White trash curtain

This window is on the south side of our house and it has been so hot here! I needed to cover it and this is what I came up with. Yes, I know, there are better ways, including tin foil or sheets with tacks. I ordered drapes from Pottery Barn last night.

Youth Talent Show!

This is one of our youth doing a little skit for the talent show. This was the troll getting ready for seminary in the morning. His hands are the feet on this little troll, and one of our missionaries is standing behind using his hands to be the hands of the troll. Together they made a bowl of cereal with milk and ate it, shaved, and washed up! He did some great rowing stretches, too! It was hilarious!

Kiersten swimming

More swim lessons!

Tornado, anyone?

I made a quick trip to Salt Lake to winterize the house and make sure it was ready for us to stay there for Thanksgiving. The cheapest way to fly back home was through Denver! So as I was walking into the Denver airport for my layover, I saw this sign and I just thought it was funny that it was directing me to the nearest tornado shelter. Hmm. I'll take earthquakes, please.

Tarantula Migration!

Next to the sprinkler drip hose

Next to a quarter

Hiding on the road

Cringing 'cause I threw my pen down next to him for scale!

I tried really hard to get that spider to hold still so I could get a clear photo. He wasn't cooperating very well. Anyway, I have seen three tarantulas so far this year, all on the street down to our mailbox. They are big enough you can see them from the car and stop for them! So I chased this one around and took lots of pictures and these are the best ones. He blended in with the road a little too well.

Freezer jam!

Finally made some freezer jam with the yummy strawberries we have at the stand down the street!

Swim team and lessons

Tanner's class

Kiersten doing "pottery" during Tanner's lesson

Kiersten working on her side breathing

Tanner and Kiersten are in swim lessons at the YMCA right now. They are getting ready to do swim team.

Lunch!

Mark won't like me to post this, but I think it's funny! I made nachos and they're all sitting there eating them while on their electronics.

First (second) day of School!

First day of 4th grade!! Kiersten was too sick to actually go on the first day of school, so this is the second day of school! She is in a school where there is only one class per grade. There are about 9 girls in her class. They haven't had a new girl since first grade! So they were pretty excited to see Kiersten. It's different having no hallways! There is no cafeteria, either, so lunches are homemade every day. This school is lucky, because the kids have laptops on their desks to use and they get to go on a lot of field trips, too. Her teacher is Mrs. Young.

Off to College!

Fun puppet Tanner got in Solvang! (Completely unrelated to this post)

Jared in the plane on the way to college!

Jared leaving for the dorms!

Cute Brittany!

Playing with camera phone...

We flew up to SLC to get Jared off to University of Utah! We had to fly because our schedule was complicated. More on that later. We got to Salt Lake and Jared's friend, Payden, came and picked us up in Jared's truck. We spent the next few days shopping for Jared's stuff (school supplies, food, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, microwave, etc.). Jared was pretty funny at Target. We had two carts full and he was so embarrassed! "Mom, no one else is buying this much stuff!" I offered to put back the microwave or the mini-fridge, but he declined. I guess he thought he didn't need toilet paper? At least he appreciated all the stuff!

Brittany and I moved him up to his dorm room on August 18. It was really hot in Salt Lake. I am getting used to the weather being more mild here in CA! Brittany was really roasted, so Jared and I walked down to the office to get his parking pass, and we realized that they had mailed it to our house in Alpine. Grrr. So I had to take that to him later.

Of course, I was so busy moving him that I forgot to take any pictures. I keep asking him to send me one of the dorm room, and he keeps saying he has to clean first. So you probably won't get to see it unless you go visit him.

Tanner got to hang out at our house in Alpine and Kiersten got to play with her friends, so they were happy.

We had Tanner's orientation for Open High School of Utah on Tuesday, August 23, and it was pretty hard to get them to let us go the morning session, because he was scheduled to go in the afternoon. But Kiersten's school was supposed to start the next day in California! So we made it work and then headed to the airport. Unfortunately, Kiersten had gotten sick and had a high fever. We flew anyway, and even had to use a wheelchair for her because she was so tired.

And after all that, she was too sick to go to school the first day!!!

¡Viva la Fiesta!

 

They sell eggs that are blown out and decorated, then filled with confetti. You smash them on your head to release the confetti out into the world!

Mark came and met us on State Street for the Fiesta!

We went into Santa Barbara for the annual Fiesta! We watched the parade and bought some souvenirs. It was pretty hot, so we all needed our sombreros to stay cool!

Kiersten's low-tech Sunday

Kiersten had a major melt-down today, and the diagnosis was... too much Hannah Montana. So we unplugged her and let her scream. Then I taught her to play pyramid solitaire and showed her how to build a house of cards. She thought that was pretty cool. Then she fell asleep. She has been sick with a cold and goopy eyes. Hope she's better tomorrow!

Santa Barbara County Courthouse

Jared came back to Solvang with us, to stay until school starts in August. We went to Santa Barbara to see Winnie the Pooh (the movie) and then stopped in at Mark's office to see him. He talked us into going to the Santa Barbara courthouse, which is a beautiful building with a great bell tower and a courtroom with murals all over the walls. Then we did some shopping and met Mark for dinner before we came home.