Way to go Kadee!

Kadence got the first Kudos Club award from the school yesterday for being an example to her peers and for working hard in school.  I'm super proud of her and had to share the award from Facebook before I couldn't find it.





"Wellington Elementary: KUDOS CLUB 09/15/16.
These students have demonstrated a positive effort academically or with their behavior over the past few weeks. We expect to see lots of AWESOME WARRIORS being recognized weekly in the KUDOS CLUB. FYI- This will be a recognition on Wednesdays. Not every class or every grade will have someone in the Kudos Club each week. So keep checking back."

This past weekend my mom took my girls and I to St. George to see Lorla and to watch Beauty and the Beast at the Tuacahn.  Jessica and her daughter, Liz met us at Lorla's for a delicious Beauty and the Beast themed dinner.   After dinner we headed to the Tuacahn for the show.  It was a really great show and the girls loved it.  After the show we stayed and met some of the cast members, so by the time we got home it was almost midnight, we were exhausted.  The next day Lorla made us pancakes and we spent all day in her pool, I literally had to drag the girls out when it got dark.  It was so nice visiting with Lorla and Jessica and I'm so glad Kadee and Liz have become such good friends.  It was a great weekend that went by way too fast!
 
 
















Today Kadee had her tin can cookout.  She made French Toast and eggs and was in a group with Breanna and Kashley.  Her food turned out delicious and I'm glad I got to be there with her.

Preschool!

FINALLY all the kids are in school!  Matthew started preschool on Tuesday and was so excited until he got there and realized he's the only boy in the class.  Today was a fight to get him to stay, he wants a friend that's a boy!  When it was time to pick him up he was ready to go to grandma's house.  I hope he finds a friend soon!

This past Labor Day Weekend we went with Derk and Debbie, Kyle and Candee and kids, and Valyssa camping up Ferron Reservoir.  The kids had a great time.  Kyle has a little fishing boat so they were able to take it out on the reservoir and catch several fish to fry.  The kids rode four wheelers, played in a stream, played cards and football, built a fort out of trees, and of course spent lots of time fishing on the boat.  They were so sad to come home (Kadee kept saying, "I wish we could stay longer or start the weekend over.") and it was a harsh realization that summer is over and Fall will be here before we know it.  

Kindergarbage

My little miss Kinlee started "Kindergarbage" (as she likes to call it) yesterday.  She had herself so worried in the morning she was throwing up, but once she got there she was very excited.  Her favorite part was the treasure hunt around the school; they went to the lunchroom, library, gym, and office to look for their lost treasure, luckily they found it in the principals office and each of them got a book to take home.  They also each got a treasure chest and were able to make pirate hats to wear throughout the day.  Today Kinlee got to take snack and also cupcakes for her birthday.  She got to sit in the special birthday seat and the class sang to her.  I had lunch with her and she was still a little anxious, but was happy for lunch.  I think once she gets adjusted she will love going to school, I'm a little surprised it's been so hard for her, she had preschool there and was always up there with me doing PTA and attendance stuff, I guess the adjustment of all day school has just been a little overwhelming. 

Kinlee & Mrs. Penry

Football

This weekend Connor had his first tackle football game, he is on the Eagles team and they played the Dolphins. It was a good learning experience, the other team dominated the field, but our team learned about working together, playing defense and not giving up. Although we lost, Connor had a great time and can't wait to play again next week.

We also started cleaning out grandma Archie's house. It was hard and there was so much to go through, but there was lots of family there so we were able to reminisce and hear a lot of different memories we've all had with grandma. Each of the kids were able to pick something to remind them of grandma. Connor picked some rocks she got from her trip to Jerusalem, one was from where David slated Goliath and the other was from the Red Sea, and he got 2 Utah Jazz pendants. Kadee picked a hanky, a white board, and a brooch, Kinlee was out of control, lol. She picked grandmas came, a porcelain doll, a necklace, a hanky, a stuffed animal and would have taken more if I would have let her. The only thing Matthew took was an old wind up dog you that used to be Derk's. It's so hard to realize she's really gone, but her spirit was strong and I can't wait for the day when I see her again. 

First Day of School!

Summer went out with a bang!  Friday I took the kids to the Castle Day pool.  We met Nana and their cousins and had pizza and played for hours.  Saturday we went up north to the mall, Sam's Club, a quick visit with grandma and grandpa Curtis and ended with the Bee's game.  The younger kids loved riding the train and rolling down the grassy hills and Connor loved watching the game.  It was super hero night so we all got capes to wear for the game.  Sunday we listened to Lance speak in church, he did a really good job!  Then that afternoon we went to grandma Rhea's for dinner, lots of family was there and the kids had a blast playing with cousins.

Yesterday Connor started his first day of 5th grade (and last first day of elementary school) and Kadee started her first day of 4th grade.  Kinlee had Kindergarten testing and we will find out at the end of this week who her teacher is.  They both loved their first day, but Kadee is very nervous for math, she said her math teacher kept giving her the stink eye.  They are rotating to different teachers this year and they both signed up for Musical Theater and Musical Majors so they are going to be doing lots of singing this year on top of all their other extra activities.  Connor was super excited to do the announcements, because he is Student Council President he will get to do them a lot and was pumped to be the one to do them on the first day of school.  I'm super excited for this school year but also very sad, the days are long but the years are short, it all seems to be flying by.  I hope I am raising them well and I hope they stay close to me when they are adults.  Kinlee can't wait to start Kindergarten and asks me every day if she has school yet.  Wow, it's crazy that 2 days a week all the kids will be in school (Matthew only goes Tuesday's and Thursday's).  Wish my babies would stop growing so fast!

First day of school!

Not her first day but she had to have a picture

Student Council President doing the morning announcements

Glenwood Springs Fun!

We had an AMAZING weekend in Glenwood Springs, CO.  Derk and Debbie paid for us to stay in a huge cabin that had a pool table, water slide, tee pee, hot tub, pond, deer, and much more.  They also took all of us (Derek, Nicole, Kyle, Candee, Rory, and I and all the kids) to the Glenwood Amusement Park and the swimming complex.  We all had so much fun!  Friday we hung out at the cabin, the kids played on the water slide, and we all just relaxed.  Saturday we went to the amusement park, it was way fun, they had an Alpine Slide, Zip line, 4d Theater, Cave Tour, and a roller coaster, just to name a few things.  We spent the day riding all the rides, eating, touring caves, and visiting.  We rode the tram up, but by the time we were leaving there was lightning so we had to ride a bus down, on the bus we sang Happy Birthday to Kinlee as loud as we could, she loved it and couldn't stop smiling, that night we celebrated her birthday, she opened her presents and ate cake, then the adults played a game, Rate your Mate.  It was so funny, we all laughed so much and Rory and I ended up winning, yay!

The next day we headed to the hot springs, there are a couple of water slides, a diving board, a cooler pool and the hot pool.  We rode the water slides about a million times, swam, sat in the hot pool and Rory raced Derk and Derek in the lap swim part and won so they had to buy him an ice cream.  After swimming we headed back to the cabin and made teriyaki chicken while the kids played pool.  The weekend flew by, and before we knew it, it was time to head home. 

It was a great weekend and lots of amazing memories were made, I'm so glad we got to end the summer with a relaxing weekend away!

Inside one of the caves

Enjoying her birthday cake

All the cousins

Logan, Kin, Kadee, & Con

Kinlee wanted to take a selfie for her birthday!

Carriage rides and cake

Yesterday we celebrated Kinlee's 5th birthday.  We will be in Glenwood Springs for her actual birthday, so we decided it would be easiest to do her party a few days early.  She was ecstatic and woke up in the morning ready to go.  She had her cousins (who are also identical twins) Calista and Alyssa, her cousin Jocelyn, Kamberlee, and Lexie help her celebrate.  She really wanted her very best friend Kaydree there, but unfortunately Kaydree was home sick.  Once all her friends arrived we had a tea party with Koolaid, danimals, sandwiches shaped like stars, strawberries, strawberry salad, and chips.  The girls were all so cute and so polite.  After the tea party Kinlee opened her presents and then we headed to Sam and Sandra Brown's for the horse carriage ride.  The kids got to pet the horse then everyone got to hope on the carriage and go for a ride.  They had a blast, but Kinlee thought it was hilarious that the horse was gassy, she whispered in my ear that the horse had the toots the whole time!  After the horse ride Sam and Sandra presented all the girls with princess wands, crowns, ring pops, bracelets, and bubbles.  After the carriage ride we went back to the house and sang Happy Birthday and had delicious cake.  Kinlee was worn out by the end of the night but said it was the best birthday ever, she said she wants to do the same exact thing next year, silly girl.