Preschool begins...

Had to have a picture of the "awesome" new backpack!

Presenting Jared, the cutest preschooler in America, according to mommy!

After watching both Riley and Nicole start school, Jared was more than ready for his turn, and he finally got it today!

I was so proud of my son. The kid who hated nursery just about the entire time he was in it, even when I was his teacher. The boy who hated playgroup, and cried the whole time he was involved in it, even when we were hosting it. My son, who I thought would have to be pried from my leg, screaming as if he were being killed, and forced to stay at preschool, got out of the car this morning, turned, waved, and said goodbye as he happily ran to the door. Good grief, that's two for two! Is it possible? Could it be that I might actually be doing something right as a mommy?!

Jared and Mrs. Bradshaw. (Sorry about the blurry photo...I guess
I should've used the flash, but I hate the flash...I guess it's better than a blurry picture though!)

Jared had a fantastic time at school, and really felt like a big boy finally being able to go to preschool. I think it's going to be a great year! Even better for me, it was absolutely fantabulous to go to the grocery store really quick, with only Ellie in tow...wow...I may actually not dread errands anymore knowing I can get them done while the kids are involved in school.

Time to Organize

Today is DI drive day in our neighborhood. I love this. It means I can just stick all my junk out on the curb and they come haul it off for me instead of me having to load the car myself and drive it the, oh, 10 miles to the nearest DI. Time for a clean out! I have had a couple boxes hanging around just waiting for this occasion, and now I can get them out of my way. Too bad I'm not going to have time to get through ALL my stuff to clear the un-needed items out. Just ask my husband...I hang on to things for too long, thereby resulting in lots of clutter...and it seems that the clutter is getting worse. I suppose I should play on the computer less and organize more! :) I've decided...one room at a time, and in a couple weeks, I'll be much more organized.....now the question is, where to start?! Maybe the pantry. It's a disaster!


Tuesday night was card group. Lots of talent there that I've been invited to join with. It's fun, but I really ended up despising my card this time. I liked the idea and the color scheme when I picked it, but ended up hating it by the time I made 30 of them! Here's a sampling of the collection:


I'm not telling which one mine is...

Adventures in Arizona

Due to my niece Cali's wedding, I went to the "Furnace State" this weekend. We were all planning on going, but after the 6 hour drive home from Colorado, Ron and I decided it would be better for everyone involved if we didn't attempt two basically back-to-back 12 hour drives to get there and home...so I flew, and since Ellie can still classify as a lap-child, she came along. She did pretty well on the flights. Other than a few of her ear splitting shrieks, we survived the plane.

When I walked out of the airport on Thursday evening, I almost turned around to go back home...I forget how sickening it is to be outside at 9 o'clock at night, in August, in Arizona...still 100 degrees. Makes me really thankful to live in Utah, where it actually cools down when the sun sets. Oh trust me though, I'll be doing everything in my power to get to AZ in February, when we can shed our coats and go enjoy the warmth thawing our frozen bodies! But August.....gag!

It was great to see my siblings again, and Ellie had so much fun with her cousin, Grant. Cali and Danny's wedding went great, and being there in the temple sealing room was so wonderful. The rain that greeted us Saturday morning courtesy of Hurricane Dean even stopped in time for her to get pictures.

All too soon(Saturday evening), it was time to go back to the airport to head back home. It was such a quick trip, and I had to pack light enough to be able to handle bags and Ellie that I didn't even take a camera...so words are all you get for this post!

Kindergarten begins...

Nicole started Kindergarten Thursday. I haven't posted about it yet because I left Thursday afternoon for Arizona! But now I'm back and can share. Nicole was very exited but not overly so, as she was able to get a good nights sleep and was just ready to go. When we got out of the car to walk her to her class, she kept getting pretty far ahead of us, she was ready to start! When the teacher opened the door for the kids to come in, she just turned and said, "Bye", and headed in.....I guess she doesn't have any confidence or independence issues! We did follow her in and she found her hook for her backpack, and then her name at her assigned seat. It was great to see her so happy and sure of herself, and beginning her school life in such a positive way! It made me feel like I've possibly done something right in her upbringing so far. She is still having fun, and tells me daily that she hasn't learned anything new yet. I've told her to be patient! She did learn about the dress code and tardy policy on Friday though....I was in AZ, and Ron just asked her if she had her shoes as he took her to school. She replied, "Yes." He found out it was her flip-flops when he was walking her in! OOPS! So they went back home to change, and by the time they got back, she was late...oh well! I don't think they give kindergartners detention!

"Jared, go get ready for church!"

I suppose I shouldn't complain....his tie is around his neck! And amazingly enough, his shirt is TUCKED IN! I love this kid.

What I've been doing for the last week....

What has been keeping me from blogging for the past week since being home from Colorado? Well, 1st, I'm sorta dependent upon my much more technologically savvy husband to help download the pics from his laptop to mine, and then needed his help in trying to figure out Photoshop, and 2nd....I had 2 kiddo's starting school this week, and still needed to get the uniforms purchased! Ugh! Not my favorite thing....some of these uniform companies make some cheap and ill fitting clothing....but I think they are now just about set:


In case anyone is wondering why poor Riley's pile o' clothes is smaller, we do have things left from last year, so we were just augmenting her wardrobe a bit, whereas Nicole needed it all. We did add some more shoes to this plethora of school clothes, oh and Nicole has no red in her pile because only the Jr. High kids get to add red into their uniform-fest.

Riley started back today, and seemed to be happy to be back with friends, but certainly NOT excited about the school work part. No picture of Riley's 1st day....she wasn't into that....maybe I can sneak one of her on Thursday when Nicole starts!

Okay, I'll end the suspense.....

We did survive the rest of our trip to Colorado with much enjoyment, and without becoming bear food.....but we did see a total of 4 bears by the end of the week! The day after our little buddy in the previous post we went to Telluride, and saw two up on the hill below the airport as we were leaving town, and the 1st time we attempted Imogene Pass, Ron rode to the top of a hill to determine a good line for us to follow on the ATVs, and as he got to the top, he saw BIG #4 crossing the road....he quickly came back down and we headed back down the mountain and did Imogene another day! We had a blast on the ATV's, went to Yankee Boy Basin, over Engineer Pass to Animas Forks, where we saw some great old mine sites, and up to Imogene. We decided on that one, that we really don't need to go on the really steep shelf roads and switchbacks again....just to stay on the safer side! (pics to follow...) The wildflowers were incredible....beyond belief, especially on Imogene. Nicole asked me who planted them all. It was fun to tell her that Heavenly Father did it. She agreed that He sure must love us a lot to give us such a beautiful place to see! We were not disappointed with our choice of vacation locale again this year, and I was honestly sad as we were driving out of Yankee Boy that last day. We can safely say that we are Colorado and Ouray fans!

The littles on the gondola in Telluride

Glad we brought the raincoats!

Nicole and the flowers in Yankee Boy Basin

The picture does not do the flowers in Imogene justice

Dad, Nicole, and Jared check out the waterfall up close!

Above Imogene Basin....errr, don't look down!


At the top of Colorado! (We are at almost 13,000 ft here)
In our defense, and even though I was taking the picture, neither Ron or I realized the Jared was standing so close to that edge without an adult hand close by....pretty much made both of us feel ill when we saw this picture later....ugh! We must have a guardian angel. Thank goodness someone was looking out for us!

Fun in Ouray....

Well, we made it! I knew Ron was bringing his lap-top, but didn't realize that we would have internet access, and SURPRISE! Now I CAN get my blogging fix!

The trailer did great, no wobbles at all, so we got here with no mishaps. The weather isn't exactly cooperating, there has been a heck of a monsoon season here this summer, so there are some issues with mudslides and lots of water. It is supposed to clear up tomorrow though. We spent today in town, and then drove down to Silverton. Tomorrow is Telluride.

When we arrived yesterday, we found the trash cans overturned and a mess of rotten food and stuff on the lot next to us. I assumed raccoon, but the realtor that manages the property told us that no, it's a BEAR! So we were a tad nervous about that, and now are being pretty watchful of the kids. Jared has been really wanting to see the little bugger though, while adding in his prayers a request that the bear won't come kill or hurt us.

While sitting in the house tonight, beginning dinner, Jared came blazing downstairs yelling "I see the bear!" We, of course, thought he was crying "wolf," well, "Bear" once again. Then, Ron looked out the front window, right by where Riley was calmly reading her book, and here's what we saw:




Yep....it's our little bear! The kids were alternately excited and FREAKED OUT! Let's just say, they were told, in no uncertain terms, that they are not allowed to go outside without mom or dad present from now on!

**Disclaimer** Sorry for the odd looking pictures...since we didn't bring ALL our technology with us, we had to take a picture of the TV playing the video Ron caught with our camcorder!

Stay tuned for more fun, and now say a little prayer that we don't become Winnie the Pooh food before next Sunday!

We'rrrrre OUTTA HERE!

Off for a week to the greatest place...OURAY! It's almost 11 pm, Ron is off to WalMart in search of more tiedowns, and I'm still trying to get packed. I needed a break, so here I am...I also am about to shut the computer down, so there is a reason for me being on it... ;) At some point tonight I still need to pay some bills to get in the mail...ack! I am a WORLD CLASS procrastinator!

Hope you all have a great week, and check back in around the 12-13th for me to return.

If you could, say a little prayer for our safety...I'm not thrilled about pulling our trailer for that far...thank you!!

Some views of the kids!

I don't have too much time to post, as I have a list a mile long to get done before leaving for a week....wouldn't it be nice if we could split ourselves into about three pieces and get everything done quickly?! Or a personal assistant....hmm, I'll have to look into that!

Anyway, some glimpses of the kiddos....sorry, none of Riley....she hates being in pictures so what we do have of her have her hand in front of her face...nice....

Jared and Ellie have the same little comfort quirk....both love to suck the first 2 fingers on their right hands. They have different variations, Jared usually has a corner of his blankie tickling his face (nose) or ear, or just playing with it with his finger, and Ellie tickles her top lip with her thumb or satin edge of her blankie.....yeah, sort-of complicated!



Here's Ellie at Jared's birthday party thoroughly enjoying her cupcake! She got her first real haircut that week. We are working on getting everything the same length...



And last, my week has been considerably brightened by the fact that Nicole and Jared have spent each morning at "Soccer Camp". It's amazing how calming it is for me to have a 1 1/2 hour reprieve from parenting/refereeing/disciplining them. It's also been great to be able to give Ellie some uninterrupted attention, for both of us. They just got back from the last day. Nicole got a certificate for "Fastest Player", and Jared for "Most Aggressive Player"...Umm, I'm not quite sure how great that one is or if it has a hidden meaning! :)



Disclaimer: I did not tell Nicole to "pose" for this picture...it's just what she does nowadays!