First Day of School

The first day of school came early this year as the kids went back on the 22nd of August.  I have NO complaints but the kids did. 
Holly is in the First Grade this year and her teacher is Mrs. Pope.  She seems to like her but was way more excited about being able to go to school for the whole day & even have lunch at school.  Of course for Holly everything had to be pink so she got a pink lunch bag & back pack. 
Ethan is in the Third Grade this year and has Mrs. Younger who has a teaching aid that happens to be her husband Mr. Younger but the kids call him Mr. Tweetie Bird because he whistles like Tweetie Bird.  Ethan was excited because one of his best friends, Jett,  who just happens to live two doors down from us is in his class this year.  It is also a big jump in academics so he is & will be challenged all year long.  He is even learning how to write cursive this year, which he is happy about because he thinks it will make him more grown up. 
Also new this school year is that everyday that it is not raining or snowing we walk the mile to school together.  It was hard the first day because it was new.  They next day they were able to ride their scooters which helped. 
Mason rides in the stroller & once we drop the kids off we turn around and walk the mile home stopping off at the park on the way.  Mason thinks its great that he gets to play at the "dinosaur" park everyday and Ethan & Holly don't.  My kids call it the "dinosaur" park because their is a dinosaur type thing on the back side of part of it.  Mason plays, and I read or visit with some of the other Mom's on the days that their is some. 
We have enjoyed the school year so far, except for the homework according to Ethan, and the kids are doing so well.

Spring & Summer

After our trip to Canada from my Grandma's funeral we had Easter, of which I didn't take a single photo.  I know, my bad.  Easter was low key & quite.  Nothing big, just small Easter treats for the kids, no new clothes & a ham w/ funeral potatoes for dinner. 
Then in May we had Holly's 6th birthday.  I know it was my birthday too but once Holly came along I think of it as her birthday.  She got a scooter for her birthday with a bell, which I regretted as soon as she was off and riding it.  The good thing though is that once she got the hang of the two wheeled scooter she decided that she could ride her bike.  Ryan took the training wheels off it last year & tried to get her to try & learn how to ride it but never would.  She didn't have the confidence to do it but once she got her balance riding that scooter, off she went on her bike as well. 
Her birthday was a low key event at home & then we had the big birthday family party with Ryan's family.  We have 6 birthdays in May with Ryan's family so it it easier to just have one big party. 
Just two weeks after Holly's birthday, her scooter was stolen.  She left it out on the front sidewalk one night & some dishonest person took it one night.  She was heart broken.  But fortunately Toy's R Us had pink scooters on clearance and we were able to replace it.  Holly will never forget to put her stuff away again so I guess in the long run it worked out Okay.  She learned a lesson & I didn't have to hear that bell ringing all the time.
In June Ryan's sister & her husband got a great surprise.  They adopted little Titan & welcomed him into their family.  He is so dang cute & we all just love him to bits.  Ethan is especially taken with him 7 fights to get a turn holding him, but I think that is they way it is with everyone in the family.
My Mom also came down from Canada to spend some time with us & my brothers family as well as attend the Utah Highland Games as she does every year. The kids love their annual trip to Toys R Us & to have some fun with Grandma Bo. 
On the 21st of June Ryan & I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary.  We didn't get to take a trip or do anything big.  Liz was nice enough to take the kids so we could go see the last Harry Potter movie & then we got In-Out Burger.  The kids loved it because they got to go to Mike's (Liz's son)  championship baseball game which they won.  So a good day all around. 
July was uneventful & Hot. 

The Final Catch Up (Sept. to Now)

As promised here I am with the final post to get all caught up with the events of our lives to date.  Last month we had some adjustments to make with our routine and schedules with school starting.  We go through this every year because of new homework routines that go along with new teachers.  I find that it is also a good time to set some new goals for the new school year and to give new responsibilities to the kids.
We made a goal to start having Family Home Evening each and every week.  Ryan and I just felt that anything and everything we could do to bring our family closer together as well as inviting the spirit into our home was worth it.  It meant that we wouldn't be able to have my niece and nephew over on Monday nights as we did last year, while my sister-in-law, Ashley went to school up at Weber State University.  We did invite them to join us but my brother Rayn is inactive in the church and my sister-in-law is not a member.  They both wanted to make sure to teach their children what they believe while they are young and then leave it up to them when they get older if they want to learn about the LDS church.  Which Ryan and I totally respect, but we will miss having Kyla and O'wyn over.
As far as our Family Home evening goal, so far so good.  I think we have only missed one week, due to illness and things look good for us to keep it up as the kids love having it so much they are the ones to remind us.  Ethan has even prepared the lesson and taught it all on his own twice now.  He did such an awesome job, you can just see what an great missionary he will be someday.
The end of September we went up to Idaho to listen to my cousin Brad report on his mission to New Jersey.  We got up at 5:30 a.m. so we could be in Idaho Falls by 9 a.m. and get to the meeting on time.  Ryan choose to do that as he knows better than anyone that when we get together with any of my family we are always up too late.  So he decided if he was going to be tired anyway he might as well sleep in his own bed.
Brad did a great job with his talk and you could just tell he really loved the people he served on his mission.
We then when up to Julie and Doug's for a luncheon and got to visit with a lot of my family for the after noon.  It was great to see everyone and hear how they where doing.  Holly loves playing with her 2nd cousins, although they had a ruff start, you know how girls can be sometimes.  Ethan bonded with his 2nd cousin Tryson who just happens to be two weeks older than him.  I guess they both like the same video games and books so they had a lot to talk about.
But the best part of the trip, at least for me was seeing my grandpa and while we were there I happen to go out on the front porch.  I found my grandpa and Holly just sitting on a bench visiting.  I guess they had been out there a while and Holly had really fallen in love with her Grandpa the Great, as we call him.  I guess she told him all about her life and he just listened asking questions when needed to keep the conversation going.  I took a picture of them together and now Holly proudly has a copy of it framed in her room.  she asks me all the time when we can go to Canada to see Grandpa the Great.  That right there was worth the trip to Idaho and getting up at 5:30 am for.  I love that my children have at least a little bit of an opportunity to get to know my side of the family even though we live far from them.  It makes me sad that we don't live closer sometimes.  Especially for special occasions like Ethan's baptism coming up, because pretty much the whole program will be made up of Ryan's family.  Don't get me wrong it's not a bad thing, it just makes me sad that we don't have family from my side that are able to participate.  Anyway on to another subject.
Holly has had a loose tooth for awhile now and just a little over a week ago I told her it needed to come out.  I happen to look at it one night and found that her new permanent tooth was coming up behind.  So we tried to tie a string to it and have her slam the door but that didn't work.  We tried to get some floss underneath it and pull it out that way but that didn't work.  At last I just got a hold of it and pulled it forward as fast and hard as I could and out it came.  Holly was a little freaked out because of the blood at first but once it stopped she was VERY proud of the hole that it left in her smile.
She put her tooth in a little bowl next to her bed and the tooth fairy brought her two sliver dollars.  Her Dad quickly gave her two paper dollars for them and now she is still trying to figure out what to spend them on.
Finally this past Sunday we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with a full spread.  Ryan had to go to St. George for work on Monday so we had our big dinner the day before.  Can I just say that I love Martha Stewart.  Because of her my turkeys always turn our so great.  I even made sweet potatoes, which Holly helped me make and green bean casserole, which Ethan helped me make.  They each had to have some of the dish they helped with as Ryan doesn't like either and I didn't want to have to eat it all my self.
That brings us up to date with all our happenings.  Now let's just hope I can do better because I don't want to ever have to play catch up like that again.  Whew!

Holly (May)

So here we go trying to get caught up with all our goings on this past summer.
We start, somewhat where we left off, with the end of May.  Our little Holly graduated preschool on the 25th of May, just two days before her 5th birthday.  She was so excited not only to be graduating but to be finished with preschool so she could move onto bigger and better things like Kindergarten.
Holly had received a new outfit from her Grandma Granquist  for her birthday two days before at our Big Family Birthday Bash.  We have six people on Ryan's side of the family who have birthdays in May so we just had one big party and yes, I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures of that party (sorry).  But Holly loved the new outfit so much that she wore it for her graduation program/ceremony.  She was so cute, if I do say so my self.  She loves to sing and so she was right in her element up there on stage.  All the kids did such a great job.  Here is just one clip of her program....

After all the singing they had all the kids graduating walk across the stage with their graduation hats on to receive their diploma.  The preschool where Holly went really does a great job with their programs, and the kids love to show off all the songs they have learned during the year.  When Mason is ready for preschool (still potty training) we will be sending him there too. 
Holly's program was on a Tuesday and then they had one more field trip before she was all through.  The preschool had arranged for all the students in her class to take a trip on the Front Runner train, down to visit the Children's Treehouse Museum at the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City.  They had to be accompanied by a parent so Ryan took the day off to spend with Holly.  She loved having her Daddy all to her self and even talked him into buying her a pink Build a Bear, she named "Flower", while they were there because her field trip was on her Birthday day.
She also got to open presents from Mom, Dad and her brothers that morning before they left on her field trip.  She got a Fairy table and chairs for her room from Mom & Dad so she could have those all too important tea parties.  Then she got Fairy PJ's from Mason and jeans, jewelry and a Fairy hat from Ethan.  Can you tell she likes fairies?  She loved it all and even wore some of her new stuff from Ethan.
Latter that night we made spaghetti for dinner as it is Holly's favorite and then had cake and ice cream.  Holly loved all the attention, gifts and sweets.  If she could it would be her birthday everyday.
At the age of 5 Holly not only loves fairies, she loves anything pink, singing, dancing, playing dress up, drawing and playing with her brothers & friends (social butterfly). She is a caring, sweet, and bubbly little girl who is also somewhat of a drama queen.  We love her and are so blessed to have such a wonderful daughter.