First Day of Kindergarten!!

A lot of anticipation has led up to this day. Aubrey definitely had the excited type of anticipation. Mommy and daddy had a little bit more of the nervous, 'is she going to be ok?' type of anticipation.   

As this day finally arrived, you could see the excitement bubbling from every inch of this little girl. She was all smiles, was ready with her backpack and lunch she packed herself, and she woke up on time and wasted no time getting herself dressed and ready. Kindergarten has been calling her name and she's been counting down the days (although it seems like this first day has come far too quickly for mom's liking). 

Before Aubrey headed out for the day, I gave her a necklace that she wore to remind her that I was thinking and praying for her. I wore a necklace as well to remind me of her throughout the day. 

This day has also been a big day for our family as a whole. I'm going back to work part time and today just happened to be the first day of teaching for me as well. There's been a lot of emotions, tears, and questioning involved in this decision for us as a family. It's been a little heart wrenching for a lot of different reasons, but we're stepping out in faith and feeling a peace that this decision was the right one to make despite how hard the decision has been, despite the outcome. This is a new chapter and journey for us and I couldn't think of doing any of this without Brandon's support and help. He's been my rock and I couldn't be more thankful for everything he has done for me and our little family. He's going to be spending some one on one time with Lucy on some days and nana and papa are going to be with Lucy on the other days. It's really a good setup with family taking care of our little Lucy. 

Before I headed out for my day I got to be there to send Aubrey off. I wouldn't have wanted to miss this for the world and I'm so thankful I got the opportunity to be there for that! 

I may have shed a little tear as our little girl was lining up :). Wow. Where has the time gone?! 

Aubrey, you are growing up so very fast and as much as we want to stop time, we are excited for the changes and growth ahead and we are going to be your cheerleaders along the way! Happy first day of kindergarten Aubrey! Let's see what this next year ahead brings!  

The Royal Treatment

Before Aubrey started school, the girls both spent the night at their grandparents house.  Boy, did they get the royal treatment when they were there!

 

They had so much fun having a sleepover and watching a movie in their sleeping bags, pancakes for breakfast, and then these lucky girls got to go for their very first manicures and pedicures!

 

 

My mom took them and she said they were nervous and quiet the entire time.  We've done our fair share of manicures and pedicures at home, but never quite like this!

Lucy told me later that her favorite part was the hand and foot massage they got :).  They might have been shy at the nail salon, but they were sure talkative about it when they got home!

They both chose some shade of blue (which was kind of surprising for our pink and purple Aubrey), but I can't get over how cute those little toes looked!

 

Lucy also really liked the dryer and that was when her smile came out :).

 

Such fun, special times!  These girls are very loved!  What a special treat before a very special first day of Kindergarten!



Loon Lake

This year for our family vacation we went camping to Loon Lake.  We couldn't get our regular camping spot (again!), so we opted for going a couple of nights to somewhere a little closer to Utah for Jon and Krystal :).

 

The lake was a beautiful, deep blue and absolutely gorgeous!  We had two camping spots next to each other, so that was really nice to be close and all together.  This made it very convenient for nap time! :)

 

Goodness, these girls had so much fun together!  We love seeing their relationship grow with each visit together and these four truly love each other :).

 

Boy, did these girls love the dirt and mud this year!  They couldn't get out of it and we couldn't keep them clean!  But that's all a part of camping right?!
 



 



 



 



 



  



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leah, in particular, LOVED getting dirty!  The messier the better!
 

One afternoon Krystal planned a scavenger hunt for the girls complete with a list of items to find and binoculars that they each decorated.  So cute!
 

 

 

 

 

Even Leah pretended she could read and find the items herself :).  She just babbled away as the girls were on the hunt.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And with all the pictures of the girls we had to get at least some evidence there were in fact adults there :). 
 

 

We ended up taking my dad's fishing boat that he had completely redone this year.  It was a hit for the kids as well as they adults!  This lake had a lot of islands and it was so fun to ride to them in this little boat.  On our last night the girls got to do some fishing from the boat with Jon and my dad.  Priceless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And what has now become tradition it seems we had some cake to celebrate the three birthdays coming up in August :).
 

 

We always miss not having all our family around, but its good to be together when we are and the fun memories that are made each and every time.  We love you all!