School is in the Air

I love the smell of fall and the excitement of going back to school.  It seemed to come so much faster this year, though.  I had a hard time letting them go.  They looked so cute.  Here are they are on the first day!



Karlee is in Mrs. Jorgensen's 1st  grade class.  Her best friend is her cousin, Andylin.  Her favorite thing to do at recess is chase the boys, ahh!

Abby is in Mrs. Parkes 4th grade class.  Her best friends are Brylei Harris and Kenya Miller.  They love to play like they are characters from books they have read.  They have quite they imaginations!

The girls love having each other to go to school with.  I hope they always stay close to each other.

Outside waiting for the bus.

Kayci finally got to start preschool this year.  I thought the excitement was going  to kill her.  Jake had a hard time letting her go.

Her teacher is Onda K. who was my Kindergarten teacher.  Crazy!

Her best friends are Brooke and Allie.  They are all so cute together!

Lexie Growing Up

While we were busy playing this summer, Lexie really started growing.  She is still very tiny, a lot like when Kayci was little.  She is an amazingly good baby, so content.  We love her so much!  Here are a few pics at around five months.



This is what happens when I let the kids play with her (she is in the doll stroller).

She is always smiling.

 

Starting to get tired of pictures.

Playing with grandma at the bowling alley.

She looks so much like Layne.

She konked out sitting on the garbage can.

Reed Family Reunion at Bear Lake

This year we had our first ever Reed Family Reunion with just my mom and Don and their children.  We don't all get together too often so we decided to plan a reunion so we could all be together, have some fun, and not work (which is why we usually get together).  Corey planned the reunion and did a great job.  We had fun playing at the beach and spent hours riding on the molecule behind grandma's boat.  The only downside was the cool weather which we thought we could avoid with it being the second week in August, but that didn't stop us from really enjoying being together.  I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful family.   Here are some pictures of our weekend together.  Oh, ya!  Layne and I got to celebrate our 12th anniversary while at the reunion.  We have had twelve wonderful years together.  I don't know what I would do without him.  I hope and pray for many, many more to come!



Our crowed and busy camp.  The men are busy cooking up a great breakfast.

Abby and cousin McKenna enjoying their breakfast.

Andy, Karlee, Trey, and Jake chowin' down.

Jake playing in the sand and water.

Karlee and Chloe building their sand castle.

Jake joined in on the sand castle making.  He enjoyed destroying more than building.

Kayci on her sand seat.

Layne, Karlee, Trey, and McKenna riding on the molecule.

Jake riding in grandma's boat.

Kayci and Taryn playing on their tubes.

Abby and Morgan creating their jelly bean butterflies on Sunday morning.

Annabelle and Karlee working on their butterflies.

I am so blessed to have these guys!

My sweetheart on our anniversary! Love you more than you'll ever know, hon!

(My face is so sunburned and swollen, I couldn't touch it for a week)

Trip to Beauty and the Beast and Grandpa's Cabin

Abby, Karlee, Kayci, and Andy with Belle.

The girls waiting in the foyer of the Playmill for the show to begin.

Kayci about couldn't contain her excitement.

Abby would love to play Belle herself someday.

Karlee chose a yellow crown so she could match Belle's dress.

The girls enjoying their cake and punch at the tea party with Belle.

Me and my cute girls outside the Playmill after the show.  It was GREAT!

Our hike up to school house rock.  We had to stop every now and then for a water and M & M break.

Layne took the kids down to the lake to fish.  No luck catching anything this time.

We waited all summer for our trip to Grandpa's cabin, especially since this time we also planned a trip to the Playmill to see Beauty and the Beast.  Layne stayed at the cabin with Lexie and Jake while I took Abby, Karlee, and Kayci to West for the show.  Holly and Andy came too and the girls had a ball.  We went early and got to go to a special tea party with Belle.  She played a game to get to know their names and then called them up one at a time to give them a crown and take their picture with her.  Then they served cake and punch.  I couldn't believe how excited Kayci was.  She had a perma grin for days after meeting Belle.  After the tea party was the show and as always, it was fantastic.  I am always amazed at what you can do with such a small space and the cast was excellent.  The girl who played Belle is from Rigby so that was fun for the girls as well.  We went back and stayed a couple of days at the cabin which we always enjoy.  Layne took us on a hike up to School House Rock.  We didn't quite make it to the top but a had a good time trying (it will be easier without a child in a pack and two who thought they needed to ride on someone's back).  Later in the day the kids went fishing with Layne.  They love to go down to the lake and throw rocks and maybe some day they'll actually catch a fish there.  It was hard to come home, and we definitely look forward to going back this winter!

Andy's Birthday

Time for another fun summer birthday party.  It was Andy's 6th birthday and the kids got to play some fun games and play in the pool.  Holly is a fantastic host and always makes things fun for the kids.  Here they are setting up for a hula hoop game.

Good throw, Karlee!  Each balloon had a number value.  The kids threw the hula hoops to try to get the most points.

Abbs hanging out in the pool

Kayci getting ready to jump in

Karlee taking a spin on her tube

Holly and I bought these great umbrellas to have for the yard or at the beach.  Jake hung out in the shade and ate cookies most of the time.

It was my job to keep the babies happy.  Here's me and Livie just relaxing.

Camping at Palisades

Kayci, Andy, Abby, and Karlee posing in front of the stream at our camp

The girls had fun wading in the stream, looking for cool rocks for their rock necklaces.

Karlee rolling up her shorts so she can go in a little deeper

Kayci's all smiles while she's wading until . . . .

She loses her footing and goes under!

Lexie's taking a little nap while the kids played

Jake could have played in the stream all day

Kayci, Taryn, Trey, Abby, Karlee, Andy, and Jake enjoying the water and the beach at Palisades Resevoir

Jake loved playing in the sand and crushing everyone else's creations

Jared brought his fishing gear for the kids which they love.  He is always so patient with them.  Thanks, Jared!

Sorry, Abbs.  No fish this time!

We have been looking forward to this summer and getting to use our camper, A LOT!  Well, at least as much as possible.  My mom and Don also got a camper so the weekend of July 17th we decided they needed to break it in before taking it to Bear Lake for our family reunion.  Holly and Jared, us, my mom, and Brittany and her crew all went up to Palisades overnight and had a blast.  We found a great spot to camp with a little stream and only a few tired boy scouts nearby (Layne really prefers not to camp in a busy, crazy campground, so this was right up his alley).  The kids played in the stream and rode their bikes and most of all looked forward to a campfire that night.  The next day we all went down to the beach and played in the water and sand.  Jared even set up the fishing poles for the kids to try to fish.  They didn't have any luck this time, but they sure love trying.  It was a quick trip, but so much fun to be with family and just get away from the responsibilities of home!