A Few Things I Learned Last Week...

• Football gear and clothing is way more stinky and gross than baseball.
• If you have a child on the high school swim team it is not long before the car, the clothes, the bedroom, etc. smell like chlorine.
• Do not attempt to reason with a nine year old who has decided that her carpet is too "rough" and has covered her entire floor with comforters and blankets. (How long will this last?)
• I do not function well at 5:45 am (OK, this is something I already knew but has been reaffirmed). Thank you Mike for taking Megan to seminary.

Summer Recap

We jumped into summer very quickly. Sam, Mollie, and I left for Bozeman, Montana two days after school got out and Megan left with a group from her school for a trip to Washington DC. After we returned home it was one thing after another. We spent a great 4th at the lake followed by a fun trip to the water slides in Birch Bay. Megan then attended EFY, Youth Conference, and Girls camp. The girls spent 3 days in Portland for a softball tournament and the boys hung out at home doing guy things. Sam attended scout camp and loved it. Sam and Mollie both celebrated birthdays and we had the chance to visit with lots of family from both sides that came into town. The kids loved spending time with their cousins. Before I knew it I was back to work. Not many things were crossed off of my summer project list but we had fun. We ended the summer by spending Labor Day weekend at the lake, and then visiting with family that came into town for the Husky vs BYU game. Take a look at the slideshow below, it contains a small amount of my favorite shots from summer.

Congratulations Tim!

Congratulations to my younger brother Tim and of course his wife, Kacey. He found out today that he passed the Montana State Bar Exam. Way to GO!

Back to School

Wow, what a whirlwind. This is the only year that I have three kids in three different schools. I cannot believe the amount of papers that have been sent home. I believe we have managed to sort through it all, fill it out, send it back, pay for it, and I am attempting to remember the essentials.

After a rough start Megan is settling into a new high school (and seminary) routine. The first couple of days she had an incomplete schedule. It was crazy. Sometimes she just sat in the hall because there were too many kids that needed help and not enough adults. She is enjoying most of her classes, especially band. Alg 2/Trig is definitely her least favorite. I can't believe my oldest is in even in high school.

Sam is off to a great start. He too had some schedule problems but it has all worked itself out. I'm not sure of his favorite subject but on day two I picked him up and he had a sheepish grin. He told me that they had been given the writing prompt "what is the most shocking thing you can imagine..." He proceeded to write an essay about his Mom losing 150 lbs and becoming a swim suit model. Yes, that would be shocking.

I haven't heard much from Mollie about the curriculum but I have heard of everything else. Her and her friends had a rivalry game of boys vs girls in soccer by day three. Everyone in their class gets an assigned job. They rotate every trimester. For the first trimester she is the morning Weather Woman.