First and Last

WOW I cannot believe 5 and a half years have gone by so fast. Her we are August 29.2011 Samarrah's first day of school and Daddy's last first day of school (hopefully! not including his semester in January!) We were up bright and early (7am is bright and early for my kids).

I bought Samarrah and myself matching charm bracelets. Something for her to wear from us so that if she start to feel nervous or anxious alone at school she would have it. She woke up ready and excited for school. I could tell she was a little nervous, but it helped that her best friend from Primary is in her class.

She got all dolled up in her uniform that she picked just for the first day. I was kind of hesitant about uniforms, but now I love them. She looks so stinking cute, and all of the kids look really nice.

Ayo misses her so much while she is gone.

The First day of school twins! Samarrah thought it was pretty neat that they had the first day of school together.

I am proud of myself for holding the tears in so well. It is such a plethora of emotions. I was SO proud of her and the wonderful young girl she is. I was excited for her, but sad that those days of her being so young and being my shadow are over and she is growing up!

Her classroom was so neat. I love her teacher so far and she seems great with the young kids.

When we told her we were leaving she asked us if we could stay a little longer, I almost lost it then. She did fantastic her first day.

We were 20 minutes early to pick her up. She only goes half day, and luckily two and a half hours flies by. My dad and mom and sisters all had the day off yesterday because my grandparents flew in to town, so they all stopped by to pick her up also, she LOVED that.

After we headed to Steak and Shake to celebrate Samarrah's first day of school and also my dad's birthday. It was great food and lots of fun. Yesterday was really, really busy, but I look forward to all Samarrah will learn and experience ths year, and now I should enjoy it because If Prince gets a job here we are seriously considering home schooling.

Saturday we took Samarrah to the salon to get a manicure for her first day of school, she thought it was the coolest thing ever and loved being pampered. She got pink nails with green flowers. I am afraid we have created a monster :)


Next week my baby goes to preschool, hopefully I hold up well :)

Weekend Getaway

Last Thrusday me and Prince were talking about how school was coming up so fast and we hadn't been able to take a little family vacation. We booked a hotel for Friday and Saturday in St. George and off we went. It was SOOO much fun. We took the kids to the river and fountain downtown. We used to take them their when they were little and it was so fun to take them back when they were older and could really enjoy it.










After some fun in the water we headed to Golden Corral for lunch. In the parking lot we saw the real bumblebee. My kids LOVE Transformers and knew for sure this was the real umblebee. Ayo was a little nervous to stand by him at first, but we convinced him bumblebee was sleeping and like the crazy people we are we took a picture of some strangers car.

The kids had their first taste of cotton candy at Golden Corral

After lunch we did some shopping and then headed back to the hotel to rela and hit the pool. The kids have gotten really good at swimming and love it! We forgot Ayo's floaties so he practiced swimming without them and did pretty good.


After swimming we went out and had dinner at our Favorite place we miss so much Texas Roadhouse. The waitresses came out and danced and Samarrah and Ayo stood up in the booth and started dancing it was super cute! We went back to the hotel and since we were on the first floor the kids had a blast jumping on the beds!




The kids were so cute sharing a bed!

Sunday morning we took the kids to to the temple and stopped by the hospital where Ayo was born. I cannot believe it was over 4 years ago that we were there and he was born into our family. WOW. Samarrah was a little bummed that we couldn't go see here hospital, but the second I told her the hospital she was born in was named Castle she was certain she was a princess that was actually born in a castle!


The stop at the temple was really nice. We learned a lot at the Visitors Center and shared a lot of memories with the kids that we have of taking them there when they were little.



It was a great time together and I did not even think about the fact that Samarrah was starting kindergarten (that stresses me out). Right before we left for St. George we learned that Prince's air Conditioner was going out in his car, which is a big bummer but the car still worked so we were very grateful for that, Monday after Prince leaves for work I got a call saying his car was smoking...now we have had nothing but problems with that car, me and his car have a hate-hate relationship. The mechanic told us it was a lost cause, more expensive to fix than it was worth and it would for sure break down again...So that left us with a choice, spend a few thousand dollars and buy a car that will get us through the next year, or spend a few more thousand dollars and buy a car that will last us for many years. I decided more than anything I wanted a reliable car for him, he will be doing a 30 hour a week practicum, going to school and working full time on the other side of town...Reliable won! So we found my husbands dream car...a Toyota Camry! We could afford it and got a great deal on it. I am so excited to have a reliable car! We are definitely Toyota and Honda people. The kids love his car and I am hoping on occasion we can trade cars for the day :)

4th of July and Pioneer Day

I think this post makes me all caught up! Woohoo! We had a great 4th of July. We slept in and had a nice relaxing morning. Prince had to go into work for a little bit. When he came home the kids we watched a movie and Ayo climbed up into his Daddy's lap and fell asleep it was so cute! After Ayo woke up we took the kids swimming. It was a lot of fun and they are fantastic little swimmers.






After swimming the kids chose Red Robin for dinner. I love going out to dinner as a family. The kids are so well behaved and I don't have to cook :) and we get to enjoy each others company. So much fun! Last year we went to Boulder City for the 4th and it was a lot of fun, but this year we decided to stay close to home and we were not disappointed. The show at Green Valley Ranch was phenomenal! We went with my sister Alyson and my sister Melany was working but she was able to come down and meet us there.




We all had our blankets and chairs laid out and then the sprinklers came on it was so funny!

Ayo sat like this for 15 minutes before the fireworks started...



After we headed to my parents home to do some sparklers. Samarrah loved them, Ayo was so scared of teh fireworks the neighbors were setting off so he stayed inside with the headphones on. It was a great 4th. Our first one as a family full of Americans...something we will never take for granted.



The end of July we went to the annual tri-stake pioneer day celebration. The kids were so excited that they got to ride their bikes in the parade. It was really hot outside but they powered through and had a blast. We did a lot of pioneer activities and had a blast when they firemen hosed everyone down. Samarrah was soaked!





I think I am finally caught up, but just in time to add so much more. Prince and Samarrah start school on the 29th and Ayo starts preschool on the 7th. This is a new adventure for our family and we are excited! I can't quite believe I have a school age child, but she is so ready and excited for Kindergarten. Stay tuned for super cute pictures of her in her school uniform!!!! Happy Last Few weeks of summer!