Jacob's first day of school

Is he really big enough to do this??? He's been talking about wanting to go to school like his brothers, and Aaron and I have realized that a year of preschool would be essential in his "social conditioning" so that he survives kindergarten, but sending the little man off for the first time just seems like such a big step. He is so excited, though! I couldn't find him for a few minutes this morning... He was in the van, impatiently waiting to go. We've been practicing "following directions" and coloring and tracing.

I hope he likes his teacher. I hope she's a patient woman who won't get too frustrated with Jacob's activity level. I hope they don't lose him. I hope he will stay out of the bathroom.

I hope he will want to go back for his second day on Monday. I hope he is just as excited after school as he was before. I hope he doesn't get frustrated and call everyone in his class a "stupid head." (We've been working on eliminating that from his vocabulary - but haven't been fully successful.) I hope he follows directions. I hope he makes friends. I hope he blends in. I hope he loves it.
I love my Jacob!

Minnetonka Caves

Before we left Bear Lake, we traveled up St. Charles Canyon (northwest of Bear Lake) to visit the Minnetonka Caves. It was fun to go through the caves - even if we did have to traverse something like 780 stairs (I'm not exaggerating!) I considered it my workout for the day...
We bought the boys head lamps for the camping trip (it's easier to find the bathroom and "do your business" in the middle of the night if your hands are free...don't ask, I guess it's a boy thing) and when they heard they were going to some caves they all decided they needed to wear them. My boys make me smile. Here's Caeden with his head lamp:
Zach thought this formation was pretty cool. (I think it's called the 3 sisters, but don't quote me on it!)
Here's Jordan. The caves were cool (about 40 degrees), but all the stair climbing kept me warm. Jordan, however, got a little cool. But it was all fun, none the less!
Here are my young explorers:
After the cave trip we headed on home to unpack, wash, pack back up, and head to Nauvoo, Illinios for our Rigtrup family reunion. More on the reunion later!

Paris Tabernacle

Bear Lake weekend, part 2: On Sunday, we attended church at the local wardhouse, and found it to be absolutely packed. On holiday weekends, this small ward holds three sacrament meetings to accomodate all of the lake loving mormons on vacation. We were 10 minutes early and still had to sit on the stage in the cultural hall. It was actually quite fun to know we were a part of hundreds of vacationing mormons who still believe in keeping the Sabbath day holy. After church, we went to Paris, Idaho to tour the Paris tabernacle - a fun building over 100 years old, still standing as a testament to hard working saints settling the area.
Zach hanging out before the tour started
Noelle and Caeden playing "peek-a-boo" in front of the tabernacle
Cute boys hanging out on the steps


I am so blessed to have these sweet boys in my life

More July Fun!

So the last day of school was July 2nd. My boys are getting so big! Caeden completed 1st grade, Zachary (above) completed 4th grade (both earning their Mustang Pride and Reading Awards - go boys!), and Jordan is moving on to middle school- 7th grade! I was surprised that there was no "6th grade graduation," - it seems that so many schools do that these days! - but he moves on nonetheless! After the obligatory last day of school ice cream, Aaron and I both did a shift at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house, then we hurriedly packed up and headed to Bear Lake for the 4th of July weekend. So Much Fun! We went with the Wilkins family, and had a blast. The first night it rained - poured, actually - and we discovered that our new (used) tent was a great buy! We all emerged the next morning nice and dry, and enjoyed another day on the beach. The boys worked on sand castles a huge part of the day! (Jacob corrects me "They're not sand castles, mom, they're mud castles!")
The water was a little chilly, so we spent a lot of time in the sand:
Working on the castles:



Jacob helped too!
Final Products:

While the older boys built "mud castles," Levi loved being pulled around in the boat. (This is a raft that Aaron and I bought for our first anniversary... It's had a good life!)
Break Time!
Jacob got worn out (maybe it was from his constant wandering up and down the shore...)
Cute Sam (the Wilkins newest family member!)
Levi enjoying the lake:
Jordan leaves his mark:

We'll continue with our fun weekend later - I've got to go clean peanut butter out of the carpet... But I still love my boys!

We're back!

Well, we've been busy (I know, who hasn't?!) but I think it's time to get back to documenting my sweet family's fun life. We are on a year round school schedule, so we got out the first week of July, then went back July 27th. It was a crazy short summer, so over the next few days, I'll post the highlights!

Of course, no summer would be complete without a lemonade stand!
Zachary and Caeden joined forces with Jonathan and Aaron, some of our friends and neighbors, to create a lemonade stand.
"Buy Lemonade Today!
10 cents
We may have the worst stand, but we have the best Lemonade."


After a few days of this, they were up about $30.00, but I was out about that much in Crystal Light (the closest thing we had to lemonade), not to mention what Jonathan and Aaron's mom was out in Tang and cups, so we decided it was time for a distraction. We did the splash park one day,




set up a play date - away from the lemonade stand - the next day, and then went to the movies another afternoon. Thankfully school started the next week, and I'm hoping the lemonade stand will become a treasured childhood memory...