Utah Trip: BYU

 Our first stop on our trip to Utah was BYU. We took the kids up to Bridal Veil Falls. I was hoping for a little bit more snow. It turned out we would have had to drive up the canyon quite a ways to find that much snow. The kids loved the little patches of snow. They really liked the ice near the falls and that they could slide around on it. After about 15 minutes, we were all too cold.

After that, we stopped for lunch at the creamery Then, we went all around campus. Joseph arranged for the BYU Campus Tours group to open up the indoor practice facility and South Field for the family. Tanner loved seeing those. Next, we wandered to the Smith Fieldhouse and saw the men's volleyball team practicing as well as some track and field athletes. After that was the student athlete building. Tanner could have stayed there all day. He ran into some well-known athletes such as Puka Nacua. The front desk people allowed Tanner and Joseph to go in the athlete's weight room, which was neat for them. We walked through the campus after that. Stopped at the library and ran into a friend from our old ward. She was in the young women's program when Joseph and I served as youth leaders. It was fun! Then, we spent a fortune at the BYU Store.

After BYU, we joined some of Joseph's family for dinner at Cafe Rio. Then, Ashton and I went back down to Provo for the Noteworthy concert. She had a great time there. Amazing talent. Ashton took an interest in the new music building on campus as well.

They have the best big cousin! He is so patient with them.

Maybe one day, we can recreate this picture when they're students at BYU.

Wool socks, long underwear, neck warmers, hats, gloves, and winter coats. We are definitely Texans now.

The Big Kids Go Back to School

Ashton and Tanner went back to school mid-August. Both are continuing the dual language program. We keep saying we can't get better teachers and yet, we do! We love the teachers this year. Tanner has the other 1st grade teacher that Ashton did not have so that is exciting. Thankfully, they both kept up with their Spanish reading over the summer break. I was pleasantly surprised about that.

What was really surprising was that both Ashton and Tanner were selected as leaders in their school. At an assembly last week, 15 students in the school (about 700 total students) were awarded leadership certificates. The kids didn't know about it prior to this. Both of them were picked! I was shocked!

I was able to attend their field day last week for part of the day. Otherwise, I continue to help on the PTA when I can. Joseph is in charge of the school's running club this year, which makes Tanner happy. Ashton joined the STEM club as well. The girls and I like to go up to the school for lunch with the big kids when we can fit it in.

Gemma starts preschool

Gemma started preschool this fall. For the longest time, I wasn't sure what to do for her. The preschools near us kept raising their rates and/or making the school day longer. I prefer shorter days, and obviously less money. It was hard to rationalize sending her to preschool for the cost of it all. I kept putting it off in the spring until a friend reminded me of a preschool program that one of our district high schools provides. You pay a super low semester rate and your child is in their early childhood development program. It is for 3ish hours a couple mornings a week. The high schoolers take all the child development/education classes their junior year and then run the preschool their senior year. There is at least one high schooler per preschool child. And then of course, the main teacher who oversees everything. There are about 15ish kids in the program. Because the school uses the first 6 weeks of the school year to get everything ready to go, Gemma didn't officially start pre-k until early October.

She has loved it so much. I have been impressed with the programming and education so far. The high schoolers are much happier to do crafts with Gemma than I am. She likes dramatic play time and the library. I get lots of pictures from the school and Gemma is always happy. Several families from our stake and the neighboring stake also have children in the program so we carpool and help with rides if necessary. The kids know each other pretty well too.

Girls Trip to California

 Back in September, I went on our annual girls trip with some friends. We all used to live in Lake Jackson but now live all over the country. We chose to go out to a beach house in California for a long weekend. It was a fun time.

 We all flew into Los Angeles very early Thursday morning. Then we hit up all the LA sights. One of my friends lived in LA for several years as a single adult and as a married couple so she was the navigator. We went down Rodeo Drive, saw the stars in the sidewalk, visited the LA temple grounds, and did a lot more sightseeing that day. I think by that night, I had walked 25,000 steps. We drove up the coast late that night to the beach house.

Friday, we went out to Channel Islands National Park. I did this two years ago with the big kids and it was fun to go back. We did a few hikes, hung out by the water, and soaked in some quiet on the beach.

Saturday, we were beach bums. I read a ton of books while I was away, which was nice. We stayed up much too late each night catching up. Sunday was church and then back to the airport to fly home.

I'm already looking forward to next year's trip! I'm terrible at taking pictures during trips. So here are the few I have. 

First Tooth Fairy Visit

 Tanner finally lost his first tooth. And then lost another one the same day! Right before school started, he pulled out a tooth. His bottom two teeth were a little loose, but I thought he had a few more days to go. He was very excited as the tooth fairy brings a special $2 bill for the first tooth. He put it in a baggie and went off to school. He felt a little sad because he wanted a tooth necklace from the school. But you only get those if you lose the tooth while at school.

I picked him up after school and he comes out of the door with a tooth necklace. I immediately think he convinced his teacher to give him a necklace. Nope. He had pulled his other tooth out at school. Right away, he says: "Now I get $4 since I lost them the same day. If I had waited until tomorrow, I would have gotten less money." He was one happy boy the next day to get $4.

 The adult teeth were already coming in behind the baby teeth. So he doesn't have a big gap or hole.

Beach Night

Some friends from San Antonio came over to Surfside Beach last weekend. We couldn't make it down to see them Saturday between soccer games/birthday parties/football games. So instead, we drove down Friday night for dinner and beach fun. It was a great time despite the grumpy kids on Saturday morning. The kids enjoyed boogie boarding and having friends to play with. Lydia is terrified of beaches now because of the salt water. She stayed glued to me and begged to go home most of the time. It was also high tide so she didn't like when the water would touch her or our things by the beach chairs. Hopefully she changes her mind about beaches soon.

Ashton's Birthday Interview

How old are you? 9

What is your favorite color? Red

What is your favorite animal? Anything and everything

What is your favorite book? James Herriot books

What is your favorite show? National Geographic shows

What do you like to eat? Fruit

What is your favorite game? Kingdomino

What is your favorite thing to do? Go see animals

Who is your best friend? Lyra (a friend from school)

What do you like to do with Daddy? Go on roller coasters

What do you like to with Mommy? Snuggle

Where do you want to go on a vacation? Anywhere to see a bunch of animals

What do you want to be when you grow up? Vet... again. This has stuck for a while.

What is your favorite song? Seek the Lord Early (she's learning it to sing a solo in church soon)

What is the best time of day? School time

What makes you happy? My family