Sisters Get-A-Way - Aug. 30-Sept. 1

Janessa decided to come to Utah for a sisters-get-away.  It was the perfect opportunity to get together with Allyson and Janessa.  We brought sweet little Briant with us for most of our outing.  He really was great to put up with us girls.  Byron was able to get us a really nice hotel room in downtown Salt Lake City.  We enjoyed shopping, eating at Zupas, and then heading to Hale Center to watch "9 to 5."  It was such a great production.  We laughed through it all.  That night Janessa and I went swimming for a short time before bed.  Then the next morning we went down for the yummy breakfast that was provided.  We got a ride down to City Creek and enjoyed shopping and browsing for many hours.  For lunch we ate at Blue Lemon and fell in love with their food.  The oriental chicken salad and butternut squash soup are amazing!  Our time started running short as the guy picked up us again from our hotel and we headed to the airport to drop off Janessa.  It was a very fast retreat, but so worth it in so many ways.  Thanks Janessa for coming down to be with us.  I cannot wait for the next one.

 

 Our hotel - really nice.

My yummy oriental salad.

BYU Football game

We have never attended a BYU Football game as a whole family.  NuSkin had installed during the summer new huge screens on both the north and south end zones.  Byron was invited to come out on the field to light the "Y" as they lit up the screens and turned them on for the first time.  We were ecstatic to finally be able to attend as a family.   The older kids ended up sitting on the west side where NuSkin gave us tickets and the younger ones and Byron and I sat in our regular seats.  It was quite an amazing experience.  About 1/2 hour before the game started we were led out onto the field with about 100 other people from NuSkin.  We were on the field at the end zone as the BYU players were practicing with Riley Nelson right in front of us along with Bronco Mendenhall.  The kids were so excited to see them up close.  During the ceremony it started pouring.  Of course we were prepared with rain ponchos, but they were at our seats.  So we got drenched.  As the team made their way back on the field, we were able to line up on both sides to welcome the team back.  We weren't on the front row so couldn't really get a good view of this fun part unfortunately.  It was a fun experience! 

Bradley, Johnathan, Tanner, Camille, Carter and Parker

Johnathan

Carter

Bradley

Byron and I pretty wet.

We had an extra ticket, so Camille invited her friend Cara Sabin to come with us.

Parker with Riley Nelson behind (#13).

 

Tanner with Riley Nelson. 

The whole clan minus Byron - (Parker on left, Carter on right)

The new screens on the north side along with the fun lights that go vertically on each side.

It was a late game, so one very tired boy when we got home.  It was also a school night, so not much sleep for these kids.

Camille's 16th Birthday Party

For Camille's 16th Birthday party we decided to do something a little different.  She wanted to wait until school started so more of her friends would be available to attend.  We rented out a room at My Noah's.  All of our family went for about 1 hour to decorate the space and enjoy playing some pool.  Then the friends met at our house and we drove to My Noah's.  Bryson Stewart came with Jamie Corbett - it was fun spending time talking with him.  Camille has such a great group of friends.  They had fun eating, watching a movie, playing pool, chatting, dancing, and playing games.  Byron and I just sat back and enjoyed each other as we were pretty much were just there to chaperon.  These girls (and Bryson) all were so easy to please.  They are great kids and it was fun just watching from a distance. 

 Parker having fun playing pool.

 The game of spoons quickly got out of hand - luckily no body got hurt.

Cara Sabin, Madi Parkinson, Camille, Emily Wilcox, Britlyn Hauver, Shufei Pan, Jamie Corbett, Bryson Stewart and Becca Parr.

August random things

 Carter and Parker enjoying the creek again.  Can't complain about free entertainment!

I watched Taylee and Eli Wilcox and got some great pictures of them at the park.  These three can get pretty crazy together.

 Johnathan and Tanner doing a skit together - it was hilarious to see them.  Here they are with their Deacon class - Johnathan, Tad Jacobs, Jayden Adamson, Brandon Slaugh and Tanner.

 Here they are receiving their awards. 

Between August through October I felt like I lived and breathed soccer between soccer games, soccer practices and driving everywhere.  It was a couple of crazy months.  Carter, Parker and Johnathan took a year hiatus from soccer and were so excited to do it again this year.  We got them into the challenger soccer this year where they will be with the same team for two seasons.

Carter and Parker were on the same team as Jared Brown and Jett Kasch which was so fun to be with others we knew.  They have advanced so much since last time they played - I'm sure all of those outside practices they had with Tanner paid off.  They were so fun to watch on the field especially how they would team up to help get the ball from one end of the field to the other usually then kicking it in for a goal.  They were the shortest on their team.  I loved seeing the other parent's expressions after they started playing.  The really enjoyed playing and enjoyed their coach.

Johnathan is playing on a team with nobody he knew before, but has really enjoyed it also.  He loves playing defender and is actually really good at keeping the ball away from making a goal.   His team progressed so much over the month and a half.  I am excited to see what next Spring brings for them.

 Carter has the ball and Parker is on the left. 

 Johnathan playing in the dark blue.

 Parker #3, Carter #2

Watching Johnathan's game.

  Love this great shot with Johnathan.

 Johnathan with his year - he is #2 on the left.

One very tired boy after a game.

School

Johnathan - 7th grade - Johnathan started school on Aug. 20th - one day earlier than everybody else.  The previous week he attended a couple of Leadership Team activities so he knew some of the people that he would be going to school with.  He was VERY nervous!  Change is a hard thing for Johnathan.  He wanted to make sure he had everything he needed for the first day including knowing his schedule really well.  He was also nervous that he would get lost or have problems opening up his locker.  I was thinking that school went until 2:45, but since it was a Monday it went until 1:45.  I felt awful as I got that dreaded phone call at 1:55 from Johnathan asking where I was.  Jennifer Atwood ended up bringing him home and I was so glad that she was on the ball since I apparently wasn't.  He did survive the day and had some great things to share.  He is in quite a few classes with Matthew Lemon.  He has lunch every other day with Tanner.  As the days went on he got more and more used to things and really has done well with 8 teachers.  He is definitely on top of doing his homework and assignments which is a very nice thing to have a child want to stay on top of.  He is taking an intro to Language class that has German, Spanish, French and Chinese.  He seems to like Chinese and French the best.  He is also in beginning band playing the alto sax and loves it.  We bought him a sax before school started and he has loved learning how to play it.  His favorite friend is Tyler Atwood and since school has started has become better friends with Matthew Lemon, Jayden Cowan, the Hinckley boys and many more.  It is so nice that he has broadened out and made new friends.

Carter and  Parker - 4th grade - They are in Mrs. Knutti's class this year.  Both of them and I were so excited to find out whose class they will be in.  Johnathan had her and she is such an amazing teacher.  It was funny talking to Mrs. Knutti while Mrs. Rivera was right there.  I heard Mrs. Rivera say that she wanted to have them in her class and was hoping to get them, but apparently Mrs. Knutti won.  They are in their class with quite a few kids from our neighborhood - Sam Linton, Will Hurst, Braden Drake, Brooklyne Custer, Jacob Hurtado, McKay Jessop, Lance Roberts, and George Sabin, good friend from previous years.  I am teaming as a room mom for the first time and am so excited to be able to help in the classroom more.  Mrs. Knutti said they are great students and she is surprised how they don't usually help each other with classwork, instead they seem to have to fend for themselves.  They seem to do great in the same class and thrive off of this.  I am so glad they love being together and do well in the same setting.  I love going into the classroom and seeing them both in that environment.

Tanner - 8th grade - He was really excited to start his 8th grade year and I think happy to have Johnathan in the same school.  Tanner is taking an art class this year and really doing well.   He has taken to art and absolutely loves his class.  He usually comes home with black on his face from the pastels or paint on his clothes.  He is also taking band playing the trumpet again this year and loving it - other than having a new teacher that has taken some getting used to.  He has no problem making friends and constantly has many surrounding him.  He has grew closer to Michael and Austin Hinckley this year doing more with them including being in a carpool with them.  He is also friends with Parker Butler, Thomas Heaps, Ben Driggs, Hunter Winward, and Dawson Day.  He is taking some hard classes this year which he is having to work really hard in to keep up his grades.  He has math with a teacher that is really difficult, but has started to understand things better and be able to like being in her class more - instead of telling me that he needs to be moved to another class.

Camille- 11th grade - WOW - how has the time flown by so quickly!!!  She has so many amazing friends and great influences in her life.  She looks forward to school for the social aspect and absolutely loves many of her classes this year.  She is taking Encore and definitely says it is her favorite class this year.  She loves Ms. Nudd and has enjoyed being in her class (and often is found eating lunch in her classroom with other students).  She is also in MDT and loves it also.  She is taking a sign language class and loves it.  Her teacher is actually deaf and teaches from Orem through satellite.  She has learned so many fun signs and enjoys sharing them with the family.  Camille hangs out with Britlyn Hauver, Cara Sabin, Emily Wilcox, Becca Parr, Alayna Pope, Emily Wirick, Becca Barson, Nicole Smith, Sarah Lechtenberg, Madi Parkinson, Audrey Barron and EmilyWoffinden.

 Johnathan and Tanner together on Aug. 21st - the rest of the kids first day of school.

Bradley - kindergarten - This year Sego Lily got 2 new kindergarten teachers.  We really didn't know anything about his teacher, Mrs. Narvaez, but have grown to love her.  She is wonderful with the kids and Bradley loves being in her class.  There are about 25 kids his age in kindergarten and probably 15 of them are in his class.  It is really funny to go on a field trip or be in his class and to see pretty much every mom there from our ward.  Bradley wasn't very motivated to learn how to read before school started, but after he started couldn't quit telling me that he needed to do his homework.  He has progressed so much already.  Kindergarten started one week after the regular schools started - that week was almost pure torture.  He loves riding the bus to and from school.  I started watching Logan Lane for 2 hours after school and Bradley loves having him come and play every day.  It is also a great break for me where he needs to have someone to play with.  There are some days where it is hard but mostly it is really nice to have a built in friend at all times.  Bradley has become really good friends with Luke Lavery and Sam Pollmann this year also.  He was able to meet his teacher on the first day of school for the other kids to take an assessment test.  Then a week later started on the 28th.  He rode the bus to and from school.  I missed this little guy while he was gone, but it has been a great thing for him to finally be at school away from me.  I love hearing about his day when he returns home - at least as much as he wants to share.  Recess is always his favorite part.