Jackson's 1st day of Kindergarten

Long before school was even on the horizon, I dreamed of the day when my little baby would go to his first day of Kindergarten. I saw the big smile on his face, the new over sized backpack on his back, the crisp bright polo shirt with the lines that only new clothes have and new school shoes.

Never in that vision did I see this......

my son in a hand-me down Mexico soccer jersey,shin guards included. When I suggested to Jackson last night what he should wear, he didn't like the suggestion. Well, I didn't like his suggestion but he reminded me that it was his first day of school (valid point) and besides he has soccer practice at 5:00 and he wouldn't want to have to change his clothes(he is such a boy).Viva Mexico!!! So much for my dreams.

Regardless of what he was wearing, he was still cute. We live down the street from the school so we walked to it. Here he is in motion.

We had to find his name outside of the door. I think I have a picture just like this of me finding my name on something on my first day of school.

Here is his teacher Mrs. Constanzo. We met her the other night and

she seems really fun. I think he is really going to like her.

Here he is coming out at the end of the day. He looks enthused!I didn't even cry, although I had a lump in my throat. Kelsey cried for me though. She didn't get the memo she wasn't staying and bawled when I escorted her out of the classroom.

Our big kindergartner.

Despite his ever so energetic look on his face, he really did like his 1st day of school. He can't wait for recess(apparently it's not everyday) and he wants to know if he is going to learn how

to play football in the gym class. Something tells me they are not but don't tell him. I can already hear the "awwwwe come on" I'll hear from him the day he is let in on our little secret.

Kid Comparisions

People tell me either my kids look all alike or all different. For fun I thought that I would post pictures of them from around the same age give or take a few weeks. You can be the judge of whether they look similar or not.

Jackson at 6 months

Jocelyn at 6 months

Kelsey at 6 months

Bryce at 6 months

$2.00 Find

On Saturday, Jocelyn and I drove down to the local grocery to return a movie. We passed the thrift store in our route and there was a big red sign that advertised "Furniture Clearance". I only had one kid with me and was not in a hurry so I decided to stop. There on the front lawn amidst the other furniture was this solid wood bedside table/dresser. Other than a good layer of dust in was in pretty good, clean condition but the best part about it was it's solid wood construction. I saw the potential it possessed and well...$2.00 later, Jocelyn and I were lugging it to the back of the mini van.

The exact location, use and color that my find would take was constantly changing but I finally decided to use it in the kids room and paint it blue. I didn't think to take a picture of it before I started stripping the paint off of it but here are the before shots.

The dresser on it's side.

The drawers

I wanted something fun and decided on two shades of blue just because I could. I went to Lowe's and found out the color I chose was a whole lot more than the cheaper Lowe's stuff. I should have waited until I didn't have all four kids with me and no time constraints because I had buyer's remorse on the blues I chose. They are more along the lines of IKEA Let's make a statement blue than Pottery Barn kids which I have would preferred but did I mention it cost $2.00? I don't think I really could have gone wrong.

The project took me about 2 days and I was so excited to have it completed that I failed to test things out before I moved it into the kids room. You'll notice that I need to go back and paint the inside of the dresser. The picture makes the lighter blue look white but it's actually like a sky blue or a robin blue and darker blue isn't so bright. It's didn't turn out exactly how I envisioned but I am pretty happy with the results and so are the kids. Kelsey keeps saying, "It's so beautiful". Jackson just wanted it blue for BYU. I am just happy I got it for $2.00.

Trip to Utah Part 2

Grandpa took the kids fishing. Jocey apparently has a natural knack

for the sport because she caught a fish right at the start.

Got to love the face on Jocelyn in this photo.

I don't think she knows what to think of the fish.

Jackson was so excited to go fishing but his luck wasn't as

good as Jocelyn's. He had a nibble but it didn't make

it out of the water. Maybe next time.

I posted this picture just for the scenery behind the people.

This is a picture of the boat launch on Henry's Fork on the Snake.

We started many a boat trip from this point. My dad use to

drive across the old train track bridge in the background.

You can't go to the cabin without having a fire and roasting

marshmallows. Jackson really loves smores!!

Kelsey just wanted the marshmallows.

Jackson desperately wanted to learn how to drive the little 4-wheeler.

Uncle Rinehart was kind enough to risk limb and life to try to teach him.

Uncle Rinehart was very patient but I think Jackson

needs a few more lessons and a few more years

before we let him ride solo.

Thanks for the lessons Rinehart!!!

I spent most of my vacations as a child going to Yellowstone. I was very excited that I was going to be able to take my kids there. Unfortunately John-David had to leave to go home so he didn't get to join us. We took the kids to see Old Faithful and some other hot pots. We also did the traditional Meier venture of looking for bears and wolves. I think some habits die hard. As grown adults we were still going to the park rangers and asking where the latest bear siting was. We even taught our kids the song we use to sing. "A penny for an elk. A nickel for a moose. A dime if you tell me where the bears are". Aah the memories.

This was a picture of all the grand kids

minus Robbie and Kelley's bunch.

Our bison that we could literally reach out our

window and touch his tail. We refrained though.

A Motley Crew

If you have any friends from Asia who recently visited Yellowstone

you might find this photo on their blog. This shot of a bunch of blond

girls sitting on a bench was a favorite to take.

Jackson was determined to find a bear. It didn't matter what we showed

him, nothing was good enough. Well around dinner time we finally saw

a mom and baby bear. He was finally happy with his trip to Yellowstone.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for taking us to Yellowstone.

When we returned from the cabin, more time

was spent playing with the cousins.

The dark haired child in the middle was a friend of the cousin's.

Jocey just loves her Grandma Larna Jeano.

She loves the pampering treatments

that Grandma gives her. Jocey got a nightly foot

massage from Grandma.

We chose a good time to come out because we ended up

overlapping a lot of different friend's trips including our friends

the Gillette's. Kennadee looks the same but bigger but Cade is such a big kid now.

It was so fun catching up with friends.

We took the kids down to temple square and the church history museum.

Jackson wanted his picture taken with the Christus.

Cousins at the reflecting pool.

I think Morgan was reflecting that she didn't

want her photo taken.

The kids had a great time playing in the play area

at the church museum. There were all sorts of things to do.

Kelsey found a lot of dolls to love. She was in heaven.

Jackson sporting a shepherd dress up.

This kid loves to dress-up.

As we were walking to the car I snapped this photo.

Salt Lake really is such a beautiful place.

I absolutely loves being so close to the temple and the

weather was great. No humidity!!!

We couldn't get enough time in with the cousins.

Uncle Robbie couldn't get enough of Jocey's cheeks.

Jocey wasn't so sure about him.

Jackson's dream came true when Uncle Robbie, Riley and little

Robbie played Star Wars all evening long. They choreographed battles

and we even recorded them. After all the Stars Wars, they played a little

game of football with the uncles. Jackson was in heaven.

We had such a fun time with family and friends. Thank you

for all who made it such a wonderful time for all of us!

Trip to Utah Part 1

This year my father turned 60 years old. My sister Melissa decided to organize a big surprise birthday party for him and well we thought we ought to go out for the fun. I wasn't really excited by the idea of flying solo with 4 little ones but it's the sacrifices you make for living so far from family. John-David decided to fly stand by and he was able to come out for a week too. We both arrived on the day of the party and fortunately I arrived a little earlier to help with the last minute preparations. My family put in a lot of work making cute table decorations, balloons and some great food. Unfortunately we were all so busy with the party, we all forgot to take photos of the event. My dad was pretty surprised and we got to see some people we hadn't seen in a really longtime. It turned out to be a really great night.

Since the family was all going to be together, my mom had planned to have our family photo done. We had a bit of a family tragedy come up so we scrapped the family photo. We still wanted to get a photo of the grand kids so we took one on our own in my parents back yard. Aside from Jackson having Bryce in a choke hold in the photo it turned out pretty cute. As you can see it's a family full of blondie's.

When I asked Jackson what he wanted to do when he went to Utah, he responded with, "Go to a BYU game". Since it's not the right season for football that wasn't quite possible but my cousin's husband happens to be a BYU coach graduate assistant and was able to make two boy's dreams come true with a personal tour of Lavell Edwards stadium and the training facility. John-David will need to blog on all that because I didn't take the tour so I don't know what they saw. These are the photos I liked.

Jackson with the "Y"

Dad and Jackson at the fake stadium and the real stadium below.

Our timing of our trip turned out to be very special. The day before I left to fly out, we found out that my youngest sister Christina, who was 8 months pregnant, that her baby's heart stopped beating for some unknown reason. It was their second child and if you want to read more about it you can link to her blog on the side listed as Christina and Michael. My sister normally lives in Arizona but was visiting for the summer while her husband worked for my dad. This was the first time in a year and 1/2 that my family was all together.

She had her baby on the 22ND and I was able to go over to the hospital and be with them for a little bit and meet Connor before they buried him the next day. The next day they had small grave side service with Michael' s family and ours. My dad is the bishop of his ward and presided over the service. He did a wonderful job and just reminded us of the Plan of Salvation. My niece Amelie drew a beautiful picture of Christina's family and her explanation of the plan of salvation. It was very sweet and so wonderful how the a 9 year can grasp what's happening. I am very grateful for the gospel in my life and to have the understanding of forever families. I know it has helped my sister through this difficult time.

All of Connor's cousins putting flowers on the casket.

We had planned a trip to my parent's cabin for that same day. We decided to carry on with those plans and Michael and Christine just came up the next day after taking care of some stuff. We all needed a distraction to take our minds of the situation.

Jackson and Grandpa wasted no time in breaking out the camo. Most of Jackson's time was spent by Grandpa's side. They are definitely of one heart when it comes to nature.

Dad hanging out on the 4-Wheeler.

Jocelyn and her cousin Sadie may be two years difference in age

but these girls were joined at the hip. They get along so well.

I love it. I never had a girl cousin my age to pal around with.

Kelsey loved being outside.

Nothing brings a smile to your face like seeing a large man

on a kid size 4-wheeler.

4-Wheeling Divas!!!

More on our trip to come.