Today was the official first day of school for Emma and Ian. It was a big one because they were both starting a new school. The opening was delayed a little bit because of construction, and I was a bit worried that they still wouldn’t be ready, but they made it. The school still looks like a big construction zone, but the classrooms are done and look nice.

Ian started first grade with Mrs. Johnson and Emma started third grade with Ms. Taylor.

Emma was the first one up. She was all dressed and ready when I got up. She couldn’t wait to wear her new dress! Ian was a little later and I had to wake him to start getting ready. We took a few quick photos at home and then we were off to school.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they both have a great day!

I took Ian out for a mini photo shoot this morning. Tomorrow it is Emma’s turn

A few photos from the beach. Stories to come later.

So much has been happening lately, and I just haven’t taken the time to sit down and post.

One of the most exciting things for our family is that we purchased an RV! Everybody is really excited about it. Before Scott and I had kids we loved to go camping. While the kids were babies, camping just seemed out of the question. But now that they are getting older we decided that we want to start doing more of it as a family. Scott has been wanting to buy a pop up trailer for a while. I went to breakfast with some friends a few months ago and one of them had an RV. She talked about how much they love it and how great it has been for their family. I talked to Scott about it and we decided to start looking around.

We found the perfect one for us at a dealership in Salt Lake: a Four Winds 5000. (I’ll post some photos of it soon.)It was slightly used, but in great condition. We decided to go for it and we purchased it a few days after we looked at it.

Since then we have been going away in it almost every weekend. Scott took the kids to Jordanelle for the night the first weekend we had it. The next weekend we went to Captiol Reef. We had a great time there! I went there with my best friend’s family a few years in a row when I was in high school. It is just a special place for me and I have many great memories there. It was fun to go back and spend time there with my own kids. We went on some great hikes and just had some great family time together. The kids were just thrilled. They loved the RV, riding bikes, and playing in the dirt.

The next week we decided to go to Moab. We invited Bryan and Mary to come with us and we all went down there for 3 days. The weather was perfect and the guys did a great job of finding us a campsite. We stayed right near Slickrock and had a really nice campsite. We all got to go biking and hiking. We hiked to Delicate Arch, which I had never done before. I also mountain biked Slickrock trail, another first for me. I have to say that I hiked with my bike quite a bit, but it was a fun experience!

A few weeks later we spent a few days at Mirror Lake. We made it a family affair and both sets of grandparents came up to spend a day with us. We had a great time fishing, and even caught enough fish to have a trout dinner for 7 people one night! The weather was perfect and we escaped to the mountains on the hottest few days of the year.

The week after next we head to North Carolina to spend a week at the beach. We are all looking forward to that!

It has been a great summer, but it has been going by much too fast. Before we know it, the kids will be back in school.

This past week Ian has been attending Karate camp at Bobby Lawrence Karate. Earlier in the summer he moved up from Little Ninja’s and became a Junior. When he did that he earned his solid yellow belt. Earning belts as a junior is quite a bit harder than earning them as a Little Ninja. There is a lot more to learn, and they seem to focus more on what you know rather than how many classes you have attended.

Summer camp is a great way to learn a lot all at once and to try to earn a new belt. When he attended the first week of camp earlier in the summer, he had just become a yellow belt. When he earned his yellow belt he skipped 2 Little Ninja striped belts. It was a big jump for him. I figured that at the end of the camp week, he wouldn’t be ready to promote. Turns out, he wasn’t quite ready. Since then he has been going to class twice a week and this week he attended camp again. I was really impressed with how much he learned this week at camp.

Today was promotion, and he was ready to promote to an orange belt. He worked hard at camp this week and he was really proud of himself.

Here he is getting his new belt.

This past weekend was the MS150 charity bike ride in Logan. This was my second year doing it and Scott’s third year. We had such a great time this year. My parents watched the kids for part of the time so we could just spend the weekend alone.

They have free camping at the Cache Valley fairgrounds. We went up early and took our motor home to get a spot. We met up with the rest of our group and got a great spot with hook ups. It was great to be able to use the air conditioner!

Scott and I spent most of Thursday and Friday just hanging out together. Most people came and got their camping spots early Thursday and then left until Friday evening. The campground was deserted. It was nice. I can’t remember the last time I had free time like that with nothing to do. I just relaxed and even watched some tv in the middle of the day!

The rest of the group showed up Friday night. We had a potluck dinner and then hung out around camp. We had such a fun group this year and it was nice to hang out with everyone.

Saturday the ride started bright and early at 7:00am. We rode together in a group this year and it was so nice. Everyone worked together really well and it made the ride really fun. It went by so quickly. The ride flew by and all of a sudden it was time for lunch. I felt great all day and really enjoyed the ride.

We spent the afternoon around camp and bedtime couldn’t come soon enough. I was exhausted! Everyone else went to the pool party and I went to bed. I was asleep by 8:15pm!

Sunday started again at 7:00am. We started out with a raging head wind as we headed up the canyon. It did not make for a fun ascent, but I just kept pedaling and soon the wind settled down. I was so happy when we got to the top. From there the rest of the ride was fun and mostly flat.

The whole weekend was great. The company was awesome and I really enjoyed myself. I am already looking forward to next year!

Last fall I spent a couple days at a really fun photography workshop with Ali Hohn. She came back to Utah for a few more workshops and asked me to help out.

This morning I went to lend her my equipment and brought Emma along to model for the people in the workshop. She was such a great little model. I took a few photos of her too, and thought I’d share them here. She did so well they begged me to bring her back tonight for the sunset shoot.

Stay tuned for a few more later!

Today was Ian’s last day of kindergarten. In some ways the last six years have seemed to last forever and in other ways they have flown by. It seems like yesterday that Scott was driving me down the canyon to the birth center. I was doing everything I could not to deliver him in the car! He came flying into this world as soon as I got to the birth center. His birth was a whirlwind and his life since has been a whirlwind too.

Ian does everything he does with energy. He started school at Little Miners Montessori when he was three. They were not sure quite how to deal with him. He was so full of energy and he had a hard time focusing. He moved to Soaring Wings Montessori when he was four, and that is where he has been for the last two years. Moving him was the best decision we ever made. At Soaring Wings he found a teacher that knew just how to handle him. Kim and her assistant Sara appreciated all of the wonderful things about Ian and knew how to lovingly redirect him when he needed it. He bloomed under their direction. I have felt so lucky to have them as Ian’s teachers the past two years. It was so nice to leave him in the care of people who truly cared about him. I think they loved him as much as he loved them!

The things Ian learned about at school this year were amazing. The things he remembered and told me about just blew me away. He even taught me a thing or two this year. He has the most amazing memory. When someone tells him a story or teaches him a lesson he remembers every detail. Sometimes I am astounded at the little details that he remembers.

I am so proud of him and everything that he has accomplished in his short time in school. Soaring Wings has been such a great start for him. I can’t wait to see what great things he will accomplish next year at the Weilenman School of Discovery.

Congratulations, little buddy!

Emma made her first communion last week. Here are a few quick photos. She was in heaven! She LOVED her dress.

This was the scene at our house at 4:55am this morning.

Emma and Ian got up at the crack of dawn and made me breakfast for Mother’s Day. They had first gotten up at midnight, but Scott chased them back to bed. They got up again around 4:00am and started my breakfast of cereal, waffles, and cinnamon toast.

They came in to wake me up about 4:45am. I was so tired I didn’t want to get out of bed. I didn’t realize at first what they had done, but as soon as I did I knew I had to get up!

They were so cute. Emma had made me all kinds of cards and crafts. Ian was so proud of himself for making my waffle all by himself.

I sat with them and ate my breakfast while I read all of my cards. They made me feel so special. It was so sweet that they went to so much trouble to make my Mother’s Day breakfast.