RISE AND SHOUT!

You probably haven't heard yet, but BYU beat Oklahoma Saturday night. What a great game! We had five families over to help cheer on our favorite team. You know you have a full house when your entire entryway is covered with shoes:

It was completely crazy but lots of fun and we're excited for the rest of the season. GO COUGARS!

Firsts

Lots of first times for our family this week. We had a fun last week of summer with Trevor, Lindsay and Brandon visiting. On Friday we went to the local waterpark Roaring Springs for the first time thanks to some free passes from a friend of Lindsay's. We had a great time and it was the perfect last day of summer break.

Saturday was the first day of football games for the boys. Dallin got to be quarterback for the first play and completed a perfect pass!

August 31st, first day of school. Brady was so excited about bringing his lunch that he started packing it on Saturday afternoon! Hooray for first grade!

.

Also a big first having McKenzie start high school at Mountain View (Yeah, I don't think I'm old enough for it, either. That's what happens when you get married young!) I'll admit I was a little nervous dropping her off that morning, but she seems to be liking it and I'm so glad she has a good group of friends there.

Middle School (7th grade) is old hat for Mallory, always our confident one.

So now here I am, sitting in a quiet house wondering what to do with my time. I feel like this week is the first week of the rest of my life. Any suggestions on what I should be when I grow up?

A Taste of Summer

There are some foods that just say summer to me. Fruit, garden vegetables, salads, anything grilled...I love them all. Of course there's my mom's famous potato salad and baked beans that I can never quite replicate. And watermelon....oh I just could eat it all day. Here's some of our favorites this summer:


For a Laurel activity we went and picked cherries in an orchard about 30 minutes away. The cherries were just falling off into our hands. It was messy but so fun and delicious! Here's Mallory and I after pitting some for a yummy cherry cobbler.

Corn on the cob is one of my favorites and you can get it fresh on almost any corner around here. Shucking corn always reminds me of summers on my grandma's back porch in Beaver.

Some of the "bounty" from our garden. OK, so it's not much, but we're learning. We've had plenty of zucchini, a few tomatoes, but several other things never grew very well. Next year we'll definitely prepare the soil better (I told you so, Mark!) and fertilize more. It's been really fun going out in the evenings and checking to see what's growing.

Last week we had a fun day at Settler's Park in Meridian. The kids climbed, splashed in the water and played tennis.

The highlight for me was the shaved ice we got at the end. Nothing says summer to me like a Tiger's Blood shaved ice, yum!

So what are your favorite tastes of summer? Hope your last days of summer are filled with special treats!

Are you ready for some football?

Seriously, how cute is this kid in his oversized jersey? He wants to wear it every day! The boys are going to play football this fall. Dallin's first practice was yesterday and he actually looked pretty good! (Of course, being the biggest and oldest kid on the team doesn't hurt!) I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, D or Mark, who was definitely reliving his kid grid days. When we came home Mark made all the kids put on their tennis shoes for some football FHE fun:

I hate to see these beautiful summer nights end, but I do love fall (and that always includes football!)

According to Weather.com...

It is currently 56 degrees in Meridian right now with a projected high of 61. Phoenix? High of 103 (which is actually a cooling trend there!) I don't say this to brag (Trevor) but so that when it's the middle of January and I'm hating my life I can remember why I live in Idaho.

Goodbye to Grandma

Mark and I really enjoyed our weekend back in Beaver for Grandma Yardley's funeral. I thought the service was wonderful, tearful at times but mostly just a celebration of a life well-lived. She was an amazing woman who packed so much life into her 97 years, nobody could ever keep up with her. Such a great example of service, community-mindedness and love. It was so fun being with all of my siblings and favorite cousins again.

Our fantastic (and brave!) friends the Burks took all four of our kids with them on a three-day campout in McCall. Sounds like everyone had more fun than if Mom and Dad had been there! Thank you again, Michelle and Roman, we owe you big time!

So now we're in the home stretch of our summer, four weeks left until school starts. Thankfully we don't have any more road trips planned but now I have to put up with the "I'm bored"s and "There's nothing to do"s. Help!

What we did on our Summer Vacation

I've been home for a few days but am only now finding the time to sit down and write about our fun trip to Arizona and Utah. Yes, the long drive and excessive heat were brutal, but still worth it to see so many of our favorite people! The fun times included:

Lunch at Cafe Rio on the drive down with two of my old BYU roommates, Teri and Julie. We hadn't seen each other in probably 8 years!

A few field trips (indoor of course) with the Boden and Easton families. Here are all the kids at the Arizona Science Center which just happened to have an official lego building contest going on (a dream come true for Brady!).
Lots of swimming in Grandma's pool, even though it felt more like bathwater!

Spending time with best friends from our old ward and driving past our old neighborhood (has everything always been that dry and brown?)

Driving to Beaver, UT for the 24th of July. Growing up we spent all of our summers in Beaver and I love bringing my kids back here.

All four kids got to ride in the parade with their cousins.

Everyone loves a parade!

We then spent the afternoon on Dad's boat on the lake....so much fun!

The night of the 24th we went to a family BBQ ending with fireworks. The biggest moment of the night for Brady was when Grandma said she just wanted to look at his loose tooth and then she pulled it right out! A fun first tooth memory!

After stopping to visit friends and the temple open house in Salt Lake, we finally made it home. Our grass, garden and lots of weeds had grown so much since we were gone. I love looking out and seeing a beautiful green yard! (And here's the pheasant we see every once in a while.)

On a sad note, our other little kitty Ginger disappeared while we were away. Apparently we don't have the best luck when it comes to pets! Also, my Grandma Yardley passed away a few days ago, so back down to Beaver I'll go this weekend. I'm so glad we got to see her one more time. She was an amazing woman who lived 97 years and has left quite a legacy behind.