summer's coming to a close

 The kids started their last week of swim on the 7th. Kendal and Pete also started their official season of cross country. Doing both has been tiring for them, but on the other hand they are building skills, endurance, and muscle right now that will benefit them this season.  Kendal and Pete are gaining confidence and bettering their strokes. Alice is doing so well. Swimming short spurts on her own and feeling confident in the water! 

Monday I went back in for a second day of registration. Kendal came the lady bit to give tours again to New students. Wednesday I went in for the more training from the previous librarian. 

I was organizing and cleaning Tuesday morning and Casey had an itch to make something so he wiped up delicious pretzels that we devoured after dinner. I went with some friends that evening to the Barbie movie.  I took the movie lightly and found some humor and good things from it. Otherwise I wouldn't call out an epic movie. While I was at the movie Casey took the kids to put their painted rocks on the canyon rim trails rock snake! After that they got ice cream cones at McDonald's and played a game at home before bed. 

 

The kids ended swim lessons on the 10th. Kendal, Pete, and Alice are proud of their progress, and excited to be done with swim! 

Pete was scheduled to get some teeth pulled at the end of this month, but during swim we got a message that they had an opening so we sprang it on Pete that he was getting teeth pulled.  He was sulky about it, but rallied through. That night Pete had an Activity day's activity. His group went for a hike from his leaders house and then around Dirkies. 

 

Friday I was stuck in new hire training for most of the day. Casey had to come last bit through the day because he's a mentor for the new science teacher. We were both a bit done by that evening so we ordered pizza, played games, and watched a few Disney shorts with the kids.  Saturday Casey took the kids disc golfing while I went in a couple of errands then we continued with a bunch more errands that we had to get done. Saturday night Casey and I went out to dinner with friends at Guppies and then went over to the adult session of Stake conference. Sunday morning was Stake conference and along with it Casey was called to the three secretary for the Stake young men's presidency. He'll be serving under Brett Welch. The stake presidency wasn't surprised Brett wanted Casey after watching them together at girls camp. Funny enough after months of not having a calling in our new ward Casey was called to be in the primary and two days later was called in to be in the YM presidency. 

Monday (14th) took me back to work with training. Thankfully it was short and I was able to get some work / prep done. I feel a bit like a chicken with my head cut off with all the things on my plate, I'm sure I'll get the hang of things and a routine down at some point, but for now it's a lot. Casey started back on Tuesday and I did a second day of training plus some more work on the library. 

Wednesday was staff meetings all  morning for Casey and I. I had a preventative health check up and then went to l over to Stricker for the afternoon. Kendal and Pete had cross country every morning at 7, The kids held down the fort for most of this week while Casey and I were at work. We left a list for them to do and they had time with friends and chill time otherwise. 

Wednesday morning Pete had singing practice for his church performance. Kendal got to go to Netta's birthday party around lunch and then a yw's activity to the Steadman water slides Wednesday evening. 

Thursday and Friday put Casey and I in more school meetings and preparation. Not going to lie i've been overwhelmed with my workload between my two jobs and all of the meetings I've had to attend aren't helping my preparation for either library. Thursday Kendal got to have a back to school dinner at her friend Alison's house. That same evening Stricker had their back to school night so Casey and I took Alice in to meet her teacher and take her school supplies in. She was a bit nervous, but warmed up quickly. Casey took Pete to a talk for the athletes in the district as well Thursday night. There was a former Kimberly Alum that came and talked with the athlete's. He was born with only one arm, but has thrived and been driven his whole life thanks to good parents and a few coaches and teachers that believed in him. He was the pitcher for his baseball team and played other sports as well. He started off with a joke of how he lost his arm to a shark while surfing. Casey said he had Pete on the edge of his seat and was riveted for the rest of his talk. 

I've had so much on my mind this week that I ended up wearing two different shoes on Friday morning and didn't notice till half way through my meeting. Casey and I had our insurance meeting together after a district luncheon. Alice got to go over to Jemma's house for lunch and her birthday party. She's been begging to see Jemma for a while. I'm grateful she got the chance to spend time with her. 

Saturday was packed with fun. In the morning we did our third annual Dansie Triathlon for the kids. We started off with running. Kendal and Pete were in the older group of kids and Alice was with the elementary school age kids, and we had a preschool age group as well. The older kids ran a mile and a half while the younger kids ran a couple of blocks. Next the kids did their bike race. The older group had to do five miles and the younger group biked to our house and back to the Dansie's house. We took a mini break to change into swim suits then we met up at Dirkie's for the swim portion. The older kids had to swim two lengths of the boardwalk and the little's just one. Kendal was par for the course on her run, and did fine in the bike race as well as the swim. Pete did well in his run and was close to winning in the bike portion. When it came to swimming Pete let his fears of open water and fish nearby win and he struggled through the whole thing. (funny enough he was teasing Alice about the fish and was the one who flipped out when it came down to it.) While Alice was last in her group (youngest and not in a competitive mood.), we feel she did well for herself. As mentioned above big brother was a pill about the fish to Alice so she refused to even go near the water for awhile. Afterwards the kids played in the water. Pete pouted on the dock, Alice played in the sand / sulked about touching water, and Kendal played with everyone and went cliff diving with some of the kids before we left. 

 

 

 

We spent the afternoon cleaning up the weeds in the back yard and trying to aerate the front lawn to help the grass come in in our stubborn areas. We're probably going to till the back yard before we plant that seed. We went over to the Dansie's for a hot dog cookout and a movie night with a bunch of friends. They put on father of the Bride for a movie so most of the boys and little kids ended up just playing around the yard. Fun and laughter all around. 

Today Casey had his first and last lesson as a primary teacher. He was released so he could serve fully in the Stake young men's presidency. He's actually off to a meeting with his new presidency right now. Pete has been practicing with a few other primary kids and today he got to perform a song for the Spanish branch. We stayed for their whole meeting and Pete was to shy to get headphones to understand, but it was a neat experience otherwise. We start school on Tuesday and the kids are excited and ready. Casey and I are in the ready or not here it comes mindset. 

Windy afternoon kite session. 

Grass progress

Sleeping beauty

Swim and summer happenings

 Kendal and Pete started a three week swim league on the 24th. They feel a little out of their depth because the rest of the class has done this before, but I have no doubt they'll get the hang of things over the next few weeks. It's about strengthening their skills and gaining some swim endurance.

After swim the kids and I headed out on a day trip to Craters of the Moon to hang out with friends. We haven't seen the Bingham's since they moved a couple of summers ago so they asked us and some other Kimberly buddies to meet up for the day. We had a picnic lunch and took our time exploring all around the area. I was expecting a scorching hot day so we were happy that it ended up overcast with a breeze instead. The kids' favorite part was exploring the caves. They climbed everything and went in every nook and cranny they could explore. Alice was a cranky throughout the day, but rallied through the long walks. Kendal and Pete were overjoyed being around their friends. The kids were so happy spending all afternoon together exploring and us ladies had a great time catching up and chatting. Our kids have some great friends. We stopped on our way home at the snack shack in Shoshone. The boys started a competition to get cars to honk for them and it was pretty funny to see the drivers smiles at the kids' enthusiasm! 

Nicole came into town on the 25th so we had half a day or with cousins at Gemstone climbing and a late lunch at 24th Street Market. Kendal climbed everything she could. Alice actually tried climbing this year. She had to ease into it, and was not willing to go very high, but it was a good start. She mostly loved swinging around on the ropes. Pete let his fear of heights rule his day, but he still got in a lot of climbing and paling around with cousins. Casey was amazing and belayed all the cousins (7) plus our kids on any of the non automatic climbs they wanted.

 

We went down to Logan on the 26th for a few days. Thursday Dad took Kendal out for some driving lessons and then Pete out with treats for the guys working on David's job. After lunch the kids and I visited Nana for a bit, then we met up with Anica and the boys at jump zone. After dinner we headed out to Preston for the rodeo parade. 

Friday Kendal got in another driving lesson with Grandpa and got to go to the temple with Grandma and Grandpa to do baptisms! Pete got to spend the afternoon with Anica and the boys. After dinner we went out to Aggie ice cream for a treat. Casey couldn't help but explore the campus a bit and we talked about our time there. On the way back Casey dropped Kendal and I off to spend time with Nana for a bit.

 Saturday morning Kendal went for a drive with Grandpa. The kids started a game of Risk and got Casey to join in. After lunch we had a visit with Nana and then headed home. We had a Stake dinner that night. Casey and I served food to people while the kids ate and played. 

Kendal, Pete, and Casey went for their last summer cross country run on Monday (31st). Their season will start on the 7th. After Kendal and Pete started their second week of swim lessons and Alice started her first week. The kids also had a dentist appointment after swim on Monday. Alice had been dreading it because she's got some loose teeth. They didn't pull her teeth, but Pete is scheduled for the end of August to pull a couple of his that are preventing some permanent teeth from coming in strait. That afternoon Casey and I took Alice to her school registration. She gets Mrs. Beckman, which is who Pete had! She's excited for the new school year to start on a few weeks! 

Kendal got to join the 6th ward for an afternoon at the Steadman slides on the 2nd. She had missed her friends and leaders dearly and had a great afternoon with them! 

Kendal and Pete finished their second week of swim league on Thursday.  They end their week with timed races. Peter pulled out two wins in his heats and Kendal also pulled out a couple of wins in her heat races. Alice is a little fish in her lessons. She's being super brave and trying all the things she used to find scary, if only she listen to the teacher a bit better she'd be doing even better. After lessons on Thursday we went shoe shopping for school. We also stopped by Barnes and Noble for a free summer reading book for Alice and a book for each of the kids thanks to my birthday gift card from Auntie K.

Kendal had an orthodontist appointment Friday morning and is happy to share she'll be done with braces by the end of the year! We had Emma and Kyler Berg over for awhile while to play, and after lunch Alice and Pete went over to their house for a bit. I spent all of Friday afternoon at the middle school helping with registration. I was at the library handing out device and library agreements. It was so busy and I talked to so many people. (I don't know if I've shared here yet, but for the sake of journaling I am now the middle school librarian! I knew I wanted to do more with Alice being in school full time this year, and this opportunity came up. I am choosing to work both at the middle school and Stricker since each is part time and I truly love the kids at Stricker. Only drawback is I have to get an alternative teaching license as well as a librarian endorsement in the next couple of years. : 0 . . . ) I don't have my bearings yet, and honestly feel a bit overwhelmed with all that's going to be on my plate, but I chose this. 

Casey brought the kids to register for school and left Kendal to help give 6th graders tours of the school (which she had also done Thursday night.) 

Yesterday Kendal got to go to Roaring Springs with Hope and her family. She was happy she got to go since we ditched her last month. She had great day! 

Casey and I took Pete and Alice to see the summer Pixar movie Elemental. It's a cute movie with a sweet message. Afterwards we let the kids pick lunch so they chose chick fill a. Casey got our mirror frames done this week!!

 

Pulling weeds with pliers - don't knock it till you try it!

Bubbles! 

Last pic from the other day. Cute little pickles ; )