Back to School

Aug. 22, 2016

Dear Sister Kristina,

 The girls have just gotten off to their first day of school. The house is fairly quiet except for Roxy and Eddy’s little footsteps, dad showering, Addie letting out little cries waking up and then going back to sleep. It’s all good. It’s so fun having Kirk and Sarah here and I’m going to be sad to see them leave later today.

We’ve had a fun weekend with everyone here. Kirk and Sarah showed up on Thursday night and we’ve been busy ever since. On Saturday we all packed a lunch and went to Eagle Island where we pretended we were at the beach. haha We set up a cabana for shade and even rented a paddle board. They’ve fixed up Eagle Island and it’s pretty nice now. There’s a zipline, a little store to buy things and rent things, a water slide, the beach and lake, horseshoe pit, bbq pits, lots of grassy areas and picnic areas. We had a fun time and Addie just loves the water. Sarah even let Haylee put her toes in the water and sand. Here are the pics:

Both girls tried to take Kirk down, but he managed to escape each time. It was quite the scene. haha

Haylee just happy to be going anywhere. She’s so cute and is smiling all the time now when you talk to her. When you talk with her she giggles and coos and even mimics your mouth movements. Such a sweety!

Addie loves being outside and loves the tramp. I took her into the garden with me to help pick and she loves the little sweet orange tomatoes so we stood in the garden and had a treat.

She also helped me pick flowers so we could bring them in the house and put them into vases. We picked black eyed susans and she calls them “susans”

Also on Saturday after we came home from the lake and rested, we took off again and went to the Western Idaho State Fair. We were probably crazy going on a Saturday night, but it was fun being there. We met up with Uncle Bill and Nancy at their booth. They were dropping something off and of course Bill had to stay there for a while so he could make sure things were running smoothly. I hadn’t seen them for a while so it was great talking with them for a while. Bill’s had some health problems lately, so it was good to see him busy as ever. He reminds me so much of my dad who just keeps going into work because he loves it. 

Friday night Sarah took Kirk out for his birthday, so us girls all stayed home and played with Addie and Haylee. Sarah took Kirk to the Village where they walked around, shopped and had dinner at the Kona Grill. During the day everyone went to the park.

Church isn’t until one, so we had some time in the morning to play.

Yesterday was Kirk’s birthday so he requested taco ring. We actually ended up having to make taco rectangle, but it looked cool too. haha

 He also wanted an ice cream cake so we had that later on in the evening. On top of the cake we had one of those twirling singing light up candles. It’s almost like having a firework in your house. Nikki and Leah set it in the middle of the cake, then added candles all around the outside of the cake. Well, when they lit the it all, the twirling candle was so hot that it melted all the candles on the outside. It was quite the flame while we were singing to him.

Kirk also got his birthday card from you!!

We also managed to take some quick family pics before church. 

I have a new phone and we were testing out a new feature and didn’t notice until later that everything was backwards. :) At church we had fun helping with Addie and Haylee. Addie went into nursery and loves being in there. We hardly have any kids in our nursery, so she pretty much had the whole place to herself. I got sustained yesterday as Laurel advisor, so I had my first day in Young Women’s. Sarah went in with me too since she serves in her ward. She couldn’t believe how big our YW’s was. I had to do a little spotlight and tell some things about myself, then we went into the Laurels class where they have around 17 Laurels. Michele Tiegs is the president, but she was out of town, so Danielle Bingham taught the lesson. Danielle is now the Stake YW president so it was fun to have her teach. Leah was very happy to hear that I was called to be in YW, so that was good. I wasn’t sure how she’d react. I know most of the Laurels too so that will be helpful, but I felt like a fish out of water in there. It’s been a long time since I served in YW and when I walked by the Relief Society room, it felt weird not even going in there. I know I’ll get used to it, but right now, it’s odd. Now I go every Tuesday night with the girls too. The Laurels are having a swim party at the Langford’s, so that will be fun. I may have to pick your brain for some good ideas for lessons and activities, maybe some things that stood out in your mind.

There were 2 receptions over the weekend, but I had to miss both of them, the Peery’s and the Lamb’s. Dallin Larsen married Susan Lamb’s(my old RS counselor) daughter and Aaron Peery got married. 

How has Santa Rosa been treating you? Sis. Ray finally sent me some pics and tells me how much her sister loves you. I hope you’ve had some luck in finding new investigators. How’s your companion?  Tell her hi from the Thompson’s in Eagle! Are you still an STL? I hope you always feel our love and prayers for you and that you have a great week full of tender mercies and kind smiles. Kirk and Sarah and the girls send their love!

Love you soooooooo much,

Mom xxoo