2018- Week 34(Aug 20-Aug 26)

Summer flew by and it was time to start school again. The girls started on Tuesday. Ashtyn is a senior this year and Whitney a junior. Ethan also had to go to school that day to help with the 7th grad orientation. His first day was Wednesday. He is a freshman but still in junior high. It seems like yesterday that Ashtyn was starting school and now she had her last first day of school. I hope she loves everything about this year.

Kindergarten

1st

 2nd

 3rd 

 4th

 5th

 6th

 7th

 8th

 9th

 10th

11th

and here she is this year. 12th Grade!

The girls are driving themselves this year.

I took my old visiting teaching companion and our old sisters to the Baked Bear to get a treat. We'd been talking about going there for a long time. The ice cream was good but the cookies weren't that special. They were also good but not nearly as good as I thought.

The Madrigals sang in the Hello Day Assembly so I went to watch. There were two assemblies and I went to the first one but ended up having to leave to take Ethan to the orthodontist before they performed at the end so then I came back after and was able to see it.

We held a Primary party to reward the kids for learning the Articles of Faith. We had four different stations. We wrote letters to two missionaries in our ward, played Articles of Faith bingo, had an obstacle course and the big reward was ice cream sundaes. They got their bowl, spoon and one scoop of ice cream for free and then for each Article of Faith we learned they got a topping. We learned 1-8 so they got an extra scoop, chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, m&ms, Oreos, gummy bears, sprinkles and whipped cream. We had planned the party for the park but it started raining so we moved it to the church. We were going to do water balloons but had to bag that. There were about 60 kids that came. It was actually pretty crazy. First we assigned them all to a group with a colored dot and they all proceeded to switch dots because they didn't like the group we put them in. Then we took them to a station in the gym but it was so loud that we ended up switching the bingo to a different room. By the time we got started each station was only about 7 minutes long. We should have added some extra time to get the kids organized. We gave out small prizes for the bingo. We had one older boy get upset that he couldn't be in a group with his friend and he left and went home but other than that it was so fun. I think the kids had a blast even though I felt completely out of control trying to wrangle that many kids. Now on to our program.

My family came over for dinner to celebrate the August and September birthdays. We had taco's. I tried my hand at making cauliflower meat for the vegetarians and it was really good. After dinner we showed them my wedding video because a lot of them are in it so we wanted to see how cute every one was 20 years ago. Jeff had to go out of town so he missed out on the fun.

2018- Week 33(Aug 13- Aug 19)

Jeff and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary this week! I can't believe how fast 20 years went! I still am 100% madly in love with him. He gets better every single year. I think we both do as we grow together. He has been having to work a ton and he had to take the teachers on a hike on Tuesday  so I didn't get to see him  until late on the night of the 14th . I gave him my gift the night before. I bought him a star map from the Night Sky. We have always loved laying outside and looking up at the stars. You can choose any date and location to get your map from so I chose the Salt Lake Temple where we were married and of course the night of August 14th 1998 when we were married. You can add a special message and I chose the lyrics from the song From This Moment by Shania Twain. It came out that year and we danced to it at our wedding. He gave me flowers and a cute quote by one of my favorite authors Maya Angelou. It was awesome and so special to me. He didn't remember that I love her and have several of her books but the fact that he chose that exact quote was perfect for me. We stayed at a hotel at Thanksgiving Point on Friday night. Whit and Ethan went and stayed with Scott and Malia and Ashtyn had a Madrigal retreat. Friday night we went to dinner at Mimi's. It's French atmosphere is something I love and we had a coupon so it was even better. The service was slow but the food was good. Then we headed to the hotel. It was pouring rain but we had to stop at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory to get a caramel apple that became our tradition last year. The hotel was nice and freezing. We spent the night reading old blog posts from old anniversaries and about when the kids were little. My dream would be to turn all my old blogs into books that are more easily accessible for us to look through and remember all the good times we've had as a family and couple. The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then went to Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point. Neither of us had been there but the name was perfect of course and we love the outdoors so we decided to give it a try. It did not disappoint. It is gorgeous there. There are 55 acres to explore and several different gardens. We saw the largest man made waterfall in the western hemisphere and it was spectacular. There was a quote on the wall by it that is the scripture about paying tithing and the Lord pouring you out a blessing and it was fitting. Especially because Jeff is my greatest blessing. There was a religious garden called Light the World that had statues depicting the life of Christ. It had a special spirit about it. There was even a sacred grove. There was a secret garden just like from the book that was my favorite and now I think I'll make Jeff read the book with me. There was a rose garden and Italien fountain garden. There was a lily pond filled with koi fish that would follow you around the bridge and open their mouths to be fed. We bought some food but every time we threw it in the ducks would race over and steal it from the fish. They would swim right over them. It was hilarious. There was a beautiful river that ran through the middle of it all and we stopped and under the shade of a tree to eat our apple and rest. It was so peaceful and serene and I could spend hours there. It was so perfect. 

 The teachers hike

Afterward we headed to the outlets to do a little shopping and grab some lunch. We had thirty dollars in rewards at Banana Republic so we both got a few things. Then we had lunch at Jersey Mikes sub shop. After lunch we headed to CK Massage and had a couples massage. Jeff had given me a gift card there for Mother's Day. It was so relaxing. I love to get massages and getting them with Jeff lying next to me is even better. After we went and picked up the kids and headed home for the night. It really was such a nice get away. I had also been emailing Jeff all the things I love about him for 20 days. He is so amazing. I have now been with him for over half my life which is strange to think about. We have a great life together. We couldn't ask for more. Here's to 20 more years!

Whitney and Ashtyn had their very last orthodontist appointments. They are officially done.

Ashtyn and Whitney got their nails done for school by their young woman leader Haylee. They turned out so cute. 

Not sure if I mentioned this before but both girls have been working at the Legacy House Retirement Center and loving making their own money. It was hard work for them at first but they love the residents and freedom it has provided them. Not sure how much they will keep working when school starts. They make $9 an hour which is way more then I made at my first job- heck it's what I make at my job now.

Sunday night Melinda and Kevin and the kids came over for dinner and to play games. We played Melinda's game called garbage. It is so fun. I tried to teach it to Jeff's parents on the camping trip and forgot how to play. Now I know the real rules and will have to teach them again. Brody got a Harry Potter sorting hat for his birthday. We all took turns being sorted. I got Slitherin- I think. It was fun to hang out with them.