Yates Cidar Mill

The Cidar Press

The Petting Zoo

Drinking our fresh apple cidar and eating cinnamon sugar donuts.

We had so much fun at the Yates Cidar Mill. Denton and Julia got to ride ponnies. We watched them make fudge and then enjoyed some. We ate donuts and drank apple cidar on a covered picnic table while it rained down. We also went on a nature walk and fed the goats in the petting zoo.

Denton's First Day of School

Denton did fantastic on his first day of school.

He was super excited and jumped out of bed, got dressed,

and waited excitedly for time to go catch the bus.

I was way more nervous!

Being the overprotective mom that I am, I waited to see

Denton get on the bus, then I hoped in the car and raced his

bus to the school so I could make sure he got off the bus

and to his class ok. Surprisingly, there was no one there

to great the children as they got off the bus and show them

where their class is.

Two little scared brothers tapped my leg and said they didn't know

where to go. I recognized them as kids that got on at Denton's bus stop.

We helped them find their classes, but I was sure glad I was overprotective

for Denton. I didn't want him to be scared or lost on his first day.

He came home on the bus by himeself though. He had a huge smile

on his face and he told me all about how much he loved school.

Yes!

Car Wreck

Denton was very excited to be in the back of the police car.

This is the lovely field we ended up in.

My father-in-law pointed out that I didn't post pictures/story of our little car wreck incident back on August 13th (Friday the 13th).

We were going on a little one night camping trip and we were on a long straight road in the middle of nowhere, 2 hours north of our house.

We were admiring all of the huge, old barns. Brandon looked back at the road after staring at a barn and he saw a car stopped in the middle of the road in front of us, waiting to turn left.

He slammed on the brakes, and we skidded for about 50 feet before hitting into the back right side of the black car you see on the side of the road. Brandon told the police officer that he had been looking at the barn and not paying attention. The police officer said since Brandon had told the truth, he wouldn't give him a ticket. No one in our van was hurt, just a little shaken up. A 88 year old grandma in the other car had a huge goose egg on her head, but hadn't even realized she hit her head on anything. She had to go to the hospital.

The rest of the day was long and exausting. The police officer took us into town. From there, the closest place to rent a car was 45 minutes away and we had no way to get there. There were no buses, taxies, trains, planes or anything else to get us out of town. Finally, Brandon called the guy who towed our van and he was kind enough to leave his daugher-in-law's birthday party and give Brandon a lift to the car rental place. Brandon took the boys with him and Julia and I wandered around Mayberry for 2 hours until Brandon came back with a rental. Then, we had to go to the wrecking yard and get all of our camping stuff out of the van. We were so happy when we finally got home.

Duty Calls...

I guess we can no longer use the excuse that it's summer, or we're new, to get off easy. I feel the full weight of responsibility on my shoulders. When did I turn into an adult? Denton is starting school next Tuesday and I'm having a little bit of a hard time with it, not because I don't think he will do great and it will be very good for him, but because it's an end to him being my side-kick all day. I've joined a group of moms to do a preschool for Julia. October will be my month to teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have also received a new church calling to be the 1st counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. I know I will learn and gain far more than I can give. I'm just feeling like a small child trying to clop around in her mom's shoes. I know Heavenly Father can help me be who and what I need to be and I'm excited to see how things work out, because they always do :-)

Challenging Myself

So, I decided I need to set a big goal and accomplish it for my own self-satisfaction. After having three kids, and being a total couch potatoe, I've decided to train for a half-marathon. I've never been in a real race (I was in a 4x100 relay in a stake track meet and I made us come in third instead of 1st). I don't think that matters. What I'm setting out to do, is get in shape, and have a tangible accomplishment that I can be proud of. This is my new hobby. Today was the first day of my training schedule that I made at runnersworld.com. My feat, 5 miles in 1hour 20 min. I love the clarity and the peace of mind that comes while I'm running. Four miles into my run, the van pulls up next to me and Brandon and the kids are cheering me on. The kids were also pretending like they were the ice cream truck and they were pretending to throw me whatever flavor I asked for. It was so fun! I managed to run my 5 miles in 54 minutes, blowing my goal time out of the water! I think I'm well on my way... stay posted :-)

Stoney Creek

We found a beautiful park called Stoney Creek.

On our first visit, we went for a bike ride on the path around the lake.

Then, we went and splashed in the lake to cool off.

The second time we went, we hiked through the woods.

The kids really like to hike. I can't believe how green everything is!

We were prepared with our swimming suits the second time to the park.

The whole family had fun taking a dip in the lake.

We bought a year pass, so we plan on a lot more hiking and biking.

My Baby is 1 now!

We had a very fun birthday party for Cody. I can't believe my baby is not a baby anymore! The neighbors grandaughter wanted to celebrate with us. Denton and Julia had fun teaching Cody what opening birthday presents is all about. Cody is a sweet little boy. He likes to play with his big brother and sister and make growling noises at them. He can army crawl anywhere he wants to go now. He has no interest in walking or even standing. He loves his little walker that allows him to tag along with mommy a little easier. He's even tall enough he can pull things off of the table when he sneaks into the kitchen in his walker when no one is looking. Cody has 7 teeth now. He will eat just about anything I give him. He has a special little personality that makes anyone around him smile. WE LOVE YOU CODY BEAR!!!

Happy Independence Day!

The picture above is of Julia and her friend Jasmyne.

Sunday night, we sat with our neighbors in their back yard to watch the fireworks in the easement.

It is illegal to have fireworks that go up in the sky, but it isn't inforced,

so everyone drives a few hours to Ohio and buys professional grade fireworks

and lights them off in the easement.

We had fun watching the fireworks, and eating popcycles.

Saturday night, we went to a BBQ at our friends house with 4 other couples.

There was an OB/Gyn resident, a general surgery resident, a podiatrist resident

a podiatrist, and Brandon, traditional resident...

and all of the wives.

It was fun to watch the guys having so much fun lighting the fireworks.

I think they had more fun than the kids did.

Denton and Julia made a lot of new little friends.

The Drive Was a Long one!

Julia is hiding under the blanket.

I was wondering why Cody was so loud and hyper!

I drove 3 hours, Brandon drove 27. He wanted it that way. Ok, I say.

We stopped in Salt Lake to say hi to Brandon's cousin Kara. She's recovering from neck surgery.

While stopped in Salt Lake we also had lunch with two of my brothers and their families.

The trip to Michigan was very long. The kids actually did pretty good. I loved all of the wind-mill fields we drove past. I also loved seeing all of the rivers, and corn fields. I would never attempt that drive alone with the kids. If we go home to visit without Brandon, we are flying!

A Week In the Life

So, we moved out of our home in Henderson on May 28th. We had a ton of help from Alisha, Jennifer, and Stephanie (thank you!) to finish up the packing and then cleaning the entire house. Brandon had a lot of people from the ward come and help pack up the moving van. I was so glad to see Teresa and her kids one last time. During our last few hours cleaning and packing, my friend came to say goodbye and brought a little gift. I was brought to tears as I realized we wouldn't be in the same ward anymore. We will always be friends though! Brandon and I drove to St. George Friday night. Saturday, Brandon and his dad started out for Michigan in the moving van. Brandon and his dad got to stop in Iowa and eat at places Brandon's dad ate at on his mission. They also visited someone Brandon's dad taught on his mission. Brandon spent the week living in a motel, driving around a giant moving truck, and waiting for the house to close. The closing kept getting pushed back, but thankfully, closed and was final the same day Brandon had to return the moving truck (thank goodness for huge blessings!). I have spent the week taking the kids to visit grandpa and grandma Coon, hanging out with grandma Bonewell and TJ, going to the lake and rec center swimming with the Turnbows... all the while feeling like a single parent (I'll have to post pictures later when I get my computer unpacked). Late last night, Brandon flew into Las Vegas and I had to go pick him up. As I came up over the hill and saw all of the Vegas lights, I felt like I was coming home, and felt a wave of sadness as I realized we really had moved out of our home. I told Brandon our bedroom in our Detroit house is going to be decorated like the desert to remind me of home. We still have a few more days in St. George to play. We will be leaving on Thursday to drive to Michigan.