JAKES FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Last night and today has been very emotional for me. Today was Jacob's first day of kindergarten. It feels like just yesterday he was learning to crawl up the stairs and now he is climbing on the bus going to school. Where did the time go??? Jake was so excited when he woke up this morning!! I kept asking him if he was scared and he replied back with a firm "no". In new situations Jake becomes very shy and nervous and will tear up. Scott and I tried to do everything we could to prepare him for this big day. We met his teacher a few times, visited his classroom, had play dates with kids in his class, talked about new friends, the bus etc... When walking to the bus stop I started panicking and wondering if I really had done everything I could to prepare him for today. My thoughts then went deeper and I started wondering if I had done everything to prepare him for life? Have I taught Jake everything I could in these 5 precious years? Is he prepared for our crazy world? Could I have been a better mom? Does he understand that he is never alone? Then regrets flooded my mind... I wish I had been more patient! I wish I hadn't got mad at him yesterday for spilling water! AHHHHHHHHHH!! Thankfully I only tortured myself with these thoughts for two minutes as that is how long it took us to walk to the bus stop. Do all Mom's go through this or am I just crazy????????

Here is Jake standing in line to get on the bus.

Getting Jake on the bus and into the school went really well. Scott & I followed the bus to the school & helped Jake find his class room and we got him settled with his teacher. Jake was very brave. We had no tears so I was feeling pretty good when I said my final goodbye.

Here is Jake on the bus. Such a cutie!!!

Here is Jake in his class room. The 4 hours he was gone felt like forever. I had a pit in my stomach the whole time praying non stop that everything was going well for him.

When I met Jake at the bus stop he gave me the biggest hug. He had the biggest & brightest smile on his face. I of course gave him the 3rd degree asking a million questions. From what I got out of him the day went great except for when he got lost at recess and couldn't find his class. Or when he got on the bus to go home and started to cry because he didn't know if the bus driver would take him to the right house. Oh my dear little boy!! I have had many talks with him through the day reassuring him that his teacher will take care of him and the bus driver will always take him home to the right house. I have also bribed him with a trip to the toy store tomorrow if he can make it through the day without crying. Yeah to bribes!!!

So, all in all we are being positive. A few scary moments and a few tears but we did it. We got through our first day of school. I am so proud of Jake and I am proud of me!! LOL!!

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Jacob

Last night as I was balling trying to grasp the concept of my baby going to school. I thought I would torture myself more and look at my photo albums. And yes, it made me cry even more. Here are a few of my favorites. These are dedicated to you Jake. I love you!!! And I am so proud of you!!!

This is when I met Jake for the first time. He was healthy and absolutely perfect. From the moment I met him and looked in his eyes I knew he was going to be someone really special.

This is Jake at 6 months old. He was

a happy baby, he had a ton of energy, loved to move, loved to smile, loved his milk and loved life!!

This is Jake at 1 1/2 years old. He is my best buddy. We had 4 years together when it was only Jake, Scott & I! They were really fun years!!

This is 3 year old Jake. He loved running, playing basketball, throwing balls. He is our little athlete. He was always (and still is) good at obeying us. I could always talk to him and reason with him. He is a very smart little boy.

Here is Jake at 4 years old. For everyone who knows Jake they can all tell you that there is really something special about him. He has a sweet, innocent and special spirit. He is always kind and loving to others. He tries to be and do the best at everything he does, whether its sports, learning etc...

Here is Jake at 5 years old. He is the best big brother to Coco. Jake is also the best helper to his Mom and Dad.

Today has definitely made me determined to enjoy life more, to play with my kids more, to listen more, to enjoy every second I have with them because time goes by too fast to not do these things.

SUPER DAVE!!!

We just got back from an overnight trip in Bear Lake to watch Scott's brother Dave do a Triathlon. Because it was a quick trip we left Court over night with my Mom and then had Tommy & Amber watch her the following day. Thank you to both of them!!

We had a blast camping with Scott's brother Dave and his family; Scott's sister Emily and her family and Scott's Mom. The next morning we woke up bright and early and cheered Dave on. It was amazing! He is a machine!!!

Scott & Jake hanging out at the campfire. Scott found a great campground East of the Lake. We had a huge windstorm in the night but with Scott's & my tent being so small & so low to the ground we were able to sleep through most of it. Yeah to small tents!!

Jake's cousins!!!

From left to right; Isabelle (3), Ben (9), Jake (5), Jaque (7), Josh (7) & Jaycee (5) (missing in picture Jane (3) )

Dave with Jake & his 3 darling little girls. At the time this picture was taken Dave had about 5 minutes until the race started.

Here is Dave coming out of the water. He was one of the first to come out, if you look closely you can see black dots which are all the other guys still swimming. They had to swim all the way to the red buoy and back. Go Dave Go!

Dave ran so fast from the water to the bicycle that I wasn't able to get a good picture. He made great time on the bike, when he rode by us he was so fast I only got a picture of the people standing across from us. Either my camera is really slow or Dave is super super fast. My guess is the later.

Here is Dave starting his run. The run is 3.1 miles.

Here is Dave crossing the finish line. He did so awesome & ended up coming in 4th place. I think their were around 60 guys in his race. This was his 9th triathlon this season and on average he placed in the top 5. He is definitely Super Dave!!

Scott congratulating his big brother!!

Dave's fans!!!!!


We spent the rest of the day swimming at my parents Condo, boating on Emily & Steve's new boat and playing Risk.

Before heading home we stopped for shakes, burgers & of course my fudge. Scott discovered the BEST Shakes in Bear Lake. Usually we get them at La Beaus but Scott found a little ice cream shop behind the Sinclair gas station. (The Sinclair gas station is next to Pickle Ville Play house). These shakes are made with real ice cream and are to die for. I don't even like ice cream and I thought they were good. If anyone goes to Bear Lake you have got to try these, you will not be disappointed!!!

HOUSE FOR SALE!!!!

Do you love it?????

Just a quick explanation of the pictures below...... This is Laura & Tyson's home. They have recently moved to Oklahoma & unfortunately their home here in Utah has not sold. They obviously had to bring their furniture with them, which unfortunately leaves their house empty. With this crazy housing market & trying to figure out how we can help, Heather & I came up with the idea of staging their home. So, with a lot of planning, borrowing & creativity, this is the end product. It was a lot of work as Heather & I had to move all the furniture by our selves but it was soooooooo much fun!!! We felt like we were on an HGTV episode!!!!

We are both thrilled with the end product. I just wish I had taken some before pictures so I could show the Before & After. Oh well.. hope you like!!!

The couch is from Mom & Dads basement with my old couch covers. The carpet is from Margaret Coles' house (my mother in-law), Heather bought the coffee table from the DI for $10 and refinished it. The decorations are from both my Moms house & my house.

Jake is standing in the front entrance!!! Looks great eh!!!

Courtney is sitting in the master bedroom. Look familiar?? Heather volunteered her bed & entire bedroom set. Poor thing is now sleeping on a single mattress on the floor of her bedroom. This was completely her idea and she has not complained once, she says it is totally worth it!! (We are still looking for a picture to go above the head board).



Jake is standing in the kitchen. I found the table on KSL for only $50. Heather & I drove to Kaysville to a Trailer Park to buy it. It was quite the adventure, a little scary & creepy but totally worth it. It looks like the table was made for this kitchen!!!












Nothing too exciting in this picture, just some pretty decorations to brighten the Kitchen!!



(I forgot to take a picture of the bathroom. We bought a shower curtain & new towels. It also looks awesome. I'll post it another time).


I had so much fun staging this home. So much fun that I am trying to figure out how I can do it again???? Do I know anyone else who is selling their home???? Do they need my help???? I will have to ponder this.........


XOXOXOXOOXOXOXO

So Many Adventures

I will start from the most current to the least current. We just got back from a quick weekend trip to Bear Lake with my family.

It was fun to go on one more vacation before the end of summer. Saturday was beautiful, we hung out on the beach, swam in the pool and 4 wheeled!

This is Jake with no sleep and too much sun!!! Jake went up early Friday with Heather, Logan and Justin. They went 4 wheeling for over 3 hours and Jake said it best "I had the time of my life!!!" The best story of the wheeling adventure was when Heather tipped the 4 wheeler, luckily it was all in slow motion and Jake had enough time to jump off safely. Heather ended up with a few scrapes and bruises but the funniest thing was after the crash Jake refused to ride with Heather and rode with Justin the rest of the time. Scott's only comment about all of this was "Smart Kid"!

My parents good friends from Canada spent the weekend with all of us. For some crazy reason Courtney was NOT on her best behavior. I don't know if it was the strange bed, not enough sleep, too many people or strange people but what ever it was, she was not our sweet little girl. I am betting the whole weekend my parents friends were thinking 'this girl is out of control'!! Ok, maybe she wasn't completely out of control but she was not completely in control either. She definitely wore me out but in between the whining and the crying we did have some really fun moments. Oh the joy of almost a two year old!!!

It was a little cloudy and rainy on Sunday but we made the best of it. Here is Heather and Coco playing in the park in between rain storms.

We had so much fun!!! Thank you Justin for bringing up your 4 Wheelers. I let Scott do all the driving and thankfully we did not crash!!!

Heather could not stop laughing at my dirty face. I attribute it to riding behind Justin & Heather and putting on fresh sun screen right before leaving. So beautiful!!!

Looking at this picture who would ever believe this precious little girl could be anything BUT an Angel ???

I tried to get a nice family picture of us on the beach, but with two tired & worn out children this is the best we could do!

The night before we left to Bear Lake we celebrated Aiva's 2nd Birthday!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIVA!!! Aiva and Courtney are exactly 2 & a half months apart and are the best of friends and best cousins. We love you Aiva!!!! (must apologise about the picture, this was the best one out of all of them so you can imagine what the other pictures looked like).

Can you believe the hives on Courtney's back! For three days straight Courtney woke up each morning and each nap with large Hives. We gave her Benadryl but with each dose it seemed that the Benadryl would take longer and longer to kick in. I finally took her into Insta Care but to make a long story short, she was put on a 5 day steroid treatment and so far showing no more signs of Hives (knock on wood). As for the reason of Hives, we have no idea?????

Quick funny story.... I jokingly asked the doctor if Courtney would start growing facial hair (you know Steroids) he did not get my joke and took me completely serious. He then went on for a good 3 minutes explaining in detail in "Doctor language" why this would not happen with the kind of steroids and dosage he was prescribing. Idid everything in my power to keep a straight face and not bust up laughing!!!

It has been a crazy & fun few days. Until next time.....

Happy Late Birthday Logan!!!

Today we celebrated Logan's 7th Birthday! His real Birthday is July 20th, but because he was in Alaska on his real Birthday we celebrated his pretend Birthday TODAY!!! His awesome mom rented out Classic Water slides. They invited over 30 kids and had a great turnout. Everyone had so much fun! The weather was beautiful, the cake was delicious and the slides were a blast! A perfect party!!!!

(Laura, are you impressed with my picture taking??? LOL!!!)

Jake, Courtney and Logan getting ready to blow out the candles.

Court & Jake trying to warm up from the cold, cold, water.

So many friends!

Heather catching some of the kids coming down the water slide.

Jake making a splash! WOW!!!

Sarah & Coco.

Courtney didn't love the big water slides (thank goodness, because Laura wasn't here to take her down the icy cold water slides LOL!). This is where Court spent most of her time. The small, slow & dry slide.

Thank you Heather, we had so much fun! Happy Birthday Logan, we love you!!!

Welcome Home Logan

These pictures say it all!

What To Say???

This is my very first post so please bare with me. I haven't quite figured out what I want to write on my blog? How much detail do I want to write? Is this going to be the kind of blog where I portray myself to be the perfect Mom and Wife. LOL!!! Totally kidding!!! Am I going to be completely honest and go by the motto this is me and my crazy life ... take me as I am? Am I going to use this as my journal? AAHHH so many questions!!! No answers!!!

Right now I am going to let future Sarah figure this out!!

In the mean time life is great! We have two major count downs. 1 day until Logan arrives home from Alaska (Logan is Jakes cousin/best friend and has been gone for 7 looooong weeks) and 15 days until my baby goes to Kindergarten. Kindergarten marks big changes in our lives!! I will keep you posted on all of them as they happen.

Enjoy the pictures below of some of our fun filled summer adventures.

Until next time...