Happy 12th Jo

This cute girl turned 12 yesterday!  She's been waiting a long time to be 12, so that she could go to Young Women's.  Luckily for her she got to go on her birthday!  I can't believe she is my baby and she's 12.

12 fun facts about Jo:

~She loves to cook.

~She's doing cheer and tumbling.

~She's my personal space heater when I'm cold.

~She's got a great smile.

~She has long skinny fingers.

~She has a pinchable booty!

~She's very friendly.

~She's thrilled to finally have a phone.

~She does not like to clean her room.

~She's my sassy pants.

~She loves penguins.
~She's my baby!

New School Year

 

 Since I was such a bad blogger last year I never got first day of school pictures up.  So, this year I thought it would be fun to compare last year and this year.  These darn kids grow up way too fast!

Tanner is a Jr. this year.  I can hardly believe it.  I remember being a junior, and all the fun things that I was able to do. Tanner is driving now and loves it!  He loves soccer, playing Clash of Clans, listening to music, and hanging out with his friends. He is turning out to be such a nice young man!

Kenzie is a Sophomore this year.  Two kids at the high school = CRAZY!!  She is such a fun girl.  She is on the drill team this year and student council, which means she is busy, busy, busy.  She loves dancing, dancing, being with friends and family, and dancing!  Love that girl!

Spencey Poo is an 8th grader this year.  He is smart and fun to be around.  He loves basketball the most, but is trying flag football this fall.  He also loves playing Clash of Clans, shooting hoops, hanging with friends, and spending time with his family.  He has such a tender heart and love getting hugs from him!

My baby girl is in Jr. High this year.  No more elementary school kids for me.  She is a little sassy pants but I sure love her.  She is taking cheer and gymnastics right now and is really enjoying it.  She also enjoys spending time with her friends, being with family, drawing, and  cheer.

I'm hoping for a wonderful school year!  

The first day was a success for everyone!  

7th Grade Day

I sent Jo off to 7th grade day today.  She's excited to be going to Jr. High, but is also pretty nervous.  We had a little pep talk in the car and then she said she was ready to go.  I can't believe I'm done with having kids in elementary school, it's a whole new phase of life.  Love that sassy girl of mine!

Jenna's Graduation BBQ

My darling "Pickle" graduated from BYU today.  I can't believe it. What an accomplishment!  She's worked so hard and it's all paid off.  Lana had a BBQ celebration and there were a lot of family members there to support her.  She's off to New York on Tuesday to reunite with Clayton and to start her life there.  

These cute cousins are showing their BYU spirit!  They quickly posed for a picture and then headed out to watch the SF football team and Kenzie perform during half time.  It's been a busy few weeks!

Sophomore Orientation & A Mission Call

Kenzie had sophomore orientation the other night.  She is on student council and they did a skit.  She was the "bachelorette" and she had to pick a guy that she would want to go on a date with.  The skit turned out really cute and of course she did a great job.  She also performed with the drill team, and they all did really well.  She is loving being so involved with everything.  She is one busy girl and school hasn't even started:/

My super handsome Jalen got his mission call.  He will be serving in the Long Beach, California mission.  He enters the MTC on Dec. 3.  I'm so proud of him.  He is a great example to all his younger cousins, especially all the boys, and even more specifically Tanner.  I'm so thankful for his desire and willingness to go and serve our Heavenly Father for 2 years.  I know the lives of many will be blessed by his service.  Love you Jay!

It Looks Worse Than It Really Is

Ry had a cyst removed off his neck today.  I wasn't able to go with him, so I told him he had to take pictures for me.  The video is even better!  This is right after the cyst was removed before they cleaned and bandaged him up.  He got 3 stitches and now has a very sore neck.  Hopefully it heals soon!

Sunday & Monday Family Time

Kenzie spoke in church on Sunday and did a fabulous job!  She was pretty nervous, but it went great.  Jo had a talk in Primary and I missed it by like 30 seconds:(  I felt so bad.  It was her last talk in Primary before she moves on to YW.  Everyone told me she did a great job.  I did get to read her talk and I'm sure it went well, I just felt bad that I missed it.

We met at the park for a picnic for dinner.  We also played games, sat around and talked,

 and just enjoyed being together!

Spencey-Poo

Mom, Lana, & Em

Monday we gathered at Mom & Dad's.  We made Pelmeny, a family favorite!  It's super yummy, but takes FOREVER to make.  We all love it, so it's worth it!

After dinner, we played some Minute-to-Win-It games.

7 Peaks Fun

On Saturday Lana and I took some of the kiddos to 7 Peaks for some water park fun.  Not sure how Spencer didn't get in a picture, but he was there too.  The sun was shining, the water was warm, cousins were around, and we were all having a great time!

Pope Beach

We headed to Pope Beach on Thursday.  It was, of course, beautiful there.  We didn't have sunshine for too long, but there was still a lot of fun happenings going on!

Kids enjoying the water!

Kenz & Tate

Swing Me!!

Love my girls!

Always a dancer!

Tahoe was a huge success!  We loved it!  I'm so thankful we had the opportunity to go there as a family and to make many wonderful memories together.  It went by way too fast/

Rainbow Trail

We found a cute little nature trail to walk on and decided to take some family photos there.  It was the perfect place for some pictures!

Mom & Dad with their kids!

Sisters!

Cute Girls!

Kenzie

Rainbow Trail

Fun in Tahoe

Tahoe is a beautiful place!  Heavenly Father's beautiful creations are definitely apparent everywhere you look in Tahoe.  Wednesday morning some of the boys went golfing.  While they were doing that, some of us went shopping.  The girls and I bought some cute socks!  The whole time we were there we were having a blast!  There was never a shortage of fun.

Late night game playing!

 

Mimi Club Cupcake Making

Mimi Club Crafts

Meal Prep

Family Devotional

Shopping

Zephyr's Cove

We went to Zephyr's Cove for a beach day.  We had lots of fun despite the chilly weather.  We had lunch, played in the sand, some swam, some tried SUP, and we all had a great day!

Got My Toes in the Sand

Kenzie & Noah

Anna and her cute boys!

Family Time

Alec & Tanner showing off!
 

Kenz, Jo, and Spence

Papa & Deo

Trying to keep warm

Jo & Noah

Hannah & Kenzie

Me with cute little Penny!

Soccer Playing

Stand Up Paddleboarding

We rented a couple paddleboards to try and test our skills.

Jo started off on her knees, but was soon standing up and paddling away.

Me, Ange with Reggie, and Kelly

Alec & Kelly - the Athletic Ones

Tanner had no problem.  He jumped right on and paddled away.  He is quite an athletic kid and is good at almost anything he tries.

Kenzie was a little nervous, but took to it quite well.

Spencer loved every minute of paddleboarding.  He was off in his own world and paddling a little too far for my liking.  Luckily he made it back just fine.