Happy First Day of School

School's in session! And this year we get to go to school with cousins!

For the first day, everyone met and walked to school together.  It was fun for the kids.

Anna, Kaitlyn, Rachel, Kendri, Lexi, Jackson, Carson

And someone's certain that he's supposed to go to school too! Run, Jackson, run!

Braces for Lexi

Lexi has braces! Actually this is phase 1 of whatever they deem necessary for Lexi later on.  This picture is at the orthodontist office. Apparently they celebrate summer by having a snow cones at the office for a couple of months.  Pretty awesome! This was the visit right before Lexi got her braces on.  

It's actually a mouth expansion.  The orthodontist thinks she may not have to have braces on a second time (when all her permanent teeth are in) if we can get them to come in straight now.  Fingers crossed! For now, she has a new look for about 18 months.

I actually really like her orthodontist and his office. They send out texts to have you write a review for the office after you have an appointment. If you do, you get a gift card to Subway and you also can get 2 free movie tickets.  I've gotten quite good at writing a quick review.  I guess it could be my new job......

Grandma and Pa's Visit!

Grandma and Pa came out for a visit few weeks ago.  What did we do you ask?  Ate ice cream.  Several times.  And as you can see from the photo, Shayli enjoyed a dip cone.  On more than one occasion. My dad is somewhat of an ice cream connoisseur.  He's bestowed his wisdom on more than just his children.......

Dairy Queen has been a favorite of his for as long as I can remember and whenever there is one close by it requires our attention.

We also took a day to head to the city! Too bad for Lexi and Kendri......school started so they were hitting the books while we were riding the trolley.  We managed to hit most of the hot spots in downtown San Francisco before heading back to pick the girls up from school.  We started the day early and headed to the Bart station. The bart took us straight into SF where we then attempted to gather our whereabouts.  Luckily there was some nice man who pointed us in the right direction and also showed us the way of the locals. For a fee, of course. (No standing in the huge line for the trolley for us - we headed straight for the next line which was considerably shorter and supposedly a hot secret! Probably not.  But we aren't complaining. We gave the man a couple of dollars and called him "helpful".)

And if you know my dad, you also know he loves a cream puff!  (Are you starting to see where my sweet tooth comes from?) We could not go to San Francisco, be dropped off RIGHT by a pastry shop that specializes in cream puffs and not try them. T'would have been sinful to pass them up.

They were delicious and tasted very close to our own homemade ones.  Should I open a shop, perhaps?

And I can't believe there is another picture of us eating ice cream.  Seriously. Ahem.  I almost deleted it because now it's just getting embarrassing.  The one saving grace is that this is all over the course of a week and not one day.  Except for the cream puffs and sundae you see right below. He, he. We burned it off with all our walking. I'm sure of it. ;)  Anyhoo, here we are at the Ghiradelli chocolate square.  Can't go there and not try something.  T'is the curse of a true ice cream connoisseur.

And here we are at the end of the day.  The walking got the best of us by the time our day was over.  We took a cab.

Good-bye Grandma and Pa!  Until next time!

Officially Moved In

We are officially moved in!  It has been quite the chore to get things organized around here but I feel like we are pretty much done.  We got the big yard sale done a couple of weeks ago and just yesterday we took advantage of the holiday (Labor Day) and finally got the stuff in the attic where it belongs and put stuff in the shed and rearranged the garage so you don't trip over everything the minute you open the door.  Ahh. It feels nice!

The move has been an adjustment for everyone but especially the kids.  They miss their friends.  Kyson took a day and wrote postcards to all of his friends.  He was very insistent about what I write down for him.  Lexi went through a few weeks where she talked on the phone everyday with her friends from Valley Springs. I guess talking on the phone was almost like having a playdate?  We took them up there for a weekend so they could see everyone in our old neighborhood and at church.  I think it helped. I am hoping that in a few months they will be happy here and will have made some good friends.

On a positive note, we have had some visitors!  My parents were able to come out and see us for about a week.  But that deserves another post because we certainly had fun!  You'll have to wait and until I can upload those pictures......until next time!

Santa Cruz

While my parents were here, they were kind enough to send Ryan and I off onto a little weekend get-away!  We decided to head over to Santa Cruz and check it out. Our first night we tried out a little diner that boasted "Guy Ate Here."  We decided it had to be pretty good......and it was!

We spent most of our time at the Santa Cruz boardwalk.  It's basically like a fair on the beach.  All the time.  It was fun to check it out and not have to worry about any runaway children......

We found this cool sea turtle.  I had no part in making it but I wanted a picture anyway.

Here's the pier!  If you look close enough you can see the boardwalk behind us and all the fair-like activities.

We decided to try our hand at miniature golf.  I'm pretty sure the last time I played was when I lived in Utah.  Feels like forever ago.  And I did pretty bad too.  Oh well.

And one of the last things we managed to do was ride the Big Dipper.  I guess it's pretty famous. It's a big roller coaster on the Boardwalk.  I screamed my head off.  It just makes it more fun!
Thanks mom and dad for the opportunity to escape for a couple of days! We had a great time!

Beach Day

We managed to take some time off from unpacking boxes to hit the beach before school starts back up.  We went with some families from our new ward here in Tracy.  The beach had a pretty cool breeze which felt like a little slice of heaven after suffering through the summer heat in Tracy.  Plus, unpacking is hot work!

This is Lynn.  She's a painter and apparently a lot cooler than the rest of the moms.....and now my children are saving their money for an art kit.  Good luck!

Shayli Turns Two!

 Shayli is officially into the terrible two's!  Uh oh.  Actually I feel like we've been in the terrible twos for the last 6 months....;).  We had a very low key birthday party for her.  Unfortunately her birthday happened to fall the week before we were moving into the new house so there wasn't a lot of hoop-la.  I don't think she even noticed!

 Of course Kyson assumed she need help with her presents.  Check out that furtive glance to his daddy.

 We were down in Tracy for Sunday (Ryan's brother was put in the bishopric) and decided to make it a family party.  It was the day before her actual party but it worked out since Ryan wouldn't be around for her real birthday. Here's  all the cousins helping out with the treats!

 I was very lame on the birthday cake.  She got store bought cupcakes.  But let me tell you a little secret....it was the easiest birthday party ever! I must not allow this to become a tradition! ;)

Delicious!

At two Shayli is:

very independent

screams like a banshee when she feels necessary

talking like a champ

thinks she's super big

cute as a bug

loves to twirl my hair (and mean LOVES)

loves her siblings

almost as active as her big brother (I think he's teaching her stuff)

very rough and tumble

cries when "Bubba" goes anywhere without her

We love you, Shay-Shay!