Kindergartner

My little Evan started kindergarten today. Where did the time go??



He was SOOOOO excited.



He's been counting down all summer. Probably the highlight of the summer for him was the purchase of this gigantic backpack (the smallest we could find that would still fit a folder).



We dropped him off for his big day and he could hardly wait. I had to call him back to get a hug and kiss. Everyone talks about crying when they take thier kids to school for the first time and I always thought it was silly, but I'll admit it. I got a little choked up. Just a little.

It was fun to have a chance for some one-on-one time with Asher, though. I taught him how to write the letter "A" and then we went and played at the park.

He's not quite sure what to do with himself without his big brother around.



Before I know it, I'll be dropping Asher off at school.

Cousins!

As I mentioned, we get to have cousins Roman and Lola over every Wednesday morning. All week, my boys count down the days until Roman will come play again. They love it. I love it, too, because they all play so well together. Every week, they each pick a toy that's similar and they follow each other around in a line, making the appropriate noises. They've done cars, trains and dinosaurs.

Today was spaceships.


They insisted on running (spaceships are supposed to be FAST, of course!), so I sent them outside to play spaceships.





Lola was content to just chill in the stroller and watch. She had some snacks to keep her company.



It's been so fun to have a Lola-sized person around the house again. She tries to keep up with the boys wherever they go.

This is how she asks to be picked up. So cute.


(Please ignore the laundry in the background. Hey, at least it's clean and folded!)

We've sure loved being close to cousins again!

Lashes

This little boy has the LONGEST. LASHES. EVER.
He's going to be making girls jealous his whole life.

Boating!

We've been fortunate enough to go boating TWICE in the last few weeks, thanks to our good friends, Brandon and Jess. We met them up here at Newton a few weeks ago to enjoy the last of the water there.

I didn't bother with my camera for most of our time at Newton, but when we decided to let Evan try the water skis, I just had to bring it along. Evan kept demanding a turn, so we finally gave in.

Ben helped him get the skis on...




...and held him steady until it was time to go.



I love the look of total concentration on both of them in this one.



This was the only picture I got of him trying to get up:



He tried three times. The first time, he didn't let go and he got drug behind the boat for several feet. By his third try, I think he might have actually gotten up if he wasn't so tired already.

He wasn't the only one who couldn't get up. I'm sad to say that I tried four times and never got up on a ski! I must be getting old. The most tries it's ever taken me to get up on a ski is three and that was my first time ever. Maybe next year.

After everyone had had their fill of skiing (or trying to ski, whichever the case may be), we put down the anchor and did a bit if swimming.





The boys had fun jumping off the back of the boat.



Evan always had "diving hands", but he always jumped in feet first. :)



Asher is not nearly adventurous as Evan and, although he finally warmed up to the boat after a while, he was perfectly content to just sit on the beach and play in the water.






Then, last weekend, we headed out to play at Willard Bay. We got there early in the morning so I could take some pictures for Brandon and Jess, and then it was out on the water for some fun!

I was hoping to try the skis again, but it was WAAAAYYYY too choppy. There was no point. Instead, we let everyone have a turn on the tube.

Asher "helping" Brandon blow up the tube:





Evan and Josh went first and they loved it so much that they cried when it was time to let someone else have a turn.



Asher was brave enough to try the tube with Daddy and I think he enjoyed it, too.



Even I got out on the tube, believe it or not. Ben and I went together and had quite the wild ride. I was lucky to still have my contacts when we were done. Then it was Ben and Brandon's turn. I kept trying to get a picture of them catching some air (which they did several times), but I didn't manage it. I love this picture of them, though:



After everyone had a turn on the tube, we found some water that wasn't quite as choppy so Ben went for a ski.



We also spent some time just relaxing on the beach while the kids played in the water.



Can you see me?


What a fun way to spend the day! Sun, water, good friends... perfect!

Summer Fun

I'm WAAAAAYYYYYY behind in my blogging, so I decided to lump most of the summer into one post. Sorry.

*CAMPING*

For the 4th of July (told you I was way behind), we went camping up Hobble Creek Canyon with friends. It was a great little getaway and the kids sure had fun running around together. And when I say running, I mean that literally. They ran up and down this hill over and over and over and over and over....







Emma and Evan were two little peas in a pod the whole time. What a pair. They were born only a few weeks apart (and due only two days apart).



*POPSICLES*

The favorite summer treat. :)



*WATER FUN*

They put in a new "splash pad" in one of the parks near by, so last Friday, we went to check it out. We'd all had a long week of working hard and wanted to go do something fun. The kids sure had a blast!







Evan looks like he's screaming in this one, but he's actually trying to eat the water as he runs. The huge strand of drool hanging off his lip is priceless. :)






*COUSINS*

I've been watching Madi's kids on Wednesday mornings and it's been a lot of fun to have them around. Miss Lola was being so cute the other day, so I snapped a couple pictures of her.





I need to get some pictures of the boys because they play SO well together. It's adorable.

*WORK*

Mostly we've spent the summer working hard to grow the business. We've done lots of events and other marketing and it seems to be paying off. The boys still come to the office with us and are so good (most of the time). I will be starting a new job at Western Wats this week as well. It's just a few hours a week and shouldn't be too bad.

Besides all this, we've also gone boating a bit, but I'll save all that for another post. It's been a fun summer, but I can't believe it's almost over. Evan will be starting kindergarten in two short weeks! Yikes!