It couldn't have come a moment too soon!

Our first day of school in the year of 12-13. 

 

The kids were happy and excited.   Does anyone notice besides me how much "eighties clothing" has really come back.  Don't get me wrong, McKay looks super cute but it sorta scares me.

Katanya was all set to go with her zebra striped (with pink) pants. 

Cruz was all smiles because he had his shoes that were "just like dad's".

And Kirsten was excited because she got the teacher she wanted.  Its the last time these three kids will be together in the same school.  

McKay was also all set to go.  I've never really cried when I've dropped my kids off for school, especially Kindergarten.  But this year, as I dropped McKay off at the MASSIVELY HUGE High School, I choked up and shed a few tears.  I felt like I was feeding my baby to the wolves.  Here's to another great year!

Definitely Related

I snapped some random snapshots on Kirsten's birthday.

You can definitely tell that these two are sisters

As well as these two....

But what is funny is while I was taking pictures of Jacob and Cruz....

In each one of the pictures they had the same expressions....

And I never told them what to do....

I took them one after another.

And you can definitely tell....

That they are father and son.

A 2 in 1 Art Horse Camp

Back to mid July, McKay was able to go to a week long Horse camp.

 

She learned several things about horses.  How to ride, groom, clean tack, saddle, and even the stinky part of cleaning the stall.  

The last day, I went to take pictures and watch the kids ride and go through a trail course.  It brought back old memories of when I used to ride and ones of my horses.  (Yes, my daughter is wearing capris while riding.  I had left early before her ride picked her up and didn't know about this until it was too late.)
 Although, I don't think it was enough because I still don't want any pets at this point.  Especially big ones.

McKay got to ride Whisper all week.  She developed a good bond with her.  

So on Friday, after they had ridden all morning, they got to do something that the kids said was one of the funnest things....

They got to take Art lessons, with their horses as their canvas.

There was spray paint.... 

 ....and there was....

 finger painting.  Who knew you would get two things out of one camp?

Everyone had fun....

And now some of my other kids can't stop talking about "earning money to go to horse camp next year."

The real question is, do they want to learn how to ride or do they want to become artistically creative?

A Decade Later

Kirsten Skye turned 10 on August 20th (Monday)! 

We started the day off by joining a breakfast picnic with some friends (this was only half of the kiddos.)

 

Later on we went swimming at a friends house. 

  

To come home and take a shower and invent a braid named after her ("The Kirsten Braid, never done with any of our kids before.)

 Followed by a fun photo shoot.  Kirsten has definitely grown into a beautiful girl!  I now have two in double digits!  Ouch.

  We then opened presents when Jacob came home.  They had been patiently sitting on the table.

They were all a surprise and a hit!  The white boards have gotten popular in our home.

Kirsten requested Italian Chicken, baked potatoes, and corn for dinner, followed by a Texas sheet cake. 

We started to sing "Happy Birthday" but the candles melted to quickly, or we waited too long to sing....

So she blew them out before we even got half way through the song.  None the less, I hope she has a wonderful tenth year and we love you Kirsten!

Jacob's Special Day!

I don't know why but as Jacob has gotten older his birthday's have gotten more important, and on July 27, he turned 36!

 

McKay and Kirsten made their dad breakfast in bed. 

And then we followed that with making two applesauce cakes (this year we remembered to add the baking soda),

and took them to his work for his team and friends.
He said that this birthday was definitely in the top three. 

Strategic Clue

While I search for pictures and videos and try to get caught up in blogging yet again, here is picture that will bring a smile to your face, or maybe even a chuckle.

While our friends were here a couple weeks ago visiting from Idaho, we had a good "new fashioned" game of clue.  The given check off list didn't give Jacob enough writing room (memories of his test in college flood through his mind, I'm sure) so he used a book that he had been given. 

Love at Home

Back in June, we moved to a new house, I finally have the tour put together.

This was day one of our move.  While Jacob was at work, I would box up things, take it over to the new house and unpack.  I got tired of it looking like I hadn't even made a dent so I started moving the big things!  Over the week Jacob and I moved our entire house with just our minivan and a little trailer. 

 

Here is our new home.  We only moved 1.5 miles (I know because our new neighbor is a running friend of mine and I have run to her house to run with the group several times.)  Our reason for moving was a smaller house, smaller yard, and cheaper rent & utilities.  We managed to stay in the same ward and same school boundaries.  The whole explanation of why I couldn't look at houses on the other side of the main road was one that my realtor didn't understand.  When trying to explain that the church that I attend is based off geographical location and that would put me in a different "meeting place", his response was, "Can't you just lie?"

While I walked outside to take a picture, I noticed these. Swirling, fast, moving clouds.  Minutes later, it was a downpour. I love it when it rains!

Back to our new home.  Here it is!  The walls are tan.  It was driving me nuts.  So I have tried to add a little more color with paintings and rugs.  Just for the record..... I love this house.  It feels so much more like a home.

We still have our "media" room as I like to call it.  Its suppose to be the dining room but I like having all the computers together.  It's also become the music room with McKay's instruments and the piano.

The game room still looks the same.  I haven't switched out the curtains yet upstairs.  I'm not a big fan of the big red and golden paisley prints. 

 Cruz still has his own room,

 

and space for his beloved Legos. 

Kirsten has her bedroom that is still the #1 automatic guestroom.  She got a (generic) Lovesack for Christmas and she loves to read on it.  There have been a few nights that she has fallen asleep on it even.

She has tried to decorate it to be a little more colorful.  She has taken a love for color too.  She keeps saying how she hates brown walls.

Katanya and McKay share a bedroom.  They got the biggest room and it actually fits two queen size beds.  

For Anya's birthday, she picked out some flowers and paintings to put in her room.  After we decorated, McKay decided her half was too "technical" and it required another trip to Ikea and more color.

 The new duvet covers were less than $15!  YAY!

 

And she finally got the pictures that she received on her birthday with the "hidden letters" put up on her wall.

This is my sewing area.  It's just off the game room in a little space that overlooks the living room and stairs.  It's perfect!  I've used it several times already.

After we moved in, and while Betsy was visiting, I got the responsibility of moving Jacob's three car garage junk into our two car garage.

Thankfully Betsy had a truck and we got this done in only one 105 degree afternoon.

That same week, Jacob and Isaac put together our play scape.  We have a smaller backyard but that only means less yard work.  Yay again!