We are slackers!

It's been two weeks since we have posted anything but it's been for a good reason. The kids started school and I was busy packing and leaving for Hong Kong for 4 months. I also took the camera that is easier to use so I don't think we will be seeing as many pictures posted by Jennifer. Jennifer is getting to be quite the blogger and picture editor. We have been selling a lot of our furniture that is in storage and she is sending pictures to people showing them what we have. This is an accomplishment for her and we should all give her a pat on the back. She has now passed the kids in technological know-how. I won't be posting any pictures until later tonight or maybe even tomorrow. I'm in the library right now and I needed a break from studying and thought I would give a brief update about our two week silence and that we will start our regular posts again. Jennifer also informed me that she successfully made it through her first Sunday at Church without me. Other than Isaac wanting to lay down on the floor during sacrament meeting she said it wasn't too bad. Only 16 more sacrament meetings to go. So check back tomorrow for pictures of Hong Kong and my crazy little adventure. I'll post one picture, it's the view out of my 8x10 room looking toward Victoria Harbor. You can't make much of it but it's the only picture on my computer right now.

The First Day of School

The first day of school. You start thinking and worrying about it on the second day of summer. Will I have any friends in my class? Will my teacher be nice? Will my mom buy me the right clothes? Will I like what they serve for lunch on the first day?
This all builds up in your head and then works its way down to your stomach enough so that early in the morning on the first day of school you puke. Then you have a whole new set of worries about not being able to be there on the first day.

At least that's how it happened for Katie. The pains of missing the first day and then being lost on the second day far outweighed the pain in her stomach or head. Maybe the medicine that I gave her worked. Let's just hope that she does not fall asleep before the first recess.

Adrianna has Mrs. Komerak for 4th grade. She knew a few kids in her class and was very excited. She was dressed and ready to go by 7am. I was always so sure that with her I would be the parent standing in the hall with a crying child who refused to go to class. Boy, was I wrong about her!

I was surprised that neither of these two wanted me to take them to school. They both rode the bus.

Katie's teacher is Cynthia Dunaway. Everyone who has had a child in her class before has loved her. She has taught for 20 years and this will probably be her last. Katie was nervous because she only knew a few kids in her class and they used to chase her. She never seems to have problems making friends so I'm sure she will be fine.

At first Isaac was jealous because he didn't get new school shoes and he didn't get to ride the bus, but, now that everyone else is gone and Tess is asleep he is excited to have me all to himself.

Hannah doesn't seem to have all of the usual jitters that are associated with the first day of middle school. She doesn't really have any friends in her core class but she has planned to meet up with her friends at the lunch table.

I still can't believe that Hannah is in the 6th grade!
My memories of the 6th grade aren't exactly fond ones. I did however manage to get through all of middle school without once ever being stuffed into a garbage can or the bird bath.
Good luck girls! We love you!

Catching Up

Go ahead and sit back and relax. Maybe you should grab a small sandwich or a snack cause this post is a long one!

Shon and Melanie invited us over to Summit to play in the water and to celebrate Austin and Jennifer's birthdays. We all had fun playing and visiting. Thanks for the fun time Edwards family!

Katie loves their baby puppies!

Adrianna loves water balloons

Isaac loves slides

Tess loves to skinny-dip

Hannah loves to watch movies in the bunkhouse,
therefore, no pictures of her

Tonight Isaac and I went for a walk with the stroller. We found this baseball in the gutter. Obviously this is his new favorite treasure! It can't be too much fun to cuddle with.

The girl's wanted to do something fun on their last summer night so they had a campout in the living room. It's too bad that dad put a kaibosh on the all night party, NOT!!!

Tess was a good helper today. We started cleaning all of our stuff out of Grandma's bedroom and bathroom in preparation for her soon to be homecoming. She had fun playing in the empty cupboards and tasting each cough drop in the medicine drawer. So grandma, in the future, if you come across a sticky cough drop just consider it a sloppy kiss from Tessiepoo!

Don't look too close at this picture. She didn't have pockets so she was stuffing her diaper full. I guess this isn't completely inappropriate, after all, this is just her birthday suit.

I think she enjoyed the shower afterwards as much as she did the cake.

I don't know why this tradition has to end after the first birthday. This is such great entertainment! Ryan's birthday is coming up soon. I think we will let him rub cheesecake all over his tummy and then take pictures!

It is easy to please a 1 year old. A doll, a dog and a couple of shirts. What more could you want?
Houston family, I just realized that this is our only first birthday in which you are not in the pictures. We missed having you there. Thanks Brittney and Job for celebrating with us!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE TESSIEPOO!

Birthday Girl

We have a birthday girl today. Tess celebrates her first birthday today and we are throwing a major party. We will have pictures afterwards, don't wait up for them because I'm sure the party won't finish until after your bedtime.

Hurray Hannah Is Home!

Hannah finally made it home yesterday. We have been waiting for this day all week. Adrianna and Katie couldn't wait to see their sister while Isaac was mainly concerned with seeing airplanes and going to Palace Station. For those of you that wonder why he has a fascination with Palace Station I will explain. When we took Hannah the airport when she first left to stay with Amy and Munich we passed Palace Station on I-15. Palace Station has about 15 trains surrounding the casino and hotel. He has no clue that it is a casino and thinks it is a train station. Anyway, we heard about Palace Station for almost 2 months and how we were going to it when we picked up Hannah. Hannah's flight was a bit bumpy but she likes flying and thought it was fun. They arrived about ten minutes early and we were off bargain shopping for school clothes the rest of the day. Isaac's probably had more fun than anyone because he saw the airplanes up close, watched them take of and land, and the biggest thrill of the night is when we went to Palace Station and ate at the buffet. It was a fun day for all of us and it is nice to have our family all together again. You don't think you would miss one child too much when you have four other children taking all of your time but we really missed Hannah and we are happy to have her home. Katie is making me tell everyone that she has a new pair of K-Swiss tennis shoes for school and we will be taking a picture and posting it tomorrow.

Isaac watching Hannah's plan taxi to the terminal. He was excited to see his sister and look at airplanes.

Hannah exiting the jetway after a 5 hour flight.

The whole crew back together again. Look at those smiles.

Waiting in line for the Buffet at Palace Station. Look at that smile on Isaac, we are at Palace Station, and the look of disgust on Adrianna's face, she was tired. Everyone else was falling asleep because it was almost 9:30 p.m. Me and Jennifer didn't get to sleep until almost 2:30 but it was worth the smiles. Just so everyone knows, we didn't blow any student loan money gambling, Isaac wanted to but we resisted.

Hannah Flies to Las Vegas Tomorrow

Hannah has been gone for most of the summer helping Amy with Milan until baby Sophia arrived. I'm sure Hannah was a big help and made the last month of Amy's pregnancy easier by keeping Milan entertained. According to Jennifer there is nothing worse than a 3-4 year old hanging onto you and demanding your attention 24/7 while you are almost full term. Hannah spent last summer in Arlington with Amy and Munich and I know she grew to love them and her younger cousin Milan. For a whole year she told and retold her friends about the fun times she had and how much she missed Amy and her family. Boy was she happy when we told her she was going back again this summer. She wasn't homesick before she came home last year but I think she is this year and is really looking forward to coming home tomorrow. I know we have missed her and the summer hasn't been the same without her. The sad thing for me is I will only see her for two weeks and then I leave to do my graduate studies in Hong Kong for 4 months. I will hardly see my baby girl, I know she is almost grown up but she is still my baby girl, for almost 6 months. Thanks for taking good care of her Amy! You are such a good sister and we love you and Munich a ton. We were glad to give her to you for a few months and hopefully she made your life a little easier while Munich was gone. Anyway, I just wanted to say we are excited for Hannah to come home tomorrow and we will take a lot of pictures at the airport for everyone to see tomorrow. Afterward Isaac wants to hit the casinos to see if he can win a Dodge Viper and double our student loan money ;) He has a feeling that we need to put it all on black at Palace Station. I don't know how he came up with Palace Station but were going with it, maybe it was the train out front.

Isaac is Jealous, What's new?

Isaac is jealous of his sisters because they have been getting all the posts on this blog. So I promised him that we would dedicate a post just to him and the things that he likes. So here it goes; Isaac's favorite things.

Isaac loves Golf. We go out into the front yard and hit golf balls.

Isaac loves trains, especially Thomas.

Isaac loves watching BYU football with dad.

Isaac loves his little sister Tess.

Isaac loves to have his picture taken.

Isaac loves his Grandpa Shepherd who he calls "panka".

Isaac loves the letter "S".

These are a few of the things that make Isaac happy. Isaac will be looking at this post everyday for months now and hopefully he won't be as jealous.

Tess Loves Her B-Day Card

The mailman brought Tess a surprise today. She turns 1 year old on Sunday and today she received Grandma Palmer's birthday card. She sat on the couch in the front room and played with it and was so cute that Jennifer had to grab the camera to get a few pictures so Grandma could see. Tess is growing up too fast and her mom and dad wish she would slow down. Thank you Grandma for the card. I don't think we will get it away from her for quite some time.

New Kids on Campus

Scott and Julie made their annual pilgrimage to Utah to visit family and decided to drive to Cedar City and visit. The kids wanted to go to SUU and walk around campus, go to the bookstore, and see where the Shakespearean Festival is at. Ryan and Scott took all the kids while Julie and Jennifer had a break and stayed home. The girls also wanted to send a video message to the other girl cousins.

Sunday in the Park

We were going a little stir crazy and needed to get out of the house so we went to the park. Mom and Adrianna hiked the trail to the waterfall while dad and the other 3 played on the playground and in the stream. Tess likes to sit right down in the middle of the stream but Isaac is too scared of sharks to get in much.