved the fancy drinks, cupcakes and cookies. They were so cute! And the moms had time to have a Coke and catch up. Even better!

Fancy treats for fabulous girls!

And my favorite outfit that we bought Tay for school on her 2nd day of 2nd grade

(Notice that we have yet another HSM backpack this year!)

Wendover winnings--not so much!

I measure a lot in life in terms of school. Why? Because it consumes great amounts of my time. So-- the Saturday Before School Started we went to Wendover with our friends/family members. Creed and Emily, Mark and Teresa, Eric and Nickie and Corb and I loaded into Ryan and Mel's suburban (thanks guys!) and made the trip. It is such a lovely trip. Lots of desert, salt and sagebrush. (But why in the @#** do people live out there?) The company was excellent though and the drive went quickly. We had a fun night of comedy, too much food, not enough sleep and playing the slot machine and craps. I am such a tightwad. I am not a gambler. I always think of a million different things that I could do with the money, so all in all I spent/lost $20 bucks the whole trip. Now, if only I had that much self control when shopping! Corb however, is a lover of the craps table. And I must say that I ALMOST understand how to play that game now. Okay, I don't but I did try to play this time. After breakfast the next morning we loaded up and made the trip home. Just in time to get prepared for Tay's first day of school. We had a great trip and couldn't ask for better friends and cousins!

Wendover Women for a night

Me, Teresa, Nickie and Emily

Dinosaur Museum

Before we trudged off to school again...we took the kids to the dinosaur museum. Tay and I met my friends Mindy, Cami and Cheryl for a day of fun with the kids before all the fun had to come to a screeching halt. Darn work! We had a nice day--the kids had fun at the museum and then we went to my house to hang out and catch up.

Goodbye to Dyl!

Our time with Dyl went way too fast! We had one last hurrah the first weekend in August. After three days of fun, we returned her to her family and had a BBQ. We played with my other niece Sophia, had a nice visit with my brother and sister-in-law and ate great food. Thanks guys! It was a really nice night--until we had to tell Dyl goodbye. That never gets easier! I honestly do not know how my brother does it. We won't see her until the holidays and it seems like forever. We love her so much and cherish the time we have with her.

Dyl, Tay and Soph

Cousins and the best of friends!



One of Dyl's new toys this summer

Soph and her wheeler!

Mamma Mia!

While my friends from work and I were in Ogden at a conference we had a chance to see Mamma Mia! We went to the late show, since we didn't get thru dinner quick enough, and were blessed enough to not have many others share the theatre with us. That was a good thing! I think we annoyed/entertained those who had to put up with our singing/dancing during the movie. It was great fun!!

A sleeper of a concert!

On August 1st, we went to the Martina McBride concert. I like Martina, but it was not an exciting concert. We met my friend Vicki and her girls there--that was one of the highlights of the evening. The girls had fun playing and dancing and then. . .

They completely zonked out! They weren't just drowsy, they were to the point of drooling!

I thought it was hilarious. After we left, Vicki went to the Breaking Dawn release party at Borders. She discovered why there were so few people at the concert. They were all in line to get the last book in the Twilight series!

Celebrating the 24th of July!

One month later, aren't you still wondering what we did over the weekend of the 24th of July? Probably not, but I am trying to catch up (AGAIN!) and I loved these pictures.

We loaded up the boys and Tay and headed to the cabin. Jay and Sharon had arranged a BIG 4-wheeler ride for Saturday and they weren't kidding. We rode for 8 hours for a total of 65 miles. The kids were great! I was so tired by the end as I am sure they were. But there were no complaints.

Tay, Carter, Mike

At the top of the first ridge--they are still smiling

There were so many wildflowers, it was gorgeous!

Just a small section of the road we traveled on!

It was a little dusty!

A soggy picnic with Grandma and Grandpa H. thanks to the rain

Almost the end of the ride and the kids 'patience!

On Sunday, the kids played in the creek with boats that Jay made them. They had a ton of fun in the creek!

Then it was down to the pool to dive, play on the slide and hijack other people's inflatible toys!

It was another lovely summer weekend!