First Days of School 2011

So my kids started school on Monday. Ben started the 4th grade, Alex started the 2nd grade, and Chris started Kindergarten. Since he was in Kindergarten though, he just had orientation on Monday and started his first full day today. I'm still not sure I like the way they are doing Kindergarten, alternating between A and B days for full days(Chris is on A, so he goes Mondays, Wednesdays and every other Friday, kind of). They do it that way to save money so they don't have to do a mid-day Kindergarten bus.

Anyway, I did the usual first day of school pictures. Daniel and Abby both decided they needed to join the fun, so they had me take their pictures too.




Ben, Alex, and Chris all ready for school.



All 5 kids lined up together.

Ben and Alex getting on the bus the first day. There were only 5 kids including them who got on the bus that day.

This is Chris at the school just as we were going in for his orientation.

And these last two are of Chris waiting in line for the bus and then getting on the bus with his brothers today. He was so excited.

Girls' Camp

Since I am called to work with the Young Women, I had the opportunity to go to Girls' Camp again this year. Kind of funny how I never really looked forward to going to Girls' Camp when I was a young woman, but it's kind of fun to go back as a leader.

Last year was a totally different experience from this year for a few reasons; we did camp a whole month earlier last year, we slept in cabins rather than in tents, and it was a Stake Youth Camp, so the boys were there too. Last year it was kind of fun to watch the social interaction between the boys and the girls (and to be grateful I wasn't in that time of life anymore), but it was nice this year to be able to just focus on the girls.

This is where we stayed:


It was also very nice to have a husband who was willing (although I don't know that he would think he had a lot of choice in the matter) to take the time off work so I could go with the girls and be there the whole time, from the Tuesday to the Friday. And if you're friends with him on facebook, you probably already know that the kids gave him a run for his money some days.

This year we were close to a lake, so we did get to go spend some time there on that Thursday.


For the most part, we were all pretty laid back the whole time. It was nice to be able to relax and get to know all the girls better and not always have to be rushing off somewhere. But we did have our spiritual moments too. I sometimes think it's easier to feel the Spirit when we're out in nature and away from all the noise and chaos of daily life.