First day of school pictures

Better late than never right? Lana and Tanner both started school on August 25th, they've already been in a month. That is so crazy how quickly the last few weeks have just flown by.


Lana showing off her Hello Kitty backpack.


Did I mention they're doing uniforms? Yeah, I hate them. I hate a lot of things they make these Kindergartener's do but it's not about me, it's about Lana and she's thriving in this environment and that's what matters.

It took Lana some time to adjust to her new teacher (Mrs. Blanton and her assistant Mrs. Scott), new school and longer school hours but she seems to be doing well now. She LOVES riding the bus home with our neighbor friend Minali. I would never have let her ride the bus home except it was the one thing about school she was really looking forward to. Plus I know Minali looks out for Lana and all the other kids in our neighborhood ride the bus home too so it works for us right now.

Tanner loved school in the beginning and then I think he got bored because he hasn't wanted to go for the last two weeks. But the last two days the teacher (Ms. Emily) has had some really fun welcome activities and those changed his attitude real quick. He gives me a kiss and doesn't look back. Ms. Emily has been great with Tanner, we've really liked all 3 of the teachers we've had at this preschool.

Temple Square

It was a perfect afternoon to take pictures on Temple Square. The weather was fantastic! In fact I am missing my perfect Utah weather since we are back to hot and muggy and by the time I get home from taking Lana to school I feel like I need a 2nd shower and it's only 7:45am, but I digress.




It is so hard to get Tanner to smile nice at all let alone into a camera. He usually ends up with some funky face or looking all squinty. I remember Lana going through that phase, she still squints a lot but is better than Tanner.

I love this picture because it shows how attracted my kids are to water. We couldn't keep them away from the fountains.






Grandpa Jerry is trying to distract Tanner so he won't fall into the fountain and yet there's Lana on the side looking like she's tempting fate to push her in.

They were so full of energy but it was a beautiful day and a perfect one to hang out at temple square. Thanks for coming with us Grandpa!

The Church History Museum

The Church History Museum was another thing on my "to do" list since I'd never been. They had a lot of cool things there including a great play area for the kids to do activities and get their wiggles out from looking at boring grown up stuff.



John Taylor's watch

Joseph and Hyrum's death masks.


Lana and Tanner playing in the kids area.


The weirdest parking payment system we've every come across.

PS. Dad, I'm sorry I'm such a horrible picture taker. Now that I'm posting this I'm realizing we don't have any good pictures with you and the kids. What a slacker I am!

Bingham Copper Mine

When we were planning our trip I knew I wanted to take Tanner to see the Copper Mine. I knew he would love the big trucks (and I was right!).


Here he is enjoying all the Tonka trucks they have in their little visitor's center.

Bryce Canyon

Wow, I loved Bryce Canyon. Didn't love the weather so much (it was 58 degrees when we drove in). Quite the shock going from 109 in St. George to 58 in Bryce Canyon. When we got to the hotel, the kids wanted to go swimming again (indoor pool), so I took them while Paul went to go do a load of laundry. Five minutes of swimming and the kids lips were blue and their teeth were chattering. We did not stay long.



The next morning turned out to be beautiful and perfect weather for driving around and seeing the views.






We also stopped by the small town of Tropic where Paul's Grandma grew up. This is the old Tropic Post office that her mother ran and the home where they lived.

Zion National Park

Before we headed up to Zion's we stopped in St. George for the night. We met a family from Paul's mission at a pizza place and they told some fun stories. Later we took the kids to go swim in the hotel pool which they always love.



Why is there a stop light in the middle of nowhere?



Loved the scenery here. The weather was still kind of warm so we took the shortest hike they had. It was still too long and too steep for me in that hot of weather! I'm such a wimp.





This is the kids at the end of the hike. I was hoping for a little more than a pool of muddy water and a trickle falling into it, but it's what you get when you visit in late summer/dry season.




Tanner fell and scraped his ankle (hence the sad face in the picture). He still talks about his big owie on his foot 2 1/2 weeks later.