I am so tired tonight.  It was a long - emotional day.  I always have a hard time when the kids go back to school.  They love the first day.  I hate it.

I did try to spend most of the (lonely) day working to catch up.

No. I haven't blogged the rest of our summer.

BUT,

I did get the first day of school up.

That's something.

No fancy editing.

No long drawn out narrative.

Big kids were up and gone by 6:30; little kids were out the door by 7:30;

I was back home crying by 8:30. 

Thankfully tomorrow is early out. :)

Yup.  I'm pathetic.

I don't care.

My 1st baby is a Senior - and my last baby is in 2nd grade.

I can cry all I want.

June.... {almost}

Nope. I haven't kept up.  But, with good reason. We have been running around and so busy, that it's all I can do to just take photos of my OWN children! {which I LOVE doing!} I'm determined to at least catch up on our summer ~ which begins with June.... and Little Miss Brin's BIRTHDAY!!

I totally went all out this year, very Martha Stewart. Yes. I know, how very unlike me.  But I wanted to try it once. Yup. It will never happen again.  It was a spectacular event though. We had a BLAST!

We had goodies, a bbq dinner, lots of water games, and a BUNCH of friends and their families

 Later, down in Ephraim, Brin got her present on her actual Birthday- 

Dad came down to help celebrate and to help her learn how to ride.  ;)

After the big party {also the day school got out} we loaded up and headed over to Denver to visit some friends and to play for a few days......

 Matt & Darby were awesome hosts. We had SO much fun playing, and SHOOTING!!

Darby is the one who has taken some of Randa's senior photos. 

LOVE HER!

But, it was fun to stand behind for a few shots too...

hee hee!!

the kids were patient for only so long....

but Darby and I were having too much fun to stop.

After eating at numerous delicious restaurants, {a wonderful treat since we don't

 have any back home!} we said goodbye to Mouritsens and Bryan, 

[he went back to Thermop to work] then we continued on to Utah..

{these were taken after dinner on our last night with Dad, 

since we wouldn't be seeing him for a couple of weeks}

{my awesome lookin hubby}

:)

THEN........

We were off to Ephraim......

 The kids were SO good in the car!  Now that they are older, we've been able to travel so differently. We actually had a lot of fun together.  We weren't in a huge rush, so we took time to stop and look at a lot of different things.  

 We enjoyed getting back with old friends, and doing old routines. 

We loved being back at Pageant.

 {sitting behind 'stage' during practices}

 The kids actually played a part without me and Bryan this year.  It was 

cool to be able to watch them so much!

Of course we love dressing up........

I just LOVE sitting at the foot of the temple every night for a month. 

:)

Stockton had an especially good time this year.  He had a GREAT friend to hang out with.

Ok... must get back to work.  I will continue to post the rest of the week about our summer.

I PROMISE.

'Race for a Reason'

This last weekend, Bryan, Maranda and I were involved in a local 5k run. 

"Race for a Reason" is in their second year, and is a wonderful organization.  They are a non-profit group that enjoys running, and uses their donations/entry fees to support a designated local family in need.  They asked me to come and document with a few photos, but Maranda had decided that she wanted to try running.  Bryan was planning on running anyway, but when Randa decided to run, he opted to run WITH her, as this was her first 'real' run - - ever.

They were both pretty excited, but, I guess as they got started up a long hill, Bryan could tell that Randa was struggling.  

Being the 'awesome-all-knowing-wise' dad, 

*wink*

he used this opportunity for a teaching experience. 

He pushed her pretty hard, and they ended 

up finishing with a great time for beginners!

Much was discussed. 

Many personal things.  

I was not there.  I didn't know that all of this was going on. 

However, 

as they came around the corner, up the last leg of the run,

I could tell by expressions that something had happened. 

I knew it was something important 

when, 

the last little bit,

Bryan reached out to Randa, and grabbed her hand, 

and ran 

- and finished - 

holding her hand.

Supporting her to the end. 

As a mom, of course I had a lump in my throat.  

Not yet understanding what was going on, 

expressions were enough

to tell me that it was tender.

And very good to remember, 

that when we struggle, 

even though we have to run 

and FINISH the race ourselves, 

that 'Someone' is right next to us, 

holding our hand 

and offering support.

And at the end,  even if we throw up 

*smile*

the hug was all worth it.

i love you both

~k

I'm not sure I even remember how to post anymore?

Yes.  It's been too long.

But life get's a little hectic.

Last night, I had my spring piano recital. Nothing spectacular,

unless you happen to be a student!

It was simple, but got the job done. I held it at the

local retirement center. THAT was a good idea. The residence

seemed to enjoy it.  It gave my students a chance to play

in front of a much larger group than normal. But it was 

much less stress, and a lot less low key than the

"Stars of Tomorrow" that they had to perform in during February.

Either way. It's over. 

I'm glad.

Time for a break.

So we came home and played.

The last soccer games are tonight.

I will have to post photos of both teams.

As much as we've enjoyed coaching those little stinkers,

I will be very glad when that is over as well.

It's time for a good break.

so general conference..... GREAT! cinnamon rolls, pajamas, pictures... gotta love it. i look forward to it every 6 months :)
~maranda

Heyyyyyy!!! Mom hasn't posted in forever so I will be doing posting for her ;) so big things that have happened.... ummmmm...... I'm not sure... nothin really.. hahaha OK so for me something big is i get to go to two proms in the month of April! whoa total awesomeness! I'm going to the Thermopolis high school junior prom and the Syracuse High prom in Utah. cool shtuff.. Plus Taylor is taller than me now and he has such a deep voice! Anyway, I'll try to post as much as I can when I have time! Hope everyone has a wonderful fantasmic day!!

This was posted on facebook as well,

but I just had to put it here too.

I took this the weekend that Bryan and I

"escaped" for our anniversary.

*sigh*

Such a cool place.

Such a good weekend.

A perfect memento of both.

My sweet little man.

He's 9 now.

*sigh*

Wyoming

The clouds looked painted in the sky tonight

Those who know me best know that I haven't been a huge

fan of Wyoming.  There are things that we appreciated all along.

I love the small town.

There are people here that we adore.

But over-all, it wasn't my 'ideal resting place', so to speak.

However, I can say, with all the honesty in my heart,

that,

quite literally,

from the first day we moved here,

I have been in love with the

sunsets that Wyoming produces.

And tonight, It's nice that,
at the end of a crazy day,

of a crazy week,

(well, a crazy two years)

God loves me enough

to share this with me again.

And I can remember that i need to appreciate Him.

Oh my gosh! In a crazy rush to

finally put up a post,

I totally spaced off posting this FABulous photo!

I'm SO

proud of my talented daughters....

hahahaha!!!!

Homecoming 2010

Last week was Homecoming here in

little Thermop.

 (Monday was 'NEON' Day & jello slip-n-slide, 

That's Taylor's friend Jon sliding through the jello)

Quite a busy week.

Between both boys football,

piano lessons,

all the activities for homecoming, parent teacher

conferences, (still think that was

retarded planning on SOMEBODY'S part?!)

And FINALLY unpacking and cleaning the garage!!!

yay!

But we had a good time with all of it.

I posted a few photos on facebook throughout the week

of the activities,

but thought I'd finish it up

HERE.

On the BLOG!!

(it's so ridiculous that it's an

occasion that I post. dumb.)

 {kids waiting for the parade}

{thermop band.  taylor's up front in the left corner}

{then he ran back to hop on the football 'float'... ie: fire truck}

Maranda had some extra fun this week,

she was voted as the Junior Royalty.

Translation?

The dress that cost a lot of moolah - 

got to be worn more than once.

I'm SO thrilled!

;)

haha...

{presenting royalty @ halftime @ the football game}

It was kind of fun.  Bryan and I were both excited for her.

She ended up going to the dance

with two of her friends, and their dates.

 {Randa & Kelsie}

I think they all had a good time.... 

 Randa & her date, John.

ok, the pinning of the flowers, was a JOKE.  And I didn't post ALL the photos of the {seriously} 15 minute process.

 Kelsie & Bryce

 bryce, kelsie, john, randa, matt & maggie

 wierdy kids...

 typical  "put the camera away, Mother!"  look from Maranda.

Hmph.  Doesn't she know I'm going to follow my kids EVERYWHERE?!!

 Kelsie's mom, Joellen...

SEE??!!!!  She has HER camera TOO!!!!

 Our AWESOME florist.....

 Shelly the FAB.

{who also happens to be quite attached to the girlies too!}

and off they go. and we didn't follow any more.