Fall Break

We had a fall break from school a few weeks ago and decided to take the kids on a little overnight outing. We went to Goblin Valley and Wild Horse Canyon and then spent the next day with my aunt and uncle on their ranch--with a picnic on the river. Surprise, surprise--the camera only lasted for part of the first day, so we have no pictures of the ranch, but Jenna LOVED it--pigs, horses, cows, cats, dogs, etc. One of the horses followed her around with his nose in her hair. When she finally noticed, she just sat an nuzzled him. Kristen was in heaven with the cats--we almost ended up bringing a few home "accidentally." All the kids loved the dogs, which seemed to love them too. Too bad my kids don't have a farm or a ranch....

Back to Goblin Valley and the canyon--Jarren was in heaven there, running, jumping, climbing, etc all over the place. He sure slept well that night, even dreaming that we got to do the day all over again. Fun times, fun memories.Jarren had soooooooooo much fun!! This is one place he definitely wants to visit again.This spread out as far as the eye could see--almost. It would be easy to get lost in the mazes of these formations.The formations were really cool!A little goblin cave complete with two little goblins. :)The girls had fun too, even though it got pretty hot. It was only upper 70s, but with no shade, it felt hot. The boys went ahead and took all the water with them, so we were quite thirsty by the time we caught up.Jon resting in Goblin ValleyJenna got a little tired of walking.
Kendall in Wild Horse Canyon
Wild Horse Canyon has a lot of slots and tight places. Also a lot of mud. :) I would NOT want to be caught here in a rainstorm.

Jenna's First Day of Preschool

Jenna FINALLY got to start school!! I've sent all of my kids to the high school preschool and Jenna is no different. I love it there--the students are so excited and creative and it's almost one on one each week. The only drawbacks are the rotating schedule--our high school is on A/B day and they want the kids to be with the same "teachers" so they stick them on either A or B, which means that one week we go Monday/Wednesday and the next week Tuesday/Thursday--unless there's a holiday or something and then it throws it off. The other drawback is they didn't start until the first week of October. But....Jenna loves it. You can tell by the pictures that she was excited--she got really silly.

Back to the 80s

Kristen and Jarren's elementary school had 80s day last Friday. Jarren couldn't have cared less, but Kristen really wanted to dress up like an 80s person. I remember in '88-'89, I wore peace signs and florescent clothes, so that's what we went with--and they're back in style!

For her hair, since I don't have a crimper any more, we braided it in little braids and had her sleep on it. Then I pulled the side up and poofed it. Oh, and we left one little braid in at the base of her neck. I also put a little curl in the end of her long bangs and tried to rat them out so they were big. She loved it!!But...the highlight (or lowlight) was when she asked me, "Mom, what did you DO in the 80s?" I laughed and said we did the same things kids do now. And then my face fell---I am older than I realized, I guess. We didn't have cell phones, Internet, hand-held video games, ipods, etc. Hmmm....what DID we do way back then?? :)

What Did I Do????

Jenna has long, curly hair and has only had it trimmed once--just to even it all up. Kendall and Kristen had a haircut today and Jenna got it in her mind that she wanted one too. When I asked how short she wanted it, she would show me up to her ears. Whoa! When her curls are straight, her hair's down to her waist. That's a little too short for me.This is with her curls straightened out.

But then I thought, "Why not cut it all off? It will be healthy and will grow back." I can hardly get a comb through it, it gets soooo tangled. So....this is what we did. The hairdresser thought her curls might be gone, but it looks like she still has them--a little.It's soooo short!!!! But thick and healthy!She LOVES it!!!!

This is how it looks dried. Phew! There's still a little curl.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

As my friends who belong to my church know, things are always changing. I was released from my calling in the Young Women last week and am officially calling-less now. Time to enjoy a break! :)

New Pet in Town

Kristen decided that she's done with Barbies, so she sold them all and used some of the money to buy herself a new pet. Meet Maizy--the cute little hamster. She loves to run on her wheel all night (it drives Kendall crazy!), eat her treat bar, and stuff newspaper in her little hut. Kristen's had a lot of fun with her.

First Day of School

Well...better late than never, right?? We are in the process of fixing some mistakes that a previous homeowner made on the house and the basement is in a mess. Two of the bedrooms were finished when we moved in, but neither is insulated and they just cut a hole in the heat duct and stuck a vent cover on there. So...we had to have the ceilings ripped out and have to get all that fixed. In moving everything out of Kendall's room and the office, the camera went missing for awhile and everything's just in chaos.

Kendall started Jr. High on August 25. They had the 7th graders go a day earlier than the 8th and 9th graders, which was probably a good thing. He LOVES school, which I think basically translates into the fact that he loves the social life.Kristen and Jarren started on August 26--their first year on a traditional schedule.

Kristen is in 5th grade and has a pretty good teacher. She was worried, because this teacher has the reputation of being mean, but she's firm and fair, so that's fine. They have a lot of class pets--a bunny, hermit crabs, and frogs--which is fine by Kristen.Jarren's in 2nd grade and has the same teacher that Kendall and Kristen had. She is very willing to work with him and is very good for him. But...he still says he hates school.