First Day of School

Now that summer is over I feel like it went by too fast. I love the routine school days give us but I do miss these 3 already like crazy! They were so excited to start school.

2nd

1st

Kindergarten

All smiles ready to go!

And then she realized she didn't get to go with them. Poor girl. She and Scotty have had to adjust to life without their constant playmates. We're 1 week into school and those kids are happy and thriving!

San Antonio Zoo

On the last day of summer I loaded up the kids and took them to the zoo. Sometimes when we go to the zoo the heat gets to me and the kids and I are all grumpy and tired by the time we leave. This day however was the perfect zoo day. It wasn't too hot and we stayed just the right amount of time. 

We saw the hippos up close which was the best part of the day!

 The kids stopped at every statue and asked for a picture and climbed all over. Don't ask me why Ashton is wearing a jacked in the middle of a Texas summer...

This is a snapshot of how good my big kids are. Scotty could see from underneath the bar just fine but Mallie took him to each exhibit and lifted him up. She only weighs 10 pounds more than him. My kids are the best helpers. They open doors for the stroller and are genuinely always concerned about keeping the littlest ones happy without me asking.

 We went to the petting area this time. There were big pigs and goats they were all laying down probably because the heat sucks the life out of them. They couldn't care less that kids were touching them. It was so funny Ashton and Hannah both were hesitant to touch the first animal and Scotty went right over and grabbed the goat's ear. After that the bigger kids followed his lead and realized it was no big deal.

More animal watching. I can't get out of the habit of bringing the double stroller but I'm at that point... just in time for another one to come and fill the void for Lucy who decided she is her own woman and doesn't need a ride.

These kids are so much fun. When I line them all up and realize how many there are I still am a little stunned that they're mine. I wonder if that feeling will ever go away.

 Last picture on the lions to end the day.

Once in awhile you have a perfect outing with no meltdowns and everyone is happy from start to finish. That day at the zoo was it and definitely worth documenting every moment! 

Lucy Turns 3

Lucy walked around singing, "It's my birthday, it's my birthday!" all day long on the 19th. She is so kind and articulate. We love her to pieces. She changes outfits 3 times a day which is fine by me because she can get herself dressed and has been for the last year of her life. For her birthday she asked to go swimming while we waited for Daddy to get home from work.

We took her to Chuck E Cheese because David and I still love that place.

She helped me make her birthday cake and made all the sprinkles by herself.

She also blew out all the candles on her before we even started singing. So she got pretty good by the 2nd time.

She is still obsessed with all things princess and Frozen. She loves this little purse karaoke machine. 

She was trying to show me that she's 3 now.

This little girl lights up the room when she smiles. She takes naps with me while Scotty naps and still thinks Mom and Dad are as good as it gets. She is so dang helpful and has great manners that it is so hard not to give her anything she asks for. She is a crazy good swimmer for a barely 3 year old and makes us all laugh. She sneaks into the big kids room and tries to sleep with them whenever she can get away with it. She doesn't get the whole last name thing so anytime someone calls her something other than Lucy she responds with, "No, I'm Lucy Mack." 

Gone for a month and a reunion!

David flew back into the St. George airport on July 3rd. On the 4th we went to the St. George party at the park and let the kids eat snowcones and jump on all the bounce houses. Scotty really took a shining to my parents by the 2nd week. He would go everywhere with them which is a big deal because he is in the middle of  the serious separation anxiety stage.

Then I was also there for my parents to get a phone call and then a real fed ex call to be the South Africa MTC president. It was so fun to learn all the details day by day as they learned about their mission!

 And we swam a LOT!  Lucy was going off the slide and swimming to the side without any floaties or help. We decided driving to St. George for swimming twice a day everyday is a way better to use of funds than swimming lessons!

Even Scotty by the end of it was jumping in on his own.

Then we headed to Pine Valley for the Ashton family reunion. There was a beautiful lodge up there with 8 bedrooms and a million bunk beds and the kitchen of my dreams. Shockingly enough it was barely big enough to fit our bunch of 50+ people.

It was gorgeous up there and nice and cool. At night time we had to wear jackets!

We let the kids hike like crazy around the rocks and stream, And lots of them ended up drenched and by the time we got home. Nothing better than dirt and cousins!

One day after swimming we all went down to a stream where you could catch craw dads. Between all the Asthon cousins we must have caught at least 20. It was so much fun.

The last night of the reunion we played Ashton family feud. It was hilarious and so much fun. We were just a little competitive.

One afternoon we couldn't find any of our kids inside and we caught this on the side yard. My parents had giant pixie sticks and were making the kids do sommersaults and tricks to earn sugar. It was hilarious.

Abe brought up his electronic skateboard thing that scared the daylights out of me the minute I got on. But everyone else managed to pull it off.

Here is part of the dream kitchen with enough barstools for 10 and two islands. I loved it. A lot of time was spent here eating and talking. If you look at all the adults I think we were all ripping up pancakes on the first morning.

After the reunion we had two more days in St. George so we took the kids to Menchie's our favorite FroYo place.

As always we took the kids to the St. George visitor center on a Sunday afternoon.

I love this picture.

So grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and temples!

And this one is fuzzy but this was what our car looked like as we took off from St. George to Vegas sunburned and not being able to see our the back. We took advantage of one more layover with Mandy and J for a day and a half. Then we made it from Vegas to Texas over the next two days. We hate being in the car for two days but you do what you have to do to get to see family! Plus the kids really are getting obscenely good at these car trips.

Gone for a month and a wedding!

When planning this summer's vacation it involved a lot of checking prices for flights and scheduling around family events. We knew to spend almost 4 entire days in the car we were going to spend a fair amount of time in Utah. David was kind enough to fly up and back two separate times to drop me off and make it up for a wedding. So here's how the summer trip looked...

Friday, June 19th David got off work at noon and we headed all smiles on our journey.

On Saturday 4 hours from Vegas (our stopping point) we stopped in Phoenix at In N Out. As we turned the car back on after a late lunch it made the loudest sounds every time David would hit the gas pedal. Thankfully there was a car shop right around the corner. They took a look even though they were swamped with business when I walked in there and desperately told them we had 5 kids in the car. We just wanted to know what we were dealing with. After an hour of waiting they told us we had a cracked exhaust pipe and we needed to get the car to a muffler shop... and by the way it could be over a thousand dollars to fix but we would probably be safe to drive 4 hours. The minute we got on the freeway we knew there was no way we were going anywhere so I called a few muffler shops and one let us walk right in. It was such a blessing they welded the pipe for $45 and 45 minutes we were back on the road. The kids handled it like troopers.

Then we made it to Vegas Saturday night around 7. Mandy and Jason spoiled us with food and we all stayed up way too late talking. David hopped on a 7am flight out of Vegas back to Texas for work. Sunday after church I headed up to St. George. The kids swam hard for 3 days and Thursday I loaded up the kids in the car and headed up to Midway for the wedding weekend.

 On Thursday I stopped by and saw Abbey's new house in Provo, drove the kids by David and I's houses in Provo where we were neighbors, and then stopped and saw dear friends from our Dallas newly wed years. It was jam packed day!On Friday afternoon as I was waiting to pick David up from the airport our dear friends the Norris' met us at the mall for a quick hi and play! Ashton and Parker were BFF in Missouri which was a perfect match because his mom, Jeni, and I were inseparable as well.

Here are the Ashton, Norris and Jacobson kids all together. Many a Sunday afternoons were spent with all these kids together!

Then David flew in Friday night we headed up to Midway to stay at Abe and Kim's and Saturday morning bright and early we headed down the mountain to see these two get married. 

I love Cody a lot. When I say he's like a real brother to me it's 100% true so I was hoping I would love Miranda just as much. I'm so glad to say she is perfect! These two make me happy just to know and be apart of their lives!

Here is the whole Jacobson crew.

Oh these outfits were just about the cutest thing ever. Miranda's mom made these darling skirts that my girls beg to wear daily.

Cody and Miranda had a beautiful reception that night. Oh boy do I love these matching little girls.

 And they were spoiled with attention like crazy by Nana and Poppy that night as always.

Saturday night David and I headed back up to Midway late and on Sunday morning we headed back down to SLC to the airport where I dropped David off to fly back home.

Luckily every time I drove the kids back up to Midway I knew it was worth the 50 minute drive because these cousins were up there just waiting to play. After a year away from Missouri the friendship and love for Bemily and their kids still hasn't lessened an ounce. The kids picked right up where they left off. We hiked them up to Memorial Hill on a REALLY hot afternoon and let them play in the dirt. Ellie is the proof of just how messy they got! I stayed just long enough on Monday to see Ben and Emily's new house in Springville and then the kids and I headed back south to St. George. Part 2 of the summer coming soon.

Mallie Turns 5

We've started a new tradition this year that the birthday boy/girl gets to help make their own cake. They absolutely love it.

I let her pick out her own color frosting too. It was a good idea until the kids actually tried to eat it. Even Ashton, my biggest junk food eater, wouldn't finish his piece.

She asked to go to the Children's Museum in New Braunfels for her birthday. It was perfect and the kids had a blast.

She actually told her primary teachers that she wanted the Elsa doll that sings "Let it Go" and they got it for her! Imagine our shock when she was opening up presents and she got two! Bless those amazing primary teachers!!

I love the excitement of birthdays at this age.

We have always thought Mallie acted a good 9 months older than she is. It's so weird that she is just barely turning 5 because in my mind she's been 5 since January. I love this little girl. She is so unique and independent. I love that she is crazy and wild at home but in a class setting she becomes quiet and shy. She loves to take care of Scotty and Lucy and never lets anything hold her back. I can't wait to see her thrive in Kindergarten!