Second First Day of School!

One of the hardest parts of the move, was the kids were really sad to leave their teachers, friends and schools.  After awhile, we were able to get them excited about trying a new school and making new friends. 

The school closest to our house had a full first grade, so Taysum gets bused to another school.  In the morning, we drop him off at Westridge Elementary (the close school) and then he rides over to Desert View Elementary about 6-7 miles away.  After school, he is bused right to our house, but he doesn't get home until about 4:30 or so.  We've tried picking him up to save some time, but it doesn't save too much time and he has a great bus driver who he's really gotten attached to.  He prefers the bus! :)  He and Ken race everyday to see who gets home first!  I was very impressed with how welcoming and accommodating DVE has been!  They've been great to work with!  We got him registered on a Friday afternoon, and by Monday morning, they had a meeting set up with the principal, his new teacher and a para for him!  He loves it out there and seems to be doing pretty well!  

Hayden wanted to be part of the action as well!  He's a great little passenger and shopping buddy as we chauffeur his brother and sister around!

Bailey had kind of a crazy start... in Lovell, she qualified for services to work with a couple things with her speech, so we took her to the Child Development Center here in Rock Springs.  She was excited about her Turtle Class, but didn't like that things were so different.  They tested her again here, and her teacher said that Bailey is the smartest kids she's ever tested.  She said they were getting into parts of the test she had never been in before, and just kind of had to make it up!  At this point, they are not concerned about her speech, but gave us a few things to practice with her.  So, we transferred her to a private preschool and she really enjoys it there!  It's called Littlest Learner Preschool.  Mer Lee McCort is her wonderful teacher and she's made some good friends.  We've even joined a carpool, so we only have to drive once a week!

Halloween: Party 3

And of course we went Trick or Treating!  I was happy they took such a good picture together!  Hayden was the Eency Weensy Spider.

We went with my sister to the Second Ward Trunk-or-Treat.  Here are Nicole and Janet.

It got kind of windy and cold right as it started, so we had to bundle up a bit!

Aunt Lindsay and the cousins!

This was really cool!  The elders carved these pumpkins.  Left to right, if I remember correctly, there's a CTR one, I don't remember the second one, the one that is dark was the Angel Moroni, Then the temple, The Atonement, Christ, and Joseph Smith.  I thought they were pretty impressive!!  Yes, they are carved!

It was a busy, but really fun Halloween!  The movers came and we got them started and then did all our fun craziness!  It was a lot of fun to stay with Mom and Dad for a few days!

Halloween: Party 2

Later that night, we went to the Halloween Party at the Library.  They did a great job again this year and the kids had a blast!  I was so glad they did it and I thought they had a pretty good turn out!  They read some spooky stories, had a fun craft and had a little parade.

Taysum found another little friend who thought it was so cool that they were both Captain America!  They had a great time together.  When we were leaving, the little boy told his mom, "But I miss him!"  It was so sweet!

For a craft, the kids got to make a ghost sucker

Bailey also won a prize!  She won the Best Book Character prize because they thought she looked a lot like Fancy Nancy

I always loved the library growing up, and it's been so cool to take my kids and have them involved in activities in the same library I grew up going to!  The ladies there are so sweet and they make it a fun time!

Halloween: Party 1

Our second Halloween adventure was the Halloween Parade at the Elementary School.  Taysum was Captain America this year.  I didn't like the head piece so much, because it's so close to being a mask, but we figured you can still tell who he is and you can still see most of his face.  He was a pretty cute (I mean cool) Captain America!

My nephew CJ was an English Guard

My nephew Quinn was a scarecrow (I love his pose!)

And there's the dancing Captain America!  It was kind of fun, because when he came on the stage, I heard a kid yell out in excitement: "It's Captain America!"

Bailey and Hayden were so good during the parade!  I was really proud of them!  They had a lot of fun watching all the costumes!

My niece Carissa was Snow White

After Nearly 12 Years!

Some of the appliances we have, we've had since our wedding!  My Uncle David and Aunt Sari gave us this microwave.  It's been a great little microwave and has hung in there!  After our last move in Lovell, it was just tired out and gave up.  It's been a great 12 years and we'll miss it!  It's been through quite a lot!  Here are some of its greatest moments:

• It's been with us in two different states
• It survived 10 different moves
• One time in college Ken took it to our Communications class for a presentation about the Potato Button
• A couple years ago, Taysum (for reasons unbeknownst to us) tried to microwave Kool Aid and yelled out "Fireworks in the kitchen!" 

Rest in pieces, old friend!  You'll be missed!

The Great Pumpkin

I tried to be strong and make it though... but I just wasn't making it!  It was a lot harder for me than I thought having Ken gone.  I came to love a appreciate my family so much more!!  They were so awesome and so helpful.  Ken was so sweet and ended up coming back to Lovell over the weekend and he was such a HUGE help getting things sorted out!  My Mom called and wanted to take our kids to see The Great Pumpkin!  They had such a good time and thought it was awesome!  They had a great time with Grandma!

VIP Halloween Party

It's fun, but kind of crazy, how we seem to have as many Halloween Parties as we do Christmas Parties anymore!!  The kids love it, though and I'm glad they had such good teachers that made it so fun for them!  This year for Halloween, Bailey wanted to be a fairy and this is the costume we found.  I thought she looked so adorable in it! :)  I love her little poses as well!  I love having a girl that likes to be girly now and then!

We signed up to bring fruit for her Halloween Party, and this is what I came up with.  I just cut up some orange slices and decorated a few more like Jack-O-Lanterns.  You can't really see it, but I used a small piece of brown pipe cleaner for a "stem" and curled some green pipe cleaner for "vines."  I was pretty happy with how it turned out and it was quick, easy and fun!  And the oranges were GONE!

Bailey's class:

Bailey was also up on the spotlight board!  It says:
My name is Bailey
At preschool, I like to play with toys and eat some snacks!
When I grow up, I want to be a fireman and climb the ladder to save someone in the tree!
(That one is for you, Uncle Nick! :)  )

Just Like My Brother

Hayden is getting old enough that he is fascinated by what his big brother and sister are doing.  Taysum and Bailey are starting to enjoy playing with him as well.  Hayden has always loved cars and one of his favorite things to do is watch Taysum play MarioKart on the Wii.  Recently he has started to "play" along with him!  It's just so cute to me!

PS... please ignore the mess in the background!

Pumpkin Patch

I just love my family so much!  They were such a wonderful help and support while Ken was gone and I was trying to get things ready for the move!  One night, I asked my parents to take the kids so I could go through some things and get ready for the move.  They were so great!  They even took them to my sister's house and helped them carve pumpkins.  That was a huge relief, because I had no idea when we were going to do that!  I sent my camera along and my Dad got some cute pictures of everyone!  I'm so thankful for such a great family!  They made it so fun for the kids and I was able to get a lot done! :)

I love this one!

Still Good in the World!

Around the middle of October, we had one of those experiences that start out horrible and end up wonderful!  We had had a lot of kids at our house one day and when they were all home, Taysum came to me with a toy stuck on his finger.  He was embarrassed that he couldn't get it off on his own.  I think he thought I would be mad.  This is the toy that was stuck on his finger (it's an air launcher for foam rockets):

We tried everything we could think of to get it off and 1/2 hour later, and after a call to my firefighter brother, we were at the ER.  The nurses and doctor were patient with us and very kind.  They tried all they could think of, too, to no avail.  Finally, they had to use a cutter they use to cut off casts.  Taysum was extremely upset by then and even though I tried to reassure him, he thought they were going to cut his finger off.  Finally, it came off!  His finger was pretty sore and had a little cut around it, but he was ok other than that.  It was quite an ordeal and we were both pretty traumatized by the whole thing.  This is what the toy looked like by the end of it:

I regret my first few thoughts towards the company.  I was really upset... I even tried to get some advice from a friend of mine who is a lawyer.  I didn't necessarily want to make a big stink about it or anything, but I wanted someone to understand how awful this was for Taysum and not just be a comment lost somewhere in Customer Service limbo.  

Finally, I called the company.  I expected an automated operator with a long list of numbers to push for different departments.  However, a REAL person answered!  That was the first shock!  I calmly explained the situation and her first response was, "Let me see if I can get our Executive VP on the line."  Whoa!  Shock number 2!  Ready for number 3?  He answered and listened to me!  He empathized with me and seemed truly sincere!  He said they hadn't had that happen before and they would certainly look into it.  Then he said he wanted to send Taysum a toy to replace the one that was now broken and to say they were sorry this happened.  (Of all things to be worried about, Taysum was most concerned that his toy was now broken!)  He gave me his email address and told me to send him my information and they'd get something off to him.  He asked what he likes, which kind of caught me off guard!  This was no small company... the company is POOF-Slinky; the makers of Slinky!  I mentioned he likes sports and building things, etc.    A few days later, I got an email from his assistant saying a package had been sent.  A few days after that, the package came!  It was not just a one toy replacement!  It was a whole box!  And each item was specific to some of the things I had listed as his interests!  I was amazed and so touched!

It just did my heart good to know that there are still people and large companies out there who are sincere and concerned in and interested in their customers!  It was a great learning experience for me!