First Grade!!!!

Claire on her first day with her huge back pack!




You are probably thinking "WHAT???- it's still July!" We are on Year Round school now. So, this is how it worked. We got out of School June 11th and started a new school year today. We had 6 weeks of summer. I think that was plenty though. We will have a nice 3 week vacation in October and then in January and then in April, so it's just broken up more. I think we will like the schedule. It will be great for vacations. Plus summer didn't get too long or boring.
The big thing is that Claire started going to First Grade (all day long) today! The all day long part is the weirdest thing. I really missed her, but the day went by faster than I thought. Maybe that's because I'm busy trying to get ready for the baby. She had a good day. She did say that she missed kindergarten, but I think it's just because she was worn out when she got home. She also didn't eat all of her lunch so she was starving when she got home. The reason she didn't eat her lunch was because they make the kids sit at the tables for at least 8 minutes before they let them go out to recess (for those kids that would rather play than eat anything), so after the 8 minutes Claire thought she HAD to leave. She had only taken one bite of sandwich and ate a few carrots. Hopefully she will take more than 8 minutes to eat lunch tomorrow. She also didn't meet me in our designated meeting spot. She heard other kids saying they were riding their bikes home so she got excited and ran over to the bikes to ride her bike that wasn't there. I had to ask her teacher if she had seen her. She said Claire was so excited about riding her bike she took off that way. Maybe she can ride tomorrow. Other than that her teacher is great, and she got to play with a good friend at recess. It was a big day for Claire, but I think she will love this year.

Summer 2009

I know summer isn't over yet, but with Claire starting school in July (year round school) and with the baby due any day I feel like we might not have as much of a chance to get out and do a lot of things, so here's a list or recap of our 6 weeks of Summer 2009!


I think we've been swimming more times than I can count. This is because we have a community pool in our neighborhood, which is so convenient. The kids LOVE to swim! Claire also mastered the art of a cannon ball this summer- I need to get a picture of that!





We've been bowling- the kids loved this too! It was so cute to see them in their little bowling shoes! I even bowled. I was off balance with my huge belly, but I still won :) sorry Shawn!



We've gone to many parks and spray parks and the zoo!



We've also done different kinds of crafts at home.



And the one thing we did more than swimming was probably going to the Library. Every Wednesday they had a craft day and we took advantage of that plus the free books and movies! I really do love the library! We've had a great summer! Now it's time to bring on homework and a new baby! Really????

Biking!

Claire can now ride her bike without training wheels! We've worked with her off and on this Summer, but the other day she just decided she could do it, and took off! Yeah Claire! You are growing up so much everyday. Next thing we know you will be taking off in a car. I'm so glad that's at least 10 years away!






Will has also been working on riding his bike. We've gotten kind of lazy just pushing him around with the handle (much easier) but he's become independent and likes to peddle as much as he can.

Our play day!

We went wave running up at Jordanelle Reservoir a couple of weekends ago and had a blast! Shawn got a new towable intertube for his birthday, and we had fun with that! We played all day long! Here are some pictures of us at Jordanelle!

We played.....


...on the new tube!



... in the sand!


....on the Rocks!


... on the wave runner!



...and of course we played in the water ..... a perfect day!

Guys Camping Trip

Shawn, Will, Jim and Gavin went camping a couple of weeks ago. They were only gone for a day, but that's probably long enough with the two little guys. It looks like they had fun! Claire and I had our own girls night out too. We went out to dinner and then went and saw the Hannah Montana Movie at the dollar theater! We had fun too!

July 4th weekend!

We had a great 4th of July weekend! It started on July 2nd when we went with Trisha and James and family to the Drive In Theater and saw Ice Age, and then the double feature Night at the Museum! Most of us fell asleep for the double feature, but Claire stayed awake for both. The next day our family went to The Gateway Mall (an outside mall) and had the kids run in the open water fountain they have there. After the kids dried off we went out to dinner. The next day was the 4th, and we started the day with the West Jordan Parade! Thanks to Jim for saving us an awesome place to sit! We ate pizza after that at Jim and Jaime's home and then went to my parents to hang out and eat dinner and then went to the Sandy carnival and saw the awesome fireworks! On Sunday we drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon and relaxed by the river! It was a super weekend!



David and Will waiting for the parade to start!



Will running out onto Redwood Rd to get candy that was thrown from a float! He loved it that people were throwing candy!


Girl cousins! Cassie, Liddy, and Claire watching the parade!


Fireworks at Sandy!


Will and Claire up Big Cottonwood Canyon!

Big Sister!

Claire is such a good big sister! One morning last week I turned on TV for the kids and went to fix breakfast. As I was fixing it I noticed Will was getting scared of some bad guy on the cartoon. I was about to go in and change the channel, but then Claire said "don't worry Will I will protect you". They sat by each other and Claire put her arm around Will and every once in awhile he would hide his face in her shoulder and she would tell him "It's OK it's just pretend". What a good big sister!
By the way the bad cartoon guy wasn't that bad- it was PBS, but Will is just a little sensitive to anyone that is mean on a cartoon.

Zoo Trip

Since Claire has been out of school I've been trying to do fun things every week. Last week we went to the zoo for the day. It was fun, but hot. Here are pictures of the kids.

Claire with a funny hat near the tiggers!


Will being BIG!


Claire being Bigger!




Last year Will was scared of the lion water fountain. This year he loved it!

Claire is 6!

On June 28th Claire Bear turned 6 years old! On the 27th we had her birthday party! She wanted a seahorse party (a variation on beloved horses) so we went to the aquarium! We invited all of our family, but she also got to bring two special friends. I think everyone had fun, but most important the birthday girl said she had fun! Happy Birthday sweet Claire! We love you!


We had cupcakes with sea creature toppers!


The Aquarium had a sunken ship where the party was held!


Claire with her friends Belle and Emily!


Some of the family that came! Cassie, Trisha, David, Gavin and Jim trying to touch a Sting Ray. Seriously I was freaked out, but I touched it too. It was slimy and squishy- yuck.


The birthday girl.


Claire wearing a seahorse shirt. I also bought a giant seahorse balloon, but forgot to take a picture of it. Anyway, I was trying to do as much seahorse stuff as possible!


If the day weren't crazy enough we decided to go wave running right after Claire's party! We headed up to Willard Bay and spent a few hours in the sun and water. This picture is of Shawn, Liddy and Claire! And Below is Will playing on the shore.




Claire on her real birthday that Sunday! Officially 6 years old!

My Super Hero Kids

Batman and Super Girl!
Really I think I have the best kids in the world! They are so loving, cuddly and helpful! I couldn't ask for better kids! How did I get so lucky!

Oquirh Mountain Temple!

We were able to go to another Temple open house. We went to the Draper Temple in February and the Oquirh Temple in June! The Oquirh Temple is right by our home! We can walk to it! I love it that I can see it in our neighborhood! What a great blessing! Hopefully we will be able to go often. The kids loved going too. I hope Shawn and I can go to the dedication in August. Here's a picture of the kids in front of the Temple with their cousins Cassie and Liddy.

Vegas Baby!

Literally I brought our baby to Vegas (in my tummy), and boy did I get some looks and comments. I'm not sure if I would recommend going to Vegas 8 months pregnant, but we had fun! Shawn and I went to Vegas for our 9 year anniversary at the beginning of June! Thanks to my parents for watching the kids, and thanks to Shawn's mom for letting us use her condo in Vegas and for watching our dog! We left on a Sunday and drove down and came back the next Wednesday! We had a great few days being just a couple! I love vacations alone with Shawn! Here are some pictures of our vacation!


Us by The Belagio. We just saw the Belagio water show which is across from the Paris Hotel. The Paris Hotel was amazing! We ate crepes there for lunch one day, and then had a fabulous breakfast buffet the last day we where there! We couldn't find better food anywhere. Yummy french food!



We went to a dinner show called Tony and Tina's Wedding. It was an interactive show where the people seeing the show are actually guests at the wedding. We got picked on a lot because I was pregnant.



We did the M&M factory tour!



Here is my handsome husband! One of the days we took a little side trip to do a tour of the Ethel M Chocolate Factory. It was very yummy, but they also had a cactus garden on the property and we loved walking around it!



Here I am at The Venetian. I loved this Umbrella display. I thought it was beautiful!


We spent one night on Freemont street. It was quite the experience. In all of the times I've been to Vegas I had never done this. We had so much fun! Happy 9th anniversary!