Kindergarten!!

I can hardly believe that Bryson is 5-yrs-old and starting Kindergarten.



He was so excited... he goes to afternoon Kindergarten, and at 9:00 in the morning he was asking "Is it lunch-time yet?" School was supposed to start at noon, but we were out waiting for the bus by 11:15 (see what I mean about excited?) We just hung out in the front yard, and the boys ran up and down the sidewalk, climbed on the porch, and nearly went crazy waiting. We waited until 11:55, and when we decided that the bus was not coming, we headed to the school (and took a couple of pictures before Bryson went inside). Bryson just went right on in - didn't even give me a kiss or say good-bye or anything! I guess that's ok. When he got off the bus after school, he said that his first day was awesome! (Small side note, which is kinda funny... after school, I found a small pair of scissors with some hair on them. Found out that Bryson had done a little trimming of his own hair! Three big chunks, cut to the scalp! He said he wanted to look nice!) Oh yeah... and the bus did come - late! Glad we didn't wait. He was able to ride to school on the bus on the 2nd day, which of course he thought was super cool!
On the slideshow below, if you double click and open it up bigger, there are captions under the pictures!




Here are a couple of pictures of Hayden. I was snapping away at Bryson, and Hayden said "What about me?" How could I resist?

Soccer!

It's that time of year again - SOCCER! We've got three in soccer this year, which makes it busy, but they are loving it! Saturday we had a whole day of games. It all started at 8:30 am with Eryn's game. She is on the "Serpents" with all her friends from her past soccer teams, and the same coaches (Ryan Nielsen and Jared). They just keep getting better and better... in fact, Eryn played her best game ever on Saturday. She usually plays defense, and is really getting more confident in her abilities. I don't get to watch her very often (since usually Bryson's games are at the same time as hers) so I really enjoyed getting to see her in action on Saturday.




Right after Eryn's game, we headed over to Kaitlyn's (of course it was practically on the other side of town!) It's fun to see her team (the "Bananas") play. She does AWESOME! She likes to play forward and has scored a couple of goals this season (she ALMOST scored one on Saturday). The girls on her team are really starting to understand the game and are learning to play their positions and work as a team. Jared is her coach again this year, and Ryan Nielsen (Eryn's coach) is his assistant. They make a great coaching team... the girls are really learning a lot. I loved watching her play!




After Kaitlyn's game, we headed home for a short break (and to eat lunch) and then went back to the soccer fields for Bryson's game at 1:00. Last year was funny, as he was more interested in birds and his own shadow, but this year he kinda gets it! His team is called the "Tiger Sharks." They are still in the stage where they just run in a clump after the ball, but Bryson gets right in there and gets some good kicks in! He scored a goal during a game that I had to miss (I was sad to miss that!) But he was really excited about it. He is having a great time this year! Oh, and what does Hayden do during all these games? He has made some cute little friends (who also happen to be in our ward) and they have the best time running around together!

Back to School!

The girls started school on Monday. They are attending a charter school called Renaissance Academy this year. They looked so cute all dressed up in their uniforms. They were really excited to start a new school, and both of them made friends on the first day! They are looking forward to taking Spanish in school and having new experiences. They both said that they had a great first day. Hopefully they will enjoy every day!

This is the Place!

Last Friday we went up to "This is the Place" State Park. Jared is in one of the buildings that the governor has decided to only have open for 4 days a week. They will be working four 10 hour shifts each week and have Fridays off (hmmm... we were already doing that) and to celebrate, the governor said that all those employees who are working the new schedule could get into any State Park for free that Friday. We took advantage! It was really cool. I hadn't been there for probably 10 years, and it has changed so much. They have all kinds of pioneer homes - from one-room log cabins to larger homes where someone with more money would have lived. They have moved them from different parts of the state (they are original homes). There are also businesses, hotels, post office, bank, etc. It is a really fun place to visit. We had a great time. The kids got to do crafts, have pony and train rides, and play pioneer games. They loved it. I don't think we even got to see everything. (I guess we'll have to go back!)

Here is a slide show of the pictures... remember if you click on it a couple of times it will open it up bigger!

Ward Bike Parade and Carnival

We had a fun ward bike parade and carnival. The kids "decorated" their bikes (we didn't have much to work with, unfortunately) and rode them all the way down our street and back. Bryson had just learned to ride his "two-wheeler" without any help, and was excited to participate. Hayden was excited to be a part of it, too - even on his tricycle. The girls had fun too. After the parade, we ate hot-dogs, and had home-made rootbeer (mmmmm). There were lots of activities - a cake walk, a fish pond, watermelon seed spitting (mmm again), face painting, water balloons. It was a great success and it was fun to walk all over the neighborhood and see and visit with our friends. The kids thought it was GREAT! And since, for some reason, I can't get what I write to post on the same post as the fun slideshows... just look below for the slideshow of the pictures! One of these days, I'll really figure out how to run this blog correctly!

Ward Bike Parade and Carnival

I Love to See the Temple!

We had an awesome day on Saturday! My sister, Jodie, and her hubby Corey went through the temple. I was able to be at the Endowment session, and then Jared came so we could both be at the Sealing. It was such a neat experience to have my whole family there. We are so proud of Jodie and Corey and how far they've come. The spirit was so strong in the temple - it makes me want to go much more often!