Fall Activities

Our fall activities have begun and life is busy, busy, busy.  Abbie decided last spring that soccer, although kind-of fun, wasn't really for her.  She begged and begged over the summer to try dance at the studio her friends Ruby and Lulu dance at so we decided to give it a try.  She is taking three classes (ballet - with Ruby - , musical theatre and hip hop) a week.  It seems like a lot but two classes are back to back so she is only there two days a week and we've cut out the drama and signing lessons with the musical theatre class so it's really saved our family time.  That makes for a happy mom.  She is still working on piano as well and takes her lessons one day a week.

Daisy has been waiting and waiting to join a soccer team like her brother and sister.  It's ironic that she finally got to start soccer and the season that both her older siblings are playing.  But the caboose in our family is loving it enough for everyone!  She is on a darling team called the Sidekicks with a great coach (Clay Treese) and her great friend Lacey.  She couldn't be happier.  Daisy and Lacey are also back in dance with Miss Lori one morning a week and couldn't be happier.

Our Daisy Troop came back together this year.  We lost one girl and added another.  Ruby joined the troop, much to everyone's delight.  Saturday was a giant expo to celebrate the Girl Scout's 100 Year Anniversary.  It was a lot of fun and a great way to start off the year.  Can't believe these cuties will be bridging to Brownies at the end of the year!

School 2012/2013

The summer seemed to really fly by this year and all of the sudden it was Abbie's first day of school!  She has been excited all summer for first grade...school all day, lunch in the lunchroom, specials every day...everything just seemed wonderful about it.  She was assigned to Ms. Jones and we got to meet her a little early thanks to Mr. Rosensteel and she was all we could hope for.  The only part that made Abbie really nervous was that she could not find one person she knew in her class...not just a friend but even an acquaintance.  Luckily, the daughter of the teacher next door, Ella, is in her class and they get along great and a really cute girl, Tess (the daughter of Kyle's middle school counselor), sits next to her.  Of course she meets Ruby at recess everyday so things are moving along.  But she is quick to tell everyone that 6 hours is WAY too long and she misses her mom and sissy.  Well, we miss her too.

Daisy started her second year with Miss Joy the following week.  She is in a class with Nate and her buddy Scarlett and some other friends and church acquaintances.  She loves Miss Joy and is having a great time again.  Nate and Daisy are also testing out a Pre-K writing and math class at the rec center two days a week...we'll see how that goes.

I don't have a photo but Kyle started ninth grade at Foothill High School this year.  After not making the soccer team (big disappointment), he really wasn't looking forward to school but texted his dad the first day to tell him that Seminary was fantastic and school is general was good (no homework - but still good so we'll take it!).  Don't have a more recent progress report but hopefully he is assimilating well and learning to like it.

Kyle turned 15 this year...15!  We didn't get a chance to see him on his birthday this year but Abbie and Daisy posted this photo on Instagram marking their brother's birthday and his big day.

The next day we got to have a party for him.  Here we are anxiously awaiting the festivities to begin...a bowling party then Metro Pizza.  Abbie in particular couldn't wait for her brother's big party.

Here are photos of the crazy group of bowlers...us, Linds, Wes and the boys and the Gubler clan.  Lots of fun...tons of crazy bowling.

Then on to Metro Pizza for wings, salad, pizza and presents.  Kyle got candy, batman underwear, money, books, gift cards and an air gun.  The photo at the bottom right is the injury Tripp sustained when I shot him with Kyle's air gun to see what kind of damage these kids do to each other...no joke.  I just hope he and his friends wear their protective gear.

Next year he's on the road...then we'll all have to wear our protect gear!

End of Summer Pool Party

When Lindsay mentioned how fun it would be to get some friends together at the parents pool for get together all my thoughts of an end of summer bash sort of came together and our "End of Summer Pool Party" was born.  We invited a few people here, a few people there and it turned out really fun.  There were a lot of older kids, which I thought might be a bummer for Nate but he had a blast with all the older boys.

It was quite a group of kids splashing in that pool...good thing Papa wasn't around for long (he tends to get tense during these types of occasions).  We had a great time then ended the affair with an ice cream cake and jolly "Happy Birthday" for darling Amelia who turned 6 that day.  Can't wait for next year's fete!

Reno

Every summer we drive up to Reno for at least a week and enjoy the somewhat cooler temperatures and the excellent company.  This year we stayed for about 10 days and played.  Like SLC, Tripp was able to join us at the beginning and the end and we kept ourselves busy in the middle.

One of Abbie's favorite things to do in Reno is hit the library.  Sadly, our favorite has seen some budget cuts but it is still pretty great.  Abbie read me a ton of books while Daisy made a friend and played dress-up and puppet show with Grandma Sandy as the audience.  We also hit our favorite dance store, Judy's, and stocked up for Abbie's three classes she wanted to take this year and Daisy's favorite Miss Lori class.

Before Tripp left town we did a little back to school shopping, tried a new and now favorite soup restaurant (thanks for the recommendation Brandon Holt!) and spent a day at Tahoe swimming, eating pizza and searching for treasure.

After Tripp left, we kept ourselves busy with other pursuits.  Susie came over and played dress up with the American Girl dolls and Kermie.  He needed to feel fancy as well.

We met the Legarza's for possibly the best pizza ever and a night at the Reno Aces game.  What a rad stadium.  Just love it.  Had a great time.  It was "Dog Night".  Too bad we didn't know and Kramer & Yader got left at home...rats.

We spent a lot of time during the week working on crafts.  Susie came over and helped the girls some.  The girls and I sat around and worked on them.  Grandma introduced Abbie to "MadLibs" so she took a break from the crafts to work on those non-stop for a couple of days.

One afternoon we visited Susie's house to see Betty and Buster.  Daisy LOVES Betty and can't wait to see her every time we visit Reno.  Even Abbie got up on the bed and loved her.  She really is the sweetest kitty in the entire world (I may be a little partial) and loves to be scratched and loved.  Buster (the wiener dog) showed his excitement with our visit as well by barking at us the entire time.  Despite his loud love, the girls still enjoyed feeding him green beans when he did tricks or fetched balls.

It wouldn't be a Reno visit without Katie inviting us to an afternoon at the lake house.  They have the best beach next to Zephyr Cove.   The kids always love it.  These three girls had such a lovely afternoon.  How lucky are we to have such generous friends.

We had a lot of random fun over the week.  One of the girls favorite things to do was help Grandma make dinner.  They took turns every night on who got to help her.  Kramer did a lot of lounging, per usual.  Abbie attended tennis camp one week.  It was five days, three hours each morning.  She did really well and loved it.  I just need to find better coaches here...the ones we've used in the past weren't that great and she always excels when she plays in Reno.  We ate at our favorite breakfast joint, Squeeze In, for the best pancakes in the entire world.  Welcomed daddy home.  Celebrated Susie's birthday.  Dinner at the Legarza's. Avoided my 20th High School Reunion (I was actually in town when it was going on). Played soccer and tennis in Grandma's front yard and just about anything else you can imagine.  I even got in a yoga session.

On the way home, we enjoyed one last breakfast before we hit the road.  The Legarza's joined us at Squeeze In for pancakes and a photo op by an alien.  Katie and I always said we'd live next door to each other (in houses made of chocolate I think) and although it hasn't happened...yet...I'm always thankful for this yearly trip and their willingness to make time for us while we are there.

It's sad to say "Goodbye" to Grandma and Susie and the Legarza's but we always dream of our next summer trip and all the fun we get to have.  Thanks everyone!!!!!!

Random Summer Fun....

We did more than just travel this summer...we spent some fun time at home playing with friends and cousins and just hanging out.  Here are some photos of just a few of the things we did this summer at home...

Checked out Boulder Beach.  Turned out to be a lot of fun.  Both Abbie & Nate made it to the buoy with me on our second trip.

 Crafts.  Lindsay and I switched off craft days with the kids.  This is after they made lightning bugs and were launching them in the dark in our bathroom.

Treasure hunting...Daddy got the GeoCaching bug and we starting treasure hunting wherever we went.  Even around our own house!

 Lazy mornings waking up and watching cartoons in Mommy & Daddy's bed.  Sometimes having no place to go was the best medicine...

 Waterslides and diving boards. Abbie got brave this summer and tried a variety of water slides and both the low and high dives.

 Big brother time.  We didn't spend a ton of time with Kyle, but the time we did spend was wonderful.

 Daisy and Nate making traps...their new favorite thing to do together.

Various outings to Run-Plus-Fun and Bounce U with buddies.  Wouldn't be summer without hanging out with the buddies.

Annual Salt Lake City Trip

We extended our annual summer trip to Salt Lake City this year...10 days total!  Leslie always says to stay as long as we like but at some point we are going to push it too far and she is going to kick us out!!!!  Visiting Salt Lake has turned into the highlight of the summer for our family I think.  We love seeing our family there and visiting all the super fun places Utah has to offer.

Tripp was able to stay with us the first few days.  We decided to visit the space museum at Gateway and see an Imax movie about the Artic.  Abbie, in particular, loved reading about every single planet.  The movie was lovely...but a little sad for us soft-hearted moms!  As usual, we made a stop at Tripp's favorite, The Red Iguana, and had the pleasure of Tina, Gary and Emma joining us.  Emma filled us in on her trip to China.  Tripp had to leave Monday morning but we enjoyed church Sunday with Leslie, Taffy and Jessica then taught them how to "Treasure Hunt"...three successful finds and sadly one bee sting (sorry Taffy).

Tuesday we checked out Hogle Zoo and the new Polar Bear.  The zoo in general was wonderful but the new section with the seals, otters, and the darling polar bear was outstanding.  Going with Ashley, Will, Leslie, Amanda, Josh, Maddie & Chase just made it more fun.

Wednesday we met the Butlers and the Morgans (their darling cousins Morgan and Memphis) for a day at Temple Square.  We toured the Beehive House, ate lunch ate the Lion House, visited the Church History Museum (especially fun!) then headed to Liberty Park for a little cooling off in the canyons water park.  What a fun day with our favorite girls (in Las Vegas or out).

We weren't sure if it would happen or not but daddy did make it home Friday night.  Leslie had a BBQ at her house for an "Marz" family that wanted to join.  We had a medium sized crowd and a great time. At 9 pm Josh talked Tripp into playing Scrabble with him.  Sucker....

Saturday we took our annual trip up to Sundance.  We missed our Sundance partners, the Fairbanks, so dearly but it rained almost the entire time we were there so it was a trip cut short.  Next year it will be beautiful weather and we will have our beautiful friends back to enjoy it with us!!!!!!

Of course we did some of our normal SLC things as well....swimming (Ashlie's pool, the South Jordan Rec Center) played with cousins, shopped at Gardner Village, hung out in Leslie's garden, had dinner at Aunt Tina's, played with Maggie & Sophie, etc.  The trip actually felt too short.  We might stay two entire weeks next summer....