Summer's End

Today was the big day. Not the first day of school . . . but the day of the school open house!

Abby has been nervous about her teacher ALL month. She had heard through the grapevine that her teacher was the meanest 4th grade teacher! After meeting her though, Abby thought she seemed great! I did too.

Halle was so excited to meet her teacher. We had already heard really good things about her teacher . . . and so meeting her just validated what we had heard.

So . . . onto our traditional "night before school starts" routine! Dinner ( one that they like to eat . . . you'd be surprised at how many nights I seem to make the "grossest" things, ha ha), blessings, bike checks (they ride their bikes to school) and then onto the first day of school FASHION SHOW! Complete with treats of course!

Married 10 Years

Ben and I have now been married for 10 years!

We celebrated by leaving the kids for a night and heading out to Manti, Utah. We stayed at this cute bed and breakfast recommended by my sister. We REALLY liked it!

We ate at their little restaurant and went to the Manti Temple too. We had never been there before . . . it is so pretty and has some amazing history.

I actually didn't think we would really be able to celebrate much this year since Ben is so busy. But, he surprised me and had planned it all! Thanks Ben! I love you!

So You're Saying There's a Chance!

I love that part in Dumb and Dumber . . . where Lloyd believes that there might be a possible chance to date his dream girl. But the reason that it's funny is because there is NO WAY he would ever be able to date her . . . even though she told him there was a "one in a million" type chance.

Ben and I recently made an offer on a house that we have eyed on and off for months . . . in an area that I have missed living in! This may be a "one in a million" type chance that we actually get the house since it is being sold as a short sale . . . and has multiple offers on it. We got wind that the offer currently being worked on is not as solid as it was when the process started . . . so we threw in an offer and are hoping for a miracle! That's okay, right? We would appreciate any prayers!

2 Dollar Tuesday

During August, Thanksgiving Point has their $2 Dollar Tuesday . . . where you can get into any venue for $2! We went with my parents to the Museum of Ancient History . . . or the dinosaur museum as we call it.

This was Halle's favorite exhibit!

The girls could have spent all afternoon with this water and sand play.

So much fun . . . REALLY crowded because of the price . . . but really fun. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Wyoming 2010

The last week of July we spent at the ranch in Wyoming with Ben's family. It was relaxing . . . well . . . as relaxing as a vacation with 31-32 people can be! Very fun! Check out my sweet boots that I found at a 2nd hand store for $12!

Gwen is actually an excellent harmonica player.

Halle rode horses with papa as much as possible.

Austin needed at least one turn.

This was our last trip for the summer. Ben started residency week the day after we got back. I will be holding my breath until Thanksgiving! Just one more year!

The Carousel

The girls did not want to leave Washington before heading to Jantzen Beach so they could ride the carousel! This really was such a fun trip!

Leveled

After visiting OMSI for the day with the kids, I took Ben for a drive. Whenever I go home, I often make my family go on the "Shelley Show" drive. You know . . . we visit my schools and the other houses my family lived in and such. Definitely the highlight of the trip for them, I am sure!

I don't think ANY buildings from my past have been torn down yet (until now). But, I'm not counting college buildings. BYU and formerly Ricks College do updates to their building and campus all the time . . . so I realized once I started going to BYU that I would probably not see some of those buildings one day.

SO . . . THIS is different. My first elementary school, Orchards Elementary, was torn down a few years ago I guess. It was replaced with a big, pretty, new building in a slightly different location.

The foundation is still there though (along with some of the bathroom tiled floors), so I was able to pick out where I believed different things to be. I went to this school from Kindergarten through most of 3rd grade.

I had weird dreams the night after looking walking around this place. It was a little traumatizing!