Labor Day Weekend

The kids and I were able to spend Labor Day weekend with my parents.  (Darrell had to go to an out-of-town BYU football game for work.)

The kids had so much fun being with cousins.



Samuel and Tyler



Carolyn, Emily and Alex



We went to the county fair and had a grand time.



Laura, Daniel and Nathaniel showed goats at the fair.



The kids were able to go on lots of rides. 





Kyle and Megan






Tyler



Emily and Megan



Emily



Megan



Tyler and Emily



One of the funnest parts of the weekend was this "highly anticipated" basketball game between Duke and BYU.  Kyle was BYU and Tyler was Duke.  We were given these beforehand.





The audience



The cheerleaders (Emily and Megan)



Laura was a scorekeeper and Daniel was the "play by play" radio announcer (on a walkie talkie)



Aubrey was the other scorekeeper



And the players--Tyler and Kyle (It got a little rough at times)





There were even sponsors:

Mountain Plains Research (my dad's business)



Mom's Daycare



And

Our half-time entertainment

Megan and Olivia



Emily and Aubrey



And Nathaniel (who also liked to distract one player to give the advantage to the other)





We laughed and laughed so hard throughout the whole thing.  It was a lot of fun.  In the end Duke and BYU tied.  We headed upstairs for ice cream floats and popcorn.



I have to give a big shout out to my helpers.  They cut out lots of math centers for me while watching the BYU football game.


We ended the weekend with the annual Labor Day parade and lots of candy.



It was so good to be together for a short weekend.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

We're 5 days late, but we wanted to remember Darrell's dad's birthday.  Hopefully it was a good day in heaven with his mom (Grandma Nellie) who passed away last week at the age of 97!

We love you Grandpa!

Before and After

We have been living with a purple accent wall for over 6 years.  The other color was a light tan (with a subtle pink hue to it.)  We've been wanting to get the walls painted for a long time now, and we were finally able to have them done.

Before





During

We had a paint company come in and do it all.  They painted the ceilings as well and it was a big old dusty mess.  Thank goodness the kids were with my parents and I was at back-to-school meetings while all of this was happening.

 

 







I had to use the laundromat one day since our washer and dryer were out of commission.  At least 3 loads of laundry at once goes pretty fast!



After

The house looks so much lighter and "airier" now.  We love the light brown walls with white baseboards.

 I'm only posting pictures of the front room because it was the most dramatic change, but we also had the dining room, kitchen, family room, downstairs bathroom and upstairs hallway painted. Besides the  new paint job, we also had the carpets cleaned, the couches cleaned and the blinds cleaned.  We don't have everything back up on the walls, but we're loving our "new" house.

 

August

We were able to get in a little fun before school started.  We met up with my friend and her son at a park for a picnic and some playing.

Megan




Tyler





Emily



Megan and Emily



We went camping (see separate post) and had a great time.  Megan drew this cute little picture.  The girl is saying, "I love camping."



We got together with "old friends."  These are friends Darrell met in a singles ward over 20 years ago.  They've been nice enough to befriend me also, and we always enjoy getting together with them.



My parents were nice enough to let the kids stay with them for a few days while I had back-to-school meetings.  They had a great time.  We met them half way and stopped at Costco. Check out these HUGE teddy bears.



As per Tyler's Pokémon Club sign, we had Pokémon Club in August. 



Here he is introducing us to his stuffed puppy (we haven't really talked much about actual Pokémon lately, but Tyler enjoys having a platform to teach us stuff.)



During Pokémon Club we also watch the next episode of "Mine Wars."  It is a mixture of Minecraft and Star Wars.  Tyler makes up the episodes in his head and then acts them out using his Legos and micromachine figures.





After Pokémon Club we headed to a nearby school to play.



Tyler



Emily



Megan

We enjoyed dollar custards at Freddy's.  (Megan and Emily)



Me, Tyler and Darrell

The first day of school!

Emily first grade with Mr. Dodge





Megan first grade with Mrs. Rogers





Tyler third grade with Mrs. Mott





And me--fifth grade



It was a good first day all around for everyone, so yay!

My mom, sister and 2 nieces came down for a brief stay.  The kids loved playing with Aubrey and Olivia at the hotel swimming pool.



We had Fathers blessings and Menchies yogurt for Family Home Evening.  (Emily, Megan and Tyler)

Tyler had "meet the coach" and soccer pictures, so the girls came along to play on the playground.

Emily



Megan and me



Not to be outdone by Pokémon Club, the kids came up with "Build a Bear Club."  Only Build-a-Bear animals are allowed. (Megan, Emily and Tyler)