My Mom's a missionary

We had such an exciting week over Labor Day this year!

My mom received her mission call on August 8th and entered the MTC on September 4th.
She went from this 

to this

In 3 weeks!  Yikes.  She was called to the Houston South Mission, to serve as a Family History Specialist.  I love this picture at the Map in the MTC, so official with her name tag and everything! Wow.

On Labor Day weekend, ALL 5 of my siblings came into town to be with Mom as she was set apart, and entered the MTC.  We had a blast all together.  I was able to pick Jen up from the airport Thursday night and I was so excited to see her. I really do love all my brothers and sisters so much, and was so thankful that all of the families could be there too, minus Steve (Jen's hubby and kiddos).  It was sad to not see them too!

I just love to hang out with them and be together no matter what we are doing.
We helped mom pack and clean (well, I didn't, but the rest of them did and get things ready to go).

My mom, worked her little tail off to get everything done in the short time she had.
Saturday, my mom had an open house, and although the weather didn't cooperate (it poured!), it was so nice to see people come out and support her.

Sunday, we all went to my Mom's ward. 
Afterwards, we took some photos since we were all together and dressed up. 

Love these people. (the whole crew, minus Sean, who gladly took the picture).

We enjoyed a day together, and then that night was the setting apart.  It was such a neat experience to be there in the room all together. The blessing/setting apart was one of the most beautiful blessings I have ever been privileged to be a part of.  I have no doubt that my Dad was in that circle that night, along with the boys.

It was official!

Monday morning was the big day.  We all met at the temple to take our last pictures and then we went down the hill to the MTC and she was officially on her way.

Good Luck Mom!

We all think you will do awesome!

After we dropped her off, we all went to lunch and then stopped by my dad's grave.  IT was the first time we have all been there together since the funeral.

After that, we parted and said our good-bye's.  Ryan, Marcela and the girls came and stayed the night with us, since they didn't fly out until Tuesday morning.  It was fun to spend a little extra time with them.

Such a fun, memorable weekend.  Love my family.

First Day of School

Is it really time for school to start again?

Our summer has been pretty busy so it will actually be nice to be on a schedule/routine again.

I am going to do Jayson's preschool this year.  We decided to hold him back one more year for Kindergarten since he has such a late summer birthday.  I am happy to keep him for one more year with me.

We had a fabulous Labor Day Weekend, and that will be a HUGE post, so I will do that soon.

For now, here are my cute 2nd and 5th graders all ready to go.

Tayler has Mrs. Chamberlain and Rylee has Miss Welch. 

They both came home yesterday happy and told me how much they loved their teachers! Success.

Best of luck girls on this new year!!

Bear River Lodge

We were able to go to Bear River Lodge in the Uinta's for a weekend trip before school started, and it was a bLaSt 

 

We rode the 4-wheelers, swam, ate and slept.  It was perfect and relaxing.

There is something so nice about cool mountain air. We saw Moose and dear.

 

The kids loved to play and explore right behind the cabin.

It was a little chilly, but the kids still wanted to go swimming.  

 

They sat in the hot tub most of the time, which felt amazing!

 

 

We went on a day trip in the Ranger, so we could all fit and ride together.  We took a picnic lunch and went exploring.

There is a beautiful lake (Lilly Lake) that wasn't far from where we were.

On Monday afternoon, we had tickets to the Brigham City Temple Open House, so we got dressed up and checked out.  It was sad to leave.  We spent some great relaxing time together.  I am grateful for my little bunch!

 

We had to park in certain locations and ride the bus to the temple. I think that was my kids favorite part!

The temple was so beautiful and I had so much fun taking my kids in to see it.  They all loved the Celestial Room.  In the sealing room, Sean showed Tayler that if you look in the mirror it goes on forever. This was the first temple my kids have gone into.  The details were amazing. 

Afterwards, we bought some Peaches and headed home. Great ending to a great trip.