Bath Time!

Kate just loves her bath! She loves that she can sit up in her tub and SPLASH! I get just as wet as her does when it is bath time now. It is just so cute! I really should have taken video but I didn't want to get the camera wet. I'm so glad she likes her bath. The girls love water and my boys, not so much. I couldn't get her to look at me very much, she was way to busy playing with the water.

1st day of School *Updated*

Today is the first day of school and let me tell you, I was not ready for it. I was ready for my kids to go to school to give them something to do all day but I was not ready for the stress of getting two kids ready for two different schools and then getting them there at the same time.

Tucker was accepted into an Accelerated Learning Lab, or ALL class for 3rd grade. Which means he will be doing a lot of 4th grade school work. He is so excited for it! He will be with this same class next year too. Then for 5th there might be a chance for more kids to come in because they retest for 5th grade. The only bad thing is, the school that he has to go to is in Saratoga Springs. Nate drove it and it is 5 miles from our house. So we have gotten him on a bus that will take him. But the bus stop is still in Saratoga Springs and it is 2 miles away. With both boys going at the same time, this bus thing was the best for timing wise. I can drive Tucker down to the bus stop and then drive back and drop Thad off. They both get there on time and I don't have to stress with all the road work going on Redwood Road.

Tucker

Thad

My two boys ready for their first day of 3rd and 1st grade

Thad was up and dressed, ate breakfast, brushed his teeth and had his backpack on all before 8 o'clock. He has been looking forward to this day ever since Tucker was in 1st grade. As you can see, I didn't worry about getting the girls ready today at all, it was all about the boys.
All three of my boys started school today. Nate is taking a few classes too. So at 8:30, we all headed out the door. We drove by Thad's school on the way over to the bus stop and he got nervous that I was forgetting to take him to his school. Once we got there, I started freaking out! What if I got him to the wrong bus stop! What if they don't let him on! What if they don't feed him lunch! What if he misses the bus on the way home! It was a long 5 minute wait. But the bus came, he got on and away my baby went. ( a few tears here thinking about it) Then back the way we came to drop of Thad off, (real tears here. For some reason it has always been harder for me to send Thad off to school more than Tuck. I worry so much about him.) Back at home with just the girls the first thing I noticed was how quiet it was. No boys upstairs talking, no neighbors coming over to play and no fighting.

Now I can't wait to go pick them up and find out how the first day of school went!

*Update*
I just had to post some of the things that Thad and Tucker had to say after their first day of school. Thad was the first kids out of school and ran right up to the car. I asked what he did for the first day and was told, "I had too much recess!" He was so disappointed. Silly kid! He is looking forward to homework, now if only I can have him be this excited his whole life! Tucker LOVES his class! He may only know one girl and she is at the stage where it is un-cool to have friends that are boys, but I know he will have a ton of friends soon. He loves the class so much that I don't worry about him too much.

Deer Hunt

This last weekend we went up Nephi canyon to go deer hunting with the Taylors. Jered had talked Nate into getting a deer tag this year and so the bow and the camping had to come with it. It was the last weekend before school started and I really didn't want to go. Nate had taken the boys up with him the week before to scout out the deer and they had so much fun I couldn't not go. I'm really glad we went because it was such a nice weekend. The "big" boys would go out in the morning and come back right as the rest of us were finishing breakfast and getting up for the day. The kids would just run around all day and play. The Taylors have this little four-wheeler that the kids could ride by themselves. We didn't trust Norma on it by herself but she sure loved playing on it. Maddy and Norma would get on there and play all day. This is them "posing" for the picture. Silly girls!


We love going camping with the Taylors and just enjoyed ourselves so much. The "little" boys would go hunting with the "big boys" at night so Stephanie and I would put in a movie for the little ones and we would play Phase 10. (She totally beat me every time.) It was just a very nice weekend.
Now it's time to turn over the computer to Nate to tell you about the weekend from his point of view. He tells it better than I could.
"Bow Hunt Blind"
Tucker and Thad helped Jered and I make this blind. It was an awesome spot near the "Elk Waller". We could fit 2 full size camp chairs with room to walk around and stand up to make the shot. We also had room for a bag of goodies...(not a good idea). We had several deer heading to get a drink when they would stop and look in our direction. They couldn't see or hear us. However, I think the Starburst gave us away or it might have been the dill flavored sunflower seeds.

"The Shot"
After watching several deer want our Starburst but too afraid to come closer, we decided to head back to camp on the four wheelers. (This was Monday morning by the way.) We saw the same group of deer that we have been watching all month. They were over 200 yards away(too far to shoot). We inched closer on the four wheelers to about 120 yards. We then got off the four wheelers and were able to get close enough for a shot. They were next to some scrub oak and it was difficult to get a reading on the range finder. I made a guess-tament and I guessed wrong. My arrow went about 10 feet over the deer. They scattered. But they stopped on a trail not to far away from where we were. I walked over to a spot with a clear shot. Jered went around to the other side to try to get them to come towards me. I had a perfect silhouette of the deer standing sideways to me up on the hillside. I pulled up the range finder, 73 yards. I had a 70 yard pin set on my sights. I took the shot. I was able to see the arrow fly right until it got close to the deer then I lost sight of the arrow. I knew it was on track. The deer reared up and kicked both hind legs. He was hit. We went up to the place the deer was standing and found the arrow that had gone clean through the deer and stuck in the hill side. Now it was time to track it. Back to camp we went to get our trackers.

"Tracking"
We got back to camp to inform our better halves that we wouldn't be leaving for home just yet. We got Tucker and Thad to help track the deer. We went back to the sight of the hit. We then began looking for drops of blood. There wasn't very much. Every 10 feet or so we were finding a single drop of blood on a rock or a leaf. There were a few times that the trail split several different directions. Just as Jered and I were getting frustrated we would hear one of the boys yell out "I found Blood!" Sure enough, another drop of blood. We now knew which way he was going. After 3-4 hours and getting close to the top of the mountain, we came to a big meadow were we lost the trail. Being the last day of camp and out of formula for Kate, we had to head back. We had given it our best effort to find the deer.

"Limpy"
After we returned home, Jered realized that his dad's trailer may have been left unlocked. Jered and his Grandpa returned to their property up Nephi Canyon to lock the trailer. They couldn't waste a perfect evening on the hill, so up they went to look for another deer. Jered was able find the little spike that I had shot and confirm that it was still alive. It was walking with a limp, but when it ran it was just fine. It looked like I hit it in the rump somewhere. They gave the deer the name "Limpy". The kids enjoyed hearing that since we couldn't find the deer that it was O.K. Maybe next year we can find "Limpy" and he will be larger than a spike, and we won't have to wipe the milk off his mouth.

He had a lot of fun and will be going out a few more times to see if he can find another one. The boys will be sad that they can't go anymore because of school. They really had a lot of fun tracking and scouting for deer. They are already talking about next year.

FHE

We had a really family home evening this week. On Monday and everything. It is one of Nate's and my goals to have them weekly. We had a really nice lesson from Tucker that turned out great! Then we gathered around the table to do this...It was so fun! Nate and I couldn't walk away. We had gotten this puzzle for Moon Lake, for the rainy days that we always have, but are so glad we waited til home to put it together.

We have another one, only this one is Micky Mouse. Nate says we have to wait til it snows to do it. :)

Look what I can do!

Moon Lake 2010

Highlights from camping;

~Camping at Moon Lake!

~Going with Family

~Walking down to the beach and having the stroller just glide on the sand (I bought this stroller just because in one of the reviews it said that it was awesome in the sand and it made me think of Moon Lake)

~Having the dogs pull me back up to camp (I'm so out of shape)

~Cooking over an open fire

~Smores with strawberry marshmallows and Symphony chocolate bars

~Putting the kids to bed and staying up to watch the meter shower

~Being woke up by the rain and thunder. It was so cool to listen to the thunder echo through the canyons. AMAZING!!!!

~Fishing off the beach~Playing games in the trailer when it rained during the day
~Getting eaten alive by all the bugs (I have a huge one on my forehead that looks like another head!)

~Looking out over the lake. It is so beautiful here!~Walking through the camps to see where we want to camp next year

~Walking to the Lodge and watching all the hummingbirds (No Nate didn't kill on this year)

~Going to bed early with the girls ( The boys stayed up and watched the shooting stars. I guess they were better on Wednesday night than Tuesday)

~Packing up and looking forward to a shower

Some things to look forward to next year;

~Playing at the beach more ( I forgot that I had brought beach toys to play with. Ooops)

~Playing more card games

~Being in better shape to go on a hike

~Not sharing a cold between the whole family (Norma started it and now everyone but me has it, even Kate. So sad)

~Probably not being as prepared as we were this year.

~Taking a LOT more pictures (These are all I had)We Love Moon Lake!!!

Yep...

I have a thumb sucker. :)

Our Girls

I've been so excited to take pictures of my girls in their matching dresses I made them before Kate was even born. This is at Nana's and Papa's after Gerald spoke in church. Norma did not feel good and didn't want to be having her picture taken. I love how her hair turned out and I didn't even get a picture of that. I guess I just get to dress them up again. :)

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!!!!!

GERALD COMES HOME!!!

My brother Gerald came home from his New Jersey, Morristown Mission on Wednesday! We have all been so excited for this day, but no one was as ready as Winni. She has been counting down to the minute of when his plane would come in. 1:09pm was when he was suppose to come in. His plane finally landed around 2:30!
These are just some really cute pictures of Kate. All the kids did so well with the wait, even Kate.

We were 1 of 3 families all waiting for this plane with missionaries on it. The first missionary wasn't even down the stairs before he started crying so of course we all started. I was watching the top of the stairs because everyone was walking around a corner before coming down. One missionary walked over and we all started saying, there's another missionary, when he walked back around the corner out of view. Winni thought that was very rude of him to do to his family, and a few seconds later he started down the stairs. It was Gerald. Silly boy!



The kids were so excited to show Gerald the posters that they had made for him. Norma and Gerald have always had such a special bond and you can see that it is still there.
I think Winni was upset that Thad got to wear the hat first. Isn't he so handsome!


I love this picture of my husband. He is so hot! ;)
Gerald meeting Kate for the first time. Still makes me cry. She was so tired and I think that is why she didn't cry. She takes some warming up to people before she'll let them hold her.


It has been like he never left. It was so very nice to just sit and have dinner with all of us. I can't wait for this weekend when we will all be home. John is coming down with his girlfriend Celest and we couldn't be happier. This will be the first time we will all be together since he left. And next week we get to go to Moon Lake. We haven't been since Gerald left. I guess we were waiting for him to come home to go.

Gerald bought this mask for Norma. I do have to admit I was hoping it was for me and so I put it on first. When Norma saw me she said, "Can I try that on? Will you share Mom?" So Cute!
Winni and Norma in their masks that Gerald brought home for them. When he pulled them out it reminded me of the masks that my Uncle Vaughn brought me and my cousin Harmonie home from his mission. I still have it. It is porcelain with lilacs on it.
And I couldn't not add these really cute ones of Kate from a few days ago. Glade and Diane asked for a few of her that they could show off so I got the camera out and went a little crazy. These are just a few of my favorites.

Next week: Moon Lake!!!

Flooding

I just had to write about the flood, just so we can remember it in years to come. Last Saturday, just as Nate was coming home around 5pm, we started having a rain storm. I was sitting out on the porch with Kate enjoying it. I love the rain! The kids wanted to take a "shower" in the rain and I told them they could. Just as they were going out in it, the wind picked up, it started hailing, you could barely see across the road with the rain and wind just coming down! We came in and pulled up the blinds to watch from inside and that is when I noticed you couldn't see the road! It was 18 inches under water and just in less than a min. Neighbors started running out to the drain, (which happen to be right in front of our house) to try and clear them. Now if you go back here, you will see that we have had all kinds of water problems with our yard before so Nate sent me down stairs to check our basement for flooding. I ran down there and went to the windows that we have had problems with before and they were just fine. I turned to come up and report the good news when I saw water just POURING into one of the window wells! I went running to tell Nate, set the baby on the floor upstairs and raced back down to start moving the few things that were not plastic to the other parts of the basement. We are so lucky that most everything is in rubbermaid totes. I had to move my craddle that my Dad made me as a baby and the blanket box from my Grandpa Montag but everything else was plastic. Then Nate and about 15 other men from our neighborhood went house to house emptying window wells that were full of water. There were some in the neighborhood that had it much worse than us. To see go here.

Then Wednesday came. We were up at the airport, (post on that tomorrow) and saw how hard it was raining there and worried about our house again! We were fine but to see what it did to our neighbors again go here.

I can not believe what the rain has done here! I love thunder and rain storms, but last night I woke to every thunder and lighting and every rain drop that hit our window and didn't sleep much. We have neighbors that are moving out of their house as we speak because the flooding has done so much damage to their foundation and footings. One neighbor had their main water main break going into their house because of the flooding made their lawn settle and bust a pipe. I just want to cry for everyone that is dealing with all this water and feel so blessed to only have 3 inches in my basement and nothing damaged but some insulation that can be replaced when we finish the basement. Yes, our backyard is washed out and our garden is gone, but we are not having to move out of our home.