Here comes a first grader

Waiting at the Bus Stop
I followed the bus to school and waited with the mass of parents for the kids to get of the bus. It was actually worth it to see her face when she walked off the bus, She was so excited! then we waited together with some friends for the bell to ring so they could line up and walk in to see their teachers.

Suprise visitors and first day of School Cookies

We could not have had a more exciting week. Last Saturday night we got a call that our good friends Annette and Sterling Elliot were passing through. If Seattle is on the way from Texas to Houston? Maybe they detoured a little but we were so happy they did. They were going to just stay one night but then ended up spending most of the week with us. Sterling helped Bret put a lift kit on his Jeep, We took a day trip out to Pompey's Pillar ( A Clark & Lewis National park and Monument)and Annette helped me run errands and get Faith ready for her first day of school.



These are the Now traditional first day of School Choclate Chip Cookies, This time we had M&M ones.

Summer is coming to an end. Wow did it fly by. That in itself is a really good thing. Somehow most of the house chores have been put on hold, I never knew it would take such a concentrated effort to let some things go. And it has been worth it. I usually am the person that likes my kitchen clean before I leave the house. Have my girls hair done and in matching socks with shoes on their feet. But I have changed some of my priorities this summer and tried to just enjoy the moments more. Hence we have been to the ice cream store shoeless, Lindsay ended up at church once without shoes (not sure how that happened) Been to visit friends, parks and stores completely looking like rag muffins, the children and myself. As long as I have extra diapers and wipes in the car it's all good.

Other than lots of park days the kids have been spending a lot of time in the front yard/colta-sac riding their bikes/tricycles and the motorized jeep and Hummer. It seems that when my kids go out to play it creates a magnetic atmosphere and the neighborhood children all end up at our place. Most mornings I would end up with three or four extra kids. and at least once a week when our friends the Christensen's came over it was around 12 total. It has actually been quite nice for two reasons. 1. they like being at my house 2. When they are all gone it makes my own five children feel like a piece of cake. Never thought that would happen.

But the best thing is that the kids are outside enjoying the suns rays and not sitting in front of the T.V.

Yesterday was the cutes sight. Bret was out washing the vehicles. The kids decided that they needed to wash their bikes and jeep and Hummer, so along side Dad were 4 little kids with sponges in hand and a water Bucket washing their own recreational vehicles. It was supper cute. Wish I had a picture but I have misplaced the rechargeable battery pack for the camera. Yep It is dead.

Faith starts School next wends day, we go Monday to meet her teacher. Then the Twins will start Pre-School in the following weeks. They will be going 3 days a week for 3 hours a day. They are all excited. I suppose the schedule will be nice.

Lulu Pass 4 Wheeling Expedition

I (Bret) got invited to go on the yearly "Men's 4-Wheeling Expedition". This year, we returned to Goose Lake which is just outside Cooke City, MT which is just outside Yellowstone. There were 9 men in total and we all stayed in a Cabela's 12'x20' tent with built in stove. It got down below freezing at night, but we stayed nice and cozy inside. I am quickly learning how to camp up here, unfortunately it is going to cost me a fortune to catch up. I am learning that there are at least two types of camping gear needed (one is light weight stuff of overnight back packing and the other is for car camping where you can haul everything to your tent). Let's just say they don't rough it up here. Anyways, the 4-wheeling was pretty good and we got to see some beautiful country side. We rode into Goose Lake the first day and fished for trout and rode around a couple old abandoned mines and even got up into some light snow. No one got hurt and we only had a couple flat tires, so all it all I guess you would have to call it a success. Everyone brought their pistols but didn't get to use them. Supposedly the Ranger said there were 4 bears roaming the camps (3 blacks and 1 grizzly). All it all, it was a good outing. I can't wait for the boys to get big enough to go.