First Day of School...

 Today was Payton's first day of Kindergarten.  She goes in the afternoon, but was ready by 9.  She was super excited and couldn't wait to get on the bus.  She kept telling us, "Do you know that the bus doesn't have any seat belts?" She enjoyed her first day of school and wasn't nervous at all. It's hard to believe that Payton is an official Pioneer Road Runner!

Someone Grab Me a Tissue...

 People have been asking me for months how I'm going to be when I send Payton off to Kindergarten.  Honestly my thoughts have been everywhere, but no where near where they actually were tonight.  Tonight I was washing Payton's hair in the bath and flashed back to giving her a bath in a plastic tub that sat in the sink.  I had to support and hold her head so gently, tonight I told her to keep her head down in the water so I could finish getting the shampoo out.  She got the giggles because I splashed water in her eyes, that's something that just a few months ago she would have cried and screamed wanting to be done. 
I was sitting on my bed combing her hair while Nic was getting dressed in Sunday clothes.  I explained to her what daddy was doing.  That dad was getting dressed up because he was going to be giving her a blessing.  I told her that we will do it at the beginning of every school year, but that she could have one at anytime. She said that made her feel special, then she buried her head into my chest and started to cry.  The words she uttered were, "I'm going to miss you!" At that moment it all hit me! My Peanut is going to Kindergarten.  This is the start of a major part of her life.  Those next 20 minutes are something I never want to forget.  I had such an amazing bond with Payton tonight.  I love this little girl so much! I don't know what I would do without her sweet special spirit.  Words cannot express what I felt tonight.  While Nic gave her a Father's Blessing he blessed her that she would make new friends, ones that she will be an example to.  But he didn't stop there.  He continued to say, "and good friends, ones that will be good examples to you." This is the point in her life where she will make life long friends. I can only hope and pray they will be good kids with high standards and values.  You may be thinking, -good nuts its only Kindergarten- but have you seen the world we live in?  I want Payton to be a friend to all, which I know she will, you'll never meet someone so sweet and tenderhearted.  But I also want her to be careful with her choice of close friends.   Being a stay at home mom, I know where she is and what she is doing all of the time.  I don't worry about her.  Tomorrow that ends.  Tomorrow the worry begins without end.
Don't get me wrong I am so excited for her and this new chapter in our lives.  I am also super excited that my mom will be down the hall from her.  She is going to the best elementary with so many wonderful people who know and love her.  After all she has been going to elementary since she was a baby.
After her blessing she requested that I tuck her in.  But before doing so she said her personal prayer.  Only now that I think back on it we never finished it.  She again began to cry which made me cry and we embraced each other until we could pull ourselves together.  I asked if she was scared and she said no that she is excited.  Why the tears were coming so heavy for her, I'm not sure. Why they were coming so heavy for me, because I think that she genuinely will miss me, that she knows how much I love her and that she loves that I am here for her.  Me being home is important to her.  I am so glad that I am able to stay home with my kids.  I am so grateful that Nic has a job that provides for our family, but most of all I am so grateful to have a worthy priesthood holder in our home.  There are few things better than that.

Catching Up On Our Month,

 I can't believe that summer is coming to a close soon.  Payton starts school on Wednesday!!! We have been MIA for a few weeks so let me bring you all up to date.  In a weeks period our car broke down, our computer crashed, and our garage door broke.  And just when we thought the mishaps were done our  furnace that we bought last June came up with a code and stopped working.  With the type of air conditioning we have we have to run our furnace fan non stop or no air comes through the vents.  I'm happy to say everything is up and running now.  Our computer was beyond repair so we had to get a new one.  Nic ordered parts and was able to fix the garage, and the car battery is shot.  The furnace is up and running now, turns out it shouldn't have even been working in the first place, the nimrods messed up on the wiring. Other than those few frustrating mishaps everything else has been great.  Here are some of our highlights from the last couple of weeks.

 My cousin Daniel got married in the Idaho Falls Temple so we made a weekend trip out of it.  We stayed at my aunts house Friday and Saturday and headed back home on Sunday.  After the wedding breakfast on Saturday morning we went downtown to the farmers market.  They also had a bunch of booths set up with fun things for the kids to do.  We also spent a day playing at the Lava Pool.  Payton loved going down the big red slide, while Connor is perfectly content playing at the splash pad.

 We spent a day in Bear Lake.  The Monday before my mom had to go back to work Maddie and the kids and I met my parents up at the campground then made out way to the beach for a picnic, playing in the water, and renting jet skis.  Of course no bear lake trip is complete without shakes.

 We were able to go to the Ogden Temple open house.  I'm so happy that it is complete! I can't wait to go back to do a session.  It is as beautiful as everyone has said.  I absolutely love this temple!!!

 We have gone fishing several times in the last little while, but this particular night we actually caught fish!!!

We were able to have a pool party with the Montgomery's at my grandparents old house.  We sure had a great time swimming and reminiscing on our fun memories we have there.  I have some pretty awesome cousins.

Sadly this is where my pictures end.  There have been many other things going on such as school shopping, back to school night ,Payton's Kindergarten Assessment and so much more.  My mom was released from YW so she is no longer serving with me, she has now been called as the Relief Society President.  I already feel so lonely with out her.  Nic was in a night golfing tournament and we're waiting back to hear if they placed.  Oh one more thing we did was we started walking the river parkway.  We want to do it all but just little incriminates at a time.  I am so impressed with all that they have done so far.  They have really worked hard.  This picture is at Crystal Cove.  It is on 21st behind Walmart and it is a small kayaking park.  We want to take tubes down it maybe next summer.