9th Grade

Kendall started 9th grade this year. This is totally crazy for me because when I was in 9th grade, I was in high school (he is not), and it seems like that happened last month! He seems so grown up and was the most excited to get back to school to see his friends.

Bad Luck for Mouths

I'm finally back to blogging!! We got a new computer a little while ago and it doesn't have an photo programs, so that makes it really hard to do pictures. Add that to the fact that I couldn't find the camera.... I took these pictures with my iPod, so they're not the best quality in the world, but you get the idea.

The week before school started was a bad luck week for mouths. Jenna had two little cavities that needed to be filled (her first), so I took her in and they numbed her up. We waited to eat lunch for about 2 hours, but she still somehow managed to bite her lip. I had (and still have) no idea if this was the result of little bites or a reaction to the filling or what (the doctor said it's not uncommon), but by that night, her bottom lip looked like this:

Big fat lip. Ouch!

The next morning, it looked like this.

a mouthful of blisters and sores

Two days after the filling, Kendall got his wisdom teeth out and a chain put on his tooth. He had two teeth that never fell out, so he had them pulled last summer. One of the permanent teeth finally came in, but the other one never did. The orthodontist sent us to an oral surgeon and he recommended that we have the wisdom teeth out at the same time, since they had to put him under to do the chain. They had to dig in and find the missing tooth, attach a chain to it and the braces and then each time he goes to the orthodontist, that chain will be tightened to bring the tooth down and in. Back to the wisdom teeth. He said they were just starting to grow roots and if we had it done now, it wouldn't get as swollen and wouldn't be as painful. It would be worse if we even waited a year, not to mention the fact that it looked like they were angled and could potentially mess up his braces. So...we did it. He did really well!! Days 3 and 4 were the worst for swelling, but he did fine to go back to school on day 5. He also felt well enough to hang out with friends the same night he had it done! Eating was painful for about a week, but he made it through.

As swollen as he got. Not too bad...

Too Much TV

I'd like to think we're a family who doesn't watch too much tv--at least anything with commercials in it. It might be dvd's or Netflix or something, but not regular tv. With the Olympics on, we've had the tv on all the time! I used to just turn them on during primetime, but the kids, especially Kristen, have enjoyed watching here and there all day long. We've watched water polo, which we've never seen before. We've watched rhythmic gymnastics. Kayaking, rowing, equestrian, sycronized swimming, and wrestling have all been viewed too, along with the more popular favorites--gymnastics, diving, swimming, running, etc. Well, thankfully they're over tonight, because I can tell we've watched too much tv when Jenna shouts out (as we're running errands), "Mom! Look!! It's a Chevy runs deep car!"
 "A what?!" I exclaim.
"You know, like on the Olympics commercial--Chevy runs deep." and she proceeded to point out every Chevy (or Chevy runs deep, as she insists on calling them) that we saw that morning and was so excited to see something that was advertised. Yikes.

Fire!!

Billowing smoke seen from above our neighbor's house.

We've had a crazy year for wild fires. There's a place about 10 miles from here where there's a National Guard base. In the last 2-3 years, there have been a few fires started around there--from training, target practice, and lightning. This latest fire there started Sunday from lightning. It apparently hasn't been too bad, but this afternoon, it flared up. I have no idea why--there's nothing in the news about it!! The smoke got so thick and billowing that everything started looking yellowish orange and then it blocked out the sun, just like thick clouds. After about 3 hours, ash started coming down. It's crazy!! I hope they can get it out soon, since more thunderstorms are in the forecast this weekend.

A friend's view of the smoke

Ash on the trampoline

Fun Times Hiking

We must have been tired, but had a ton of fun making faces and poses for the camera on the way down from the hike. :)

Weekend Getaway---Hike

Walking along the trail to Ruth Lake

Jenna, playing in the lake

Jenna's fashion

Jenna and Jarren--apparently the hike made Jarren a little sleepy

Jenna and Kristen at the lake

Kendall

Kristen and her cousin

 

 

 

Jarren

Last weekend, we had a little getaway at our neighbor's cabin with two of Jon's brothers and their families. It was a lot of fun!! We relaxed; watched the Olympics; the kids played and swam; we hiked to a pretty lake, etc. These pictures are all of the hike and the lake. Just a side note--Jenna wanted to pack her own things, so I told her what to pack. I should have double checked, but I didn't, so...here's what she ended up with. Her new school shirt and and an old pair of flowery shorts--that SOOOO didn't match. I told her to pack some socks, so she packed her slipper socks that have dogs on them--shoes won't even fit over them, so she had to borrow a pair of Jarren's. She also packed one of her dresses for church, but forgot a shirt to go under it. Yeah, it was interesting. :) We really did have a good time.

When You're Bored...

When you're bored and it's too hot outside to go bury someone in the sand, try burying them in stuffed animals (or Webkinz). They had so much fun doing this!!!