Homecoming question and answer

Homecoming was on Sept 30 so I'm just a bit late in getting this blogged.  Makenna turned 16 back in May so this was her first date dance.  Her friend Lerin Rasmussen asked her to the dance and this is how he did it.

He put a big pig balloon in a box with a note on the string at the bottom

 

This is Lerin, too bad the strings from the balloons is in front of his face, and Hayley and Sara Kenna's good friends, setting up the invitation in her room

Here is the note that was attached to the pig balloon

Kenna, letting the pig fly! There were other pink balloons too and pig faces, you can see one on her door.

He put his name on a piece of paper inside this little piggy bank - she was supposed to break open the piggy bank but she wanted to save it so she carefully got the paper out -

All smiles when she realized who asked her

Next, we had to figure out a way to answer him.  Here is what we did
We went to Kohl's to purchase the biggest, ugliest granny panties we could find!  The rose applique was a nice touch to the granny effect, don't you think?

Here is what the note on the panties said

Kenna put them in a cute little bag, complete with tissue paper and everything.  She wrapped them up so when he opened them, the note would be staring him in the face.  She gave it to the office at school and had them deliver it to him during his first hour class
Kenna had a friend in his first hour class who took this picture - I guess he was pleased?

Kenna actually had second hour with Lerin and he was still wearing these panties when he went to second hour.  She told us she made him take them off cause she was embarrassed!!    Fun times!!

Hot Chelle Rae

This past July, Kenna and her friends traveled to Boise to see Hot Chelle Rae in concert!  Hayley's dad was nice enough to drive them.  It was during some wild fires and as they past Mountain Home, the freeway was closed.  They had to find the back way into Boise - after that fiasco, they made it to the concert.  These girls always have so much fun together on their wild and crazy adventures! 

After the concert, they waited outside of the venue to meet the group!
Here they are with Ian

Jamie - oh and notice that paper in Kenna's hand?  That is the play list from the concert, one of the managers gave it to her and it is signed by all the guys!  She also got an autographed guitar pick from Ian, the guitarist - guess it pays to hang around after the concert!

Nash

Ryan, the lead singer

Hayley, Sara, Kenna and Cortlyn - bunch of crazy girls!

During the concert, the lead singer Ryan asked if anyone knew the next song. Sara screamed that she did and he came right to the girls and let them sing with him. Kenna said it turned into a mosh pit of people but the fact that he came into the crowd just for them was a thrill!
They got home at 3am and I had to run Kenna and Hayley to girls camp at 8am - not much sleep for those two but they said it was totally worth it!

Lindsay goes to college

On Thursday Sept. 6, I had to take my baby girl to college.  This was seriously one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.  Mostly because I know she will do great and that wonderful things are ahead for her, without having her mom there.  As we got in the car that morning after she said goodbye to her sisters, brother and dad I noticed a little tear and also a quivering lip  - I turned to her and pointed my finger right at her and told her she was not allowed to cry - that just resulted in both of us crying!

                                                   This was our destination - the Ivy apartments

                                                    

 I can't believe I didn't take a picture of the car with all her stuff in it - it was loaded and Chris kept telling her that she had way too much stuff!  When we arrived, there was a U-haul in the parking lot and she said, "dad thought I had too much stuff, look at the U-haul!" Ali, Baylie and Jace made a going away card for her and colored some pictures for her - here is the card, this made me tear up!

 The picture Jace drew, it was a picture of him with Lindsay

 

 

 Baylie's picture was also one of her with Lindsay

As we got to our destination and Lindsay was walking up the steps, I made her turn around and smile for a picture, she obliged but rolled her eyes too!

We got her room all put together

And this is the view right out of her bedroom window, this made me happy!

A friend from our home ward stopped by to say "hi" and that was my cue to leave. It made my leaving a bit easier knowing there was a familiar face there than had he not stopped by  (there are many familiar faces but just at that moment).
Lindsay texted me this picture this afternoon - a picture of all her roommates after church today, in front of the Taylor building.  from L-R  Brynn, Ashley, Hayley (her roomie), Lindsay, Kassidy and Emily -

I could feel the excitement and energy on campus on Thursday as I helped her get her books and her Icard and I knew that was the place for her.  On Friday morning, I held myself back from texting her and asking how she was doing and to my surprise, by about 10am I was getting texts from her which really made my day!  She is doing well and having a great time. They put the incoming freshman into 'teams' called, Iteams and they have fun things planned from BBQ's, dances, talent shows and keep them busy for the first 3 days before classes start. This gives them a chance to know everyone on their team and start to form friendships immediately - They didn't do that when I was a student there but it's a great idea! Her classes start tomorrow and I know she will do amazing!

Junior year

Today was Kenna's first day of school. As a junior, she got to take yesterday off because the high school has the first day a day for freshman only.

Here she is all ready to go!

I know these next few years with her will fly by  -

Back to school 2012

Today was the first day of school, at least for my 4 youngest!  I sent Emily to 8th grade, Ali to 4th, Baylie to 2nd and my baby is officially in kindergarten!
Here they are on the front porch, their fingers letting me know what grades they're in.

The full view

Our first stop was Rimrock elementary -

We found Baylie's teacher, Mrs. Brinton - Baylie had her for 1st grade last year and when we found out she was moving back to second grade, we told the principal to keep Baylie with her!

 

Mrs. Abbott was outside doing bus duty - here she is with Ali

 

Then I wandered to the kindergarten playground where I found Jace had lined up to go inside with his class.

I was able to get a photo with him and Mrs. Killpack!

My next stop was Sandcreek middle school where Emily is one of the top dogs! She wasn't thrilled with me getting out of the car to take a picture but I know someday she'll love that I did!

Such a fun time but always sad too.  End of summer is sad but it's always great to be back into a routine - Jace is in morning kindergarten so he gets home at 11, he had a fantastic first day and is already wanting to go back for more.  Chris, Kenna and I took him out to lunch so we could hear all about his day and it was fun to hear the excitement as he told us about his teacher, classroom and all the fun he is going to have this year.  Tomorrow, Kenna starts her first day as a JR in high school and I get Lindsay for another week before taking her to college, I'm hoping it's a really slow week!

Newport/Sunset Beach

Right in the middle of our Disneyland trip, we took a break from the parks to hit the beach! Almost every time we go to Southern California, we end up at Newport Beach as it was one of Chris' favorite areas while on his mission.  We also went to Sunset Beach this trip because that is where my mom and Deanna were - they were at Deanna's daughter Tera's house which is RIGHT on the beach and they invited us to play on the beach and to dinner.
Here we are on the pier in Newport

The beach was crowded!

While walking along the pier, we noticed this rope hanging from the pier and it had some sort of fish attached to it

Someone pulled it up

It was a sand shark  - the rope was tied between his eyes

Jace with the shark  - someone else was untying the rope from his eyes and he threw him back into the water.  There were several people fishing along the pier and we're thinking someone caught him and was saving him until he was done fishing - oh well, we helped free him!

We also saw a pelican just hanging out

A lady fed him some fish - can you see the fish hanging out his mouth?

After walking along the pier, we took the ferry to Balboa Island

We ended up at Sunset Beach to play in the water

Chris attempted to boogie board.....

I remember when I was little going to the beaches that you could catch little sand crabs.  I asked Tera about it and she showed us how to find them.  Here is Jace digging in the sand to try and get one

Tera showing the girls how to just let the sand fall through their fingers and the crabs will stay in their hands

They found a big one!

This was the view from Tera's porch  -we watched a few wind surfers

My cute kids along the pier back at Newport

It was a nice day to hit the beach and take a break from the parks. We did 2 days at the parks, then spent the day at the beach and back to the parks for 2 more days.   I love going to warm beachy places but I must admit, I hate the sand  - it gets everywhere and in everything! The kids kept saying how awesome it would be to live right on the beach like Tera's family but I don't think I could do it - the sand would constantly be tracked into the house -
It was a great day seeing old friends and wandering around Newport while Chris talked about things when he was on his mission.  Such a fun family trip!