Back to School! 1ST and 4TH!

Back to School! The kids went back to school yesterday!  I have a 1st grader and a 4th grader now ! Wow!  I remember those years when I was in school and I still have friends from those years so it's neat to think of the memories and friends my children are making will last a lifetime!  They both were sooo excited to start school and were counting down the days until school started again.  Mitchell has the same teacher as last year who he loves and is in a K/1 class.  Shayla is in a 4/5/6 class and has a new teacher so she is excited about that too!  Here's to a new school year for my kiddos and the first year that they will both be in all day school!

  

  

Back to School Feast 2016

Last year we joined the fun tradition of having a Back to School Feast to welcome in the new school!  The kids loved it so much we decided to make it a tradition for sure! It really is a special night and something both kids look forward to!  We designate a night before school starts for this special feast. The kids wear crowns to remind them of their worth and they dress up to also be reminded of what a special day this is!  Jon and I sit down before the feast to choose a family theme for the school year that helps fill the needs of our kid's needs for the coming year. This year we chose:

Phillipians 4:13:

"For I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me."

We chose this theme especially for Mitchell this year as he has a hard time having confidence in things. Going into first grade and there are a few things we feel he has to work on and realize he can do on his own - some as simple as tying his shoe and riding a bike! Shayla can also get frustrated easily with hard things as there are not many things she views as hard in her life and so when she comes across it she has a harder time dealing with! We hope that with this motto both Shayla and Mitchell realize that  when they have to do the hard things in life--be it math or making new friends or getting up early--that they never have to do it without help. We discussed how strong they are on how the Lord is always there to strengthen and prepare a way for each of us to accomplish our difficult tasks.

 For the dinner the kids had to write down three hard things they wanted to work on this year.  Shayla wrote saying daily prayers, being honest and being nice to a particular girl in school she has a hard time with.  Mitchell wrote Reading, Wake boarding and tying his shoes. So we will see how they do!

After dinner, we had our traditional back-to-school Father's Blessings. Jon and I both had father's who held the priesthood and would give us these blessings before school started as well.   As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, worthy fathers who hold the Priesthood and are able to use it to give blessings tho those in their family.  A Father's Blessing is a blessing of guidance and comfort and when school starts is a great time for fathers to bless their children with this comfort and strength.  It's a wonderful way to start  the school year and a reminder that their earthly Father and Heavenly Father are both there for them any day of the year! I am so blessed to have a husband who can give these blessings and two wonderful children who bless my life daily! 

Cotillion Days

Shayla was involved with the Martine Cotillion this year! "Martine Cotillion provides a fun way for children to learn and practice important manners and build self-awareness that will smooth social interactions in all facets of life".  I thought my little Tom boy might scoff at dressing up and dancing and meeting boys, but she LOVED it and got really into it and actually enjoyed wearing dresses! It was a fun season and the kids got to learn conversational skills, dance steps and more!  Here are some photos from the season!

The last cotillion of the season was a costume party and the theme was Star Wars.  Shayla insisted on being Chewbacca! 

Many of her friends enjoy Cotillion with her too!

Shayla turns 9!

  9 YEARS OLD! 

9 years ago at 8:19 am my baby girl came into this world!  From the get go she was transverse (sideways in the womb) and despite multiple attempts to help her turn -from a medical procedure to acupuncture to laying upside down on an iron board while holding ice to one side of my stomach and a speaker playing music to the other - she would not budge and so came into this world sideways via c-section!  The doctor said that means she would be either very stubborn or very laid back and not easily ruffled.  It seems she is both of those!

Just as she came into this world different than most, she already seems to be leading a life on her own terms  - she is determined and smart and a bit too sneaky sometimes! She is kind and passionate and sensitive and strong at the same time.  She has these characteristics that are still being molded and strengthened so that she will be a leader someday, a friend always, and an example to others throughout her life!  I have no doubt of that! Shayla, I am not exactly sure what the world has in store for you, but I have an idea what you have in store for the world – and watch out world because this girl will bring goodness to all those she touches!

 

She made me a mom and that’s the greatest thing I could ever be or ever hope to be and brings me the greatest joy and hope! As I was making her annual birthday slideshow/collage, I just loved seeing most photos had an animal, tree or something outdoorsy in it!  That is my gal and she is a product of nature and her heart is bigger than I often recognize! And I look forward to the many adventures in store we have together with our family as we continue to explore our amazing world together!

HAPPY 9^TH BIRTHDAY TO OUR BLESSED AND BEAUTIFUL SHAYLA!  

We love you to the moon and back!

More pics of her year here!

https://goo.gl/photos/s8EQdDuDsgoTqRU18

Fillmore love!

We live right next to the beautiful start of the Sespe mountain range - a few minutes walk!  When it rains we get some of the Sespe river too! One of the kiddos favorite things to do is walk or catch tadpoles and play by the creek or dry creek bed when no rain!  I can't resist taking photos here as it is especially pretty this time of year - here are photos from a few of our river walks lately!

Dusk my favorite time of day! 

A boy and his dog

The kiddos! 

Exploring with friends!

Rock hopping! 

 Colt loves the flowers too! 

My running buddy! 

The view from walking path!

My favorite photo by the river!

Happy St. Pattys Day!

We love celebrating our Irish Heritage and St Pattys day requires green and shamrock and IHOP?  

The kiddos off to school!

Shamrock pancakes at IHOP! Shayla's favorite restaurant!

Shayla and one of her best friends Lindsay

Mitchell and one of his best friends, Todd

Even Colt had to wear green!

Shaylas shamrock says "Your lucky to have me as your kid" !  And I am!

Science Fair Time!

I love how Shayla really took the initiative to plan her own Science project and see it through and do it all herself! She even typed up every section!  She spent days thinking of ideas for a project and she knew she wanted to incorporate dogs into it as she loves her pets!  She did a science experiment at school to see which soap cleans bacteria the best, and this gave her the idea for her science project!  She measured the bacteria levels in three dogs and three humans and found that humans mouths are definitely cleaner than Dogs mouths!

Great job Shayla!

Mammoth Adventures!

 Does anyone read this blog anymore ?  I still love to try to keep my blog up and although I don't post super often, I still like my blog for journalist purposes and sharing photos and adventures...

and oh how we love adventures and love to travel and love to do new things or fun things or new fun  things!

This year we had planned a trip to mammoth with friends and we were excited to finally take the kids on their first real trip to do snow sports!  Jon is a big snowboarder - well he used to be - he used to snowboard almost every weekend in college (in Utah).  When we got married I joined him on his trips and I learned how to snowboard (well am still learning...) . We have not been to the snow together since having kids since Jon was so used to Utah snow resorts he doesn't really like any near by resorts like Mountain High or Big Bear, so it is only Mammoth or Tahoe he will go to in California. So we finally were able to get away on a trip and bring the kids too! We had a wonderful trip and Shayla started on snowboard and Mitchell started on skiis!

And we are off...

If going up north we always stop at Schats bakery for monkey bread and sourdough bread! Yum!

Arriving in Mammoth at the same time as a storm!

The kids weer excited to try on their gear!

Snow angel time!!

Off to the snow adventures!

Taking a gondola ride up the mountain while Jon and Shayla are snowboarding! 

We got to meet female Olympic Snowboarder Kelly Clark!  Very cool!

Jon and Shayla on the mountain! 

She's getting the hang of it!

There she goes!

Shayla and Ella

We stayed in Mammoth with our close friends the Meyers and had a great time!  Here I am with my dear friend Sierra!

Shayla and Mitchell and Ella and Kelsea!

The resort we stayed in - Juniper Springs Lodge! We loved it!  Ski in and Ski out and rentals on property and super comfy!

A fun family vacation!  See you next year!