But I don't want a haircut

When the kids started making his few long hairs into mohawks, I decided, Quinn needed a haircut. Thank goodness he didn't have much to cut.

USU Aggie (and Aggie wannabe)

Our baby girl is in college, and we have missed her terribly. We were so glad to have her home for Labor Day weekend. She seems to be doing well, studying hard, and having fun in clubs and institute and her student ward. We are proud of her.

First week of school

New school year, new schools, whole new world of parenting. Mandi started college at Utah State this week. It is so hard to have her "out of the nest" so to speak. Nothing has fully prepared me for this part of being a parent. We miss her a lot. Speaking of missing people. Quinton REALLY misses everyone while they are gone at school each day. It has been really strange for him to be home alone with Mommy. No one is around to go beg to for help when Mommy says no. Can you say temper tantrum? He certainly seems to have it mastered. I'm seeing little improvements though. Instead of just screaming NO WAY! he will eventually calm down and sob "kay"

Wes started at the new high school and is moaning about all the homework already. Heather and Haylee are doing well. Haylee says she is so glad to be back in school again so she's not bored all the time - except when she comes home.

Mom cried

Haylee has been begging me for over a year to cut her hair. I couldn't imagine why she would want to cut off her beautiful, long, blonde hair. I always dreamed of having hair like hers. Well, as an early birthday present, I finally gave in. I cried.

We Survived!!!!

We spent the last 4 days with the youth in our stake on a Handcart Trek. Here we are waiting to leave--so excited, and looking so clean and dry in our awesome pioneer attire. We had an inkling of what lay in store for us because we had been keeping an eye on the weather forcast. Each of our kids were assigned to different families, and we were Ma and Pa to a group of youth we had only met once.

A glance at those clouds in the background gives you an idea of what was in store for us.

We experienced all kinds of weather: lots of rain, wind, hail, and even one full day of sun (the day we hiked 10 long miles). The first night it rained hard ALL night and flooded the tents. We treked nearly 30 miles over 4 days. The group suffered blisters, a few sprained ankles, lots of heat stroke, a bit of hypothermia, and lots of aches and pains and fatigue.

Here we are on the end of the second day, when the sun finally peeked out, a little worse for wear, but still smiling.

So why do we subject ourselves to this experience, along with all the misery and even agony that goes along with it? In the end, I was completely amazed at the strength of those kids. They worked hard to overcome obstacles. They gained an appreciation, (albeit only a small taste) of the sacrifice and strength of our pioneer ancestors. But the lesson we hope they all learned is they they can do hard things, and overcome any challenge. When they saw a large, steep hill looming ahead, and they thought, "there is no way we can get up to the top of that steep slope", they all pushed together and made it up. We endured it all and successfully reached the end. I personally learned how important it is to be aware of the needs of those around you. We offered help to others on a few occassions, and then we ourselves needed to be rescued on the last day when we suffered injuries. We were grateful to the "angels" along the way who provided an extra push when we struggled. Maybe later, I'll post "The Parable of the Handcart Train" that I wrote after the last day. We are glad it is over, but we are sooo grateful for the experience.

1st official day of nursery

This is a major milestone in any LDS parent's life. Can you believe our baby is 18 months old? He loves going to nursery, and he adores his teacher. Of course it's a lot easier when Daddy is the nursery leader. I must admit he has already attended a few times because of Pam's stake calling, but now he's finally official! Woohoo!

Look at all those A's

Have you ever seen anything like it? When I posted their grades at the beginning of the year, they said, "Mom, if we get all A's at end of the year, will you post it again?" How could I not keep my end of the bargain. I'm so proud of how hard they have worked.