Quick trip to Disneyland! Our very most favorite place to be.

Kyle got this wild hair (this actually happens quite often and is usually how we get to Disneyland) that we needed to get to Disneyland for Matty's third birthday(September 18th) since after that point it will cost a lot of money to get her through those gates.  It also happened to be Andy Hunsaker's 3rd birthday...or 33rd or  4th :) on September 16th, and they had said they wanted to go for his birthday- so the wild hair hits and all of the suddenly Kyle is a man of action!  Planning and calling and texting and off we went to celebrate our birthday babies special days in the Happiest Place on Earth!

 This is the first trip Matty will (hopefully) remember, she went as a baby, and we left her home last time(sorry sis) so this was the first time she was really excited about going to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  We got on Pirates first (of course) and we were a little nervous about her nerves but she kept saying...I not sked...I okay....I not sked, but she held on pretty tight to Kyle the whole first ride.  When it was over she said...I do dat aden!  and we did, not right den, but over the next two days we did it 4 times!...I yike pirates!  She missed out on a lot of the little kiddy stuff, but she was happy with what she did get.  She doesn't know we could have spent two more days seeing all the kids stuff there is to see.  She was also not sked of the haunted mansion, which is a good thing because Kyle and Andy were in heaven there, especially with Bradlus on the ride giving all the inside details of the Halloween decorations.

Brad got to put the hidden Mickey in the snow in the ballroom, we were/are very proud!
The boys got in all the big fierce roller coasters at least once! It is a good thing Evan is tall because he is the bravest of all the kids.  He rode on Tower of Terror with the grown-ups while I stayed with the babies.....George, Emily, and Matty!

It was busier than we wanted it to be, but when isn't it anymore.  On day 2 we went straight to Carsland which was incredible, but our fast passes to ride the Radiator Springs Racers weren't valid until 5 pm.  Carsland itself was so fantastic, really like we had stepped into the movie.

The ride was totally worth the wait- not worth waiting 100 minutes in line for- like the people who didn't have fast passes, but while we waited we visited Brad at the Aladdin theater.....

 We  did other fun rides and went back over to Disneyland and George got to play the Ragtime Piano.

We also let Matty ride some of the kiddie rides.  :) She loved the trains, she loved the horses and she loved the pirates so we were all happy!  I think I might make her a pirate for Halloween since she can't stop talking about the pirates. She and I got to play in the Wilderness Adventure Camp while the others rode the Grizzly River Run.

find the hidden Mickey (our favorite game now)

 The rope bridge was very scary for me.  It was a canopy above the whole campground and it made me very nervous! She was a pro by the end though and tried it solo...
  She loved it all, she loved seeing the Princesses in the parade too and thanks to Uncle Andy she had the best seat in the house!

My boys...growing pains and pay days.

This is part 2 of Evan's 1st grade experience... He made it back to school after his early disappearance the first day and things went better after that.  Once he realized he had 3 recesses if he stayed all day he was really happy about staying.  Last week was his very first spelling test.  His very smart teacher has them take a practice test with their parents the night before.  I was explaining to him that his teacher would say the word out loud and then, without looking at the words, he would have to write them down.  His eyes got big and he said, "that is going to be really hard!" me- "no it won't, we have been working with these words all week and you can sound them out, you will be fine."
So the first word is MAN- I say MAN and he writes it-but it looks terrible and I immediately get on him about writing neatly...me- "the teacher would mark that wrong because the n looks like an h and he says "but it is really hard to write it nicely without looking".......he had his eyes closed.
I realized that what I meant was: you can't look at the spelling list while you take the test, what he heard was: you have to take the test with your eyes closed (without looking at the words).

Oh I love that kid!        

It would be really hard to take a test that way- BTW he did get 100% on the final, and man still looked like mah, but he has a very nice teacher!

One last funny thing he just did while I was writing this.  He got out one of Kyle's lasers and was spinning it in a big circle on the ceiling.  He started galloping in place and said in his best Southern accent, "Look mom, I'm a laser cowboy!"

GEORGE

George is such a phenomena to me.  I have asked over and over again, where did he come from?  He came straight from his Heavenly Father, because neither of his earthly parents have that kind of talent.  I wonder if our talent comes from our Heavenly Mother....not that Heavenly Father isn't all-talented, but just that I imagine her to be overflowing with peace and ability to nurture and lift people's spirits..... that just came to me right this minute but back to the boys....
George had a duet piano recital on Monday night, luckily his teacher was also blessed with amazing talent and was able to play with him (some of the other kids moms or siblings played with the students, but not George's :)).  Here is the video of their song.

He says he made a whole bunch of mistakes but it was great and Bob Ruesch his teacher just thinks he is about the most talented kid he's ever taught and switched him last minute to be the "closer".

Bob is pretty sure that George has perfect pitch and is very enthusiastic about his future as a pianist.

Jillyn and Grandma Sullivan were able to come and so we went to "a place" after to eat.

You've never met two boys so different (already) but I am so proud of both of them and am so grateful they are mine.  I look forward to the fun adventures we will have together as they grow.

Hurrah for Dixie!

This weekend was a wonderful tribute and celebration of Dixie State College.

Friday morning we got to attend an amazing meeting for the dedication of the 

 Jeffrey R. Holland Centennial Commons building.  

The newest, biggest, prettiest building on campus.

Kyle received two reserved tickets to get us into the main building but then he scored another ticket so we could take Grandma Sullivan and we got her in through the back door and onto the elevator so we got seats on the ground level.  We were on row 5 and were so grateful to have grandma with us! Not just because of the awesome seats but she is like a celebrity on campus, so it is fun to be with her.
The whole meeting was just phenomenal, one of the most uplifting and spiritual meetings I have attended.  I was moved to tears more than once, it was also very light hearted.  President Uchtdorf was the keynote speaker and gave the dedicatory prayer.

not the best picture, but I wanted to capture it- he gave such a great tribute to Elder Holland

Elder Holland was overwhelmed by the moment and told of how he refused the suggestion of naming the building after him, but when they explained that it was a student commons building he said.....I am just a common boy from Dixie just like every other student on campus, a common  student with uncommon hope, and I am nothing without you and my Dixie heritage.

Saturday was another great day for Dixie.  It was our first home football game and tailgate party.
I wasn't really looking forward to it, the tailgates are a challenge because Kyle is stuck behind a grill the entire time and it is hot and I just have to try to wrangle the kids but they love it.

Yeah for face paint- I think McKay calls this look BLUE STEEL...

The football game was really good - such a delightful surprise

 after last season..... :)

We have two formidable quarterbacks and 

a great team all around.

I am very excited for the

 upcoming season.

AND WE WON!

the first half was close but then in the second we pulled away and won 24-10!

It was awesome!

Labor(less) Day

I have always wondered why they would name a holiday Labor Day, it doesn't make sense.  

Ours had very little labor- at least mine :).

Kyle and Mandy took a 35 mile bike ride- I am sure that was pretty laborious.  I did go swim laps and am back up to my half a mile in 45 minutes. (this doesn't sound very impressive but it has been a long road getting there, and then getting back there again after the surgery)

 When I got back I found out we were going swimming!

Mason and Mandy took us to the Bloomington Country Club pool which reminded us a lot of the pool in Sandlot.  It was perfect for our families. There was a diving board (until the dads broke it)...

Spencer's signature move.....the limp fish

George, same move, but he calls it the penguin dive...

Super Mac

This is Drew completely upside down

Evan......always leaving us speechless :)

  there was also a kiddie pool to keep Matty (and Seth) occupied. Matty thought she was pretty fancy in her new goggles that matched her swimsuit. She kept trying to stick her head under the water- 

she looked like an ostrich.

It was a great afternoon.  We all got fried which I didn't think was possible after having been out in the St. George sun for the last 5 months.  Evan has been tan since April but still managed to get a sunburn.....weird.. I guess you can never let your guard down when it comes to sunscreen.  The best part is that I got a new camera and it is waterproof so it has been a fun toy, but I forget to take it anyplace we go- unless there is water!  Seth said to me at one point when I was taking pics in the pool- hey your camera's gonna get wet.  Thanks Seth.

So even though I have no evidence... we also went to Pine Valley with all the cousins- we totalled 30, Grandma even came and everyone had a fantastic time- all the same old stuff but it never seems to get old.  Sunday night everyone showed up at Grandma's and the Sullivans from the North(that is their title in my new novel :)) came down too, so we got to visit with Neil and Mary, and Michelle as well. The cousins slept on our tramp on Sunday night,  I hate sleepovers so much, but we gave in mostly because Kyle promised the kids they could sleep out there but didn't want to sleep with them. Father of the year! They were happier with their cousins anyway.  I do wish I had a picture of that- 7 kids between the ages of 12 and 6 sleeping in a pile in the middle of the tramp.  I probably will let them do that again (next summer), just don't tell George.

On Monday after swimming and some much needed napping, we went to see Alladin. Aladin? I don't know how to spell it....anyway Grandma came with us again and it was a great night, and at least I had my cell phone so we could get some pics with our favorite actors.

Annie Frehner, our favorite choreographer from Desert Stars

Tino Smith- our favorite person ever! and past Tuacahneer.

We didn't want to wait in line, so that is Jasmine, Aladin and the Geenie in the background!

 Now we are wiped out, so I guess we did work pretty hard on Labor Day after all.  At least we played hard, but I still wish we had another Sunday after it so I could catch up.

It's the most wonderful time of the year.....

Kyle has been channeling Scott and has been singing that song for a few weeks now.  Time to go back to school!  We have had so much fun this summer that I had really mixed feelings about starting up again, but now that we are back on a schedule and the house has stayed clean for longer than 5 minutes, I am really glad to be back.  I am also so glad to not be PTA President this year.  I didn't realize how much I sacrificed for PTA last year and I am glad to have my time back.  Apparently I am feeling GLAD about the whole thing!

 

  George didn't want summer to end but was happy to get on the bus and head back to school.


It wasn't Kyle's official first day of school but he was going to meetings, now that he is the business department chair, he had to conduct his first faculty meeting today, so it was a pretty big day for him too!  He didn't get any new school clothes this year though, because he got new exercise clothes (and equipment) instead!

 My 4th grader and my 1st grader ready to take the long long trek across the street to school!

My kids were excited to go back, for the most part, and that made it an easy transition too....well easy for some of them!  I was out running errands around lunch time and my cell phone rang....the specific ring to my home number.  I thought maybe Penny had come to my house on her lunch break, but when I answered the phone it was Evan!  This is how the conversation went:
Me- why are you home?
E- I'm done, lunch is over so I came home, where are you?
Me- Evan you aren't done, you have to go back to class after lunch.
E- I DO?  Why didn't anyone ever tell me that?
Me- Hurry back down to the playground and find Emily and she will take you back to class.
E- tears...I couldn't find Emily at lunch.....tears....tears...
Me- I will be right there sweetheart, don't move!

I was clear across town so on my fast and furious ride back home I called the office and told Aunt Gaye that Evan was AWOL and to please tell his teacher I would bring him back soon.
I got home to more tears and tried to calm him down and cheer him up.
He was afraid he was going to be in trouble and just kept saying why didn't anyone tell me?
Apparently he thought all he was missing out on in kindergarten was lunch.  He didn't even go to lunch recess, just walked himself home!
When we got back to his class his teacher said, "Evan I am so glad you came back."  Apparently there was a little girl that had cried for two hours straight that morning so no one really heard when she told them to come back to class after lunch!  (later Evan said- yeah that girl was really frustrating).

Our last Hurrah part 2

part 1 was about the "work" part of the trip for me and part 2 is about the work part of the trip for Kyle.  His isn't in quotes because it was real work for him and really the whole trip was just fun for me.  Sunday night we went to Salt Lake and stayed at Little America so Kyle could get up and go to the U for meetings first thing Monday morning, and because Brashley was coming to stay at mom and dad's and needed our room!

  I feel like I need a "now and then" picture from Jillyn right here because I know that her kids have been in a picture just like this and these kids remind me so much of Kyle and his sibs...
My kids love staying in any kind of hotel but we had to tell them that this one was fancier than most we have stayed in before and so they had to be extra quiet and nice...I was extra grateful we had a garden room and not one in the tower because they still couldn't resist jumping on the beds.

We have always set the three kids sideways on the other bed and it has worked really well, but I am afraid we are just one summer away from having to get a suite....Matty slept on a mat in the corner.
We painted the town red Monday morning, doing all our favorite things....riding trax, the new mall with fish in the stream, temple square and riding the elevator at the Joseph Smith Memorial.

 Then we ate lunch, I was already tired, and was having a hard time finding fat free food to eat, but I was excited to be able to meet our cousins at the zoo so I fed the kids and we powered through.
The Hogle Zoo is such a different animal than it was when I was a kid.  The lay out is basically the same but it has improved leaps and bounds and the animals were in rare form for us this day.

Evan and that baby elephant were so hyper! The elephant was so fun to watch because it was contained......Evan, also pretty fun to watch.

oh Evan.....you should have seen him 1 minute ago when he was high centered on that big horn...

The tigers were making everyone really nervous...they were having the most intense staring contest I have ever seen....but nothing really ever came of it, but it is amazing how much difference the water makes in these habitats.  They loved the water.

George loved the eagles, they were amazing. I don't know what Evan's expression is...he didn't want to hold still that long...4 seconds.... I am too demanding.

It was a pretty hot day so Grandpa bought everyone an ice cream cone.  Matty was never going to make it through hers so I asked Uncle Brad to help....

 There is a big polar bear behind Matty's head (and an iguana some brown bears and giraffes)
It was a little disappointing that it was just laying there, it looked miserable so Emily asked the workers why the bear wasn't in ice?...good question.

A bunch of monkeys in front of a picture of a bunch of monkeys!

Some things never change.....

I love the lion drinking fountain and it's
millions of germs.

Andy and Sarah didn't make it to the end, it was just too hot, but we sure had a great time. 

Brad and Ashley weren't in this picture either because they couldn't get enough of the animals.

We went back to the hotel and got Kyle, went shoe shopping and to get some dinner and then Traci and her boys met us at the hotel pool to cool off and relax.

Emily and Evan went home with Traci and slept over there.  They had a great time and we got to sleep in. WIN WIN! George and Matty didn't wake up until after 9:00.

We did a little more shopping and then headed up to Bountiful to Traci's fun house.

(that sounds like an amusement park).  It was fun, but we went to a different amusement park called Get Air.  It is a much better version of our Anti-Gravity Trampoline Park and the kids had a blast.

I had to pry them away to go back to the U and pick up Kyle on time. 

We stopped for a quick dinner in Lehi and packed up all our canned goods and headed home.

We got home about 10:00 pm on Tuesday night, school started at 7:10 the next morning, not the most responsible parenting, but I think it was worth it, we had a fantastic trip.