School is swell, soccer started & go Salem High!

Okay, just wanted to let you all know that I made it through my first week of having all 4 girls in school. I was busier than ever, too. I put a lot of pressure on myself to use my time wisely, so I about killed myself keeping busy with doing a million things.

Lindsay had a great week... well, kinda. She has only had to be in "Thinking Time" two times! Two times out of five days of school! You see, two different times she wandered away from her class when they were out at recess. (A boy told her that there were some bugs and snakes, so of course she had to go!) Oh well, I know she'll learn and do better!

Even with having to be in Thinking Time 2X, Lindsay likes school. I'm very proud of her and I know she'll have a great school year. (I'm keeping my fingers crossed)

Walking out to the car.. she was telling me all about her day!

A goodbye hug from her teacher.

A few minutes left of school and Lindsay had lots to say. That's her cousin Aubrey right next to her!


Nat and Lindsay started soccer last week. They do things very differently here in Payson, but it's cool and the girls are having fun. Hey Laura Sturm... recognize the cute boy helping Lindsay?!

For the little kids, the first 20 minutes of game time is practice! Here they get to kick the ball into the goal and practice passing the ball. Fun times.

This is where Lindsay spent a lot of the time during her game... on my lap! she was so tired after a long day of school and was pretty pooped out. They are really relaxed and let the kids run on and off the field as needed. Here she was taking a little rest!

There's Nat looking straight at the camera!

Go Nat!

This is Nat's second year of playing soccer, she is learning to be aggresive and is more outgoing!

Lawson girls. Where are their knees?


Tonight is the first football game at Salem Hills High School, Chloe's school. She and her girlfriend Alexia got all dressed up in their school colors to support their school.

Go Skyhawks!

Self portrait.

Cute, tan Chloe! It's tennis season, so she's outside everyday!

She looked so cute.

There was a tailgating party before the game with yummy ice cream.

Oh, to be a teenager again! (j/k! no thanks!)

Now what?

I have been thinking about this post for a while now. I knew this day had to come.

Well, it's here.

My last child has started kindergarten.

Little Lindsay Lu-Lu has left my side to enter the world of school! I am so excited for her, she has been talking about starting school since last spring. She just couldn't wait to go!

So I'm thrilled for her, but for me? Let's just say my heart is very heavy, I have shed many tears and I don't quite know what to do with myself now that I am all alone (except for the crazy kitten running all around)and have no one here at home with me. I've had a baby or toddler or child by my side for the past almost 16 years and now there's no one!

*SIGH*

I'll be ok. I just miss her.

Here are a few pictures documenting her special day:

Our girls go to a charter school and wear uniforms, so this is one of her many blue/khaki/tan items of clothing.

Soooo ready to go.

See my backpack? Or "Pack-Pack" as she calls it.
Inside is her cool new lunch box and binder!

See my pack pack?

Getting closer to her classroom!

Here we go! There's no turning back now!

Lindsay's classroom!!

Her desk. Right up front. They have desks, not tables! crazy

Here's my class!

Coloring her birthday crown.

Her very first assignment.

Bye Baby Girl, have a wonderful first day!

Mommy will MISS you.

Whoo! Whoo? The Orem Owls, that's WHOO!

We had a fun family night last night. Gene's company, PGP, had it's annual company summer party at an Orem Owl's baseball game at UVU. (otherwise known as UVSC)

We had a nice BBQ before the game started and the kids were able to play in the fun playground.

It was fun sitting with all of Gene's friends from PGP and the girls had a great time rooting for our team and just goofing around.

Here we are at UVU!

"UVU, it's YOUR University"
Tasty food.
Nice face, Cho-loe.

yum

Hey! It's the Orem Owl's mascot guy, and he has a cool baseball head!

what is Linds doing?? picking her nose? wha???!

Batter Up!

The day was hot (95+ degrees), but as the sun went down, it made for the perfect summer evening baseball game!

We played the Casper Ghosts! (booooooooo!) and we won, 5-3... or was it 6-3? huh.

The girls caught Owl's T-shirts that were being thrown into the crowd!

Neat-O!

Nat modeling the very large T-shirt.

The very fun evening ended with these......

Fireworks!

What a great night it was, thanks PGP!

Go Owls!

Good Morning!

Yum! This is what I woke up to this lovely Saturday morn!

Haley the chef was hard at work making us yummy pancakes. The bottom one is Tigger. The top ones are blueberry for Mom!

This child is just so wonderful. She is a grown up in a child's body. She has become one of the most popular babysitters in our neighborhood, she loves to be in the kitchen, and that includes clipping coupons, making grocery lists AND grocery shopping with me! She loves making homemade waffles, chocolate chip cookies and oh so much more. She is ultra responsible and is an amazing piano player!

Wow!

Thanks, Hale! You are awesome, and those blueberry pancakes were soooo good!

Mommmm, don't!

HA! Gotcha!

She made Bisquick for Gene's pancakes and Pioneer brand mix for ours. The Pioneer brand is soooo yummy, much better than Bisquick AND it's low fat. (but you can't even tell!)

This kid loves to cook! She is going to be the ultimate college roomie. All of her roommates are going to want her to cook dinner every night.

And you know what?

She will gladly do it!

:)

School Dayz...

On Monday two of the girls headed back to school.

They were very excited and so far have had a fantastic week of school!

Nat the 4th grader.
Sisters.

Haley the 7th grader.

Hey all you Loomis people.... Look who is Haley's Latin teacher! It's Dustin Simmons!

NO WAYYYYY!

This way cool teacher was once a young lad in our home ward back in Loomis, CA! His family is still in the same ward as Gene's sister and parents.

He is doing such a great job. We had Back to School Night tonight and he did a really good job explaining his class to the parents and telling us what the kids will be learning this year. (duh, Latin, I know... but so much more! Greek and Roman history! COOL!)

Hey Dustin! We'll be getting in touch soon so we can have you and your family over for dinner some time!

:)

Chloe went back to school on Wed. as a Junior and Linds starts kindergarten this Monday.

Let the fun begin!

Spanish Fork HOT SPRINGS!

Yesterday Gene and I had a really fun "Date Day/Night". After a full morning of taking the girls back to school shopping, he and I set off for a fun adventure. We drove the 1/2 hour drive to the hot springs in the Spanish Fork Canyon. It was so much fun. It was about an hour hike to the hot springs and then an hour back, and what a beautiful hike it was!

We hiked along a rushing river the whole way and came across cute little critters, tiny snakes, lizards and weird bugs.

We were warned that some people enjoy bathing in the hot springs NUDE!

There were only a few people (in bathing suits) there at the hot springs, so that was nice. Then we hiked up even further up to some more springs and lo and behold, a naked guy. But he was a very nice and courteous naked guy. He sat in the corner and kept to himself, unlike the naked guys that Gene's sister and her husband encountered last weekend. Those guys went ahead and stood up out of the water to talk to Ann and Keith and to give them directions! At least our naked guy just sat there. :)

Anyhow, after a great afternoon hiking and soaking in the natural springs, Gene and I went out to dinner and then to the movies to see "The Dark Night". What an incredible movie. It was very intense and very scary and Heath Ledger did an absolutely incredible job as the Joker.

Here are a few pictures from our adventure:

The river along the hike.

The trail. It was a pretty easy hike. It had some good, steep hills here and there, but overall, it was fairly easy.

More hiking trail.



Cool tree that fell over the water.

Finally... we made it to the springs!

One of the areas where the hot water flows out of the mountains.

Anyone ever been to Yellowstone?

These springs smell a lot like Yellowstone! (kinda stinky!)

Gene exploring. This pool was super hot and toasty!

You can see the awesome water falls in the background.

Water falls...

The falls are cold water, but it felt good after the long hike.

Me... you can see two of the pools behind me.

And a guy... a guy with clothes.

Meet my awesome brother!

My brother is the music director for the station we listened to as kids. He is doing such a great job!

Check out the links below.

Go Aaron!

Rock On!

In addition to our recent killer book and the awesome news that Tim Kwong is rejoining the LIVE 105 family,we recently got some nice industry accolades and cool press exposure from the SF Weekly.First, LIVE 105 just got nominated for Station of the Year and Music Director of the Year from R&R: http://www.radioandrecords.com/Conventions/con2008/awards/alt.asp
ROOT FOR LIVE 105!