Really??

I mean is she really old enough for Kindergarten??  Why, yes she is!

She's asked at least once a week since we moved back in May if it's time for school to start.

The day finally came.

She was up, dressed, shoes on, backpack on and ready to go at 6:00am.  Me, not so much.  It was torture for her to wait around until 8:45 to leave.

She was happy, playing, running around, and happy until it was time for me to leave.  I helped her find her desk, gave her a hug and kiss, and it hit her.  New faces, new teacher, new everything, and no mom. 

I left her watery eyes and red face and of course she loved her first day of school. 

It's just hard to believe it's really here.

Next year it will be Jackson's turn...I hope he grows because he's looking awfully small next to his big sister!

Gifford Family

It's not all that often any more that my whole family is in one place at one time.  However, we were ALL able to make it up to our cabin a couple weeks ago, and even got this nice family photo as proof.  We even threw in a couple extras (Dylan on the far left, Steve in the center with the blue shirt and suit, and his daughter Alyssa third in the front row) to make us look even bigger.

The Kerry and Vicki Gifford Family

August 2010

*Thank you, Kelly for the picture.

Polar Bear/Penguin Exhibit

When we passed this exhibit in the mall a couple months ago I considered taking the kids inside until I spotted the prices.  Pretty expensive for a little museum only the size of a mall clothing store.  Yesterday a friend of mine called and said she was putting together a group of people to go so we could get the group discount...Sweet!  We stampeded the place with 9 adults ($2 each) about 10 kids age 5 & up ($2 each) and 15 kids age 4 & under (big fat FREE)!  It was hands on and perfect for kids.

Sydney and Jackson in a polar bear cave.

Together they weighed as much as a newborn polar bear.

They got to put on penguin suits and slide down the ice slide.  Jackson said this was his favorite part, but Sydney claimed her favorite part was watching the documentaries of north and south pole explorers...hmmm....how old are you Sydney?

Listening to the different sounds that penguins make.

And of course, Carter stuck in the stroller as usual.  I just have to enjoy these last few months that he's not walking and easily contained when we're out and about.  Good times!

Cabin & Craigslist

This past weekend we got to escape the LV heat and go up to our family cabin for the weekend.  It was 75 degrees and beautiful.  The first thing we did when we got there was head to the lake on the kayaks.  Sadly, this was the only thing I got pictures of.  I thought I'd lost my camera out of my back pocket on the four wheelers, but found it when we got home in the bottomless pit also known as my diaper bag.

The lake is really low and McKay led us through some marshy parts where we'd get stuck.  It freaked Sydney out a bit.

 Some of the cousins.

I think we told them to show their muscles??

One of the days we took all the kids on a hike.  We started out on a little cow trail but eventually were just tromping through the bushes and trees.  McKay was pulling some branches out of the way for the kids to go under and stuck his hand right in a wasp nest.  As you can imagine, they (the wasps or us) were not happy.  We were able to get away from the swarm with just 4 stings...one of which was to McKay's hand.  While every one's stings went down and were almost invisible after 24 hours, Mckay's still looked like this after 4 days.

No, this is not an actually picture of his actual hands, but this is how it looked.  HUGE.  Benadryl didn't even touch it.  Apparently he's slightly allergic.  We were so lucky those wasps didn't attack more aggressively...I'm afraid he would have been in bad shape had he got a couple more stings.  This morning his hand looked much better.  He actually has knuckles again and it's not so red.

And now for Craigslist!!

I've told Sydney for years that once we moved back to Las Veagas and lived in a house that actually had an area to ride a bike, that we'd get her a bike.  She's reminded me over and over for more than 3 years about this plan.  After being shocked by the crazy prices of kids' bikes at Target and Walmart I finally remembered about my good ol' friend Craig (Craigslist that is).  Check out these babies I picked up for just a few bucks!

And we already had this one.

We spent 3 hours in the 105 degree weather yesterday playing with the new toys. 

For now Carter doesn't mind watching form the sideline with me, but I know that before long I'll be chasing him around.

Also, we found a fun little frozen yogurt shop by our house Called U-Swirl.  It was a hit.

The End!

Summer Update

Although I haven't blogged much, we've been keeping very busy. Here are a few things we've been up to the last several weeks.

My Mom and I took the kids to the Children's Discovery Museum. Lots of fun...I'm considering getting a year pass.

Sydney and Jackson spend lots of time in our backyard swimming in their little pool and having picnics.

And, of course McKay took the Bar Exam. We booked him a room at the hotel where the test was so he could spend the three days there in peace and quiet. We loaded up an ice chest with all the food and goodies he'd need and he cooked for himself each day there in his room. Of course I had to take advantage of the hotel POOL! I invited all my family to come swim one of the nights and we had a blast. I also swam two other times with the kids to make sure we got our moneys worth. ;-)

Sydney could reach the bottom, so she took turns giving her aunts piggy back rides in the water. She felt pretty grown up!

Once the Bar Exam was over we packed up and dropped the kids off at McKay's brother's house for a night. We headed to St. George, UT with my sister Kelly and her date to see Tarzan at Tuacahn. It was SO good, and so relaxing to sit through the whole thing and and enjoy every moment with no kid interruptions. We spent the night there in St. George and grabbed our kids on the way home the next day. It was a short, but wonderful little getaway to relax from the stresses of the week and gear up for McKay's first day of work on Monday.

Lastly, Jackson gave his first talk in Primary at church on Sunday. He had a paper with some pictures to remind him of what to say. He memorized it and got up to the microphone all by himself. He's growing up and it makes me sad. Here's his talk :