Catching up

Well, I took quite a break from posting anything for awhile. I just didn't feel like taking the time to post. I was busy playing with the kids and doing some fun family things. Oh yeah, and watching the Olympics too. I figured once school started, I'd have a little more free time to post stuff. So here it goes. :)

We did lots of swimming this summer. In our ward every summer, the Relief Society sets up a swim playgroup for every week during the summer where anyone can come play during that allotted time. We took advantage of it lots and the boys loved it! Colby was adventurous and jumped off backwards into the pool. The boys took swim lessons at the beginning of summer which took a lot of stress out of our swim play-dates. Sadee and Tanner love the water too.

Tanner spent a week at a day camp called Camp Invention. It is such a cool program!!! He is an "alumni" and participated in it last year. It is a nation-wide program with hundreds of locations across the country. It's put on by certified teachers who volunteer to hold a camp in their own city. It is fantastic and teaches kids different science principles and stretches their minds. You can find out more info here: http://www.invent.org/camp/default.aspx

Anyways, Tanner totally loved it. One of the things he had to do was design safety features for a skateboard and then use a crash-dummy to test it out. Their crash test dummies were half-filled 2 liter bottles. He also had to make an invention that had four steps (actions) and would pop a water balloon. It was fun to see his invention in action on the last day! He and his team built a roller coaster for a marble that had to have loop-d-loops and a drop off. There was lots of thinkin' going on there!

Sadee enjoyed playing in the grass in just her diaper. She found a small stick and thought it was the greatest thing.

We also went camping at the beach. We spent four days at Doheny and later the same month we spent a week at San Elijo. Both weeks were awesome!! The weather couldn't have been any better and the water was wonderful! Of course camping for us these days means going with a fridge, oven, bathroom, real beds, etc. So it's not really camping, but we still like to call it that. After all, we're still in a campground. The kids love going camping as much as we do and thoroughly enjoyed it. Sadee loved it too and didn't mind getting a little wet. Whenever I would point out the ocean to her and say 'ocean,' she would get a huge grin on her face, bounce once, and say, "uhhhn!" At Doheny we were camped right on the beach. There is a picture of the beach just a few feet from our camp spot.

Sweet babies

I saw a post on my sister-in-law's blog about Baby Mac. It's a blog about a couple that had a still-born baby the day before it was due. This just happened this summer. I found the blog so touching. I got very teary-eyed after watching the slide show and reading what this couple has gone through. Their faith is amazing. Reading their story just confirms my faith in the gospel and adds to my gratitude that families are forever. Since reading the blog, I've hugged my kids a little tighter and just tried to keep in my daily thoughts how lucky we are to have healthy, happy children. A few days ago, our neighbor's three old boy, Matthew, passed away. He nearly drowned in their backyard pool in May and as a result had severe brain damage. He's been at home since two weeks after the accident. Last weekend his family was so kind to invite me over to say good-bye to him before he passed. The love and support that our neighbor's extended family has shown them has been beyond amazing. I am just so grateful for the love of families and so grateful that my family will be together forever. You can check out Baby Mac's blog here: http://www.babymckallister.blogspot.com/ The slide show is really good.

School has started!!

Yay! The boys were so excited to start school. Colby is now in Kindergarten! Here are some pictures I took of their first day. I snapped some pictures of them at home before we left and then one of Colby on the playground and Ryan in his classroom ready for his new class. He was telling me that he is going to miss having Tanner in his class this year. Colby thinks it's so cool that he gets to ride with Ryan and Tanner to school in the mornings and that he gets to go to "Tanner's school." When I picked Colby up from Kindergarten, I asked him how his day was and the first thing he said is, "When do I get to go to Tanner's school?" What?! I explained to him that he was at Tanner's school but that he didn't get to go to the same class as Tanner. I guess Colby was hoping to go to the same class. How cute.