Happy Present Day

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of PRESENT DAY!!
Look at all that loot. The kids actually got along instead of fighting for one day.
Playing with Cody's present:
Here they are after their first day of school with their super cute school work:
The kids wanted to show off their outfits one day this week. And yes, they all dress themselves.
Brandon was pretty excited at the "pirate" on his pants.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for all three, yes, I said it, all three kids. Here they are in their cute sweaters we picked up in Italy.For some reason they wanted a picture with their backpacks.



Cody said, "Mom, when all your kids are at school, you will have to eat chocolate." Well, check that off my list.
We had a great time harvesting in our yard this weekend.
We got a ton of apples and even have some peaches this year.
Kathleen was really excited about this funky carrot we pulled.



We asked our kids what they wanted to do for their last day of freedom. Unanimously they said they wanted to go to Camel's Back Park. So we did and had a picnic.

Then we took the out to ice cream, then swimming, then had a bbq. And their last request:

To make sticky popcorn and watch a movie. We had so much fun with them. And now...freedom for mom.

It's all about Brandon

Brandon and I went on a date and played on bumper boats and rode cars around a race track.Then we went and got ice cream.
Brandon has struggled greatly with attending the dentist. He had a couple cavities so it was time to get serious. We decided to try out nitrous. He wasn't too sure about it at first, but eventually it worked. We were so proud of him.

Europe

Anyone who has talked to Ryan or to me in the last 24 hours would know that we just got back from a two week trip to Europe. We had the time of our lives and took about 400 pictures. But to save time, I limited it to about 20 for you to see.

Our first stop was London. Here is Ryan in front of the London Eye.
We took a day trip to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath. Here we are at Stonehenge:
Big Ben:We went to the Wax Museum. I thought it was really funny to get a picture of Ryan with his "cousin" Brittney.
This picture is just for Kirt. Wagamamas:
Then we took a train to Paris. Here is the Louvre:
We went to Versailles. It was amazing and I can totally see why the people revolted. Here is the hall of mirrors:
Climbing the Arc de Triomphe:
This needs no introduction:
Notre Dame:
Berthillion Ice Cream (yes, it is that important):
Then we took a train ride to Rome:

The Coliseum:

St. Peter's Basilica and Square:
We ordered pizza at this restaurant in Rome and they brought us each our own pizza that was HUGE. But it was delightfully delicious.
We had some fun with statues:

Trevi Fountain was really close to our hotel so we walked there every day. Here we are at night:
The Pantheon:
And a special thanks to Clayton and Alyssa for watching our kids for us and (mostly) keeping them alive.

Baptism

Kathleen got baptized yesterday. It was a pretty amazing experience. She is a pretty amazing child.