School Has Begun

Another year of school is here. This year, I have three girls in three different schools. Rachel started 2nd grade in elementary school...

... Melissa is in the 4th grade at intermediate school...
...and Ashley started 6th grade--middle school! We had a crazy first day with a mess up at Ashley's bus stop that has yet to be resolved. They have her walking 1/3 of a mile on narrow streets with no sidewalks during hospital rush hour traffic and the bus went to the wrong spot to pick them up, so she ended up missing it. With some fights with the transportation department, we may get this fixed eventually.

What I Did Today

This is only a very small amount of the tomatoes and jalapenos I have picked from my garden so far. I spent 6 hours in my garden yesterday finding all my tomatoes under a pile of weeds because we were out of town and they got out of control!

I enlisted Ashley in the preservation process. She was the official tomato squisher. I love my Kitchen Aid!!!

Put the sauce on to simmer.

While it was simmering, I mowed the lawn and found a beautiful praying mantis.

Then I finished all my tomato products--6 pints of stewed tomatoes and four pints of sauce. Not a bad day's work with a teething baby.

Lauritzen Family Reunion 2010

It's not often my huge family is able to get together, but through the efforts of two of my nieces, Nickell and Tere, we did it! This is most of the gang. When President Gordon B. Hinckley said "When you save a girl, you save generations", he wasn't kidding! I wonder if my parents knew just how man lives they would be responsible for when they married. I love that they gave me eight wonderful siblings. I love my family!!

We began the trip to Colorado by driving the 30+ hour trip with no overnight stops. This picture was taken sometime around dawn in Kansas. This is how the girls somehow managed to sleep all night.
Emily was in love with Uncle Dave's nose. Gross.

Jason played with his boys (my brothers, brothers in-law, and nephews) at Black Forest Park.

All of us gathered in my parents backyard for mealtime. What a great crowd! Thank you, Nickell and Tere, for getting us all there.

Cheyenne Canyon

While we were in Colorado, we had to go hiking in Cheyenne Canyon. We took the girls and some cousins to Helen Hunt Falls.

Just as we started up the trail, it began to rain and thunder. Jason and Emily stayed back at the car while the rest of us braved the storm. We made it to the falls and everyone was soaked! It was very fun, though the view was not very spectacular with all the rain.

When we got back down, the rain had stopped, so Jason and I and a few others wet back up again. Emily was wet even from her short time in the rain, but she giggled the whole way up. She loved it!

Made it, again.

What a view!!!

Melissa and Cousins

The Lauritzen family reunion gave us an opportunity to get these four cousins, all born in the same year, together again for a new picture. This picture was taken a little over eight years ago.

This is what they look like now. I guess Joshua has a thing for leaning on Ella, and it looks like she's taking it better now. Melissa's a little happier, too.

Luna Moth

I was out for a walk early one morning when I saw this beautiful moth on the road. His wings were very damaged, but these things only live for about a week anyway. The girls were amazed at the size of him. He was able to fly away when the girls let him.

The Ceiling

This was the nasty basement we had when we moved in. The ceiling is the part you should look at, because the rest of the room isn't quite complete yet. Just some trim around doors and a window, then you can see that. For now, here's the before:

...and the after. Ashley and Melissa have been sleeping down there since November without a ceiling. They are braver than I would have been. Lots of spiders! Now the noise is significantly reduced, and it looks so much brighter and cleaner.