Back To School!!

You know, when Leandra was old enough to start school, I didn't know if I was going to like the year-round schedule that Jordan School District has (due to all the young families out here). But I can honestly say that I LOVE it! It's been GREAT to have a little 3 week break every couple of months. It gives the kids a break from all the work, yet it's short enough that they aren't quite dying of boredom before it's time to go back. Next year will be interesting having Leandra at the Middle School (which is on a traditional schedule), but we'll figure that out when we get there. :)


Anyway, July 25th marked the beginning of the 2009 - 2010 school year for Hayden Peak Elementary (with Kindergarten starting the August 4th). So, as of now, all of the Utah Thornton children are back in school! This will be the one year where they are ALL attending the same school, at the same time (even though Qiyana's only 1/2 day).

Qiyana was especially excited for school this year since she would be able to go everyday. She's even excited to be able to go "off-track" with her brother and sisters this year. The PTA did something cute this year for the parents of Kindergarten kids. After we brought them to school for their first day, there was a "Boo-Hoo Brunch" held on the stage for parents to have muffins and juice and help each other get through this BIG day! They even had little packs of tissues for the parents. I didn't go, because I still had day-care kids to get home for, but my friend Heather is the PTA President Elect this year, and she said there were plenty of tears being shed up on that stage. I had to giggle. I guess if they had done this Brunch when Leandra was going into Kindergarten, I might have had some tears to shed too. But, as I told Lee, I think when you get more to my stage in life, it might be better called a "Woo-Hoo! Brunch". I don't know, maybe if I still didn't have 5-ish kids at my house all day, I might even feel a bit teary-eyed too. Aren't I just horrible??

I'm not sure I'm ready for all the work and projects to come -- I'm probably going to have some nightmares about forgetting some huge project for someone -- but hopefully I'll be able to stay organized enough to keep up with all 4 schedules! But if nothing else, even with the day-care kids I still have every day... can I tell you how quiet it is at my house before 11:17am these days?? :)

JONAS BROTHERS - LIVE!!

Any of you with "Tween-age" daughters, like I have, probably know who was headlining at the Stadium of Fire this year... (YEA!!!!) Well,... Lee did the most awesome thing a few weeks ago and told me he thought I should take Leandra and Kendra to the show.
Well, he sure didn't have to twist my arm! I know it's pretty sorry when an OLD MOM likes the latest GIRL CRAZE, but I just can't help it! Kevin, Joe and Nick are such talented and cute boys, with good values and good music... even Lee thinks their music is good enough for the kids to listen to! I LOVE that my kids love them! It's really hard to find good role models these days! Anyway, anyway...

We've never been to the Stadium of Fire, but I'd love to be able to go again! I couldn't believe what a HUGE production it was! I felt like I was at the Superbowl half-time for most of it!! They even had a fly-over from Hill Air Force Base!
The coolest part of the fly-over, was that they had the pilot of the head plane on camera from his plane, broadcasted to the big-screen in the stadium as they flew over... it was really cool!
When the concert part finally started, Kendra had a hard time adjusting to the volume level... I guess I should have thought about that and maybe brought along some ear plugs, but eventually, she became less sensitive to it (or her ear-drums just became permanently damaged!)... But, WOW!!! What an AWESOME show! They seemed to be having SO much FUN! And, of course, we TOTALLY were!! I love a GREAT concert!!
Even though we weren't right in front of the stage (yea,... the $300 per ticket section... Ugh!), we could see plenty well enough! Also, Lee picked up a couple pair of decent binoculars (from work) for the girls to use. They worked GREAT... just too bad I couldn't take pictures through them!! You know, they are so cute,... they said they wanted to play a song so all the kids could see how cool their parents were... They played "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond, and did it fantastically!! (Is that a word??) It was AWESOME!



And, of course, the night ended with an awesome fireworks show!! Although,... I have to say that Taylorsville Dayzz is seriously hard to beat! It was cool to have fireworks shooting right out of the stadium, but we will STILL never be able to say anything against sitting on Nana and Poppy's back deck at the end of June every summer! I would have to say that THAT part of the night, was a draw with the fireworks show we saw last week! We are SERIOUSLY spoiled in that area!!

Who says we can't??

I guess we were supposed to have our little camp out because the minute we took Leandra's friend home, it began raining again! I'm not sure what the weather was like elsewhere in Utah, but later Saturday afternoon, we had flash flood warnings in Salt Lake County.... and I believe for good reason!! The skies seriously opened up on us a few times, and for awhile each time! It was incredible! (Have I mentioned I LOVE the rain, recently??)

Last time it rained, Lee was a bit disappointed because he had wanted to play basketball with Jordan in it, but didn't get home in time. Saturday, however, he took full advantage of being home. Who says you can't play ball in the rain?? I was out running some errands, but came home in time to see Lee, Jordan and Leandra completely SOAKED and having a blast in the driveway!

An hour or so later, we got hit with some serious rain again, and playing basketball was the first thing on everyone's minds!!

I'm sure our neighbors thought we were completely insane... even I got in on the last game!! (Fortunately, I'm the one with the camera, so you won't be able to prove anything!)

Nice flick of the wrist, J-Man!!

Excellent "D", Leandra! Play on!!


You know, in the rain, it's a little harder to hit your shots, because of the downpour in your face! Not to mention the fact that the ball is so darn slippery! Eventually though, if you keep at it, success will be yours!!

Oh yea.... the sweet, SWEET feel of VICTORY!!

CAMP OUT!!

So... all the yard work was well worth it because we had a backyard camp-out Friday night!! All the stars and planets must have been aligned too, because it was the most beautiful, clear night we have had in weeks!! We found the big dipper, roasted marshmallows, and DIDN'T get rained on! It was AWESOME!

It was originally going to be a big sleep-over party for Leandra and her friends (since we don't do "sleep-overs" with friends as a general rule, we agreed that we'd have a fun camp-out in our backyard during the summer to kind of get that "sleep-over itch" out of the big girl's systems). Unfortunately, only 1 friend was actually able to make it, but it still turned out to be GREAT FUN!

Lee had to help someone move that night, but was awesome to get (and put together) a steel fire-pit for us before leaving. I was SO excited for this. It may not seem like much, but I've wanted one of these for a LONG time! And... it turned out to be as AWESOME as I'd hoped it would be! The kids thought it was totally cool to make smores in our own backyard, and it kept them warm too! The girls did have to keep moving their chairs though, because they were all SOOOOO beautiful! (you know,.. the smoke??)

Anyway, after Jordan and Qiyana said goodnight to the girls, they sat around the fire with me for a little bit while it died down, and then while I made sure there were no hot coals left.

It was a very fun night,... and I LOVED coming back in the house and going to bed with that awesome camp-fire smoke smell in my hair!! I can't wait to do it again!!

I feel like I'm rambling, and don't have a clever name for this post!!

I have LOVED the rainy weather we have had SO MUCH!! Do you think this whole Global Warming trend (sorry, Travis!) could possibly make our "desert home" less of a "desert"? I mean, seriously... it's JUNE! No, no, no,.. you will not find me complaining whatsoever! I know there are those crazy people who enjoy the dry, INSANE heat of Arizona (sorry, Bedont's!) , but not me. I'm sure I would be the happiest person in the world living somewhere like Seattle... (or perhaps, Forks??) :)

Anyway, I digress... sorry! OK, so the point I was trying to get to was that the WEEDS in my yard have seemed to enjoy the weather as much as I have lately! You know, I had these great plans for our backyard of our entire fence lined with trees (probably Mom in me trying to keep the world out of my yard!), and big beautiful bushes all around the house exterior. Unfortunately, I have learned that landscaping isn't free, and so instead of all the greenery I had expected to have, I instead of MUCH TOO MUCH open dirt surrounding my grass, and it cultivates HUGE crops of weeds!!! It's mostly just that tall grassy stuff (you know?), but it's terribly annoying. Anyway, I have spend most of the last week out in my backyard finding my dirt again! I am quite pleased with myself, as I am actually starting to enjoy spending time back there again, but I am TERRIBLY EMBARASSED to have to admit that when all was said and done, we ended up with 22 bags full of weeds and grass clippings!


OK,... so I still don't have all the trees and bushes I'd like (or the deck that we ARE going to get in eventually), but at this point, I would even be willing to host a family get-together! Anyone game?? :) WE LOVE YOU ALL!

A Temple Near My Home...

Yesterday our Primary held one of their quarterly activities which was -- I thought -- quite ambitious. We met at our church at 9am and then caravaned to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple to attend the open house. Since Lee and I are now teaching the Valient 12 class, we were also able to attend (AND, since we have all 4 of our children in Primary right now, it turned out to be a really nice family activity as well). Jordan really got a kick out of the ushers and began holding his arm out to the side as if to guide people along periodically. Once he even questioned a Brother who was on security detail as to why he didn't have his arm out. The gentleman got quite a kick out of him.

Our children all LOVED the Celestial and the Sealing Rooms the most because of the mirrors. But, who doesn't find that visual perspective of eternity inspiring??

With the temple open house and upcoming dedication such a part of our lives out here right now, our Stake primary decided to do a little re-arranging of their monthly "focus" and made May our "Temple" month. So, all month long we have been talking, learning and singing about the temple -- which was also a GREAT build-up to out ward's activity yesterday. Our Stake Primary Presidency has even written another verse to the song "I Love to See the Temple" which the kids have been learning... it goes like this:

There is a sacred temple
That I can call my own.
A beacon on a hillside...
And it's nearby my home.

The greatest blessings can be mine
As I learn to live the gospel.

We'll sing and shout in gratitude --
The Oquirrh Mountain Temple. *

Words by Galene Gish and Stephanie Ransom

A New Look... Short and Sassy!

For a long time now, Leandra has been pleading with me to cut her hair short. I have been unwilling to go short because I've been afraid of what her hair might do without the length of it pulling it down (I don't think girls are supposed to have afro's are they??)! Anyway, I finally realized that in the grand scheme of things, this really wasn't an important fight to have. Although I did NOT agree to cut her hair to her shoulders (as she had thought really wanted), I did end up cutting off about 4 1/2 inches.

It was so cool to see her face light up when she looked at herself in the mirror. She really loved it!! And I have to say, I think it does make her look more grown up -- not that that's what I want either!! Ugh! What's a parent to do??

But, we DO really like her new look -- and I LOVE to see her happy with what she sees too!!