First Day of School

Caleb is proud to be a 1st grader!

Alex is now in 3rd grade

My cute boys on their way to school.
Alex reminded me as we were going out the door,
"Mom, don't forget to take pictures!!"
I guess he looks forward to that tradition.

Have fun in 1st and 3rd grades! You're such smart boys!

A Successful Boating Trip

We finally got to take our boat out and experience the open water without any major troubles. Leah really loved feeling the wind on her face! :)

Caleb just wanted to nap the whole time we were fishing

Alex trolling for fish

Jon wanted to troll for fish, so I got to drive

Happy Jon...he's so glad the boat worked great

The only trouble we had the whole time we were out on Deer Creek Reservoir was the fact that we didn't catch any fish! Plus, we're still learning all the quirks about the boat. It took a few attempts to get it started again when we would stop to fish. All in all it was a great boating trip though!

Our first boat ride

We went to Utah Lake tonight with our good friends, the Kruegers.

YEAH! The boat is finally on the water!
It has taken Jon so much time and hard work to get this
$200 boat running and ready for the water.

Trine with baby-in-a-life-jacket bundle, Kayla

Jon and Caleb

The Kruegers and our kids

Jon taking a picture of us while docked.
Getting ready to GO!

Caleb looking out at the lake

Our family on the family boat!

See the smoke on the left side?
Alex is trying to block the burnt rubber smell from going into his nose!
The head gasket started leaking.

After being stranded for about 30 minutes
we got towed into the harbor by some friendly boaters.

It was a good first run. I'm glad Larry was there to help Jon learn the boating rules. He also noticed the heat gauge before it ruined anything major.

We're so happy it's running, but
it'll take a bit more time, effort, and money to get it back on the water.

Leah turns FIVE!

Leah celebrated her 5 year old birthday today, August 12th! She had a family party with my side of the family on Sunday. We had a nice dinner together. Here is Leah blowing out her candles at the BEGINNING of the "Happy Birthday" song. We tried explaining that you blow them out after the song, but she just didn't listen.

Leah's presents:

All the boys snuggling with Papa while Leah opened presents
Leah had her first birthday party with friends.
Here they are playing a game of duck, duck, goose
The wind was blowing too much outside for her to
practice blowing out the candles AFTER the song is over
Yummy flower shaped sandwiches were served for lunch
I think everyone had a good time playing in the pool, slip 'n slide, and sprinklers.

Leah's Turn!

Leah is so excited to have her turn doing swimming lessons. She waited so patiently through the boys' swimming lessons, and now she finally gets to be the one in the water. She is in the duck class and loves that her teacher's name is Katie ("just like Aunt Katie" she told me). Her teacher is very impressed at her abilities. One more week left of swim lessons--then school's almost ready to start!! :)

Child Labor Laws

Alex has been BEGGING me to let him mow the lawn so he can earn some money. I finally let him try it out. It was a lot of hard work for him, but he earned enough money to buy himself a new Lego Bionicle. Nice work, Alex!

Adoption Fundraiser

I wanted to invite everyone out to come support my brother and sister-in-law's adoption fundraiser:

Date:	Saturday, August 1, 2009
Time:	8:00am - 4:00pm
Street:	413 N 550 W
City/Town:	Orem, UT

***Craft Sale (go to www.handmadesweetsomethings.blogspot.com to see the products for sale)

***Bake Sale

*Cupcakes (chocolate, vanilla, carrot, etc)
*Rice Krispy Treats
*Cookies
*Yummy Treats!

***Scentsy Products (www.scentsy.com/katierogers)

***Silent Auction for some great items!

***and a HUGE multi-family yard sale

*Sofas
*cabinets
*exercise equipment
*toys
*infant, children and adult clothing
*entertainment center
*Camping equipment
*and TONS more!!

Come check it out and bring all of your friends!

To read more about my brother and sister-in-law's adoption go to www.shaneandkatiesadoption.blogspot.com