The kids' first day of school was August 18th. Summer seemed shorter than usual this time. Kamrie started first grade, Dallin started third grade, and Taylor started fifth grade. They all seem to be enjoying their teachers and classes so far. But we never have had bad years in the past. So this year shouldn't be any different. Taylor already enjoyed an overnighter at Clear Creek, UT with the other fifth grade boys earlier this month. He's growing up too fast. I remember how old I felt when we got to go to an overnighter at Sly Park, CA in grade school.
Dallin earned his Wolf badge in August. He was very self-motivated and kept bugging me to help him complete all the requirements. Great job, Big D!
(Apparently I didn't realize how much I looked like a frumpy mother that day. I thought I brushed my hair. Oh well, I DO have four kids who keep me very busy. That's my excuse.)
Sisi's first day of preschool was Sept. 9th. She goes Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-11. She is in a similar type of preschool as Allie. There are six moms who feel like we are smarter than a three year old and can teach our own free (or dirt cheap) curriculum. We each take two weeks in a row every semester and teach the letter, number, shape, and theme of the week in whatever teaching style or method we want. The kids also get to have structured play time. Sienna loves it and feels like a big girl just like her older siblings. She even has Kamrie's old backpack from last year. (Obviously the sun was in her eyes for this picture. I didn't like the shadows that were being cast on her face, so I had her close her eyes and then open them for the picture at the very last second.)
Dallin is on a competitive traveling soccer team. He was hand picked by a coach who was tired of the recreational soccer and wanted more. Coach Bjorn is an amazing coach and doesn't even have a child on this team. (He has a daughter the same age, but this league is for boys only.) He and another guy from Saratoga Springs started this competitive team for the first time this year. The Saratoga Sting u9 (under age nine) is in first place out of ten teams so far! They are amazing to watch! I love that Dallin gets to be a part of something like this. In this particular picture, Dallin was the MVP for the game. He worked hard and made one goal. He almost made two more, but he was off sides both times. So they didn't count. We are proud of all his hard work.
One last thing . . . this is Jarin's contribution to the Cougs! Go BYU football! (I'm not sure what the pinkish, orange thing is in the middle. Maybe you can figure it out.) Since we love attention around here, this seemed appropriate. There have been many comments made because of this. In fact, one father in the neighborhood had to drive his six year old boy down to our house to show him "the Y" because he was concerned that there were too many "U" decorations in the area.
