First day of school!

Yesterday was the first day of school for Savanna and Mitch. They were both really excited and woke up early without any fuss. They both told me that they had a hard time sleeping the night before because they were so excited. I am happy that they are both enjoying it so far.

Savanna is in the 2nd grade this year and her teacher is Mrs. O'Rullian. She came home yesterday and said "I love Mrs. O'Rullian." Savanna loves school and I hope that she has a great year. The only concern I have is that she has kind of had a rough time finding good friends to hang out with, so I really hope this year is better as far as that goes. Reid gave her a blessing before school and in it he said that she would be kind to those around her and find good friendships this year. That is exactly what her mother needed to hear.

Mitchel is in the 1st grade and his teacher is Mrs. McLaren. This is her 1st year at Discovery, but she has been teaching for a bunch of years at another school. She seems really nice, and soft spoken. Mitch said his first day was a lot of fun. I worry a little bit about him academically, not that he isn't smart, he just doesn't think it is all that important. In his blessing Reid said that by the end of the year he would learn to love to read. This also helped his Mother I'm sure more than him.

Getting on the school bus this morning- I drove them yesterday. I think they were a little embarrassed that their Mom was out at the bus stop taking their picture. (oh well!)

Savanna's classroom

Mitchel's classroom- he was so excited to get a desk this year.

The kids in front of the school. It was raining so we had to do it under the shelter.

I'm not ready for this!

You can always tell that summer is coming to an end when my Zinnia's finally bloom, they take all summer to get there and I love them so much, but it is a little depressing when they finally bloom because I know that it means summer is almost over.

We had such a fun-filled summer that I cannot complain at all, but I wish we had just a few more weeks to enjoy it. I can fill fall in the air, it is a little cooler, it is getting darker earlier, we are eating corn on the cob, and school is starting tomorrow. I actually also really like fall and I will try to appreciate every season for what it is.

Here are a few pictures of my zinnia's, Carolina having her first corn on the cob which she loved, and our last horray trip to Ross park last week.

I love these flowers, its too bad they wait until August to bloom!

I cut the corn off the cob for her, but when she saw everyone else eating it on the cob, she wanted it that way too.

Mitch in the kiddie pool

Treyton and McKay, they loved it! It looks like McKay was crying, but he wasn't.

Mitchel showing me his stroke

Savanna and Cooper in the lazy river

Leah and Carolina- it was so nice to have Leah join us, she was such a helper with the kids

And of course Grandma cuddling Treyton to get him warm

Ruth soaking up some sun

First hair cut

Before- It looks kind of crazy because I pulled out the ponytail she had on the top of her head.

I wasn't sure what to do with Carolina's hair, it was starting to look like a mulet, and I thought if I trimmed it up a little it might just look a little thicker. So I trimmed it around the back and on the sides. I thought it turned out really cute.

After

Van and LarRene Sargent reunion at Palisades

We just returned from the Sargent reunion at Palisades, we had a lot of fun camping and boating. My oldest sister Sara was in charge of the reunion this year, and she did a great job planning a fun time. We had the theme "What is your title of Liberty?" We each had to come up with our own title of Liberty for each family.

Our title of Liberty comes from several different talks given by Gordan B. Hinkley it is "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured. Live the gospel, be true to the faith, cling to the Church, honor your parents, love the Lord, and walk as a child of God. Be true to yourselves and the best you have within you. Sin never was happiness, disobedience never was happiness. The way of happiness is found in the plan of our Father in Heaven and in obedience to the commandments of His Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Work hard, Play hard and together as a family we will always be there for each other."

We each took turns being in charge of a meal, and during the meal that you were in charge of it was your family's responsibility to present a short spiritual message. This really helped make the whole weekend have a spiritual undertone to it. I really enjoyed hearing every one's devotionals and am so glad that we did that. We also each made a family flag that had our own title of Liberty's on it. That will be nice to be able to have for years to come.

Some of the boys did some 4-wheeling and motorbiking. And we got to go out boating and skiing. All in all it was a great time, the weather was perfect and the country was beautiful.

I didn't get as many pictures as I normally do, just because the camera wasn't very handy, but I got a few. The pictures that I didn't get that I wish I had were: My dad sitting on the shore with the tube behind him for shade, Shane all geared up in his motorcycle gear, Val and her dogs and Mitchel trying to get up on waterski's. I'm sure there were many other photo moments that I missed as well.


Mitch entertaining Carolina while we were trying to get packed up- she loved this!
Carolina taking a much needed nap in the trailer. I forgot to bring her PJ's so the poor girl had to sleep with her clothes on each night.

This was where we had our meals and hung out, it was a cool area surrounded my trees. If you can see in the shade is Sara, my Mom, McKay, Tony, Ruth and Naomi.

Mitch and the other kids were playing with Kent in the mud.

Oh boy!

Savanna and Karlee

Easton, Elijah, Cooper, Mitch and Treyton

Kent getting some mud!

Me, Savanna, Treyton and Mitchel

The boat coming in

Ruth, Savanna and Easton

We borrowed this watermat from my cousin Alan and the kids loved playing on it (ok so the adults did too!)

Angie relaxing on the shore

unloading the boat

Flaming Gorge

This last weekend we headed out on quite the journey to Flaming Gorge to the Marv and Loris Campbell Family reunion (Marv and Loris are Reid's maternal grandparents). What we thought would be a 7 hour drive at the most turned into almost 9 hours after a few stops for lunch, gas and potty breaks. The drive was definitely the worst part of the trip, but it was worth it for the fun we had. We stayed in a very beautiful camp ground high in the Mountains surrounded by lots of trees. The weather was ideal (cool, but not cold) which was so relaxing to get away from the heat. Jeff and Claudia Campbell hosted the reunion and did a great job providing lots of yummy meals and great times around the camp fire. We got to hear fun stories from Jeff and Mickey about their grandparents, parents and about each other. It's kind of a small family since Marv and Loris only had 3 children and their oldest son Guy was killed on Mt. Borah. So there is only Mickey and Jeff surviving. All of Reid's siblings were there, and Jeff and Claudia were only missing 1 of their daughters. Between us all there were 21 kids there, but they were all very well behaved. It was fun getting to spend time with everyone renewing our relationships with cousins.

We went and got a tour of the Flaming Gorge dam which was kind of neat to see, we swam in the reservoir and just hung out around the camp fire. It was a really fun trip.

Carolina found a tree branch to play with at camp.

Reid and the girls playing in the reservoir

Me, Marv (Damien), and Treyton on the raft

Reid and Carolina (we didn't plan on her swimming but she wouldn't rest until she got in- jeans and all.)

Savanna and Mitch on our dam tour

The dam- it is an amazing thing to see up close

me and Mitch and Savanna on our tour (Reid took Treyton and Carolina on a drive)

Mitch and Savanna

Mickey telling her stories around the campfire, Lori taking care of Gid next to her.

Reid with our tired kids watching the fire

I wanted to put this picture in because he can see Jeff looking up at the stars

Danny giving us a lecture on the stars

He was pointing out all the constellations in the sky. The stars were so bright in the sky up there.

Me and Treyton at the dam look-out

Soaking up the sun

Alexis, Tyler, Sarah, and Carson Hansen and their cousin Andrea

Cooper, Mitch, Angie, Kate and Savanna

Angie and Kate

Treyton has turned into a little fish

Carolina on the run

We are trying to sqeeze in every last fun summer activity that we can from now until school starts. Yesterday my friend Sarah and her kids, and Angie and her kids and me and my kids went down to Pocatello to Ross Park and played for the day. We all had a lot of fun! We had so much fun that we are going to fit in another day there before the end of the summer.

I love the lazy river, I could sit and float on that tube for hours, but Carolina didn't love it so I didn't get to spend much time on it. She just wants to run all over so I felt like I spent the whole time chasing her.