First Day

Kristopher started Kindergarten today.

And he didn't even need me.

In fact he was dressed for afternoon kindergarten at 6:12 am this morning!

He just wanted to be dropped off when Kale went to school so he could just "wait for the afternoon".

As I watched him walk into the classroom I wasn't sad.

I was excited because he was excited!

I took Kara's hand and we started back for the car when I heard,

"MOM".

I turned around and Kris has his head out the door and yells,

"DON'T FORGET TO PICK ME UP AFTER SCHOOL!"

I waved and before I could even say, "I love you" he was back inside the classroom.

We took pictures after school today rather than before school.

You see while one of my children couldn't wait to start school

my oldest child was pacing around the house this morning with a stomach ache.

He gets so nervous.

Once we pulled up he saw friends and was fine.

I watched from a distance as my 4th grader walked with his class into the classroom.

Here's the after the first day photo shoot!

And after having to wake my daughter up from a nap to come and pick the boys up from school, they decided they wanted to walk home together and I let them.

Kale came right home and did his homework before he headed into the playroom for some X-box stress relief.

Kris told me he made a new friend. I asked who, and he said "I don't know his name but he has a green shirt and he's my new best friend!"

I love Kindergarten!

I think the first day was a success. . .

Now if tomorrow can just go as smoothly!

My Grandpa

My Grandpa, Lloyd Keith Schlappi passed away yesterday.

This is the last picture I have of him.

I knew it would be my last visit with him.

During our short visit we talked about "dancing in the kitchen"

I will always remember standing on my grandpa's feet and dancing through the house.

I even found this picture and my mom had written on the back,

"dancing with Grandpa"

Last night my kids were asking me about my Grandpa. I told them this story.

My Grandpa was a counselor in the Manti Temple Presidency for many years. One summer when I was 9 years old I got to go stay with them for a few days in their little apartment at the bottom of temple hill. While they would work in the temple for a few hours I would stay at their apartment and color and eat grandma's treats and watch The Price is Right. One morning the phone rang and it my Grandpa. He told me to put my church dress on and meet him at the temple and he would be waiting for me.

As I was walking up the hill I remember being nervous because I didn't see my Grandpa.

And then just as I got up to the temple the temple door opened and my Grandpa was standing there all in white and gave me a hug.

He held my hand and we walked inside the temple.

For a minute I thought maybe I was doing something wrong because I knew I wasn't old enough to go in the temple yet, but I also knew that my Grandpa wouldn't take me anywhere I wasn't supposed to go.

I remember seeing the chandelier in the temple and thinking to myself that this was the most beautiful place I had ever been in.

Turns out my Grandpa just wanted to have lunch with me. He took me downstairs to the cafeteria and we had lunch with my Grandma.

I look back on that day and realize that is the day I knew that someday I would be married in the temple.

Twelve summers later my Grandpa sealed Kyle and I in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple for time and all eternity.

My Grandpa was holding my mom's hand as she passed away. He kept talking to her right until the end. He was crying and I knew how hard that was for him as a father to see his only daughter pass on before him.

I know yesterday there was an amazing reunion as my mom was with both her parents again. How happy my Grandpa must have been to see them both dressed in white waiting for him.

He must have been as happy as I was on that summer day when my Grandpa all dressed in white was waiting for me.

I will miss you Grandpa.

He remembered the horse. . .

So on Saturday night for our Anniversary Kyle took me to

Old Town Sacramento and surprised me

with a horse drawn buggy ride and dinner.

He remembered our conversation from last week driving home from our little wedding getaway where I had told him that obviously I wouldn't change how or where we got married but that a part of me loved the drama of watching that bride ride in on a horse.

I loved my surprise. And I loved snuggling with my husband through the streets of Old Town in the back of that buggy way more than I ever would have liked having a horse at my wedding!

Weddings, Reflections, and Anniversaries

Last weekend Kyle and I went to a wedding.

And we drove over 2 hours to get there.

And we drove through some of the best "old" towns I have ever seen.

And in those "old" towns they had some amazing "old" churches.

And we finally arrived. . .

And this sign greeted us.

I like to call it "the towns priorities!"

The wedding was beautiful.

The bride rode in on a white horse.

The couple was so happy.

The food and cake were amazing.

And we had so much fun.

Kyle even ran into the parents of one of his best friends from high school.

Really we had a great night.

And as we were driving home we couldn't help but talk about our wedding 12 years earlier.

I didn't ride in on a white horse,

although the color white played a key role in our wedding.

Our day was just as beautiful.

Our cake was just as amazing.

And we were just as happy, maybe even happier.

And 12 years later we're still just as happy (and beautiful). . .  right hun?

Happy Anniversary!

Fruits of our labor

The other day I came out of the laundry room with a basket full of laundry to fold and out the back window I saw this. . .

I dropped the basket of laundry and grabbed the camera!

My heart melted.

After an impromptu water fight with the hose my boys cooled off and relaxed by picking homegrown tomatoes off the vine and talked and laughed for a good 20 minutes with each other.

Does Summer Get Any Better Than That?

It reminded me of that day way back in April when we planted those tomatoes.

Kara was a helper that day (and her hair was so much shorter)!

And here you have it. . .

8 tomato plants

I thought I would have so many tomatoes I wouldn't know what to do.

I had visions of canning spaghetti sauce, salsa, and whole tomatoes.

Now don't get me wrong.

We have tomatoes. We have lots of tomatoes.

But we are having way too much fun eating them to even think about putting any of them in a jar.

BLT's for dinner,

Sliced tomatoes with a little pepper for lunch,

More salads then you can even imagine,

and as you can tell my family can eat them just like apples!

Who am I to tell my boys they can't have a tomato when they want one?

And as a bonus my husband set every one of those tomatoes (and our bell peppers, and zucchini) all on a drip system so I don't have to water them by hand every day!

(That is probably why they are growing so good this year)

This is Kristopher's drip system. . .

He planted a weed and hooked up a drip system just like his dad!

It was another HOT day in August. . .

Ummm, wait a minute no it wasn't.

We woke up to overcast skies.

In August?

My air conditioner didn't kick on the entire day.

In August?

I wore a little sweater to the park.

In August?

Wait - we went to the park in the middle of the day in August?

In August?

Yes we did and it turned out to be a little windier than I had anticipated.

After attempting to eat a picnic lunch and after chasing about 10 baggies out to the baseball field we gave up on that idea and decided to play!

Even Kale's hair couldn't escape the wind!

And Kristopher mastered the monkey bars!

And then the WIND blew him off!

And I know I've talked about this before.

About how my son weighs nothing.

About how my son is in like the 14th percentile.

Just in case you don't believe me I think the wind is blowing him off the slide too!

A fun day was had by us all.

I've been waiting for this day!