The Allred Cabin

After a fun day in Salt Lake we were fortunate enough to get to visit our good friends Heath and Kaycee Wolfley (Kaycee Allred from Tremonton). They invited us to spend the weekend at her parents' cabin in the mountains near Lava Hot Springs. We had the best time!!! We ate and talked and ate and rode 4-wheelers and ate and went swimming and ate and went hiking and .... Well, you get the idea! We had a wonderful time with their adorable family as well as another family (Jim, Stephanie, and their 4 girls -- also friends of Kaycee and Heath). Thanks for the wonderful hospitality -- we love you guys. Wish we could've stayed longer, but we needed to be back for meetings on Sunday.

A Fun Morning in Salt Lake

We traveled to Salt Lake for the sealing of Kelsey Kloepfer (a great family friend). We had a little time to spare so we enjoyed the beauties of Temple Square, the Plaza, and the Conference Center. It's fun for the kids to be old enough to enjoy and appreciate some of these things more fully. They were completely in awe of the waterfall at the conference center. It was, by far, the star attraction!!

New Teachers for a New School Year

I realized that I didn't post pictures of the kids with their new teachers with the other school posting. Below is Kate with her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Berg. She just loves her and loves going to school!























Todd is standing with his teacher, Ms. Muecke. He really likes her as well. Apparently she has a bit of a reputation amongst the students for being mean, but the first day of school he came home and exclaimed, "Mom, Ms. Muecke's not mean, she just means what she says!" I thought that was some pretty astute thinking. :)

First Day of School

I think we are the last family to start school this year, which seems weird, because I still feel like it's so early to be starting. I guess I just didn't get enough summer!!! Last week I was absolutely sure I wasn't ready for it, but I'm quickly warming to the idea. The kids were equally unenthusiastic, but were up bright and early this morning and ready to go to the bus stop about a 1/2 hour early! I think they're adjusting just fine. They got Jack ready to go and even equipped him with his own little backpack. Cute stuff.

Schedules are good, schedules are good, schedules are good, .... (do I sound like I'm trying to convince myself?)

Kate and Todd waiting patiently? for the bus.
Hip hip hooray, the bus is here!!!!
Jack was devastated when the bus left without him. :( Thankfully, after about 30 seconds of crying he dried his tears (with some effort), put on his best big boy smile and said, "We go car, Mama?" Yep, we go car, buddy!

To Cute Dads Everywhere

Just a quick shout-0ut to all you great dads everywhere who indulge your daughters! We love you!!! Brad will kill me when he finds out I posted this -- but I just couldn't resist. Kate LOVES (and the capitalization is essential here) to play with her daddy's hair. He is very sweet to lay still and be the perfect guinea pig for her as she accessorizes him to the hilt. It just makes me fall even more deeply in love with him when he does things like that.

A Few Promised Bridal Shower Photos

Here are a few photos of the bridal shower we hosted last week. We still don't have any of the whole yard (chinese lanterns, fountain, etc.), but these are fun nonetheless.

Finally Family Pictures

I have been putting off having family pictures taken forever. I really wanted Kara Peterson (Cindy's friend) to take them because we loved the ones she took two years ago. So finally our schedules aligned and everything fell into place for us to have them done. We left Mom and Dad's house Friday morning and met Kara, where she spent the next hour and a half taking pictures. She is so sweet and patient and really helped us know how to pose to get the best shots. She is AWESOME. She emailed me some of the pictures that day, even before she did any editing or touch-ups. Talk about amazing service. We are thrilled with the results we've seen so far. I thought I'd post a few for you to enjoy as well.