FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

This is a year of firsts and lasts for us. Bailey, the baby of the family, started school. She is officially in Kindergarten. Maddy is now in the 4th grade. Abby will finish up at the intermediate school. She is in 7th grade. Kelsee, the oldest, is a senior and will be graduating this coming spring. My FIRST baby will have her LAST year in high school and my LAST baby will have her FIRST year in school.

Bailey chillin' at the bus stop. The first thing she did was throw her backpack on the ground....just like the rest of the kids. She was so excited to ride the bus.

Miss White and Bailey. She went on a treasure hunt to get acquainted with the classroom and the rules.

Time truly does fly! It seems like Maddy was in Kindergarten just last year. She is growing up too quickly.

Abby hanging out at the bus stop. The whole time I stood with her, she kept telling me to go home because I was embarrassing her by taking pictures (and probably for breathing too). I tried not to take offense and remind myself she is a typical tween.

A SENIOR

Kelsee made it. Her final year in high school!

MADDY'S BRACES

This summer, Maddy got her first set of braces. Her teeth, like all of my girls, have a lot of space. Kids at school can be quite mean when it comes to looking different or unique. We gave Maddy the choice to start her braces now with phase 1 and then when all of her permanent teeth come in, she will start the final phase 2. She opted for the braces.

Maddy's BEFORE PICTURE

The braces are ON!

The braces are doing their job! Stay tuned for the AFTER photo. Coming in a few months. Maddy documented her own progress :)

Summer - Visit to Mt. Pleasant

This summer we had a special treat. Our Hawaii cousins were able to visit Utah. We met them in Mt. Pleasant and had a great time. The kids enjoyed fishing, celebrating Teague's birthday, attending Teague's baptism, hanging out, movies, sleeping in the teepee, and the older kids did baptisms at the temple. The best part was spending time together.

FISHING....

Mori and Jared were good sports. They fixed a lot of fishing poles for all the kids.

Bailey and Naomi taking a break with their Shasta pop. They seem to find something fun in everything they do. They find the joy in life. I wish I could freeze time and keep Bailey at this age.....two happy kids!

Teague and Maddy changed into their swimsuits to play catch with water balloons. My favorite picture is of Maddy and Teague standing in front of grandpa's teepee. They seem so serious. I love their posture. Both of them have their hands behind their backs. I didn't notice until I loaded the picture but it made me laugh. Glad they will have fun memories.

THE OLD "young" SALT LAKE CLAN

Teague turned eight and was able to be baptized in Mt. Pleasant. The Lawrence family, our friends from Salt Lake, came down for his special day.

We enjoyed spending a little time together.

THE OLD "old" SALT LAKE CLAN

Joey, Stacie, and me :)

SPEAKMAN FAMILY PICTURE

Neglect

It seems as if I am in a losing battle with my blog. I feel like every time I turn around there is another task to do and the blog gets put on the back burner. I love to scrapbook and haven't prioritized my time to keep up on that project either. I want to stay on top of my blog.

Sorry for the backlog of posts. As I have written before, this is my way of keeping track of pictures and experiences until I find the time to put together a more complete scrapbook, whether it be digital or handmade.

I enjoy viewing all of your blogs and hope to get caught up and stay caught up. The task seems daunting at times. I keep telling myself if I will just post 2-3 a day I should be caught up in no time. Wish me luck! :)

Pioneer Day

Ahh....the lazy days of summer.

We had a great 24th of July. We swam in the pool, had a cookout and then did more fireworks. Why is it that kids love them so much? They also love playing with sparklers. It's all about making the memories I suspect :)

Bailey hanging out with Jared. She loves her daddy!

SPARKLERS!

Kelsee...I can't believe she is almost 18. She is such a beautiful young lady.

Abby, Bailey, Kelsee and Maddy

Pictures can be deceiving......

I look back on the pictures I have taken of the girls and sometimes begin to laugh. As I am trying to get them to stand together, put their arms around each other and smile, there are times I feel the picture is not worth the fight. I persevere....

Then when I view the picture later, it looks as if they were happy to be together at the moment. Maybe that's what I need to try and remind myself. I just need to take a lot of pictures of them looking angelic, and then they will look back on their pictures and remember only the good times.

4TH OF JULY

Jack, Emma and Bailey sitting on the sidelines waiting for the firework display to begin. I guess Emma didn't want her picture taken :)

We spent the 4th of July in St. George this year. For the past couple of years, we visited Grandpa and Grandma Speakman in Mt. Pleasant. Jared was working so we decided to stay at home and have our own fireworks display. The kids were given a smores maker from a family friend. They decided it would be a great idea to roast marshmallows (over a lightbulb) while watching the fireworks. The neighbors came over to join us.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

Creativity and fun

Maddy loves to do craft projects. Over the summer, she saw an idea to make puzzles using popsicle sticks. The idea is to draw a picture or scene on both sides and then you have two puzzles in one. I love her creativity.

The kids like to use geometric shapes to build cool designs. This is one of many they have made over the years.

Bailey and Maddy....best buds!

With having four girls in the house, I find we have a lot of drama and emotions. At times, I wonder how I will make it through the day. It's nice to be able to look back through my pictures and realize how much fun the girls have together, Maddy and Bailey especially. They are still easily entertained by the simples things....from making crafts to setting up photo shoots.