Preschool days are here!

Paige has started going to Preschool and, boy, does she love it! She gets so excited when it's a school day. Her teachers are so wonderful and that helps with her enthusiasm of learning. She comes home with the greatest projects, fun treats and she is so excited to tell me what she did that day. She is such an intelligent girl and loves to learn new things. I'm so proud of her! I do have to say, though, that it feels really weird having a child that's old enough to go to preschool. I can't even imagine how it's going to feel when she starts kindergarten!!

Austin has realized that he has full reign of the house while Paige is at school and he definitely takes advantage of it. He plays with all of the toys that Paige doesn't like him to play with (note the pink butterfly purse on his head!) and just has fun having his mommy all to himself. It wasn't like this the first day of Paige's school, however. He went all over the house calling for Paige over and over. It was so cute, but a little sad, too. After about the first hour, though, he realized the freedom he had and he definitely started to take advantage of it. :0)

Fair time

We were able to go to the Fair this year. Paige LOVED all of the animals, the Kid Place and the rides (she was only able to ride one ride, but she really, really, really wanted to ride more!). Austin LOVED the goats, the balls at the Kid Place, and just walking around. He would get mad when we put him in the stroller because there were too many things that he wanted to touch and get into. Here are a few pics of our fun night!

Labor Day weekend - Yes....I'm still way behind!!

We went to Brian's parents' house over Labor Day weekend. John and Bethany were able to be there and we finally met Dan's girlfriend, Rachel, who became Dan's fiance that same weekend!! It was a great trip! We are so excited to have Rachel join our family. She is very sweet, talented, athletic and her and Dan make a very cute couple! We can't wait until December! :0)

While we were there, the boys decided to go bird-hunting. They didn't see any grouse, but they came home with a couple doves (they had to bring home some proof that they could hit something!!) :0). When they came home, Brian's dad gave us a little bit of an anatomy lesson while he skinned the bird. (I know you don't "skin" a bird, but I can't think of another way to say it!) Anyway, Paige and Austin had the funniest looks on their faces throughout the entire process. They were completely enthralled by it all and got mad whenever someone got in their line of sight. You can see their expressions in the pictures below. They seriously had these same facial expressions THE entire time! It was very entertaining to say the least! ;0)

While the men were off hunting, the kids, Grandma A., Aunt Bethany and I went to the park. It was a bit chilly and we weren't very well prepared for the change in weather, so we had to borrow Grandma's jackets, gloves and socks. Thank goodness Grandma is always prepared for anything! :0) The kids didn't mind the cold one bit. They had so much fun going down the HUGE slide (according to Paige anyway), swinging in the swings and showing us what monkeys they are. Paige even surprised us by doing the monkey bars by herself. I was so excited watching her that I forgot to take a picture. Then she refused to do it again so I couldn't take a picture. That's Paige for ya! She did, however, discover how much fun it is to slide down the slanted bars with her arms. She got very good at it by the time we went home!

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa A., for the great weekend!!

Yes, we are alive!

I know I am a major blogging slacker right now. I keep telling myself that this is considered my journal and I need to keep it updated, but, boy, does life just get in the way!! Volleyball is still going on (2 more weeks), Paige is going to preschool twice a week, Austin's busy getting into things and just being cute, and Brian's working and has been busy lately with Scouts (helping a few of his boys finish their Eagle). Life has been good, though.

It's funny reading so many blogs and seeing that your kids are doing the same thing that mine are, for example, getting a hold of your camera without you knowing and taking some pictures with the said camera. What's so enticing about these little machines anyway?!? (Maybe it's just that they see us using it all the time to record the silly, cute and memorable things they are doing constantly!!!) Here's a couple of Paige's um.... self-portraits. :0)

Brian's brother, John, and his amazing wife, Bethany, were able to spend the night about a month ago (again...I'm a major slacker). It was so fun spending time with them! Paige had the best time playing hairdresser on Aunt Bethany and came up with some very interesting hair-dos. Austin even joined in at times. Thanks for being such a good sport, Bethany! I guess my kids are just breaking you in for your future little one!!!! :0) (We're so happy to have another cousin to play with!!!)

I've decided that 3-year-olds are much more challenging than 2-year-olds!!
Paige is such an intelligent, energetic girl, but what a drama queen she can be! :0) She is a sweet girl, though, and takes care of her little brother so well. I'm just hoping the tantrums and sneaking around end soon!! :0)

Here are a few pictures from our FHE a few weeks ago. We took the kids to the park a couple blocks away so we could enjoy the warm weather and spend some quality family time together. Boy, are kids funny when you set them free on a playground! Paige had to show Brian and I how big she was and how high she could climb on the rock wall. She would then jump off and tell us that she can jump "SO high". Like I said before.... drama queen!! :0) Life would definitely be boring without her!! :0)

I told Paige to smile pretty for the camera and this was the pose she came up with. Great, Paige!! :0)

Austin has been very funny lately. He finds things that he becomes fascinated with for a day or so and then moves on to something else. The day we went to the park his "item" was this whistle. Luckily there weren't very many people at the park with is, because it could have been very annoying listening to this whistle, over and over and over... you get the idea.

I think Austin was pouting about Paige having the whistle in this picture. I love this puckered facial expression of his! I can't help but to laugh and give him a little kiss!! :0)

'Tis the season for...

...VOLLEYBALL!! Sorry that I haven't posted in over a month. Life has gotten quite crazy the last few weeks. Volleyball season is up and running and keeping my family VERY busy. We've played 2 games so far. We came very close to beating Malad last Wednesday but weren't as "with it" against Soda Springs on Thursday. We now know exactly what we need to work on, though, so that's good. I have a lot of freshman on my team (we only have JV and Varsity this year because of coaching situations) and I'm having to do a lot of skill introduction and teaching. Luckily my girls are athletic and are picking up on things. They are really fun, though, so I enjoy spending time with them.

Brian, Paige and Austin are adjusting to having me gone quite a bit. I think Bri's having the hardest time with it!! :0) I have some AMAZING friends here who have watched the kids while I go to practice and games. Paige and Austin think they get to have playdates every day because of this. Today Paige was upset that she couldn't go to her friends' house this morning. She said, "Mom, I want you to go to volleyball practice now, so I can play at Allie's house!" Yes, that was at 10 this morning and I didn't have practice until 3. I see where I stand now!! Oh well, at least I know they are happy spending time with good friends! :0) (A million thank you's to all of you who watch my little kiddos!!!!!!!)

Anyway, I'll try to fit in a few things that have happened this last month without overwhelming all of you. Here it goes...

My friend, Gwen, actually gave this pictures from the Pioneer Day celebration a while ago, yes, I'm a slacker! Here's Austin running and winning his "race". We start them early!! :0) Paige was all ready to run her race when Austin was running, but then she had a complete meltdown when I told her to wait to race with the girls her age and refused to run her race. Next year, Paige, next year!!

Next, we were able to go to our niece's 1st birthday party. It was so fun. The kids had a great time, especially because we had it at the fire station where Brandon's (Kandra's husband) Dad works. The older kids thought it was the coolest thing ever!! My mom and dad brought up Challis and Preston and it was so fun having them with us. Paige and Challis had to have the same hair-do, which I was happy to do for them!! :0) Aren't these kids so cute?!?

On the 16th of August, Brian and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. Brian surprised me by planning everything weeks in advance and arranging it so his parents would watch the kids. He wouldn't tell me for the longest time where we were going or what we were doing and then about a week before we left, he told me we were going to Salt Lake. I knew not to push him for details, so I left it at that. We stayed the first night at the Hilton in downtown SL and the next morning he took me to the Bountiful temple where we were married. It was so wonderful going back to that beautiful temple and remember that perfect day 7 years ago. After that we went to IKEA so Brian can experience that for himself. I think he's hooked!!! ;0) When we buy a house he's telling me he's wanting to get a lot of our new "home furnishings" there. I think he likes it, folks! The main reason for going to IKEA, though, was to kill time before we had to check in at the little Bed and Breakfast that we stayed at our first night after we were married. Can I tell you, this place is so neat!! It's called Parrish Place and the new owners are so nice. If you're ever looking for a good place to stay, make a reservation there! :0) We also went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner that night. This is where we had our wedding luncheon.

Thank you, Brian, for the best anniversary yet!! You are such an amazing man and I often find myself thinking how lucky I am to call you my husband. Your testimony of the gospel, how you live up to your priesthood responsibilities, and everything you do to show love towards the kids and me make me love and respect you more every day! I love you!!!!

Twin Falls Temple Open House

OK, I promise this is the last post of the night! (I've had a lot to catch up on!!) The kids and I were able to go to the Twin Falls Temple open house last week with my sister, brother, two of my SILs and their babies. It was such a neat experience. This temple is very special to my family because we lived in this area for over twenty years. This temple is amazing, to put it simply. It is absolutely beautiful. Paige and Austin were fascinated by it all and every time they saw a picture of Jesus (and there are too many to count), they would get excited and point at it. Austin would say, "Jesus" every time and Paige would say, "Mom, that's Jesus. He's my big brother!" It was so sweet to see and hear their sweet testimonies through out the whole tour. The best part, though, had to have been when we were walking through the Celestial room. Paige was being a normal 3-year-old through out the whole tour until we got to the Celestial room. She must have realized what a special place it was because she folded her arms and hardly said a word (which is very unlike her, as most of you know). The hosts thought it was the sweetest thing. It's amazing how much you can feel the Spirit there, even before it's dedicated and becomes a working temple. I'm hoping to be able to go again with Brian since he wasn't able to come with us due to a Scout camp. I want to experience it all with him! If any of you are in the area before August 16th, take the chance to go to the open house. It truly is amazing and is the House of the Lord!

From left to right: Bekah (Lance's wife), Julie (Keith's wife), Jaxson, Kandra, Sydnee, Paige, Austin and me

Paige and Austin by the fountain just outside of the temple. As soon as I took the picture, Austin threw Paige's arm off of him. Little stinker! :0)

Paige "posing" on the rocks by the temple. She was begging me to take pictures of her and was very sad when my batteries ran out!! :0)