1st day of School

Well another year has come and gone and my kids are off to school!! We have had such a crazy(but fun) summer that I think all of us were ready to get back into a routine.

*Coleman started 6th grade and I can not believe it!!!! I am so proud of him and for the great example he is to his sisters!!! This year is a tough one at his school..a lot of writing and just a lot more work in general. We are all nervous for 6th grade lol. Coleman did say he liked his teacher and thought she would teach him a lot, so hey that's good.

*Evelyn is so excited to start the 3rd grade, she did say she was a bit nervous about it being hard. I had to remind her that she is a genius and then she was fine :) She is happy that her best friend is in her class this year, I can remember being happy about the same things as a girl. So weird to watch your children experience the same things you did, weird-but amazing!!!

*Leland started Kindergarten at American Heritage and she is so happy to finally be with her siblings at the "real" school. She had a great first day and I know she is going to do great...she is already reading a little and can't wait to LEARN everything she can!!!

* Claire is in everyday half day pre-K and wishes she could go with her sisters. She loves school and has already made a friend. I love seeing her BIG smiling face when she see me at carpool, she sure does love her Mommy :)

Ian my nephew is going to the same school as my kids and he is in Leland's kindergarten class. They love having each other and the teacher even sat them next to each other ( we'll see how long that lasts lol). It really does warm my heart to know that these two will get to spend such a memorable and special time together. Notice how much taller Ian is than Leland and she is 6 months older. He is going to be one tall boy!!

I am enjoying my mornings alone with Ruby and I can't believe how quite it is in my house, it is PURE HEAVEN!!!!

Beautiful Baby Sofia

I am so happy to say I have a beautiful new baby niece.

Sofia Lillian Krallis

The happy parents

I am so happy I get to go see them on Friday, I am going to hold this baby all day long!!! She is so beautiful!!!! I love Maria so much and I can't wait to be with her for a few days!!!!

The very PROUD Daddy!!!!

Girls Night with Aunt BeBe

Aunt Bebe gave Leland a manicure and pedicure for her birthday and on Saturday she took her on a really fun girls night. She was so excited and is already talking about the NEXT time. I am so grateful that my kids get to make memories with Aunt Bebe, she is a lot of fun and Leland will definitely agree!!!

She picked a sparkly red with a flower!!! Love this girlie girl!!!

Perfecting her pout!! Thanks for teaching her such important skills Brittany!

NYC oh how I love thee

Oh Brian how I love thee too!!!

It is time like these that I am so grateful that Brian travels! He had a trip to New York City and I was oh so very happy to tag along!!!!! I am so grateful for awesome parents who watched my kids and made it possible for me to go!!!

Thanks Mother and Daddy you ROCK!!!!

This is the beautiful view from my room, I love being in the city so much!! It does have it's negatives, but I try not to focus on those :) I had so much fun hanging out on my own in the city and loved getting some quality time with my amazing hubby!! My favorite thing he said to me was "This is your world whatever you want to do, I am only here to please you!" I could get used to that-seriously!!!

I can not begin to describe how much I love watching Musicals!!!!! Something happens inside of me that I can not explain, I feel so alive!!! Due to the fact that Brian does not share this same passion, he is not ALLOWED to watch plays with me!! It makes us both happy-and I like to be happy:) So I gladly sat and watched 2 amazing shows all by myself and I was in HEAVEN!!!! The only person that I know that shares my craziness for Broadway is my sister-n-law Brittany ( and she is always with me in spirit LOL) The first show I saw this trip was Billy Elliot and I was in love with it ALL!!! The music, the dancing, the story!!!! It was flew into my soul and will forever be there with all my other favorites!!! I know I sound a little nuts right now, but if you share this level of passion you know exactly what I mean!!! The next night I saw Jersey Boys and I loved it!! I loved all the music and hearing the story of Frankie Valli and The 4 Seasons!! It was excellent, but if I am being honest it didn't speak to my soul. It was just a really great show and I love a really great show!!! So as far as this trip goes Billy Elliot wins hands down!!!!

Chimichurri Grill

Only when I am truly blow away by food do I take it's picture!! Brian and I went to this amazing Argentine restaurant and from the moment he asked if they could do Asado for him I knew we had hit the jack pot!!! We started with empandas that made us say yum out loud. All the meat was brought in from Argentina and believe me there is a HUGE difference- HUGE!!!! So Brian had Asado(which is kind of like beef short ribs, from what I understand) and I had a thinly pounded steak with chimichurri on it!!! Every bite was perfection!!! Lastly we finished with Panqueques with dulce de leche and dulce de leche ice cream on top of a apple pastry type thing!! It was divine!! The real reason I took all these pictures was I was sending them to my Bolivian sister-n-law Maria!! I am pretty sure she said she hated me and told me not to leave a bite of food on my plate!! I know no one, not even a man who loves meat more than this girl!! LOL!! We actually ate there for a late lunch and were so stuffed we didn't eat the rest of the night. Brian actually said to me when we meet after my play that he thought about going back over there for another round of dessert!! The dessert was out of this world!!!

Anyway we also had great sushi and Asian fusion food, but this place took 1st place!!!

I am a little embarrassed I blogged so long about food, but I had no choice !!!!

Highlights of 3 AWESOME weeks

July 27th-Aug 17th

I had so much fun with my Sister and her cute kids!!! I love them so much and it was so fun watching our kids form tighter bonds!!! I hope we don't have to wait another year before we see each other again-THAT IS JUST TO LONG!!!!!

Here are a few highlights of her trip to my house!!

I would have a ton of beautiful pictures of us at Temple Square, except I left my camera(full of pictures from the day) sitting on a bench waiting for the train. It makes me sick to think about it, but I am coming to terms with the fact that I will never see my camera or those pictures again- :(:(:( So just imagine cute pictures of Miles and his cousins on a train and all the kids at beautiful Temple Square.

We also had some professional pictures taken of all the kids and my parents and I will post those as soon as i get them!!!

It was an AMAZING 3 weeks!!!!!

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My FAVORITE shopping buddy!!!!

Need I say More!!!

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We had so much fun one night making homemade pizza! We ground our own wheat flour and the kids got to roll the dough and pick out all their own toppings!!

YUMMY YUMMY Pizza Night!!!!

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One morning Stacie and I took the kids on a local hike, they had so much fun!!!

I love how Leland is always posing for the camera LOL!!!

At the end of the hike there was a beautiful waterfall

I love that these kids will have such great memories together, it was such a blessing to have such close cousins!!!

All the crazy monkeys!!!

6 years old!!!

Leland turns 6

August 12th

All Leland wanted from her Mommy and Daddy for her birthday was clothes! I had a ton of fun shopping for her and she was so excited and happy to open her gifts!! I may have gotten carried away, but I am sure she will wear every bit of it!!! The scary thing is she is only 6, I can't even imagine what 16 is going to be like. I see a part-time job in her future :) For now I love my little shopping buddy!!!

My LITTLE FASHIONISTA

So had a super fun party at the Dinosaur Museum

She had so much fun opening all her presents, her friends know her so well. She got tons of lip gloss and makeup, a super cute bag she can decorate herself, polly pockets, and she even got shoes. Leland is the ultimate GIRLY girl. It was kinda of funny she wanted a dinosaur party, because that isn't so girly. I will have to say she LOVED it and all the kids had a blast!!! They got to make fossils and take a guided tour and even got cute dinosaur stuff! And even better all I had to do was show up and party hard!!! :):):)

My HAPPY SWEET GIRL!!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to YOU!!!

Leland and Ian* Everyone having FUN!!! *Leland and Avalyn (BFF)

The best Birthday Party EVER!!!!!

Coleman turned 12

Coleman turned 12 on

August 4th

-He is such a great young man and is so glad to be a year older.

-Coleman is so happy to be a part of the youth program at church and loves hanging out with all his friends!

-He still LOVES Lacrosse

-He loves the outdoors and camping!

-He is a great big brother, but does enjoy giving his sisters hard time(that's what brothers are for, right?)

-He loves to go boating and do anything in the water.

-Coleman is almost as tall as me and has a bigger foot, he is growing way to fast for my taste.

-He is blessed with good friends and has a great since of humor.

I am very proud of him and I love my "little" boy.