First Day of School and More...

I wrote most of this the other day so it is kind of old already. It's been a tough week with the crying and such. You will read why...

Here are a few pictures from the summer.

Aww... so much love (or too much if you are iLyn).

Playing at Grandma's house.

I love this picture.

Outside of the temple at Julia's wedding. I can't believe it has almost been eight years since we were married. Time is flying by so fast!!

Fourth of July. It was kind of warm.

Sisters.

It's been a while since I posted anything worth while. We have just been trying to survive the heat. This weekend, however, we had a lovely treat when Nona, Grandpa, and Auntie Caiti came to visit. It was a short visit (a day and a half), but a wonderful one. We had a great time chatting, eating, driving, playing games, and getting caught up. The girls were so excited to spend time with them, but are sad they had to go so soon. Caiti is going to the Missionary Training Center on Wednesday to start her Italian mission. Lucky! Hopefully they can come back soon. Until then, we will miss you all :) Have the best time, Caiti!

Here are a few updates on the girls:

Miss Happy: She starts school tomorrow. Oh-My-Word! I can't believe it is almost here. She only goes for two hours tomorrow. They have just the kindergartners come in for a few hours to get acclimatized to the school. Wednesday will be all day long. I don't know how I am going to handle this change. She has been with me almost every single day for six years. She is my sweetheart, my little loving angel, my helper, my best friend, and my baby. How can I let her go so soon?? This is pure torture. Sure, she might get a little sad and homesick during the day (wishful thinking on my part... she probably won't even remember who I am in an hour), but I know she will have a wonderful time (until it's homework time). I love you precious girl and I miss you already. You have brought so much joy into our lives and I am so excited for this new adventure you are about to embark on. I will miss your singing during the day, but look forward to hearing about all that you learned and accomplished while we were apart. I can't wait for you to be able to read this someday and know the feelings in my heart at this time and always. We love you and are so proud of you!

**UPDATE TO THE UPDATE** Today is her third day of school (second full day) and it isn't any easier taking her there and dropping her off. She seems to really like it (minus the homework... who knew writing your name five times could be so painful). I can't believe she is gone all day long. It's really weird and sad. Little Miss asks if we can go pick her up every hour. I don't know what it is like to only have two kids. She looks so cute in her uniform. I have cried this entire week and will probably continue to do so. I just miss my Miss Happy so much!!!

All dressed and ready to go! The first full day of school she came in at 6:30 to wake me up. She was very, very ready. P.S. She got her hair cut. I will put up the pictures later.

We had donuts and juice while we sat together waiting for her to go.

Waving goodbye... so happy and me so sad.

Bye, bye sweet girl!

My dear friend decided I needed my picture taken while I cried.

After school with her best friend.

Little Miss: This girl has been all over the place lately. Her personality continues to blossom each day. I have to admit, three is a terrible age, but it really can bring out the best in her. She is starting to behave a little better. She has taken over the roll of big sister and is doing quite well. She still doesn't want to help, but I guess we can't expect that to change overnight. She sings random songs, but knows the words (she keeps singing songs from the Twilight soundtrack). She has been so much more involved in scripture study and prayer (as in she will volunteer to say the prayer almost every time). We were reading in The Book of Mormon about Lehi's vision and she told me that she would have yelled, "Hey family, come get some of this good fruit!" She is constantly asking me questions about the scriptures and does stuff like blesses ketchup and mustard. Hilarious. And somewhere along the way, she heard the phrase, "Honey Buns," and has incorporated that into her vocabulary. We love her anyway ;) She is becoming more and more independent and can now buckle her own seat belt. She is still our little firecracker.

She will fall asleep anywhere.

First visit to the dentist.

Everything checked out great!

With her best friend.

iLyn: This girl has come quite a long way. She started walking in May and has been non-stop ever since. I think I have called poison control almost 10 times in the past six months. I should be a frequent caller (or they are going to arrest me). She likes to put things in her mouth and get into EVERYTHING. You turn your back for a minute and she is eating Vaseline (how she got it, however, is beyond me). She loves knives (she pulls them out of the dishwasher) and, recently, has started loving taking off her diaper (annoying!). She has such a funny personality. She makes us laugh and is such a sweetheart with her constant kisses (only to Mommy and Daddy. The girls are still overwhelming). Of course, she still loves the toilet and has now incorporated cleaning it with the toilet brush. We are trying sign language with her since she still isn't talking and she is only so interested before she wants to go play with dolls or the toilet. I took her to the doctor the other day and she has grown four inches in six months. That's pretty good. She is finally starting to catch up. Now if only she would talk and say a word more than once...

Playing in Grandma's yard.

I thought she wouldn't eat black licorice... I was wrong. She loved it and went crazy!

Waiting for her sisters and looking cute.

Big smiles!