First Day of School!!

I have been waiting ALL summer for this day! I Love Love Love my kids but I need a break! 8 plus years as a stay at home mom will take a toll on most moms! Gage started 3rd grade and has Mrs. McPeak. She seems like a sweet teacher and I feel like Gage is going to do really well with her this year! Plus I am super excited to actually be able to help out in his class. I'm not quite ready for "room mom" but helper I can do!
Ethan is in Kindergarten! He has been wanting to ride the bus ever since Gage first got on it when he started Kindergarten! He has Mrs. Gibbs and she is the sweetest nicest teacher! Just what you would expect from a Kindergarten teacher:) Ethan seems to really like her too which is great! Sadie is in pre-k and has the same teacher Ethan had last year, Mrs. Weaver. I loved her with Ethan and Sadie knew her so it worked out great! She is bummed that she can't ride the bus but can't wait until her first field trip so she can ride their pre-k school bus:)

Here's the kids before heading out to catch the bus.....




We have a huge group of kids at the bus stop this year! This picture isn't all the kids.....
Third graders!

Time to catch the bus! Notice Gage guiding Ethan with his hand:) He was instructed that he is to protect his brother at all cost in school, its our family rule:) Glad to see he was listening!


Gage let down the window so they could effectively wave goodbye;)....

Then Justin and I took Sadie on the golf cart to her school! He has the whole week off which has been nice!
Successful first day of school! And here is Sadie running to her brother who she missed so much today!


Nope, nevermind! Just rubbing her lollipop in his face...little stinker!

Last weekend of Summer break!

So, as usual, we packed in a lot of stuff to celebrate the last weekend before school starts. We headed out to Lake Wedowee with our friends the Gardners! We got there Friday with just enough day light to take the boat out for some tubing fun! I wish I had my camera because at one point Ethan and Sadie were screaming in terror but when they got on the boat they said it was sooooo much fun! lol We went out on the boat Saturday and the kids tubed and swam and Ethan even kneeboarded! I missed it because I wasn't feeling so well so I was in the house resting:( We will definitely go back again soon! (hint hint Gardners! lol) I took a few pictures with my cell but the quality wasn't so great once the sun was setting:(



We headed out Saturday after dinner....
This is Gage and Luke. Luke is Sadies age and in her pre-k class!



2 cool dudes trying to be like their Papa John:) lol



The Sunday was off to church and the kids were SOOOOOOOOOOO well behaved that morning! They did everything they were told, things that Gage would typically fight with me about he didn't! It was so super nice to have such a peaceful Sunday! Afterwards we rewarded them by taking them to the Georgia Aquarium. Jessie's mother in law hooked us up with tickets so it was FREE! You know how I like a good deal:) Kids had such a good time and it was a nice way to end the weekend.











So much fun and all ready for a new and exciting school year!

Utah + mom +2 sisters-3 children=A BLAST!

I flew out to Salt Lake City on Wednesday to meet my moms fiance and his family and to find her a wedding dress. That I did and had so much fun while doing it:) My dad flew out to help watch the kids while Justin was at work, THANKS DAD!!!!! U R DA BEST:)


I met Julie at the airport and had a flying companion:)We met mom and Jolene at the airport and the fun started from there! We missed Jessie terrible but man was it a nice break from reality! (she will be there next time for sure:))
We went through a hail storm and Julie attempted to catch one....


It got pretty ugly out there but we didn't care, we made it!


Day one, let the dress hunting begin! Having fun while waiting on mom....




Playing around with sashes....

After a LONG day of dress shopping, we went to The Old Spaghetti Factory!


My eyes look like I've been crying but I was just THAT tired. The time change really got to me:(
We got some huge marshmallows and made some yummy, and messy, smores:)






Then out to star gaze in the 60ish degree very cool night! Very strange compared to the muggy never ending weather in Georgia....
Next day we drove by the church we went to when we lived in Utah. I was just a baby and moved when I was about 5 so I don't remember any of these sites!


This is the house we lived in~yikes!



We went and saw the Oquirrh Mountain Utah temple~which was beautiful!



Next was to check out the Mt. Timpanogos Temple~ one of the contenders for the wedding:) It was gorgeaous but you can't really tell because the sun had gone down by the time we got there and my pictures don't do it justice!



More s'mores that night! I was in a daze but look at the size of that marshmallow!


This dress is not the dress but look at how much fun mom is having! :)

Me having some fun with weird model poses:)

We found the perfect dress then headed to Salt Lake to sight see! On our way, we stopped on the side of the road to chat wedding stuff and then noticed where we stopped at....hehehe too funny:)


I absolutely LOVE the mountains! Always have and probably always will!


Here is St. Mark's Hospital~ where yours truly was born!


Group shot at Marie Calendars:)

Then last and best yet, Temple Square:) It was absolutely breathtaking! Great motivation to get my little family back on course.....

















We headed home early the next morning:( I had a blast and it was so nice to have a break from yelling, tantrums, laundry, cooking, and all the other fun daily duties that I now have. It was so great to be with some of my family too! Its just not fair that we all live so far away:( Stuff like this needs to happen more often!! Can't wait until we are ALL together for mom and Robs wedding/reception par~tay!!!