First Day of School!!

Today was the first day of school for Kali and Zach and it was a bitter sweet day for me. Kali is starting Kindergarten and Zach is our big first grader now! I took Kali to her class while Mark took Zach to his since they are at different schools for the time being (hoping Zach will be transferred over soon as he's been on the waiting list for over a year now). Kali was a little shy and nervous at first because it was a little crowded and crazy in there with all the parents, but she soon warmed up and was excited to see her best buddy Kinsey and they soon were holding hands and guiding each other around. It was cute. Mark said Zach did great and was excited to have his very own desk and was soon coloring and cutting away on a little project the teacher had set up for them.

So here I am at home with my sweet little two year old Madelyn and enjoying the three hours that I get with just her. It is going to be nice having the time to get projects and things done and even to just go grocery shopping with just one kid. Although, I think I am going to miss Zach being gone all day. The break is nice but it's just going to be different. Anyways, I'm glad to be back on a schedule with the kids. The crazy busy summer was starting to get exhausting and so we are all excited for the change and to begin a new school year!!

Utah Trip- July 2010

A few weeks ago we took a trip out to Utah to visit Jeff and Brittany and meet our new little niece/cousin Paislee for the first time and be there for her baby blessing. We drove out all day Friday and on Saturday we were so lucky to have a day out on the lake with Brittany's family and their boat. We had a BLAST! The weather was perfect and the location was perfect at Lake Jordanelle. The kids loved going tubing with Uncle Jeff and Madelyn was loving the boat ride and helping drive the boat. Mark even got his fair share of fun in!



Mark had a little accident while he was wake boarding and believe it or not he did not hit the board. He got this swollen golf ball sized black eye just from slamming face first into the water so hard. It was pretty ugly. I'm just glad no stitches or emergency room visits were required.




Here's Mark wake surfing(different than wake skating) for the first time...eventually you're supposed to let go of the rope and surf the wake right behind the boat! It was crazy!

Madelyn fell asleep on Brittany's dad's lap while driving the boat with him. It was really cute. Guess she got a little worn out from all the fun!
And finally, the whole reason we came to Utah was for Paislee's blessing day on Sunday which of course I didn't get many pictures of but these...Paislee's beaded socks that I made for her. Cute! And the adorable little family Jeff, Brittany and baby Paislee. It was so much fun seeing them and spending time with the family and snuggling sweet little Paislee! We love and miss them already!!

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So I have officially become the worst at picture taking these days and I am so sad that I did not take a single picture with the family that we stayed with this whole time. We stayed with our really good friends Dan and Lori Brown and their three kids. Our kids were so excited to see Hannah, Nolan and Josh and they had such a blast playing with them every morning and night whenever we were around. I really wished we could have stayed longer in Utah to spend more fun time with them but it was still so nice to see them with what little time we had. We really do miss them here in California! It is nice to have someone to visit and stay with in Utah when we do go though! Thanks again Dan and Lori for everything! We had a blast!

Fun at the California State Fair!

Going to the California State Fair has become one of our favorite traditions with the Stacy family. We meet Grandma Stacy, Sheila, Justin and Jordan there and enjoy a day exploring all the fun things that the fair has to offer. Unfortunately I didn't take very many pictures but here are a few to enjoy.

This year the fair had a really cool dinosaur exhibit that the kids thought was fascinating! It really was so cool! We also got to see Smokey the Bear and learn about fire safety which is always important. :)


It is tradition that we let the kids ride one ride and this little roller coaster seems to always be the favorite pick. We don't go to the fair to spend money on rides...we tend to try and find all the free stuff there is to do and there is plenty of cool free stuff to see and do! Luckily the kids are happy with their one ride. :) We made it over to the motorcycle races which really was the highlight of the day even if it was in the 100 degree blazing heat. It was so fun to see the motorcycles do all the jumps and tricks! Too bad I didn't get any pictures.


The kids really enjoyed seeing all the animals and livestock outside and learn about all the cool things on a farm. We also love to walk around inside enjoy the air conditioning and see all the cool displays and exhibits. You never know what fun cool things you might find at the fair! Thanks Grandma and Sheila for meeting us and for another fun day at the State Fair!!

Camping in Yosemite- 4th of July weekend!

July 3-6th we went camping in Yosemite National Park with Mark's family and we had a blast! We couldn't have asked for more PERFECT weather or a more BEAUTIFUL place to camp. It was amazing! The kids seemed to really enjoy every moment of getting dirty, riding their bikes freely, going for long hikes and bike rides and seeing all the beautiful waterfalls and just plain exploring in the great outdoors with cousins and family that we love so much!

Camp. Yes, that's our giant tent on the right. I told Mark I would only camp if I had the biggest tent we could find. haha! I think we found it.

Yosemite Falls

In front of Yosemite Falls.

Sheila and Jeff with their cute kiddos Justin and Jordan. LOVE you guys!!

Grandma and Grandpa Stacy

Cousins.

Grandpa Hobbs made an amazing dutch oven dinner for everyone!

Beginning our hike up to Vernal Falls. Look how fresh we all still look.

Half way there at the bridge! The rest of the hike is pretty much straight up!

Vernal falls mist trail. It was very wet but the kids didn't seem to mind and Madelyn slept through this whole part of the hike.

We made it to the top of Vernal falls!! Kali and Zach did awesome and I was amazed that they made it! We were all pretty wiped out and had to take a little break and enjoy the beautiful view before hiking back down.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Stacy for all your help and for making this trip super fun for all of us!! We had an awesome time and might just have to make this camping trip a family tradition!!