School has started. I would wake up daily screaming that I can't wait for school to start. It started and now I have nobody to scream at. It is so quiet in my home. Just me and my dog working and trying to keep my mind occupied. I really miss my kids. Zach is starting his freshman year and had me up at 6am to take him to the track, he is going to visit with the coach and start running cross country. He is tall and lanky and has some good running legs on him. He will do good. So I am excited to see how that will work out. Raegan, Sam, and Cody are all happy with school and are excited to see their friends they have not seen during the summer. Sam said he has the nicest teacher he has ever had and he really likes her. That is a relief for a parent when they hear that. I am always concerned for the temperament of my kids when school starts and everything is new, it can be so frustrating for them. Cody is 7 and for the most part he does not cry or break down when he gets hurt, or people tick him off, but the first day home from school he broke down over the dumbest things like on three different occasions so I know school effects kids emotionally.
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| hiking to virgin river rim trail |
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| looking out south to kolob |
We have had a great summer, we have had a lot of outings and have tried to keep the family busy. We just barely got back from camping in Duck Creek. I spent a little money on our trailer and totally fixed it up, and cleaned it and took about a week repairing and cleaning the beast. It looks great and it was fun to go camping...nice and cool. We hiked, read, ate, and hung out with my mom and dad. We spent time in Duck creek, it was duck creek days and they had all kinds of vendors there selling all of their nick knacks, so we let the kids run around doing that for a few hours.
The kids had a great 7 day getaway with grandpa and grandma Anderson, they went to their aunt and uncles cabin in chromo Colorado and spent some time riding 4x4's and hiking and swimming in the pond and like Sam says "chillin in the sauna" it is about a 9hr trip one way and I know the car ride was loooong, but the cabin is worth it and spending time in the mountains with their cousins is great.
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| Zach stayed awake until about 4am and then crashed |
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| music and the spoken word |
Monica and I were left alone for a bit during their trip, Zach went back up the mountain for scout camp where he was a C.I.T. counselor in training for thunder ridge scout camp. We were kind of lonely there for a couple of days. Monica has been working at our store Mail n More and has really taken it on as another child and has babied that store into a great little business. She is awesome. ANYWAY, we Monica and I had a great opportunity to go for 4 days to Salt Lake and take the youth up to Youth Conference. Man what a packed weekend. We did not stop. Go,go,go. There were over 200+ kids and they put us up at the Marriott residence inn in downtown SLC and we spent every minute of everyday..yes even Sunday going and going and going. Temple visits, a movie, a fireside with John Bytheway, another fireside with another two speakers I was not able to go to and don't know who they were. I was busy camping out on the streets of SLC with about 15 other boys and adults saving a spot for the days of 47 parade, we slept out all night, well we really didn't sleep we stayed awake the whole night talking and visiting with each other, some of the boys crashed, and some of the leaders got an hr or two of shut eye but that was it. GOOD times. We also went to a production of music and the spoken word,..the kids slept through most of that as well. ahahaha it really was a loooong weekend full of a lot of things. Ensign peak hike, this is the place monument, family history center, move 17miracles, food, a stake dance, picnics, barbeques, hotel fun until 1-2 am every night...it was crazy but we loved it. And we had many many experiences, the spirit talked to us and we felt our Heavenly Fathers whispers alot.
So now what? well we have one more trip planned to Disneyland next month, and then it is settle in and get another year of school behind us. We are blessed, we are well, and we are all happy. Peace, Love and Hope.
