Day two, now what am I to do?

Today Sophie is off on her second day of Kindergarten, and Chris also started back at ISU this week, so that means it's just Nicolas and me! It does feel strange to have such an empty house, but I think I can get used to it!

It's all relative...

This weekend we went to Utah to visit some very close friends of ours, the Blanch family. Most years we've been able to visit them at least a couple of times during the summer months, but this year this was the only chance we've had to coordinate schedules and get together. In October they will be leaving to serve (another) mission for the church and will be gone for 1-2 years, so this may have been our last opportunity to see them for a while, and we will miss being so close to them. While we were at their house, the kids enjoyed riding the powerwheels, swimming and eating soft-serve ice cream from their ice cream machine. We also went to the Living Planet Aquarium in Salt Lake. The kids really enjoyed seeing the different sea-life exhibits. It was a cool place, and we had fun spending time together!

Here's Nicolas on his first try operating the motor scooter! We were all amazed at how well he took to it; he doesn't speak, but he can ride the scooter!

Sophie and Sam, going round and round.

Yummy!

Checking out the stingrays.

Sophie hiding in the coral reef!

Sophie and Grandpa B. at the aquarium.

Cute and giggly girls, Sophie and Macie.

Some of the kids having a blast in the pool - Noah, Sophie, McKay and Macie.

Hip, hip hooray, back to school today!!

Yesterday was actually the first official day of school, so Sam (1st grade), and Noah (3rd grade), went yesterday. But today marked the start of the year for Sophia, our Kindergartner, and to echo my friend, Lindsay, "Oh Happy Day"!
Chris starts his last year at ISU on Monday, so since he didn't have to work today, we made the most of our day together, just us and Nicolas. It was SOOOO quiet!!
Yesterday when Chris picked the boys up from school, Sammy started sobbing as soon as he saw his daddy. When Chris asked him what was wrong, he said: "I missed you and mom and it made me sad." Awe, poor little guy! We spent the rest of the evening reassuring him that he would feel better after a few days of school, once he's used to his new teacher, etc. Today when we came home from running some errands, there was a message on our voice mail from his teacher that said he did well until about noon, but after returning from library he started to get sad again, worrying that we might be missing him too much, so she was letting him leave us a "love phone message". Then came Sam's quivering voice saying: "I love you and I'll be home soon." What a soft and tender-hearted little boy.
Sophie and Noah, on the other hand, both were happy to be separated from us, if it meant getting to be with their friends.

What remains.

Those of you familiar with our area may know that the winters here come cold, hard and fast, and last for what seems like forever, so we're trying to make the most of the remaining days before Chris and the kids start back to school. So, yesterday we made the short drive over to Big Springs campground on the other side of Pebble Creek. We found a cool spot right next to the creek and just played.Poor little Nicolas, he grabbed the hot end of a roasting stick and burned his hands. Ouch!
.This is what Chris did while I took the kids for a walk on a nature trail.

They come, they go...

Chris' oldest sister, Angela, stopped by our house on her way home from dropping off her 2nd oldest child at a college in Colorado. Here is a picture of her new baby, Keoni-Van. He's a real doll. Our extended family is growing exponentially!

A Story, by Sophia.

"Little McMuffin, sat on a muffet. Along came a spider. I'll have to think about the next part...The End!"

Slip 'N' Slide