CTR Ring

Dallin brought his CTR ring to me this week requesting a larger size. For some reason I took great pleasure in the fact that it was really scratched up and misshapen. I like knowing that he had it with him all the time, like a piece of protection in a sometimes dangerous world. I decided to keep it in my jewelry box. It will become one of those sentimental memories of my wonderful, valiant son.

Cami's School Work

I thought I would just post a few of Cami's papers from the first two weeks of school. Keep up the good work Cami!

Volleyball

Dallin and Taylor are playing in co-ed volleyball leagues. They started this week and had a really good time. (An interesting fact: This league is the same one that is featured on "Let's just Play" on Nickelodeon.)

Busy Weekend

We had a very busy weekend. Friday night we drove to Grandma and Grandpa Seguine's house to spend the night. Early Saturday morning Ed and I drove to the DC Temple for our Stake Temple day. We were privileged to be able to have a stake meeting in the temple (an unbelievable experience) and then go through a session. We drove home that night.

Early the next morning, Ed and Kathy came to our house so that they could go to church with us. A new bishopric was called in our ward and Ed is the 2nd counselor. His dad was able to ordain him a High Priest and was able to join in as they set him apart in the bishopric.
We had a wonderful day and look forward to this chance for Ed to serve and learn from some wonderful men. I am so grateful that Ed and Kathy were able to be here with us and that Ed was able to be ordained by his father. We enjoyed what will likely be our last Sunday together, but we look forward to all the experiences ahead.

Drumsticks and Drinks

Grandma and Grandpa Seguine watched our kids at their house while Ed and I went to the Temple on Saturday. They had chicken for dinner and Campbell was apparently very excited to have a drumstick. As she was eating, she said to Grandma, "Hey, this tastes just like a chicken leg!"


The night before, we stopped at Olive Garden on our way to Hanover. Cami always drinks a lot with her meals and we often have to take the drink away to get her to fill up on some food too. While waiting for our food, she was drinking her lemonade when she suddenly stopped and pushed it away. She turned to Ed and said, "Dad, I'm a heavy drinker and I think I've had enough." That's just the sort of thing you want your six-year-old to say in front of the waitress.

Care Packages

So maybe I am just a little bit more emotional about my kids growing up than I want to admit. Three of our Young Women from church just left for college and we have a tradition of the other girls sending them a care package in the first few weeks of school. They filled it with lots of silly things and treats and each wrote a letter. As I sat down to write them letters I suddenly realized I was crying my eyes out. I really am proud of them and miss them, but I think I was getting a glimpse of what it will be like to have my kids leave and move on with their lives in a big way. Yes, you want them to go out and be independent and successful and you don't want them to have to rely on you, but WOW is that going to be hard! It hit home even more when I received a care package from my mom a few days later filled with gluten free goodies. I guess we never really stop being kids or moms and it felt good to remember how much my Mom loves and misses me.

Thanks Mom! I love You! I'm sure you'll be there to let me cry on your shoulder when we drop each of my kids off at college. In the mean time, I'm just going to keep enjoying each day as it comes.

Zelda

I love it that Dallin has lots of uncles who he can share games, books and laughs with. You don't know how excited Dallin was to get this - THANKS! Now he just has to try to beat Dan's time :)

First Class

We went to a Court of Honor for our scout troop last night. Dallin worked really hard this summer and completed first class as well as nine merit badges. He has also been asked to be the assistant patrol leader for the year. We're proud of you Dal!

First Day of School

This is the first year:
*I have all three kids in school all day.
*I didn't get to walk Dallin to the bus (because he rides with the High school and it just wouldn't make a good first impression).
*I don't have a picture of all three together (because Dallin leaves at 6:45)
*No one shed any tears (it's actually not usually me - but rather a sibling who thinks it is unfair that they are not leaving at a specific time or on a specific bus. Not a problem this year)
*I got to go for a long walk in the middle of the morning and not worry about a thing.

Happy first day of school!

I can't believe how many kids are at our bus stop in the morning!

More of Grandma Katy's Flowers

I showed some Iris in the spring and wanted to show more of grandma's flowers. The orange lilies began blooming the last day of school in June and I took a picture of one of the last blooms today - the first day of school in September. I can't believe how tall they are or how long they have lasted!


These are called Surprise Lilies. Actually Grandma always called them "Naked Ladies". I guess it is an old-fashioned name referring to the bare stem and delicate pink flower. Whatever the reason, the kids always cracked up when she called them that. In the spring, the green flower comes up like a daffodil and then dies off. All of a sudden the flower shoots up in July - hence the name "surprise lily". Of course, when we realized they were coming up the kids watched for Ed to come home and then ran out to tell him that there were naked ladies in our yard. I am going to blame this whole story on Grandma. Let's face it, I'm sure she was getting a kick out of it too.

This is one of the Peony Plants. It is one of my Favorite flowers. I actually have two plants that survived. I had a peony in Indiana from Grandma and in only a few years it was so heavy with flowers it would fall over. The other plant only had one bloom this year, but next year should be great.