early morning seminary

Mason tries to tell me he's not tired when it comes time to go to bed. Brian took this picture of him this morning before class started. 

I'm thinking he's more tired than he'll admit. 

5k prep

Carson and I ran/walked 2 miles this evening preparing for a 5k in a couple weeks. Just to clarify we ran more than we walked. Mason says he'll run on the treadmill. He wants to watch TV while on the treadmill. He's not fooling me. 

This Y is all the Freshman at BYU! Can you find Karlee? I can, she told me where she was. Right top, bottom corner. The last four of that row are her friends. Oh, btw, she has a date tonight!!! Go Karlee!! 

And yes, another picture of my favorite almost 5 month old. I love when they start chewing on toes. 

brave girl

McKinzie sent this picture to me Sunday. Her kids are growing up way to fast!

I talked with Karlee this afternoon. Her first day of classes went well. In her nutrition class she sat down in the second row next to a boy and she asked him for his number! She's one brave girl!! He happened to be an RM. I hope she tosses his number. ;)

Friday fun

Friday morning I was able to spend the morning at the Mount Timpanogos Temple. I was in awe at how packed the parking lot was and yet I was still able to get into the session I planned. The Celestial room was huge! And beautiful! I felt so much better after attending. I love the peace I receive there. 

I love these arches!

After the temple I went back to Waynette's and made cookies for Karlee. She was still having a tough time at school. Waynette was able to take off early from work and we had lunch together. We stopped by a couple quilt shops and I bought a pattern that makes a fort over a card table. It's super cool but I'm sure I'll be slow making it. I hope I don't take too long though. 

I headed back down to BYU to have dinner with Karlee. She sounded so much better. She knows she'll be fine at school she just needs to stop thinking so much about bring away from her family. Once I returned back to Waynette's I realized Karlee left her makeup bag in the car! Back down I went. Luckily Colette joined me. We ended up stopping at a cool ice cream place called Sub Zero. They use nitrogen to make the ice cream. It was delish! 

My drive home was uneventful. Although, the sunset Saturday night in Omaha was breathtaking. I ended up taking 48 pictures! I might be a little obsessed. 

Breathtaking!!

growing up

Over 7100 freshmen at orientation today. Somewhere in that crowd is Karlee. Not sure where. 

We had a busy, full day of information. I enjoyed the classes I went to. I hope I can relay the information to Karlee to help her with this transition. Change is hard and I'm sure there will be days when Karlee won't want to do this. But she will and I know it will get easier. 

Here she is with her roommate Lauren. They look like they're having fun. That's a good sign. 

CJ and Brian went to pack meeting tonight. He earned his scouting adventure, cyber chip, and... I don't remember the rest. I think he earned 4 or 5. Next pack meeting he'll cross over to Boy Scouts. He's very excited for that. 

first

Today was the first day of school for the boys. Mason also started seminary today so Brian took him to his first day of high school. I'm soo glad Brian took a picture of him. He looks great but he was nervous. 

CJ was just plain excited! Bailee took him to school for me. 

Both the boys had a good day. Mason ended up having homework in a few classes. CJ decided his teacher is going to be fun. She likes Harry Potter too! 

Today Karlee and I spent the day moving her in. It was a long day! I think it all turned out great! Her roommate Lauren seems very nice. I hope they really connect. It's more fun to room with a good friend. 

Karlee is staying at her dorm tonight. She's not looking forward to me leaving though. I hope she starts to feel better soon. I'm going home Saturday. 

first grade

This most handsome boy started first grade today. I can't believe he's old enough! I'm loving his new glasses. He looks so much like Geoff. 

Retta had to get in on the fun too. Such cute kids! 

Yesterday Karlee and I started our drive to BYU. Within 45 minutes we were in our groove. Karlee coloring and me listening to a book. It was an enjoyable drive. 

I loved all the cornfields and clouds. Karlee drove for a couple hours so I could take a nap. She was surprised at how boring it was. Go figure. We stayed the night in Cheynne. 

We arrived at Waynette's this afternoon. The first thing we did was go out and feed her chickens some bread. Colette taught them to jump. I love it! 

Tomorrow we'll head down to BYU to deliver all the boxes we brought for our friends, check out a few things around campus and just be excited. Wednesday is move in day. So close! 

freshman

Today was Mason's orientation for high school. He didn't want to go. I kept telling him it would help him not be as nervous the first day of school if he went. He wasn't buying it. He didn't want to go. 

Karlee picked him up afterwards and she made sure I knew how Mason felt when he got in the car. He said, "I'm excited for homecoming and going to North!" He came home in the best mood smiling from ear to ear. He kept trying to hide it but he couldn't. 

clouds and kids

It was a beautiful day for a run this morning. It stayed overcast for my 4 mile run which was wonderful. Most of the day has been mild with a chance of rain all evening. 

CJ had his first day of band this morning. He brought home a beautiful trumpet which he loves! He played it as loud as he could and Stella went crazy. 

Bailee and Cara spent the day in the city. It sounds like they've had a great day. Tomorrow is her last full day. We'll be getting deep dish pizza for dinner. We can't wait. 

McKinzie went to a hearing in New Mexico today. Michael went with her. McKinzie said he saw the man in the hall beforehand and he looked scared. He should be scared. His bond was set at $100,000. He's not allowed to drive. He can work only 5 days a week and has to be home by 6 on those days. He is on soberlink which tracks if he has any alcohol in his system. The next hearing is in February. Overall I think the hearing went well. Afterwards McKinzie and Michael went to clean out the Forerunner. They found Geoff's other shoe and his glasses. McKinzie REALLY wanted to find those items. One more thing she can check off her list. 

After dinner Brian hurried out to mow before the storm hit. He was able to finish with only had a few sprinkles. The clouds never let loose. I do believe later tonight it could storm though. I just hope it's finished before my morning run. CJ said he wanted to join me for a mile. That will be nice. 

This was suppose to publish on Monday. Not sure why it didn't. CJ didn't run with me after all. Sleep was more tempting. 

two birthday surprises

Many weeks ago I found a Harry Potter scavenger hunt in Chicago. I checked dates and we didn't have a conflict so I booked it for Carson. Today was the day. As we drove in these three challenged each other with Harry Potter trivia. It was fun to hear their laughter. 

We had an hour and a half to answer 21 questions from ALL over the Art Institute of Chicago. Below we are looking into a miniature room that looked like a dining hall from the movie trying to count dogs  in the painting on the wall. It was tiny and so cute!

The hunt was more difficult than we imagined. There were a few times we weren't sure of what they were asking. We tried our best and we ended up getting 2nd place. CJ was a little discouraged. Luckily they gave all the kids a medal. That made it all better. Our team name was Wizit's, Wizards in Training. Brian thought of the name, we all loved it. 

I love many things about this city. 

Then we took Karlee to eat at a place she has been wanting to go for over a month. We were told an hour wait. It ended bring an hour and a half. Plus he never took down names. What's with that?! We all waited together. 

Man was it good!! It's a pot pie pizza! So worth the wait. 

We ended the day with ice cream. I hope they both feel a little special. I love my family so much!

teeth & tomatoes

She got permanent teeth today!! We weren't sure if she would have more temps. We were happily surprised!!

As soon as we left she ate gum. This afternoon she ate gummy worms. She's loving the feel of strong teeth. 

Look at these cute little tools he used. So tiny!

This afternoon we had our Stake A-Days pool party. When we started it was above 90 and hot. Around 3:30 it became overcast and even sprinkled a little. The weather was great! We had about 35 girls. We originally had it scheduled for the middle of June but rescheduled due to stormy weather. Considering families were still on vacation we had a good turn out. 

I can't believe I have more tomatoes!! It's only been a few days since I picked last. Promise! I also can't believe how big a few of those cucumbers are. I better search better so I don't miss them and they turn into zucchini. 

beach day

We were on our way to the beach and this cutie shows up on my phone! He's getting so big. It's hard to believe he's 4 months old already. 

The sand was so hot and the cool lake felt so good. These five fixed the problem of hot sand and made them a couch? I guess it's a couch. There's Karlee, Mason, CJ, Bailee, and Bailee's friend Cara from Canada. 

I like the shot of their legs and back of their heads. 

They all feel asleep for a bit. We are all sunburned. I guess that's means we had fun. 

We were on the road by 5 and hit all kinds of traffic. CJ had scouts at 7 that we barely made.