Summer is Not Over Until...

Summer is not officially over until you have to go back to school. Can you believe it is already back to school time? 

Makayla is in 5th grade this year. Her teacher is Mrs. Bailey. 

Caden is in 4th grade this year and his teacher is Mrs. Vea. He had Mrs. Vea in 2nd grade too and she is the best teachers, so we are so excited for this year. 

1st graders have to go in to the school for about 20 minutes on the first day for an introduction, so Brynnli and I got to spend one last day together.

Then she was off for her first day of 1st grade. Brynnli's teacher is Mrs. Fasselin. 

How in the world are all of my babies in school all day long? This transition has been harder than I thought. They are all doing great in school so far and I can tell this is going to be a great year. I'm sure it will only be a few days of mourning and then I will be loving my happy Mondays with my kids in school all day. 

 

Hanging on to the Last Bits of Summer

We are hanging on to the last bits of summer around here. 

Makayla made cupcakes. These ones are to celebrate Team USA in the Olympics. 

 See, these two do love each other. 

Makayla is the cutest. She wrote a letter to J.K. Rowling (the author of the Harry Potter series). She is hoping she will write her back. 

Caden's team finished up the season. They only lost 1 game. Tyler even became one of the assistant coaches. We loved this season and can't wait for winter so he can play Jr. Jazz again. 

Tyler and I went on a date night and came home to find our kids all snuggled in our bed. 

As soon as basketball season was over, Caden started baseball. He's on a team called the Bingham Bombers. Caden is doing so well this year and has gotten a lot of hits and runs for his team. 

And this girl loves Caden's baseball team because she can make friends with anyone. There are a few girls at the games and they always bring toys to play with. 

Tyler and I went on a date for my birthday. We went to my favorite, P.F. Changs, then we were going to go shopping, but ended up going to the Puppy Store and got Bella! It was the funnest birthday date. 

Brynnli was looking extra cute one morning before school, so I snapped this cute picture of her. 

Sometimes I wonder what I married. 

For my actual birthday we went to lunch at Tepenyaki. Yum!

My co workers celebrated my birthday at work. They decorated my desk and Shauna made me a chocolate peanut butter bars. 

Here's a good lesson for you, don't look at your phone while you drive. A girl in our neighborhood was looking at her phone and ran into our next door neighbor's tree. She totaled her car. 

Poor Makayla. She gets bloody noses a lot in the summer because it is so dry. She woke up one morning with blood all over her face. 

Who needs to go out to restaurants when you have a Tyler around who can make you amazing food? 

I Can't Believe it... We Got a Dog!

So we may be crazy, but we got a dog. Can you believe it? She is the cutest dog ever. Meet Bella. She's a Havapoo (havanese poodle mix), and she weighs almost 2 pounds. 

Here's the story. The kids have been begging for a pet for years. They have tried to show us how responsible they can be by taking care of their stuffed puppies. Well we have always hesitated about getting a dog because Tyler and Makayla are allergic. We did some research and found a few breeds that are hypoallergenic. Tyler and I started talking about getting a dog.  We went out for my birthday dinner and I somehow convinced Tyler to just go and look at a dog. We were very specific about what kind of dog we wanted. It had to be small, easy to train, good with kids, and hypoallergenic. When we walked in we were looking at all the puppies and I saw this cute, small black one, and I knew she was the one. 

We were able to hold her and I was sold. I just had to convince Tyler. Well Tyler looked like he was going to pass out. He wanted to wait and think about it overnight, but I wanted to get her right then because they said puppies like her tend to sell fast. Well somehow I convinced Tyler to be spontaneous and we took Bella home. 

The kids were at Terry and Craig's house. We wanted it to be a surprise, so we didn't say anything to them when picked them up. When we got home we sat them on the couch and said we had surprise for them and then Bella walked in. 

Makayla started crying and asked if it was a dream. Caden kept saying, "Wait, we got a puppy?" and Brynnli crawled up on the back of the chair and started crying because she was scared. It was the cutest thing and something I will remember forever. 

To say we are smitten is an understatement. All of us love Bella so much... even Tyler. 

Bella has been so good for all of us in different ways. She is great for calming Makayla and Caden down when they are stressed. She has taught our kids responsibility, and they are so good to take her for walks, play with her, and make sure she's fed. Brynnli is no longer as scared of dogs, which is a huge change. Bella has been so great for me because with all the kids back in school all day, I have someone to talk to during the day. But the biggest surprise is Tyler. Tyler always claimed he was not a dog person, but he loves her, talks baby talk to her all day, and spoils her. Nothing can melt your heart faster than a puppy. 

Even Terry loves her grand dog. 

Here's Bella all wrapped up in my minky blanket.... because she's not spoiled at all. 

We all love to play with her outside. 

This was her first bath. She looks so skinny. 

Don't worry, we got her all warmed up and tried to put a bow in her hair. 

Something seems wrong about this picture... shouldn't the dog be in the cage? Well I guess we know who is in charge around our house. 

Oh Bella, we love you so much and are so happy you are part of our family.