Well, I'm here to report that our Summer break has come to an end. The kids started school this week. Emisha is now a Freshman. I can't believe it. We are all getting used to Early morning seminary. She is the piano player for seminary, young womens and mutual! Abby is in 7th grade. She didn't have to go to school the first day, so we got a special day with just the 2 of us. Matthew joined the ranks of middle school as a 6th grader. He is super excited. Haley is now in 3rd and the only one left in elementary school. Thankfully she still has 3 years there. I'm not ready to be that old. Mornings around here are so different. We get up at 5:30 and the last one leaves at 8:30. 3 hours of making breakfast, coming hair, making lunch and hurrying people along. Sometimes I feel like I've run a marathon by the time I get home from dropping them off. Here are their first day of school photos:

We had 2 birthdays in the last month. Matthew got to celebrate turning 11 with the Pixtons. It was so good to spend a few days with them. Matthew graduated from Cub Scouts! He's now an official Boy Scout. Watch out!  Emisha spent her 14th birthday mini golfing, swimming and lunching with her friends. I can't get over how quickly they grow up.

A few weeks ago, Blake and I participated in a bike ride in a small town called Hudson. They had a 26 and 56 mile ride. We were planning and training for the 26 mile ride. 5 hours and 56 miles later, we crossed the finish line. I couldn't believe what I had just done. (Blake did much better than I did.) It was a very proud moment in our lives. After the ride, the town hosted a fried chicken lunch for all the riders. It was quite tastey!

We are looking forward to a great new school year. With sports, band, orchestra, choir, karate, scouts, young womens, activity days and life, it promises to be a great one!