School, Camping and Facing My Fears

I can't believe the end of the summer break is here! It seems like the kids just ended the last school year! It was fun but difficult to have them home all summer. Working at home while 4 kids are running circles around you is a little difficult so I am relieved that a new school year has begun. First off.....how the heck is Ashlyn in 4th grade already?! It seems like just yesterday that she was a little girl getting ready to start kindergarten. McKenna is starting kindergarten (officially next Tuesday). She is so excited and seems to really like her teacher. She is completely ready for the change and even though she will be gone part of the day I'm glad that I will still be able to have her to myself a little bit during the day while everyone else is still gone. There's just something about having your youngest start school that pulls at the heartstrings. I am excited for her though and look forward to watching her learn and grow. Ammon is in 3rd grade this year and has enjoyed making new friends. He's had homework every night so far this week which he hasn't been so excited about....especially because the other kids haven't had any yet. Alyssa is entering the 1st grade and has really like it so far. It's been a little bit of an adjustment being there all day but she's seemed to handle it well. Ammon and Alyssa also just started soccer, so I'm sure I'll have some pictures and posts about that coming soon!

Last weekend we went camping at Hyrum Dam Reservior with Jason's family and some friends. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast. The not so fun part was that we had a bug infestation. There were millions of some mosquito-like bugs everywhere. Jason came and got me out of the tent to see them flying above the campground. There were so many that they made a buzzing sound. It was DISGUSTING! The mosquitoes were also out in full force and managed to get us all. Which leads me to something else about them.....I swear that this year they have morphed into something really evil. Not only are they everywhere, but I have reacted to them differently. I've had a few that swelled up BIG TIME within just a few minutes. (like a flat disk shape about the size of a silver dollar.) Then, I've also had a few that have left bruises! What they heck?! It used to be that the worst part was just the itching and scratching until there was a scab! But bruises and massive swelling?! In talking to my sister in law and then later to my neice who is a nurse.....I guess they are starting to say that mosquitoes can now carry Lyme Disease. Scary. Needless to say, we will be taking our bug repellent with us everywhere.

Now on to this coming Sunday.........I was asked to speak in church. :( Don't they know how bad I am? jk. I really am not looking forward to talking in front of an entire chapel of people. Hopefully a lot of them will manage to be gone for the Labor Day weekend. That would be great! I think the hardest part is the topic. "How the Light of Christ has Blessed Me and My Family." Maybe for some people this would come easy.....for me.....not so much. So, if any of you have any good ideas, please, please.......let me know. Stories, experiences....anything! Many of you that know me may think that talking would come easy to me since that is about all I do. But talking in front of a group is definitely a fear of mine. What makes it even worse is that they only asked me not Jason. Last time we spoke we did it together. That was much easier. Misery loves company. Well, wish me luck!

Getting settled and making a home

Our new place feels more and more like home everyday. We have really enjoyed meeting all of the wonderful neighbors and watching the kids make new friends. It's great to have the peaceful feeling that we are in the right place and know that we can stay for a long time. It's also been nice to know that we can change whatever we want and make it "ours".

We're still unpacking, though there isn't too much left of that. We mostly just have all the odds and end boxes of things that we can't quite figure what to do with. Maybe another trip to the DI is needed. Even though we had a garage sale and took massive amounts to the DI already, it seems like we still have too much "stuff".

I found a cute couch set on ksl.com for the front room, so we were able to move our other couches downstairs. Until last night we only had one little dumpy couch downstairs for the family room. The previous owners left it for us because they had a really hard time getting it down the stairs. The husband had said that the only way it was getting out was in pieces because he didn't want to deal with the stair issue again. We found out just what he meant when we tried to move our couches down. We ended up taking our front window out, with the help of a neighbor, to get them in and to get the old couch out. It was a pain but I am soooo glad it all worked out. Now both rooms look great! Jason was also finally able to get that big flat pannel tv that he had been lusting over every time we walked in to Costco. (I swear, they put those things right in front of the door so that every man within a 100 mile radius will somehow smell or sense that they are there and come drool over them.) We've enjoyed it though and Jason's excited for all of the football parties we will be having. Bring on the buffalo wings!

Thanks again to everyone that has helped us get moved in! Friends and family are always welcome to come visit! :)

Last Saturday we attended the wedding of our niece, Mercedes. It was beautiful and very well planned out. Ashlyn was a bridesmaid while Alyssa and McKenna were flower girls. They looked so beautiful in their dresses...just like little princesses. Ammon was the ring bearer and looked very handsome in his tux. (though he was a little less than excited at first about the bright pink tie.) It was really great to see another little family starting. Congratulations Mercedes and Jake!

The Big Move

Finally, we're in our house! After many hours packing, cleaning, loading, unloading and pulling our hair out....we are in our new place! For me, moving is one of the hardest and worst things ever but this time it was a means to an end. We hope to stay here for many years to come. (I'm sure my family and friends will appreciate this since they have had to clutter their address books with a bazillion different addresses for me over the years.) We are still in the process of putting things away and it is feeling more and more like home each day. Thanks soooo much to all of you that helped us move! We appreciate it!

I took the kids to their new elementary today to get the paperwork for registering them. We walked around the school and explored a little. They are so excited for the school year to start and to begin making new friends.

We attended our new ward and met about 1/2 of the members. They were all so friendly and made us feel very much at home. It will be nice to get to know all of them more and make our place in the ward and community.

I would post some pictures of our place, but Jason has my camera at work. As soon as I get it back I will update again on what is going on at our place.