First Day of School

I think we may has scared Chad's teacher off with this one but Chad wanted to scare away the competition at the tetherballs. He is full swing into Grade 4. Can't wait for Granny to come and give this boy a HAIRCUT!




Keston headed off to the bus stop. All of a sudden he wanted jeans and boy did he grow up overnight. He is the lone soldier at the middle school.


His goal is to get on the honor roll so keep asking him how he is doing! And he started cross country (running not skiing) today and boy was he exhausted. His first meet is on Sept 12. Stay tuned for more updates.



Tylissa's first day at Flathead High School. Can you believe it? She did okay on the first day because it was only freshman. The second day her facebook said "highschoolers are really really tall"

She is just way too cute!

Seminary started this morning and we did okay but I have a feeling that by Friday some attitude may arise!

The Trouble with Teeth

Wouldn't you know it. Tylissa and Keston have never had a cavity but yesterday Chad had 4 more cavities filled - I think we are up to 12 total and the kid in only 9. The one filling was so bad we have to watch it and they may end up pulling the tooth. So the dentist was showing me his x-rays and stated that Chad has the mouth of a 14 year old. Huh! His jaw and teeth are more developed than his 9 years. You can see his wisdom teeth . . . nice huh. At his age you should only be able to see buds where the wisdom teeth will be, but not Chad he has teeth there so while most people get their wisdom teeth pulled at 18 - 19 years old, Chad will probably be around 14.

Back to all the cavities. Did you know that if you have a more acidic mouth you are more prone to cavities? Acid + Sugar = explosive cavities. Not I, so Chad is in the high risk area. So we can spend $40 dollars every couple of months to buy him specialized toothpaste, mouth rise, and spray to keep his acid down or spend way more than that every year to fill all the cavities. Poor kid. He better have great eyesight!

The End of Summer

This has seemed like a blah summer, we really didn't go anywhere and now it is coming to a screaming end. Chad is so excited - he gets to play tackle football. They picked up his equipment earlier this week. We haven't gotten the team jersey yet-they are putting the names on the the back. His first practice is Saturday we'll see if "football is my life" is still his motto. I know it won't be mine with two hour practices every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. UGH!




We went to fair for the first time in years. Chad was still in a stroller last time we went. It is nice to have all the kids big enough to go on any ride they want. I even tried to relive my youth and went on Zipper and the boys talked me into going on Kamakazi. Here are some fun pictures.


Chad and I on the ferris wheel - it's a good thing his nose was clean!



The boys on Kamakazi - they are right there in the front and they went on this ride over and over. We didn't get Tylissa on there, she was not to pleased with me after Zipper.

Tylissa got her face painted and her favorite part is looking at all the animals. The miniature horses and bunnies were her favorite. Although the baby donkeys were adorable. Notice the haircut - more info further down.

Granny - I now understand the evilness behind the innocent looking Berry-Go-Round apple/berry ride. Sure is goes around slow and it is in the "kiddie" section of the fair. DO NOT be deceived! See that big wheel - do ya! The kids have control over how fast that EVIL apple/berry thing spins! The use that big wheel to make it spin and they had it going so fast I almost lost my lunch and I have never felt that way after a ride. I should have paid more attention to Tylissa's face - it looks like she was plotting her evil plan. Give me the Zipper any day but not the Berry-Go-Round.

This is the kids on the last row of the pirate ship. Talk about give you butterflies in your stomach on the giant swing. Next round we'll move more to the middle. Tylissa was mad at me after this one too.

It was a good day - we went after I got off work and then we went home, ate, and cooled off then we went back. It was fun to ride on the rides with the lights on. I even got my cotton candy. We all slept great that night.

In preparation for High School, Tylissa got her hair cut. It is in the cute A line cut where it is shorter in the back. It looks adorable but she wouldn't let me take a good picture. I liked it better when she was three and you couldn't get her to stop posing for pictures.

What is this? - oh yeah - double trouble. We had a great visit from Rob and Becky. They took the Chad and Tylissa to the waterslides (Keston was at camp). Sorry I had to work guys, but thanks for coming down to see us.


We had Tylissa's open house at the high school yesterday. Wouldn't you know it that she goes from one end of the high school to the opposite side (meaning outside and across the street). We might need to borrow Austin's power scooter so she can get to class on time.

Keston had his open house at the middle school today and we are pros up there now. Unfortunatley for Keston he has the same team of teachers that Tylissa did so he has some expectations to live up to. He is thinking about trying cross country this year.

I did get Chad to calm down and go get school supplies. He is still not happy about school starting but oh we hope it will be a good year.

BIG Reunion

On August 1st we celebrated Grandpa's 75th birthday. There were so many people there. It was the first time that all 11 kids were together in about 12 years, probably longer. So Tylissa and I found refuge under a tree, she read a book and I just watched people. Here are the "pure bloods" Val, Dallen, and Kelsie. I didn't get a picture of all the kids, I'm waiting for the emails to come in. Then we'll post it.

The highlight of the trip (for me) Pam and Jerry stopped by with their 3 boys. We haven't seen them in years but we were able to sit and chat like all those years hadn't flown by. Val and Jerry have been buds (in girl language it would BFFs) since they were 12. Oh the stories. We had a great time catching up and listening to those two rehash "the good ol' days". Their boys have sure grown into handsome young men.

The picture is - Val, Michelle, Tel (16), Pam, Ty (15), Jerry

Tylissa, Trent (13) and Chad. Keston has already left with cousins.

It was a quick trip to Rexburg - we drove on Friday, had the picnic on Saturday, left Sunday. We drove around campus and tried to find the spots where Val and I fell in love (this is the part the kids would groan and roll their eyes). Campus has changed so much. We did find my apartment and JBs. Everything else has changed too much!