Celebration!

Today, somehow, I managed to change a flat tire by myself...and I made two loaves of wheat bread from scratch!!

Now, as a disclaimer, I have to say that 1)Mike had to help me get the hubcap off the tire and 2)the wheat bread is only because I'm totally out of groceries and 3)my house is a complete disaster because I haven't taken the time to clean or even straighten it, but hey--why not celebrate this very, very, very, VERY rare event!?!

School has Started!

On Monday, August 18th, we started school. Jonathan is in 5th grade, Jen's in 3rd, and Jer is in 1st. They are all in full-day school now! All three were so excited to start the year. Jonathan has been looking forward to it since the first day of summer. Jeremy even made a "countdown to school" chart to mark off each of the last 7 days... We've been blessed with wonderful teachers...again. We're so lucky!

Here are our "first day" pics. Note Jessie, who also wanted to wear new clothes and go to school. She couldn't understand why she didn't get to stay when we dropped off the kids ("But I am ready to go to school!?!") and she kept her little backpack on the ENTIRE day!

Musical Wonders

Summertime provides opportunities for all sorts of pursuits... This is our local band performing Ernie's "Put Down the Duckie" song (from Sesame Street) for Jessie and I.

Our Vacation

This last week (over Pioneer Day weekend), we decided to take a trip. Mike actually had a couple of days that he could take off, so we headed down to Moab (a trip we've been wanting to take for a long time). We stopped first at Goblin Valley.

We spent the night in Green River, then continued on to Moab the next morning.

Day #2: Arches National Park. It was beautiful. We were able to see many of the famous sights, and we took several of the short hikes, too.

Day #3: Canyonlands National Park. This was also an amazing destination. We spent the afternoon on the Island in the Sky. We scrambled over slickrock up the trail to the Upheaval Dome overlook. We also drove through the park, taking in so many beautiful views of the canyons.

Day #4: Before checking out and heading home on our last day, Mike and Jonathan ran back to Arches National Park to hike up to the Delicate Arch. For them, this was the highlight of the trip!

Our Techie

Not to leave out Jonathan... Here he is at the cabin with his cousin Dubbie. They're concocting a blend of semi-creepy, semi-silly music (from his World of Warcraft game soundtrack) for their sisters' dancing presentation. (Not your typical ballet music, I agree... We work with what we have, right?)




The girls loved dancing to Jonathan's music...



This position (in front of the computer) is a familiar one. This summer, Jonathan has spent a lot of time on his computie, designing new pages for his website, doing all kinds of research on all kinds of topics, and, yes, entertaining his cousins.

p.s. Jonathan would like me to invite everyone to check out his website: http://grovecreekmill.com/jonathan

Mike visits Wisconsin!

Okay--I'm just trying to catch up on my blog, so this is a little out of order, but I HAVE to include this: In June, Mike was flown out to the Sub-Zero/Wolf headquarters in Madison, WI. He enjoyed a cool 2-day tour of their facilities, good training on the newest products, and AMAZING food in their kitchens. His favorite part of the trip, though, was a 4-hour tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's home, Taliesin!

The girls...

The very first babysitter we had here in PG, Jessica Francis, got married this week. She babysat Jonathan and Jen when they were just babies! Here's a picture of the girls (Jen and Jessie) at her wedding reception (this is at the Bungalow in Pleasant Grove).