First Day of School 2012

Luke started 1st grade this year. He was so nervous. He thought it was going to be so hard. We tried to give him all of the comfort and understanding and encouragement we could. I drove the kids to school for their first day and gave Luke a hug and reminded him that he could always pray to Heavenly Father if he was scared. And then I watched as he and Allie walked in to school- Allie holding his hand.
Allie of course- no nerves... just excited. Ready for 3rd grade.
Guess who else is excited to go to school this year?
Wesley will start the same preschool program at the high school that Allie and Luke did next month (1st day of preschool is our due date).

And not wanting to get left out of the photo shoot- Rachel!

So what did we do while Allie and Luke had their first day of school? Aunt Keri called and invited us to Abq Uptown to play in the splash pad with cousins Beau and Marianne!

This was when I reminded myself that school may be back in session but it is still August!
By the way Allie and Luke came home off the bus all smiles and cheerful. Luke said it was fun. And easy. And kind of boring actually.

Monsoon Rains

Why was she naked?! I honestly cannot remember... and it was only last week. It rained almost every afternoon which was so nice and refreshing! I think Rachel must have gotten out of a bath but when she saw the rain (notice the splashing drops in the pool) and her ball she could NOT be contained.

In other news, we figured out what was getting into our garden. No it was not the children who picked my nicely growing watermelon. It was a squirrel. So Jason bought a live trap and we set it up. Within 24 hours we had her! Unfortunately... she did not make it. Our intention was to catch her alive and then let her out somewhere else. I don't know if she died of fright or what did her in but she was no longer moving when the kids and dad loaded her into the back of the truck to drop her off in the woods somewhere. She did die full and happy though. The bate was completely eaten. And what did we bate her with?

Watermelon.

Payne Family Reunion 2012

Presenting...


Oh where to begin?! The J&P Payne clan met in Monticello, UT for our annual family gathering this year. We stayed in an old grist mill that was converted into a Bed & Breakfast with a bunch of rooms. And oh did we have fun! Why Monticello? Well first of all it was fairly central in regards to where everyone lives, but second- there is SO MUCH TO DO around there! Like Canyon Lands!
Notice the flip-flops we all wore? The couple who got out of their Subaru with their hiking clothes, hiking poles, and appropriate hiking boots and wool socks with sufficient wide brimmed hats for their heads looked at us a little crazy as we piled out of our mini van in sandals were off. Yep, we LIVE in a dessert.
This sandy soft stuff in nothin'.
Oh there was so much to see and do and not enough time.

Guess who we met on Sunday while walking to church?!
Give me a kiss!
Come on, just one little kiss?!
After all the millions of times of driving past this jail cell (the first one in the county) we finally stopped and took a picture. I wonder where I could order one of these...

THE END

P.S. Not pictured- so much! The Kid Olympics, the fun meals and late night laughs, the Minute to Win It games, the pool, the family photo shoot of EVERYONE!

P.P.S. Also not pictured- the nearly 2 weeks prior spent at Grandma and Grandpa Jackson's where I did not pull out the camera even once. :(

The Mad Scientist Birthday Party

A boy from school invited Allie to his birthday party.  He also happens to be in Luke's gymnastics class where we ran into his mom the other day and where she invited Wesley and Luke to also come to the party.  So all three kids went.


Since the theme was Mad Scientist, the kids were supposed to show up with crazy hair.  We spiked the boys hair- there is only so much you can do with short hair.

Wesley doing his evil maniacal laugh:

Luke and Wesley sticking their tongues out Einstein style:

And then we did Allie's hair.

They had a really great time of course!  They made "lab coats" that they got to decorate themselves and goggles to wear for their experiments (pool goggles of course) as well as a lot of other fun stuff.  They got to see what happened to a flower put in dry ice and had eye ball cup cakes.  They did some other experiments (I guess grandpa was a chemist) so all in all it was some crazy fun!  One of the other things they come home with in their gift bags were mustaches.

This is Wesley being scientifically serious in his lab coat and mustache.

When Rachel got out of the shower tonight she wanted to put on the goggles.  I just laughed and laughed because to get them to fit, the eye pieces touch.  And then they fogged up! (more laughter...)

Rachel LOOOVES to hang on her seat and swing.  I have wanted to video tape it because it cracks me up- her own personal playground.  And she loooves to tackle Wesley (sleeping, awake, watching tv, etc.)

 

Our Family Staycation

With Jason working a lot and traveling and of course I am "great with child" and running a little low on energy and patience... well we really needed a little vacation.  So we booked our stay at a local hotel that has a waterpark attached.  We had a great time.  The hotel?  Eh- dated and not that clean (they really needed someone to vacuum the hallways).  The rooms were fine, but just fine.  The waterpark was really fun but overpriced and they nickle and dimed you for everything.  From the kids point of view, it was AWESOME!  We (the parents) really really enjoyed ourselves, but we were a little disappointed especially after the hype and planning and the professional photos (I know, I know... what was I thinking).  We loved our weekend stay but just thought you ought to know in case you were considering coming to Albuquerque just for this attraction.  Speaking of photos... these are the not-so-blurry ones since we only had our crummy point and shoot camera with us.

Having trouble with the videos... check back later.  This hopefully is one of Allie or Jason surfing! (Ok- took all morning and nothing.  Jason will have to insert videos here later because I cannot get it to work).  :(