School Days!

Where on earth did the summer go! This summer FLEW by and was so busy and we had so much fun, but all good things must come to an end. Today was McKenzie's first day of school. She was so excited! Her teacher is one of our old neighbors when we lived in West Bountiful, and she is still good friends with their daughter, so she is very excited to already know her teacher, and we are excited because we have heard so many WONDERFUL things about him as a teacher! Here's to a fabulous year in 2nd grade!!
She really wanted a picture with "Kit". The only thing she wanted for her birthday was Kit, the American Girl Doll, and they have been inseparable ever since she opened it!

Happy Birthday to my sweet McKenzie

Happy 7th Birthday to my sweet girl!

Ecuador Reunion

10 years ago (from June til October) I was doing one of the best things I have ever done in my whole entire life! I was down in Cuenca Ecuador, doing volunteer work in orphanages! That experience has changed my life in so many ways and there is not a day that goes by that I don't think about those precious children whom we grew to love more than ourselves! Not only were we able to serve some amazing children, but we also became very close to the other volunteers. We served with each other, cried with each other over the kids, experienced 9/11 in a foreign country together, not knowing what was truly going on, laughed together, traveled together, shared rooms together, and experienced a whole new part of life together! This morning we were able to get 6 of us together for a little reunion of our own! It was great to see everyone again!

L to R: Heather, Loni, ShaeMarie, Lani, me, Brooke

Happy late birthday to.....ME!

Last week, I turned the big 30! It was a great and fun filled week of celebrations! My actual birthday (Friday) was wonderful. My mom took the kids that morning to let me do whatever I wanted, without kids! So, I dropped the kids at my moms, and came home and actually got a good workout in without having to stop at what seems like every 10 minutes for something. I know, it sounds pathetic, but it was what I wanted! I went and picked up the kids around lunch time, put the younger 2 down for naps and got ready for a fun filled weekend! Some of our good friends invited us up to their family's cabin up by Strawberry Reservoir! Nothing like spending time with great friends, playing games, and laughing so hard you're crying and feeling like you're going to double over! Sunday night was dinner with my family, then I got to go have a girls night of shopping and dinner at the Gateway with one of my really good friends this past week! It was a fabulous birthday and I am so blessed with so many wonderful people in my life! One of the gifts my wonderful Mother-in-law gave me was a book titled "The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt", and it is going to be my next project! It might take me a while to finish, but I am so excited to start it! It is a patchwork quilt, with 111 quilt blocks, but every single block is a different pattern! So the book just goes through each individual block in detail and with the stories that inspired the quilt block! I can't wait!