first day of school

well typically i line all my kids up for first day of school pictures: but not this time...we had quite the first day of school morning. koy had woke up a couple of times in the middle of the night and threw up and so i was quite tired, kelsi cam into my room at about 6:30 and said she felt like she was going to throw up. so i told her to rest until 7 and then we'd see how she was. well i got up at 7, kelsi was still sick but wanted to go to school because she was having volleyball try-outs after school. i got kaden up and ready, and then i got brooke up and she immediately said she didn't want to go to school and i asked if she wasn't feeling well and she said yes. so in the mean time kelsi is trying to get ready and she throws up. but then she says she actually felt a little better and so her and kaden run to catch the bus. well it becomes pretty clear to me that brooke actually is not sick at all and just was too nervous to go to school, so i tell her we're getting ready and i will drive her to school. well she would not walk into her class, so i sit out in the hall and try to bargain with her and pretty soon we're both in tears and i decide that i can't leave her at school like this!
well that night i was talking to brooke and i told her she would have to go to school the next day and she told me "i don't want to go to school tomorrow or the next day or the next day or the next day!" so the next morning i get everyone up and i'm trying to be super happy for brooke...she cried through getting dressed, brushing her teeth, brushing her hair, family prayer- well she wouldn't walk to the bus so i told kelsi she would just have to carry her, so kelsi is trying to carry her to the bus (i'm watching from the window) and brooke gets loose and makes a run for it back to the house. well i didn't know what to do so i went to the front door and locked it. so brooke is banging on the door to let her in. i felt like such a rotten mom! but i just can't face my kids when they're upset :( kelsi comes back and carries her to the bus, by this time kelsi's crying too.
well i was feeling pretty bad about how i handled the situation, i had even prayed that i would know what to say and do to help brooke feel better about going to school and that's what i came up with? locking her out-nice. well i was so glad to get a call from my good friend lisa marie and we took our little ones to the spray park, i don't think i could of lasted a whole day of worrying how brooke was doing at school.
so i decided to try and get a picture off the bus and this is what i got...
it's kind of a smile :) i'll take it! and i'm glad kids are so forgiving.

oh i forgot to say how kadens first day of schoool went, when he got home i asked how it went and he said "well" and he sort of paused and i got scared and then he said "it was awesome, no-i mean wickedly awesome!" i love kaden, so easily pleased.

table rock

for a couple of years my friend, kris has talked about hiking table rock in the tetons...she has done it before and i have always told her i wanted too but it just never seemed to work out. well we were able to this year...
i was amazed as we drove up there: kent hunts up there and has always told me how dense the forests were but i kind of didn't believe him, i mean i'm from washington...we have real forests in washington :) but i have to say i was impressed and a little nervous...i really didn't want to see any bears or mountain lions. so this is where we were heading too-it looked so far away!

but as we walked it did get closer and closer!

we even hit some patches of snow as we got higher, of course i couldn't resist building a summer snowman! snow is still cold in the summer, i should of had gloves...

so cute, huh?

well we made it to the top in pretty good time, i think it was 6 miles. and we couldn't have asked for a better day.
i wish my camera could do this justice but the tetons are right behind us and it literally feels like you can reach out and touch them. the view was beautiful, beautiful, beautiful...i don't know how anyone can ever question a loving Heavenly Father after experiences like this. we sat on top and ate some lunch and just enjoyed it for about an hour and a half.

i love this shot looking down, it shows the "switch backs" that you go on.

and i had to get this shot of kris, she wore her bear bells and jingled all the way up and all the way down...it was very happy sounding!

what a fun day!!! i'm so glad that i'm able to enjoy so much in my life and have such great friends to do it with.

torture!

okay so i had this brilliant idea at the start of summer that i was going to make koy go to one of the summer movies each week. he was being naughty at church and i thought this boy needs to learn how to sit still...i know, i know--tortue to make your kids get some popcorn and pop and watch a movie. the first movie he cried almost the whole time and even pinched me. but by the second movie he sat just fine and did for the rest of the summer, he was better than brooke!
so i guess he did learn how to sit a little better, but he's still quite crazy at church :( but it was me that was tortured by this whole thing, i have decided that i am not a movie lover...i had a hard time sitting through some(most) of the movies. they were simply--dumb(excuse the language) and even had swear words in quite a few. so hopefully i don't get anymore brilliant ideas like this!

Gordon B. Hinckley

i still tear up when i hear his voice-it is just so familiar...

it speaks love, peace and joy to me!

"i have not lost my faith in goodness.

i believe in the ultimate triumph of good over evil

and that ultimately all will be well!"