First Day of School! (I might have done a happy dance)

The kids started school on August 28.  Hunter started 5th Grade (Mrs. Sarty), Gwedalin started 3nd Grade (Mrs. Cowen), and Tyler started Kindergarten (Ms. G).  I got some pictures of them at the bus stop together and then with our friends (Carson and Caitlyn) from down the street.....Dallin was so upset that he couldn't get on the bus with them, but we went shopping and got fruit roll ups and it worked out just fine. 

Tyler goes to AM Kindergarten and all of his friends from Star, and from preschool go to PM kindergarten so when I picked him up after school I asked him if he made any friends and he said:

"Yeah, there was this boy who had the same shoes as me, and he said 'hey we have the same shoes, wanna be friends?' and I said yeah."  I asked him what his name is but he didn't know.  I love LOVE the innocence of kids! 

I followed the bus to school and they all did great!  I can't believe three are in school!  And Dallin is in preschool 3 mornings a week....it's going by sooooooooo fast!  I have no brake pedal!

Uh? I think it's broke....

Our ward took on a huge service project for a less active member of our ward and her family.  Travis was the head hancho in charge of it (there were a few others, but he led the way and made it happen) .  He knew going into it, after he had accepted the role from the Bishop that he was going to be hurt somehow in the process, but he went forward anyway.  It started on August 1 and on August 13, he was carrying  a railroad tie and stepped off the concrete and got his footing wrong and rolled his ankle. These pictures were taken a week after it happened, and even today it still looks horrific - but we had it looked at (there were 2 physicians on site when it happened) and we've had it xrayed and show a slight fracture in the bone.  He was able to borrow a boot from Shawn Boer and also a nifty machine that holds ice and water and wraps around your ankle and applies the cold along with pressure the he has done daily for the first week about every 2-3 hours to keep the swelling down.  That along with 800mg of ibuprofen has kept the pain manageable.  His theory is that he was doing what he knew he needed to do and since this happened he will get it as good and healthy as he can before his AZ Elk hunt in September and Heavenly Father will bless him with a bigger bull since he was so dilligent. :)  He'll probably be in the boot for the next several weeks!  He's had such a great attitude about it!

 

Portland Zoo with a cart! Woot!

We love love zoos!  So we took the opportunity to go to the zoo in Portland and ended up buying an annual pass (This helps us at a lot of zoos) it was cheaper than the rate for each person.  We rented a little speedy cart for Travis to drive around so he could stay off his foot. The kids got to pet goats (eeww), see all kinds of animals - Dallin was espeically thrilled when he saw the cow....seriously, the cow, rode a school bus shuttle from the parking lot to the zoo....Hunter was wiped b/c he had already played on Saturday and he was tired.  We love a good zoo, always have!  Travis and I used to walk to the Boise zoo all the time, just because it was close and we loved it!  Gwendalin's shoes started hurting her feet, so she ended up bare foot and nasty feet resulted, but her shoes didin't hurt anymore.  The kids took turns riding on Travis' lap.  The weather was brilliant!  Good times were had by all!

 

Hotel Life....ahhhh

We stayed in probably the worst functioning hotel we've been at for a long time.   BUT it was clean.  We spent lots of time getting ice for Travis' "icing machine" for his foot.  We got creative with our small space in order to maintina some sanity - we put a movie on in the bathroom on the computer....we swam (the team of boys loved to group up in the pool).  Our TV worked part of the time, but by the time we left I had gotten pretty darn good at troubleshooting the stupid thing.  Travis and I were deperate to get tired kids to sleep at night - I captured Travis with Dallin both eyes shut...but Dallie boy crashed finally when dad made the room go silent. :)  Opening the door with the key was a highlight, as was pushing the buttons on the elevator!

Portland Mt Hood Soccer Tournament

We drove to Portland for Hunter's soccer tournament.  He was able to play in one game on Friday and one game on Saturday. His team had 2 games on Sunday, but Hunter chose not to play.  They took first place of their group!  The team was thrilled.  On Friday it was sooooooooooooooo hot that we had our "sport umbrella" set up and the kids played under it and drank water trying to stay cool.  It was blazing! 

 

Portland Temple Visit

While we were in Portland, Or for a soccer tournament, we stumbled onto the temple and stopped into the visitor's center for a few minutes.  The kids loved it.  Hunter really wanted to touch the temple, so he got to do that as well.  We had just finished our dinner and spotted the temple through the trees, so we drove around until we found it, and it was beautiful!  What a treat!

Backyard Water, and Eagle Island

My little boys love the water....they made my backyard a water mess
 this summer, but they had the best time doing it.....and the bathtub was sandy and full of laughs at night.  We also spend a lot of time this summer @ Eagle Island...a state park with sand and lake water....the kids loved it....I tried to get tan.