Ahhh, school. A beautiful thing.

Lily is in preschool! She's still my baby, so I was a little bit in denial, but she was SOOO ready. She even tried to pack herself a lunch and a water bottle like Eric does for 1st grade. This is her wonderful teacher. She loves to 'do her homework' while Eric is doing his.

I know this is a late post, but I really did feel the same feelings all mothers do with the advent of a new school year. This is Eric's first day of 1st grade and his first day of all-day school. He has a great teacher, and his school was ranked in the top 4 in all of Arizona again this year. We have been very happy with it and we feel so blessed to be so close to it. It hasn't been all sunshine and roses, however. I let Eric eat school lunch once a week or so and the first time he braved that new world we had one minor incident. He brought home his backpack, I pull out his homework and his entire binder is wet. I assume it is his water bottle that is the culprit. Oh no. He smashed the top down on his milk carton and tried to bring the leftovers home. Brain smart--yes. Street smart--not so much.

Family Fun and Oh Yeah, We Moved

Audrey and her adorable kids were visiting my Mom and Dad and I really wanted to go up but I couldn't due to work and school starting, so they were gracious enough to all drive down here to visit us! I finally got to meet my beautiful niece, Afton Jane. Can you believe all of the hair. I love this pic because we actually call Alec the Baby-Whisperer because something about the way he holds them is very soothing to babies.

Steve made his famous Empanadas.

Lily loved all of the attention and she especially loved the baby.

We celebrated Daven's B-day early. I love this kid! What a smile.

I think this is actually the best picture I have of Steve smiling. I wish you could see his shirt better. It is a pic of lungs, a stomach, and a kidney telling a heart to 'Get Lost.' Get it? Organ rejection! Tee Hee.

What a sweet baby. If only we could get another one of our own.... I forgot to post about our move. We were able to get into a rental that one of my friends bought and fixed up that is in the same ward. We couldn't be happier with it! New paint, floor, tile, and best of all--no smokers living beneath us! No sign of scorpions yet, either, so I think it is safe to say it was a great move!

So You Think You Can Dance?

Alec and I have been grooming Lily to be a future contestant on some sort of reality dance program. We thought it was worth investing 30 bucks to enroll her in our local rec center dancing class, which we just knew would ensure her success in her soon-to-be illustrious dancing career.



Money well spent? Okay, so she doesn't really know what she is doing and I'm pretty sure stopping to pull up your tutu to see if you are on your dot was not in the program. However, I think seeing her in her layered tutus was worth every penny. She obviously wasn't the only one who thought more tutus equals better ballerina.

This dance move actually has potential. Maybe it wasn't a bad investment... maybe I'll sign Alec up next time.

Happy Moving, Audrey! This is for you.

Hurricane Bound For Texas Slowed By Large Land Mass To The South

Baby Eric is 6!

Can you believe it? Eric is 6 years old! We had our first ever friend party and we thought it went pretty well. Eric chose a Star Wars theme, so we gave the kids Clone Trooper Academy badges and had four different games for them to earn marks. Flight school, Target Shooting, Speed (a relay race where they could only step on cardboard Millenium Falcolns), and Endurance (we passed a 'Death Star' balloon around the circle ala musical chairs style).

This is the target Alec drew for the Target Practice.

We stayed up until midnight getting everything ready. The kids loved the R2D2 and Ewok cupcakes. Pathetic compared to the types of cakes I had growing up. I should take a class someday. Some of my fondest memories of birthdays are the special cakes my mom always made.

Happy Birthday to our wonderful son--We love you!