Jacob goes to BYU

The very best part of living in Las Vegas is all the friends and family we get to see.  We were especially happy that my parents and brother, Jacob decided to pass through on their way to taking him to BYU.  It really doesn't seem like that long ago that I  was a freshman at BYU when my parents told me that they were expecting Jacob!  It was so much fun to see and hang out with him even for just a few days.

My parents also flew out of Vegas so we got to see them again for a few days on their way back from dropping Jacob off.

Lydia loved reading books with Grandma.

Grandpa gave the boys a gun safety lesson before taking them up to the gun range.

William tried on Jacob's elephant ears from his short stint in the BYU marching band.

On Labor Day we took Grandma and Grandpa to enjoy the cooler weather on Mt. Charleston.

It was so enjoyable to have them around for a few days and to visit so much with them!

August misc

Henry and Lydia did a little photo shoot one evening while I was making dinner.  They are so silly.

Lydia loves to get all her stuffed animals and babies to cuddle with while we watch shows in the afternoon.

Henry has turned into a little monkey!

Lydia likes me to pull over on our bike ride home so she can pick flowers.  She's always very sad if I won't stop for flowers.

James got his saxophone and is learning to play this year!

Lydia loves to take selfies with my phone! I often find new pictures from her.

Alex was finally awarded his wolf (it's been a LONG time since we've had pack meeting).

Lydia was given a twirly dress by a friend (Devin Behrens) so we took some pictures to send to show how much she loved it.

Back to School

The Thursday before school started we went to Meet the Teacher at Heckethorn.  Henry and Alex both got great teachers this year but they still weren't sure they were ready for school to start.

The Friday before school William and James were able to get their new schedules.  It's crazy to think I have 2 in middle school now.

The Sunday before the first day of school we held our 9th annual Back to School Feast.  We decided that we really wanted to focus on working hard this school year we came up with the theme of "Become a Master Builder" (based on The Lego Movie).

I made shirts for the Alexander and Henry (and a dress for Lydia).

The older boys didn't wear their shirts at all last year so I had to come up with something different.  My friend suggested hats.  Genius!

After our feast Rich gave everyone a back to school father's blessing and we tried to get to bed early.


The first day of school came way too soon.  The summer's really just seem to fly by.  These three were super excited to wear their new shirts.

I managed to catch a really quick picture before everyone left.

Lydia captured this photo of me at the park before school.  Over the summer I really missed the morning chats at the park with my friends.

Everyone had a fantastic first day of school.  Henry declared that it only seemed like 3 hours which in Henry-speak means it was a fun day!  I'm so glad that everyone is having a great year with great teachers!

For Family Night we brainstormed ideas of what a Master Builder is.

The following week Lydia started a pre-school co-op with 4 other friends.  She was so excited to start school as well!

Crane University

All summer long the kids worked on their Crane University degrees.  Amy gave us the idea and it was a super fun way to set summer goals and stay busy.  They had to set 2 goals for each degree.  The 3 younger boys earned their PhD, William earned a Master's and Lydia got a Bachelor's.

Just so we can remember I'll list the goals that they each accomplished.

William: complete a merit badge, journal every day for a week, give Alex 3 trumpet lessons, make a vacation list of fun things to do on the road trip and gather the items together, make a piece of art, recite 3 Articles of Faith

James: make a movie, create and do an obstacle course , play outside daily for a week, complete a Faith in God goal, make a new recipe (rootbeer), learn to conduct music and lead it in Family Night, memorize a poem, teach Henry how to do Google slides

Alex: make a movie, read a chapter book, play outside daily, take 3 trumpet lessons from William, make a new recipe, write a book, complete a Faith in God goal, teach 3 piano lessons to Henry

Henry: make a movie, create and do an obstacle course, read a chapter book, complete swim lessons, memorize 2 Articles of Faith, take 3 piano lessons from Alex, learn how to do Google slides, make a new recipe
Lydia: finish swim lessons, write a letter (to Evelyn), learn a new song, help mom bake

We held a graduation ceremony on the Sunday before school.  For every degree they recieved a little treat.  Everyone decided they want to do this again next year.

End of Summer

We squeezed every little bit of fun out of our summer.  William didn't get to join us earlier in the summer when we went to see Nature's Ninja's at Springs Preserve so we headed there one more time.  Lydia really loved the porcupine.  We also got to see them feed the chameleon--it was so cool to see him grab crickets with his tongue!

We walked down to a friend's house to support their lemonade stand.  William was so sweet to carry Lydia part of the way.

I was finally awarded my honor bee in Young Women.  I actually earned it a while ago but it was a super busy summer.

Lydia is just so sweet when she cuddles up with her animals.

Lydia convinced James to have a snack picnic with her in the loft.

I few different times I've found Lydia reading to herself.  It's super sweet.

Rich was able to get us tickets through work to the 51s baseball game.  We were also given the opportunity to help throw out the first pitch.  We all got shirts and balls and some cool bags.  This is the first game we've all been to in a few years.

It was fun to all be on the field together!

The boys were hungry and tired and hot so we left the game early.  It was a good thing we did.  Not long after we left there was a huge dust storm that blew through (we were driving in it).  A friend who stayed at the game told us the next day that the power went out a few times and they ended up evacuating the stadium.  It was chaos!

July Phone Dump

In July we tried to finish crossing things off our summer bucket list!

Lydia had so much fun playing with her new little felt boards.

Henry, Lydia and Alex had a great time at Lego Club at the library.

We all painted a little bit of canvas art to decorate their rooms.  Everyone did a great job.  I even gave them sparkling cider to sip while they worked.

 Their final pieces!

 Lydia loves to wear everyone's shoes around and she likes to take my old purses.  She was walking around like this one day:

The kids all had a great time playing with my instagram filters.

 It rained in the desert!  We had to run out and enjoy it!

 We did our favorite experiment: diet coke and mentos.

James, Alex and Henry made some delicious ice cream!

We picked one morning to take a bike ride to GVG for donuts.  We left early... but not early enough because we were still sweating when we got there.

Henry, James, and Alex had a fun time at the library Star Wars event.

Rich was asked to help clean up Warm Springs so we tagged along and swam for a bit.

William gets some pretty crazy hair.  We joke with him that he's trying to look like Steve from Stranger Things.

We held our annual Lemonade Stand.  We have great neighbors and ward members who came to support the kids.

Lydia just looked super cute this particular day in her OU shirt and cowgirl boots.

Lydia really got into her baby dolls at the end of the summer.  I helped her swaddle them many times a day.

We even squeezed in a breakfast at IKEA.  You can't beat $1 breakfast.

Lydia was able to go into the play area at IKEA and this was James's last time.  That means that I only had William as a shopping buddy.  Henry got a coloring page there and was super proud of his coloring job.

Only a few weeks left of summer!