THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

This was Max's first day of school.  He started second grade and so far he's only had a few "boring days".  We drove him to school and walked him in (because that's what Mom's like to do on the first day of school). Max would have rather taken the bus, but he's learning to indulge me on some things. Unfortunately letting me pick out his outfits is not one of those things. I've decided that instead of fighting Max on what he wears, I just let him wear what he wants and know that I don't have to look at it all day.

This was Payton and Ellie's first day of school.  They started preschool today and go twice a week.  They love it of course and kept singing their new songs all day! 

Although Payton is a little taller than Ellie, she's not this much...Payton is standing a little in front and they are on a hill...Do they look like twins? 

SUMMER

Once again, a whole summer has passed and I haven't documented anything!  Here is the quick recap...

We went to Spokane for Andrew and Tiera's wedding. We drove the whole 16 hours in one day straight! It's so nice that the kids are getting older and able to do things like this without us wanting to throw them out the window or jump out the window ourselves!

We had a great time staying with Marty, Lexi, Hunter and Annie! There was lots of four wheeling and we even got to go to Silverwood amusement park this year.

On the way home we stopped in Utah. The girls and I stayed for almost a week to play, while Neil and Max flew home for the last week of school and some fun Father/Son time.

When we got back our good friends, the Salos, were moving to California.  So we spent some fun time together staying and swimming at the MGM.  It was very sad to see them go and we miss them lots!

We celebrated Father's Day together

In July we went back to Utah and celebrated the Independence Day, went to the races, spent lots of time with cousins, and got to go to Lagoon!

Then in August the Salos came back to visit for a few days and the week after we went to California to visit them! Did I mention they're really great friends and we like them a lot?!?

We went to the beach and the kids loved it this time!!!
They played in the sand and jump and jumped and jumped in the waves.
The girls couldn't stop giggling! 

We had a really fun summer and I can't believe how fast it went!  This post really doesn't do it justice and I wish I had more time and patience to write about everything and show more pictures...but I guess this is better than nothing!  

Happy Birthday Max!

Max turned 7! 

We had a very fun party in Utah with family

(sports themed of course)

 Max loves his big boy cousins,
Winston, Cooper and Talmage.

(Can you see that big pile of ribs? mmm, yum!)

 Opening presents: 

He got SF 49ers glasses, shirt and hat 

from Grandma and Grandpa Woolf

 An awesome football quilt handmade by Grandma Mano, 

complete with fabric of his 12 favorite teams! 

(Yes, that's his TWELVE favorite teams)

 And we even had our first ever birthday pinata!  

Happy Birthday Max, we love you!

EASTER

 We were very excited to celebrate Easter in Utah this year.

It had been 5 years since the last time we were in Utah for
Easter....and Easter in Utah is FUN!

We colored Easter eggs,

 Did an Easter egg dive at the Rec Center,
at which Max got a golden egg! 

His accounting of it went as follows: 

"I saw the golden egg and another kid was going down
to get it so I thought, 'aww, I'm not going to get a golden
egg',but then he missed it and I thought, 'oh, yea!',
so I dove down and GOT IT!"

He won a whole easter basket full of fun stuff. 

 The Mano family throws some pretty awesome parties,
one of which is the annual Easter egg hunt!
Here are the kids receiving their instructions

 Here are the kids waiting to start

 Here is the hunting

 And then examining the loot and looking for special prizes!

Oh so much fun! 

 Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the "adult egg hunt" which takes place across the street in the church parking lot....I was too busy hunting and finding one of the golden eggs! 

 Oh yes, we also went to church and thought about Jesus 

and we had a special family home evening lesson about Easter and the Resurrection. 

More April in Utah

Here are some of the other fun things we did with 

Grandma, Grandpa, aunts and uncles, cousins and more!  

Our April Fools prank on the kids (and Grandpa)...does he look real to you?  

 Feeding the ducks

 Holding baby Sammy as much as possible!
This time it was Ellie.

 Visiting the new Book of Mormon children's exhibit at the Church History Museum.

 Visiting Temple Square

 The new City Center (I think that's what it's called)

 And you've got to love Grandpas!  I have so many childhood memories of my Grandpa sleeping...

just glad that my children can have them also!

Payton and Ellie's Graduation

We did a preschool co-op/Joy school this year with three friends and it was lots of fun.  So much fun that they graduated...in March.  We had a little graduation ceremony where they received a certificate and a class picture, followed by lunch and an easter egg hunt!  They do miss school and often ask when their next "school day" is?  

The answer is: Next year, when I get to pay big bucks to drop them off somewhere three days a week!  

Snow!

Auntie Patrice gave the kids boots this year, so we've tried to get at least some use out of them. It never snowed much the times we were in Utah, so we headed up to Mt. Charleston to use the snow cone supplies that Arnold gave the kids and also took a trip to Brian Head with the Salos. It was all so much fun!

The Holidays

We celebrated the holidays: Halloween is always fun in Vegas...

Thanksgiving dinner at our house with family and friends...

Making gingerbread houses with Lisa and Christmas morning at our house (complete with new underwear in the stockings) and then taking off to Utah later that day for the rest of Christmas and New Years!