First Day of School

So Monday was the first day of school. My kids were all so excited! This year was kind of sad for me because I wasn't there for their first day. I had to be to school myself at 5:45 am. So I missed the whole thing. Luckily Chad has his clinic start at 10:00 so he could get walk with the kids and of course get some pictures.
The kids love Alpine Elementary. They know that us moving is coming up sometime and they are wishing that we could move some where close enough that they could stay at this school.
Avery is in 2nd grade this year and her teacher is Mrs Sampson. (I went to school with her son Scott)

I was pretty impressed that Chad even got a picture of her with her teacher. Shina is in 4th grade this year.

Her teacher is Mrs Black. (She says she is really lucky because Mrs Black is the best teacher in the 4th grade)
Isaac is in the 6th grade this year! (Is that possible?) Of course he is too cool to get his picture taken with his teacher. He is in Mr. Cowley class. Here is Isaac doing the cool thing and hangin with the guys. He denies any interest in girls yet.

Lafer the Terror!

He looks innocent enough. Those eyes are so sweet and his smile warms your heart but my little Lafer is a terror! He can find trouble where there is no trouble to be found. I can't turn my back on him for long without finding a trail of disaster behind him.
Today he was especially naughty.

First, I found Lafer, who I thought was watching Sesame Street, with this mess of batting. We have had these couches since Isaac was Lafe's age and none of the kids have ever discovered that there is a zipper on the underside of the cushions and if you unzip it there is a whole bunch of batting that you can pull out and throw everywhere. Not to mention the pile of laundry in the background that was folded until Lafer found it. Next we move on to his latest masterpiece. This one is only one of probably a dozen that are in various places around the house including the coffee table, my bedspread, the headboard, a picture above the bed, the fridge, his body, my text books, etc. Most exciting is that he seems to love the sharpie markers and chooses to do most of his artwork with them.

He was very proud of this one. Then last but not least he pulled a bar stool over to the microwave, opened it, saw my cell phone sitting on top, and decided to put the phone in. I don't know quite how he new how to start it but he did. Then he opened the door and said, "DONE!" It wasn't in there very long, no explosions or anything, but my phone is no longer functioning, and I am pretty sure the insides are melted because of the smell. I really wish I would have bought the insurance now.
As much trouble as that kid is, I just look at him and I can't be mad at him. And after five kids I can relax a little bit more and not stress so much over his acts of terror.

Dancing vs Swimming Lessons

Pause the music below so that you can hear this video. I am have been trying to get this on here for a while and I finally figured out how to do it. It is so funny!

Brian Regan Live!

Last night was the long awaited Brian Regan show. It was an awesome night at Thanksgiving Point. Dr. Sanderson was kind enough to get the tickets for us. We absolutely loved the show. Chad and Marc are getting psyched for the show! We went with our good friends Marc and Jessica Sanderson (Dr. Sanderson's nephew). They are always fun to hang out with.

I was surprised when we told people that we were going to see Brian Regan how many of them hadn't heard of him. But he did three shows this last weekend and every one of them was sold out. With a crowd of over 4000 people a night. So those who don't know who he is are really missing out.
He has a new DVD coming out Sept 9. We have already preordered it and can't wait for it to come!

Brothers

I don't think there are many things more special then the relationshiop between brothers. Isaac waited a long time for a brother that he could play ball with and wrestle with (and mow the lawn with). Lafer is lucky to have such a great big brother. Isaac loves to play with Lafer. He follows Isaac around and loves being right next to him. They love to snuggle together watching TV. Isaac is such a good example to Lafer too. It reminds me of a poem that Chad and I both really like called Little Eyes Upon You. It goes like this:

Little Eyes Upon You
There are little eyes upon you
and they're watching night and day.
There are little ears that quickly
take in every word you say.

There are little hands all eager
to do anything you do;
And a little boy who's dreaming
of the day he'll be like you.

You're the little guy's idol,
you're the wisest of the wise.
In his little mind about you
no suspicions ever rise.

He believes in you devoutly,
holds all you say and do;
He will say and do, in your way
when he's grown up just like you.

There's a wide-eyed little boy
who believes you're always right;
and his eyes are always opened,
and he watches day and night.

You are setting an example
every day in all you do;
For the little boy who's waiting
to grow up to be like you.

This is how our Garden Grows.

Chad and I picked this all TODAY from our garden. We are being bombarded with lots and lots of veggies. More than we could possibly eat.
It is so fun to see so much growing!

Here are a few things that have grown that are kinda strange. Not really sure what some of them are.

Ride Dad?

Lafer has recently discovered how fun it is to ride on Chad's motercycle. He will go find the helmet and drag his dad to the bike and say, "Ride, Dad?" With eyes like his looking up at you it is hard to say no.

I think we have what Chad calls an "Adrenaline Junkie" on our hands.

Alpine Days

We love Alpine Days. We have gone since Isaac was a baby. We always get up early and go to the Fireman's Breakfast, and then a couple of the kids will do the Toddler Trot, and then watch the Parade. Chad used to always have to help with the breakfast so he was never able to participate in the 5k race. This year he and Isaac did it together. Chad has had quite an active summer since he has done 4 triathalons, but this was Isaac's first race. He did awesome! He finished in under 30 minutes. I think we will have another running addict. The night before the race we realized that Isaac's didn't have any running shoes that fit him. It was 9:45 at night and we knew we couldn't make it anywhere to get any before the stores closed. We thought that maybe my mom would have some tennis shoes that would fit him. We had him try some of hers on. They were too small! I thought that mine would be way too big, but no, they fit him perfectly. Aghhh! I can't believe I have a child who has feet as big as mine already! He is growing too fast! The shoes worked perfectly for him. I don't think I will get them back now though.
This was Sage and Lafe's first time doing the Toddler Trot since we were in Oregon and missed the last few Alpine Days. They were so cute with their numbers on their chest all ready to race around the block.

Lafer did so good about the first half of the block and then he starte to wonder if it would ever end. Chad ended up carrying him for a good portion of the race.
You can see from the look on Sage's face how she felt about it. She actually did run the whole thing though. It was all worth when she got to the finish line and received her blue ribbon and her sucker.
Next year we will have Shina run the 5k too. She felt bad that she didn't do it this year.
Good old Alpine Days Parade! (We got this picture for you Shawn and Raquel)
We invited to the Murphey family to join us at the parade. We had so much fun! The kids got all kinds of candy and prizes! You never know what's going to be thrown at the Alpine Days Parade. The kids usually do need a big grocery bag to hold it all. We are glad to be back in Utah to enjoy Alpine Days again.

A Strange Family Tradition

Usually when I tell people about our odd family tradition I get a few laughs and a few "No ways!" But to our family it doesn't seem that strange in fact we can't imagine it any other way. Chad paints all of our nails. It actually kinda started way back when Chad and I first started dating in high school. He came over to my house to visit and I pulled out my nail polish. He thought it would be funny to paint all of my toes a different color. I went to school the next day with 10 different colors of nail polish on my toes. Then with my first pregnancy when I couldn't reach my toes anymore Chad started doing it for me. He has done it for me ever since and started doing the girls as well. He would start when they were just babies. They always had pretty pink toes. They don't ever ask me to paint their nails, only Chad. He enjoys the one on one time with the girls. Here Shina is on the phone with Grandma and Grandpa Parrish while Dad is painting her nails. I can picture this as a common scene as she becomes a teenager talking with her friends on the phone while her dad does her nails.
The great thing is is that Chad does a really good job too! The other day I had to paint my own toe nails because they were chipping and I was wearing sandals and Chad wasn't home. He came home later and saw my toes and asked who painted them. I told him I did. He said you need to let me do them. The don't look very good.
We have a huge collection of nail polish with lots of colors to choose from. Whenever Chad goes out of town he usually brings the girls back some nail polish. It's fun to see the different colors he chooses.
When Lafe sees all the girls getting their nails painted he wants his done too. Chad doesn't like the idea of it at all. But Lafer just wants to be part of the action. And their is no reasoning with an almost 2 year old. So Chad insists on using a more manly color like green or blue if he is going to paint his nails. Hopefully he will grow out of this soon.
As strange as the tradition sounds it is a treasured one that would definately be missed if we stopped doing it.

Float to Stroke Swim School

Avery, Sage, and Lafe have been going to the Float to Stroke Swim School for the past 3 weeks. It has been quite interesting. They start kids as soon as they can crawl. The goal of the program is to teach kids to be able to survive if they were to fall into the water. They spent a lot of the time going from a swordfish on their stomach to flipping over to their back and floating to the side of the pool where they flip back over and climb out. Avery was already quite comfortable in the water as long as she could touch. She never dared to go into the deep end or jump off the diving board. She is now a lot more comfortable in water of any depth. Sage's experience was a little bitter-sweet. She cried for pretty much every lesson, the whole lesson. She didn't like to float on her back and even more didn't want to go onto her stomach. Even though she cried the whole time by the end she could go from swimming on her stomach to flipping over to her back and kick her feet til she got to the side of the pool . In this picture the teacher is there behind her but she is floating all by herself.
This was one of the hardest parts of the lesson. The teacher would ask us to take Lafer to the diving board and drop him in. When she first asked me to do it I thought, "Are you crazy?" I felt terrible just dropping him off the diving board. But as soon as I did it he came right up to the surface and floated on his back with no help.
Like Sage, Lafe would cry the whole time. The teacher would put him in the water on his stomach and just let him go. He didn't like that much. But he was amazing at flipping immediately over to his back and just floating.
I actually video taped some of the lessons and was going to put them on the blog but Chad said that it would break his mom's heart when she saw her grandbabies crying. But seriously it was an amazing experience to see how much they learned and how capable they are of being great swimmers.

Our little ball boy!

The other night Chad and I walked out of our room to find Lafer and his collection of balls all lined up in a row. They were all lined up neatly along the line where the carpet changes.
He worked so hard to get them all evenly spaced. He didn't want to throw them or hit them he just wanted them all lined up so he could sit and admire them.
Then he had a good old time running back and forth and jumping over them.
He was so proud of his ball collection. He is in love with balls!