Savannah's First Day of Kindergarten

Savannah was so excited to start Kindergarten. She really likes her teacher and has already made two new best friends. (Her two best friends from Pre-K both ended up in a different class.) It's a little different not having her around for most of the day - it's quieter. However, when she gets home from school, that's a different story. Almost every day she goes into melt down mode for a couple of hours. First is the crying and whining, then after dinner it turns into hyper active mode. Let's just say I am glad when bedtime rolls around!

Food Storage

About a month ago, I skipped out on Primary during third hour so I could attend Relief Society. One of the women gave a 15 minute presentation on food storage and it lit a fire under my bum to get my food storage in order. I have spent the past month putting together our 72 hour kits, ordering enough food storage for 7 people for one year from the cannery in Palmer, and canning and bucketing it all. The kids had a lot of fun helping with the canning.Before we canned it all...

Savannah and Izzy helping can milk

I tried buying a little here and a little there, but it never seemed to build up, so we went ahead and just bought it all at once. The only thing left to stock up on is water. I can't find a 55 gallon drum anywhere around here! Guess we'll just have to stock it in smaller quantities. Jeremey built me a pallet that fits in the closet under the stairs (used to be the nursery closet, but oh well) and we moved all of our boxed items down there. We still have to figure out where in the world we are going to put 40 buckets of wheat! But at least we have our food storage - FINALLY!

Jackie's Visit

It's been a while since I updated my blog...sorry! I hope you guys are still checking it. My friend, Jackie, came up for a couple of weeks with her 6 month old daughter. I haven't seen her since our 10 year reunion in 2005. A couple of us girls got together at Katrina's house, gabbed and ate food all afternoon. It was really good to see her - and the other's who even though they live here, I rarely see! I need to get out more!

Amy, Katie, Tiff, Jackie, Katrina

Swim Lessons

The girls took swim lessons for three weeks. I wish I had signed them up for back to back sessions because just about the time they get comfortable doing things, lessons are over. Neither of my girls put their faces underwater yet. But that could be because we never go to the pool. Some of Savannah's friends already know how to swim. She's going to be 6 soon. If we went to the pool more often and worked with her, she would probably know by now. But they had a lot of fun at their lessons. Their cousins, Rylee, Zoey and Camry were in lessons with them. They usually looked forward to going - except for the days they had to go off the diving board. The first time they went off, Savannah screamed and Izzy curled up in a ball. Their teacher had to basically lift them up and drop them off - into the arms of another teacher of course. The second time they had to go off, Miss Anna had to chase Izzy around before getting her up on the board. But they survived. The last day of lessons they got to go on the slide. Izzy went down with her teacher, but Savannah braved it by herself. She used her hands to slow her down the whole way, but hey, she did it by herself! Maybe next summer I'll sign them up for two sessions in a row...

Savannah and Izzy on the diving board

Izzy's turn down the slideSavannah screeching down the slide

Wendy's visit

My friend Wendy and her three kids are up visiting. They've been staying with us this past week. My kids have loved having round the clock playmates. Although Gavin seems to think that Isaac (8 months old) is one of those punching bags that when you push over pops right back up. He is constantly kicking and pushing Isaac over. AUGH! Anyway, we've been having a lot of fun hanging out and catching up. She leaves soon to go back to North Dakota and it will probably be another two or three years before we see each other again. :( I keep forgetting to take my camera with us when we go places, but I did get some pictures the other night when we were roasting marshmallows in the back yard.

Gavin, Izzy, Savannah, Mayzie and Isaac

Mayzie and Savannah eating rhubarb

Ashlyn on the swingset

Trip to Anchorage

We took a family trip up to Anchorage on Wednesday. We promised the girls that if they would sell some of their toys at our garage sale, we would take them to Build A Bear. I drove up a few hours earlier (with some other family members) to attend the temple with my cousin. Jeremey drove later with the kids. They picked me up at 12:30pm and we took some pictures outside the temple.

After that, we went to Build A Bear, ate some pizza and Arby's, got ice cream and shopped a few more stores before coming home. The kids did pretty well - only minimal fighting, but they were pretty tired by the end. Gavin had a hard time on the drive home, probably because he was stuck in a car seat or stroller all day. He cried for the last hour of the drive and finally fell asleep 15 minutes from home! All in all, it was a fun family day.

10 Years Ago

10 Years Ago...Jeremey and I met on July 5, 1998 at the cannery in Nikiski. Little did I know how that meeting would affect the rest of our lives. I am very blessed to have met him, to have married him and to get to share the rest of my life with him. He is my best friend, my love and the world's greatest daddy! Here's to 10 more years together!