ONE COUCH NEEDED!

I guess we only need the love seat in the family room. Who needs the rest of the furniture when you can all sit "comfortably" on one couch made for 2 people.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Hello my little 5th graders, 6th grader and big man on campus and our Junior girl who is driving herself to school for the first time! Time is a thief and I wish it would stop! The week before school started I took the boys out to go back to school shopping and to lunch! They are very easy to please with their athletic clothes and MOD pizza. It cracks me up how they all like to try them on and look at themselves though - I thought it was just a girl thing, but I guess I was wrong! They came home to treats from Sodalicious and then we went to dinner at Morenos. I was very worried about Emma getting in and out of the school parking lot and not getting in an accident, but she did great! This not waking up at 6am to take her to school is going to be great! Have a great year my loves!

BACK TO SCHOOL BLESSINGS!

Right after church today we did our traditional back to school blessings. We always do it after church so everyone is still respectful and reverent and in their church clothes. I don't have the short hand skills my mom does so here are the highlights from each of the kids - in order they received them this year.

Tyson:
- Bless you to be happy and healthy, have a good productive year, be a good friend and others will want to associate with you.

- There will be struggles but as you seek help from your parents, you will get through it.

- It is worthwhile to be physically active.

- Through the Holy Ghost, you will build upon your testimony and recognize the value of going to church, scripture study and family prayer.

- The Lord loves you and is preparing you for the future when you are a missionary. Small steps start now.

- Be a good friend to those around you struggling because not everyone has a loving family around them.


Tyler:
- Bless you to recognize how much you have grown in the last few years through your efforts and teachers.

- You are very special and strong. You have the ability to know whats right and wrong and stick to it.

- Bless you in this school year that you will greatly grow. Your ability to learn and comprehend will expand greatly.

- Please help your friends and classmates.

- You will learn the things you need to be successful.

- Be a good example to your friends. Take the time to think before you speak. Don't laugh at kids making fun of other kids, you are to be the one to seperate yourself from them and be the friend to the one who is sad and lonely.

- You will be blessed physically and mentally.

- You too will be able to serve a successful mission one day. 


Eli:
- Bless you to know Heavenly Father is very happy with you. You have a sensitive spirit.

- Learn for yourself the difference between things we do in our lives that are good, better and best.

- Applying yourself and studying and practicing for sports is one of the better things to do.

- Concentrate on helping those around us.

- Bless you that you will have mental and physical capacity to learn the things around you.

- Ask yourself if what you are about to do or say if you would do it if the Savior was next to you. 

- Bless you to recognize that using your Priesthood will bring great fulfillment to your lives.

- Take time to compliment those around you and build them up.

- I bless you that you will be happy and be able to navigate with the help of your parents through the tough times with friends, school and athletics.

- Talk to your parents. They love to help you.

- Take time to kneel down. Prayer is communication to Heavenly Father. Also, through prayer you can bless others.


Emma:
- Bless you to have the physical strength to handle your workload.

- Bless you to concentrate in classes, cheer, church and driving.

- Bless you to be mindful and attentive.

- Bless and encourage you to understand and schedule to spend your time wisely.

- Bless you to be able to think and plan ahead to study and complete homework. Manage your time and be able to rest when possible.

- Make it a goal this year to learn to manage your day, week and month yourself. Manage your time so you can be successful.

- Make the most of your friendships. Quality of friendships is largely dependent on how we treat others. Focus on yourself and how you treat others. Be a good listener. Take interest in others lives.

- When we learn to put others first, things and problems tend to work out for the best.

- Bless you to be safe while you are traveling. Bless you to be able to return home safely to us.

- Bless you to be able to say no as you are tempted with things and leave the situation. Others will see your example and follow you. You will be that shining star and example.

- I encourage you to communicate with your mother and father. Keep channels open with Heavenly Father. You can pray anytime throughout the day!

EMMA AND JASON!

Emma and Jason Tomlinson were on the same trek family together and have been on and off and just really good friends since then. They hung out a lot together recently because he was leaving on his mission to Africa to speak French. These 2 have a lot of fun together! He plans on back flipping all around Africa and sending her videos, some day she will send him her back tuck videos too! (they did go on to email and google chat each other the whole time he was out on his mission. he got sick and came home after 6 months and they still hang out every once and a while since then).

SWIM TEAM!

We decided to try swim team through the city this year. It was our first year. I signed up all 3 boys, but the only one who really wanted to do it was Eli and of course with his hand being in a cast most of the summer, he was the only one who couldn't participate. The twins did not love it at all. They slowly came around to the idea of it, but there was for sure some complaining! They did pretty good for it being their first time. None of us loved getting up at 6:30am on Saturday mornings to go to swim meets, but whatever. At least they had fun swimming with Zach Tomlinson!  And their little bums were so cute in their jammers!

4th OF JULY!

This was an interesting 4th of July. I just started my job at Sodalicious so I spent the morning working there. Eli and Emma got invited to go up to the Halls cabin in Nutrioso for a couple of days so they went up there (little did we know Emma went up there with a broken hand, so she was some what miserable, but still happy to be up there having as much fun as she could) and Eli of course loved being with Bo. They went to a small town parade, Emma and the girls went to a dance, etc. Then me, Jared and the twins headed to RJ's house to BBQ food, swim and do our own fireworks in the backyard! The cousins had the best time together!

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

As soon as we finish with Eli's broken hand - Emma decides to break her hand as well! Guess she was feeling left out! Lucky for both of them - they both broke the hand they don't write with - small blessings! Emma tried out for cheer and her and Lauren both had to fight for the last spot on Varsity. One would get it and one would stay on JV. Emma was working her buns off to get the skills she needed to get to make the team. She is supposed to go to Anni Halls cabin today for 4th of July but this morning in her private with Coach Markham she bailed on her running tumbling pass and brought her hands down to brace her self and broke her hand. The video is painful to watch. I got it while I was at work. Emma did not tell me while I was working how bad it hurt. As soon as I got home from work she is complaining and rightfully so. I wish someone would have told me earlier I would have left work and taken care of it, but now she was stuck. I called several places to try to get seen in the 2 hour window we had before she left for the cabin, but no luck. She had to decide wether to go or stay. She wanted to go. She went. She was in so much pain. She came home and her hand was so swollen - it was way worse - the altitude did not help her at all. We got her right into the doctor's office the next day and got herself a lovely little lame clam hand like her brother! This broken hand also sealed her fate for JV! (again, a year later we can find all the positives from this, but right now in the moment, it was very hard and sad - lots of tears). She was a brave girl and also had a blast at the cabin!