Brett's Cookout Party

While the Sorensen's from Texas were here visiting, they worked on some scouting requirements. One of the things Brett needed to do was plan a party. So we were invited over for a cookout at Grandma's, but put on by Brett. He did a fabulous job! We roasted hot dogs and marshmellows and had smores of course. The Dimonds came up to and it was fun to see them again. Brett kept commenting on how hard it was to put on a party but he did a fabulous job! Thanks for a fun night Brett!



This is Brett our super scouter and party planner extraordinaire!




We roasted our hot dogs over Grandpa's fire barrel. Brett of course started the fire for his scouting requirements.





All of us enjoying our food!



Nicholas showing off his marshmellow roasting skills. Wow! they are "just right"!



Ryan loving his smore!



Conner enjoying his marshmellows!



Janet, Jill and Lori showing off their marshmellow roasting skills.


Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen with Troy.


Shane sewing Jared's scout bag. What a good dad!

Kindergarten Big Boy

My baby started Kindergarten today, August 5th. Although Nicholas is adamant that he is not a baby anymore! He tells me that he is practically a grown up! Well our big boy is so excited and could hardly wait. Conner started a week ago, and it has been pure torture (his words exactly) to wait a whole week to start Kindergarten. He is so thrilled to be going to "Conner's school" and really didn't want to wait another minute. You can tell by the picture above. Look at his hand and the way he is standing. He was saying "Mother, I want to go now! No more pictures!" I walked him to his door, and he didn't want to give me a hug but I did get a kiss "blown" to me. Sigh! I really am kind of sad, but I did not cry!



Conner with Nicholas on his first day. Both were convinced that the photo session was going to make them late.



Nicholas found a buddy (Bryant McMullin) from our ward walking to the Kindergarten area.


This is Mrs. Roe his teacher.



Waiting in line. I did get a kiss blown to me, but no hugs like the mom up the line!



Who's ready to start kindergarten?



After his first day. Still slightly annoyed with picture taking but he did indulge his mother again.

This is the Place Heritage Park

When Shane, Lori and their family were here for a visit in August we all went to the This is the Place State Park. We ended up staying the whole day until closing time. There were a lot of fun things for the boys to do, like hatchet throwing, horse rides, wagon rides, leather stamping, and train rides just to name a few. Then there were all the houses and shops to look through. We were able to go inside the Atkin home that is usually not open to the public and take pictures. This was neat because this was Troy's family ancestor's home. We heard some stories about his ancestor's from Darwin and we able to recreate a picture up on the upper deck from one we have of the original home. There was also a group heading out for youth conference pushing handcarts that were dressed like pioneer's and that was an experience for the kids to see. My favorite moment of the day was when Conner took Nicholas over to do some leather stamping. Nicholas was not able to negotiate the hammer and hold the stamp. Connner being the good brother that he is held the stamp and let Nicholas whack away at it. I thought this was extremely brave of Conner, but very sweet. Thankfully we did not have any smashed fingers! The kids thought doing wash on the washing board was loads of fun! (no pun intended) They kept at it for at least a half an hour and wanted to do more. I guess I need to do wash this way at home to get them to help. Nicholas also thought beating the rugs was a great activity. Who knew? Thank you to Troy's parents for the fabulous day!

4th Grade Here I Come

On Monday July 28th Conner started the 4th grade. I'm a little distressed by this event, I mean when did he become so old and so grown-up? He was distressed that he had to start the 4th grade with a puffy face. He got stung by a hornet right between the eyes on Saturday and both of his eyes are very swollen! I was nervous yesterday that they where actually going to turn black, but he actually looks a lot better this morning. He is also not very happy that I am documenting this with a picture, hence the strained smile. Sorry buddy, mom's need to take pictures! So he headed off to school a little nervous and upset that he had swollen eyes. He came home from school very excited and the swollen eyes seemed not to have played a very significant role on the whole experience. 4th grade here we come!

24th of July

Okay so this is one of those mom guilt moments. I had grandiose plans for the 24th of July. We usually are in Tropic for the 24th and enjoy all the festivities there. It's a great little town celebration and we were sad that we missed it this year. So in the past, (when not in Tropic) we make homemade ice cream and do some other fun events. I however was such a slacker and basically almost forgot that it was even the 24th! Imagine my shame when Conner came to me that afternoon and asked what we were going to do for Pioneer Day. Ugh! What a bad mother! So we quickly prepared a FHE lesson on the pioneers, and since I didn't have much enthusiasm for churning our own ice cream (my arm is still numb, okay?) we did the next best thing! Peach shakes at Artic Circle! Hooray for Artic Circle! Luckily the kids thought that this was a fabulous treat and not a bad substitute for making our own. Then we watched the fireworks that were going on in the whole valley. We have such an awesome view from our back porch, and it made me very grateful for this beautiful place that we live. The kids declared it a fun night and as you can see, Nicholas enjoyed his shake immensely. (Anything sweet is okay with him) So maybe some of the mom guilt has passed...........maybe.