End of summer trip to Bear Lake

Last weekend we went up to Bear Lake and had a lot of fun. Mike's parents were kind to let us take up some members of my family up for the weekend. We had my parents, Jill, Brad, JanaLynn, and kids up. We went up right after Jason got home from school and got up there around 7:oop.m. The kids just love being at the Bear Lake house and love running around it again and again. We spent the day on Saturday down on the beach and it was a great weekend to go because it was so hot. We played in the sand, swam in the water, and went on the 4 wheeler a couple of times. August is the best time to go to Bear Lake because there is so much beach and the water is shallow enough that the kids enjoy playing in it. That night we hit Bear Lake Pizza which is a must because the pizza is sooo good! On Sunday we hung out at the house and played a mean game of Trivial Pursuit which lasted for 3 hours! Congrats to Brad and JanaLynn for winning that one!! It was just a fun relaxing weekend and it was fun to spend it with some of my family.

Eliza loves to throw the sand up over her head. It takes me about a week or so to get all the sand out her hair after a trip to Bear Lake.

Jason enjoying riding the 4 wheeler. When we went back in July he was afraid to ride on it but, this trip he really enjoyed it.

Miss Anne and her sunglasses.

We were laughing so hard on the way home at Eliza. She loves her sunglasses and she wears them but, upside down. On the way home the kids were watching "Goofy" and here she is wearing her sunglasses and laughing her head off.

Back to School 2009

Jason started 1st grade on Thursday. This was a big day for him and for me. The Saturday before the school posted class list on the doors. We rushed over to see who his new teacher was going to be. He is in Miss Schmidts class and that afternoon she even made house calls to all her students. We were in shock to find Jason's teacher standing on our front porch wanted to meet Jason. She seems like she will be a really good fit for Jason and help him learn at his best. I dropped him off and cried again. Then I felt like I was watching the clock all day. I felt like he had been gone so long and was really excited to see him and hear about his first day. He had a good day and enjoyed eating lunch at school and getting more recess time. The first thing he said to me was "Mom I was at school forever!" He came home and crashed and I am sure he will get more use to being at school longer

Handsome first grader

Anne started her first day of pre-school also. We didn't get to go to the back-to-school night for her pre-school so I was worried she wouldn't want to go. We went to pre-school a little early and met her teacher Mrs. Allen. She is amazing and Anne loves her teacher. She has made two new friends at school named Anna and Sarah and she sits by them during class. She comes home with fun painting projects and sings me lots of fun songs. This will be a fun experience for Anne as she prepares for Kindergarten next year. Jason was trying to get Anne prepared for pre-school because he went to the same pre-school. Anne always acted like she wasn't listening to his advice but, all his advice really helped prepare her and she had fun telling Jason about her first day. It 's nice to have an older sibling to help you prepare for lives new adventures!

Anne excited for pre-school!!

Girls Camp

Mike and I went up to our ward's Girl's camp. We went up for the last night to so Mike could represent the Bishopric and be there for the testimony meeting. I had served in Young Women's in this Ward for 3 years and it was fun to see and hang out with the girls for a little while. Our ward split about a month ago and I know everyone was worried how girl's camp would go. I have been to many camps and never have I seen more Christ-like young women. They were all so sweet to each other and everyone was included and felt like they belonged. I think they all really bonded and got to become better friends because of this camp. The leaders did an outstanding job and I would call it a success.
This was Mike's first experience with girl's camp and he was really impressed. He said he had never been to a camp were there was so much hugging but, that is what girls do. Mike saw how important girls camp is and he really hopes our girls will want to go. Since he was the only male around he did a lot of wood cutting, building fires, loading luggage, and giving a sick camper a priesthood blessing. We had a good time getting to know the youth in our ward better!

Grandma Rawsthrone

Callie got married this past week and it was fun to see family from Canada. Mike has some really fun cousins and it always fun to see and talk with them. I didn't get any pictures of the beautiful bride or her day but, I did manage a picture with Grandma Rawsthrone. She looked so pretty at the reception and she is the sweetest most gracious person I know. When I married Mike both of my Grandma's had past away. I had almost forgotten what it felt like to have a Grandma in my life. Grandma Rawsthorne has shown love to me from the moment I have met her. She help me understand the importance of having a Grandma and the influence they have on their grand-daughters. She wants to know how things are going and she always has such good advice. There are many talks of advice from her that I have in my memory bank and I pull on those when I need a little lift. She is 93 and is still cooks for herself and has made hats and sleep sacks for all my kids. So, every moment we get to be with her we call it a blessing and were happy to see her for a couple of hours at the wedding.

Slippin and Sliding

My kids love the Slip and Slide! We pull this thing out at least every other day and they have so much fun with it. One afternoon Jill wanted to come hang out and she decided to play with the kids on the Slip and Slide. What an awesome Aunt!! My kids love Jill and have a neat connection with her. She is a cool Aunt that doesn't have kids yet so, she can give them all the love and attention they need from an Aunt.

I love this picture of Jill with Anne and Jason. They were playing a tag game and I caught them all on the slide laughing. It was a fun afternoon.

Cousin Fun

On Monday Auntie Kari, Kate, and Claire invited us to go to the Herriman Lake ( I think that is what is called) Anyways, it's a really fun place to take your kids to cool off. They have made this small lake with a sand beach and it's really a lot of fun. The kids had a good time being with their cousins and hanging out. Eliza and Claire enjoyed sitting in the sand and wading in the water

Anne, Kate, and Jason liked swimming in the water. Our kids would wear their life jackets and practice their swimming skills. Anne and Jason really enjoy hanging out with Kate. Kate is right in between Jason and Anne,as far as age,and so it fun for both of them.

Our newest cousin right now is Elsie. She is my brother and sister-in-laws foster baby. They are hoping to be able to adopt her in the near future but, for now we will love for however long our family gets to love her. Eliza loves babies and every time she sees Elsie she has her claws on her. The other night Eliza sat and held her for probably about 45min. She wouldn't let anyone else take her and Elsie seemed to like it!

Evening in the Canyons

We have some fun friends in the neighborhood and one evening we decided to head up to the canyons to escape the heat in the valley. The Moffats and Traveller family are fun to be with and our kids always have a great time together. We headed up Provo canyon and found a nice spot to roast hot dogs and make some smores.

Anne, Becca, Michael, and Jason are good friends. We are lucky to live by them and there is usually a lot of laughter when these 4 get together.

My sweet girls with dirt all over them. Eliza was a mess after the evening. We put them in the bath when we got home and I have never seen water that dirty. Eliza had a blast smearing dirt all over her face with a little marshmallow and chocolate on the side.

A day at the farm

Ryan and Erin are in town this week so we have done some fun cousin activities this past week. We went to the Thanksgiving Point farm and the kids had a great time. It's the perfect outing for the ages of our kids and they loved seeing all the animals. Above is Jason, Anne, Hayden( I love his cowboy outfit!), Eliza, and Sydney.

The kids favorite part was riding on the pony ride. Anne picked out the most "pretty horse."

Jason wanted to ride the "biggest horse".

Eliza wanted the baby pony and while we walked around she would laugh and pet the pony on the head. Thanks Ryan and Erin and Jessica for spending the afternoon with us. We had a great time being with you all.

Orange Belt Promotion

On Thursday Jason received his orange belt. We are really proud of him and he is enjoying learning karate.

This is Jason in action getting ready to block a hit.

Here he is receiving his new belt. This is a fun night where you get to cheer for Jason and make him feel real special. Nice Work Jason!

Grandpa and Grandma Schwitzer back to Russia

This past week we all had to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Schwitzer. They are going back to Russia to serve the Lord for another 3 years. This time Grandpa will serve as a Seventy in the Europe East area. They flew to Moscow on Thursday and had a long trip but, made it safely. They say there house is real nice and Moscow is a little more bearable compared to Yekatrinburg. We are going to miss them so much and it was really hard to say goodbye again. The nice part about this is they get to come home for every General Conference and they come home every July for a whole month! We know this is what they should be doing at this time in their lives and we will miss them so much but, support them 100%. We love you Grandma and Grandpa!!!