Preschool Field Trip

Yesterday we had our preschool field trip to Black Island Farms. We went there last year, and it was definitely worth going again. They have so many fun things for the kids to do and they let them pick their own pumpkins. I am so grateful for the friends that my kids have made through school. They are friendships that will hopefully last forever.

This was actually the last picture I took....They were exhausted


Excited to Finally be at their field trip. It's all they talked about for weeks


Why are my kids the only ones NOT looking at me?


Ammon and his new buddy Allston


Having just picked their pumpkins


The cow train ride



Bouncing in the inflatable pumpkin

The Pig Races

Ammon Turns 5

I cannot believe that I have a 5 year old! On Friday September 18 Ammon turned 5 years old. He was so excited for his birthday...in fact the Friday before his birthday, he went running into his preschool class and said to his teacher, "did you remember about my birthday?" I had to reassure her that she wasn't mistaken of the date, and that he was just WAY excited. He woke up extra early, and because one of his presents was un-wrappable (if that is even a word), I had just set all his presents out in the living room and he did not want to wait to see what was there and to play with them.




He just had to get out and try his new bike, even though it was still pretty early. Then on Saturday, he had his birthday party. We had a good turnout of kids....some friends from last years preschool class, some new friends from this year, and a few cousins.











It was such a good couple of days for him. I cannot believe how fast he is growing up. He is turning into such a funny kid. One day, he was helping Andrew make some cookies, and Andrew asked him to switch him spoons, (Ammon had the big mixing one) and Ammon said, "you wanted to switch me because this one matches my eyes huh?" He is such a sweet, smart boy, and we love him very much.

Labor Day Weekend

I seriously had the BEST labor day weekend! It actually started on Wednesday for me because Andrew didn't have to work so we got things all cleaned and ready for the weekend. Then on Thursday we headed out to Park City....but took a little detour out to Heber City and took the kids to dinner at The Dairy Keen.....


This is fun place to eat with this train for the kids to sit on, and inside they have a train that goes around a track just down from the ceiling. Also, the food is great!

Then we headed up to Park City and thanks to Andrews mom, we had an awesome place to stay! It had a full kitchen, a bedroom, 2 bathrooms, a living room and dining room. They had a pool, that the kids LOVED!!! Of course I forgot my camera when we went to the pool....but I had decided that I was going to be relaxed and just let the kids have a good time. So I wasn't picky about then finishing their dinner, we literally let them swim until they were EXHAUSTED, and then I let them stay up late AND eat ice cream before they went to bed. This may not seem like much, but I am pretty strict about our routine and hardly ever stray from it!




Friday morning, the kids went swimming AGAIN while I cleaned up and got packed. We had a fun opportunity to go to breakfast with some friends that came home to visit from California. Thank you Matt and McKell, we had such a great time! Then we went to Swiss Days, which was really our whole reason for going out there. Andrews mom had a booth at Swiss Days this year, so we went to see it and say hello. We didn't get to stay long at all though because we had to get Andrew home to work. But Andrew surprised me that night by offering to keep the kids home on Saturday, and allowing me to head back up to Midway, for Swiss Days....BY MYSELF!!!!!!! That in itself was such a great thing. But to top it all off, my sister was also up there, so I spent ALL day with her and her beautiful daughters. We went to Swiss days, went shopping at the outlets, and had a wonderful time! Thanks Andrew for watching the kiddos, and thanks Julie for letting me spend the day with you.

Then on Monday, we were able to get our peaches canned and it went SO fast this year with Andrews help. Now if I can just get my tomatoes done!

Current Events

Today was the first day of preschool for my kiddos. Ammon started the 4 year old preschool and Abigail started her 3 year old preschool. It is so neat to see them growing up and to see how much they love learning. Ammon is use to the routine, since it is the same school he went to last year, but it is new to Abigail and she walked in the school today like she owned it. Ammon also informed me that he DID NOT need me to walk him to his class today, he could do it by himself. Here are some pics of the first day, and actually from Friday too since that was really Ammons first day, but they didn't do much!






(Sorry they are in black and white....I have temporarily misplaced my camera, and was using our video camera that also takes still pictures, and must have had the black and white setting on!) I realized how nice it is to have them going at the same time! I got to spend some time just with Dylan, and it made her look a little bit older.

Also in our little family, Dylan is officially a crawler! She is still pretty funny to watch and would much rather pull herself up to stand by things than crawl around. She is also working on getting her first tooth. It keeps trying, but hasn't quite pushed through.

June

The month of June seems like so very long ago, and we were able to do some fun things. We had a couple of weeks of a break between when Ammons preschool got out and the next happenings so we spent some time as a little family. We decided to take a drive up to Huntsville and have a picnic at the park there. We went there once when Ammon was just little, and since then they made MANY changes and it really has to be the best park I have ever been to with my kids! As many of you know, June was a very rainy month, so although the morning we went up there was beautiful, we got rained on and had to leave earlier than we had wanted to. The kids had a blast though!

Some Serious Catch up!!!

So, I realized that it has been 2 months since I last posted anything, and yet so much has been going on. I will try to capture the things that have kept us so busy.....
The first thing was Andrews graduation, and that was such a big deal that it got it's own post just below....The next week after that, we moved...again!!! Really nothing big, it was just across the street, but anytime a move takes place there is a lot of work and so much has to be done to ever feel settled again. We love the new place and have really enjoyed planting our garden and doing A LOT of yard work so that things look nice. The yard has taken some hard work, but Andrew and I both secretly love it :). I will post pictures when we are all finished.

Dylan is now 6 months old...I can't believe it. Where has the time gone? Her 6 month check up went well. She is 27 1/2 inches long, but only weighs 13 lbs, 12 ounces. Just really skinny, so our pediatrician wants to see her weight in 6 weeks to make sure that she is ok. She is loving solid food, sleeping through the night and even sleeping in since the move, and loves to be held!!! Ammon and Abigail are such good siblings and help whenever I need them too.

Then this last week was Ammons preschool graduation. He looked so handsome in his white shirt and tie. When he walked in, he was standing by his chair and so proudly said, "My daddy is here." He looked like such a big boy. They put on a little program for us and then went back to there classroom and got there diplomas and had cookies. We got a graduation book that had some really fun things that they had done. We are so proud of how well he did this year, and absolutely loved the teacher that he had.





It was really hard to get good pictures of him because we had to stand in the back!

Some of his class

Andrews' Graduation

May 1 was a day that has been much anticipated by our little family. It was Andrews graduation day. It was such a nice day and we were able to have both my parents attend as well as his. Even his dad who had just gotten out of the hospital came to see it, and that meant a lot to both of us. Also, many thanks to my sister Jan for watching the kids so I could actually sit through the ceremony.









I am so proud of Andrew for working so hard to achieve this goal. There were countless hours spent in the library and testing centers, and many hours that I know he wishes he could have been doing other things, but having an education sure has been a blessing to our family. We love you Andrew!!!

Easter

We had a great Easter weekend! I have to admit though I was surprised at how commercialized even this simple holiday has become! When we were talking to the kids about what Easter REALLY is, and how we should remember Jesus Christ, Ammon said, "thats not really what it's about is it mommy?" So we took some time to tell them and try to help them understand that the Easter Bunny is only a part of what it is about and that we need to remember what Jesus has done for us and remember that we love him. They seemed to really understand and it was neat to see them listen so intently!

On Wednesday we had play group and had an Easter egg hunt and decorated cupcakes. The kids had fun and loved eating their cupcakes. Then on Friday, Andrew didn't have to work, and the weather was so nice, so we went to Cache Valley and the baby animal days at the American West Heritage Center. They had lots of baby animals to pet and hold and other animals to see as well as a few other activities. Although my kids were too afraid to touch any of the animals, they had a blast and loved seeing all the animals. Then on Sunday, we had church, and then a wonderful dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Harts. The kids got some goodies and had an Easter egg hunt. We had so much time being together as a family!











Ammon loved seeing the animals, but gave himself plenty of distance.




Andrew made them sit in the outhouse for a picture!