Kylee and Nathans first day of school 2010

We moved the kids to a new school this year. They are going to a charter school in the town we live in. I am quite excited because it seems as though they will be exposed to a lot more than the school district can offer them. Their style of teaching I believe will truly benefit our kiddos. Fortunately both kids knew a few of the kids that go to that school so the transition wasn't too difficult. This school will take them through high school if we like it which is great. When you look at the pictures you will see that they are in a temporary building for now. In December they will be moving into a permanent building, which we cannot wait for. This school started two weeks after the district so the kids were very anxious to get going. It is so nice to here "I can't wait for school to start" now of course I did not hear this from Nathan, just Kylee.

Here is Nathan before walking into his class. He has a wonderful teacher with a very kind heart and a passion for education that will surely rub off on Nathan...at least we hope!

Nathan with his best buddy Peter. Peter has exposed Nathan to the world of bug exploration. They search for bugs at recess and lunch. Boys will be boys.
Daddy is photo bombing Kylee's beautiful picture as we arrive at school.

Kona Kylee and Nathan as we prepare to go to school. Scott brings Kona out on her leash every morning to say goodbye to the kiddos. She loves it. Then once inside she sits at the door depressed because everyone left. Poor thing.

Silly Kiddos!!

I can't believe he is in 1st grade!! He is growing way too fast.

When we got to school she was actually taller than my friend. She is getting so grown up and beautiful. Gotta love the bright pink laces.

Kona's Puppy School Graduation

After 8 weeks Kona has graduated from puppy school. She had a rocky start, hiding from everyone and not socializing, but she ended up doing great! We are so proud.

Here she is in her cap.

This is her friend Zena. They had a ton of fun playing.

Snowy Kona's BFF has Kona pinned to the ground, even though she is only 1/3 Kona's size.

Snowy is attacking Kona. She is so stinkin cute!

The girls hanging out.

Our family at graduation. I am not sure Kona loves the cap, but she kept it on.

More Kona and Snowy time.

Who wouldn't love that face!!!

Visiting the Cannons and Prescott

After our trip to Flagstaff we drove down to Prescott to visit our friends the Cannons. We had a wonderful time. Prescott reminds me a lot of Lake Tahoe when you travel by the lake. The weather was perfect there. We got to visit the square in downtown Prescott. The town is really neat since it has a mixture of Victorian and new homes. Too bad they don't have anywhere for Scott to work or I would like to move there. Kylee and Nathan went to school with Jim and Lisa's two boys Jake and Justin. They all get along so well and have so much fun hanging out together. We were really bummed when they moved away.

Scott asking Kona for kisses while we head to Prescott.

We got a flat tire on the road to Prescott. I was so glad that Scott knew how to change the tire and that we found a safe place to pull off right by where the tire blew. They are brand new tires so I am not sure why that happened.

Jim and Lisa have two dogs, Olive, pictured below and Foxy. Kona loved playing with Olive. They wore each other out! They ran and played the whole time we were there.

Here they are squaring off. Who is going to pounce first?

We went to the Prescott Brewery for dinner with the Cannons. The kids had so much fun, and the adults had even more fun.

We had such a silly crew with us, it is amazing we didn't get kicked out. The good thing was the restaurant was so loud they didn't mind our kiddos too much.

The busser may have minded the concoction that the kids came up with. I dare you to try it!

We went to the lake on Sunday with the kiddos. They stood by the water and skipped rocks. Kylee and Jake did really good, Nathan and Jake were struggling. It was sure fun to see them try.

Getting geared up to go in the ever so powerful battery operated boats.

The whole crew right before we jump aboard.

Our handsome captain.

So cute!

Kylee and Jake really enjoyed each others company. They played so well together and were just plan goofy the whole time.

Captain Kylee

Hurray!!!

Our usual self portrait. Such a beautiful day.

Loving on Daddy.

Loving on Mommy

Check out those muscles! Oh and the Scotty photo bomb

Cardinals Training Camp

This past Friday we took the kids to Flagstaff to the Cardinals Training Camp to meet some of the football players. We had a great time even though Nathan wasn't all that into it. It was nice to leave the 100+ degree temperature to go to 60 degrees and pouring rain. This was the first road trip for our baby Kona. She did wonderful! She did better away from home than at home. We were so proud.

Here you can see how we travelled there. I took out the center console and placed a blanket there for Kona so she could sit with the kiddos. She also had her kennel in the back that she could go in and out of. I think she really liked it.

Kylee has gotten so big, she looks like a teenager in this picture. We stood in line outside for about an hour waiting to be let into the dome where the training camp was. She was actually really excited to see the players.

The rain started right before we were being let in. Scott covered up with all of the gear we brought to have autographed. Nathan put his hoodie on, and Kylee just enjoyed the rain falling on her.

Nathan looks so cute in his Cardinals cap that is way too big for his little head.

We were so proud of Kylee she went from player to player and got their autographs by herself while we waited in line for Fitzgerald and Dockett, which we didn't end up getting:(

Nathan was able to meet Ben Patrick and get his autograph, he was really nice to Nathan.

He also got to meet Darren Mougey and the coach Kevin Spencer whom is on the right.

Here is a picture of all the players on the field. It was neat to see a them practice so close up.

Family photo time. We actually got everyone smiling even though Nathan was starting to melt down at this point.

One tough little man with his eye black.

Visit from Jace and Grandma

We took Grandma to the amazing Scottsdale Mall. It is like shopping heaven. Although I cannot afford half the stores there:-)

Here the kids are posing by the horse statue inside of Barney's. They really liked the art/decorations around that store.

Here we are at the outlet mall. We tried to sell Jace, Kylee and Nathan! No takers, we still have them all. I thought the 75% was a great deal...lol.
We had quite the experience at Chick-Fil-A. As we were eating our great chicken strips, the best ever, some kid came walking by and threw up all over the booth right behind us and the floor, I think it even hit the man sitting in the booth. So I went and told the guy at the counter. It took forever for them to clean it up! I will say we were all troupers and hung in there. We were rewarded by getting to meet the "Eat More Chicken" cow. Here are the kiddos with him right before he started break dancing!
The aquatic center is one of our favorite places to go to handle the 112 degree temps. We took Grandma and Jace there a few times while they were here. We would pack lunch and then hang at the pool for a few hours. Our favorite part is the lazy river. One day mom and I even swam laps...yes I think the life guards were laughing since we weren't so graceful!

Here you can see the water slides. To the left is a big water spray structure and to the right of Kylee's head is the "toilet bowl" or a pool that spins you in a circle.

The kids really enjoy the water park. And it is only $0.75/kid and $2/adult!

We spent 4th of July on our driveway since we can see the entire city fireworks display from there. We were concerned that Kona would be scared to death, she wasn't. She was more concerned with how she was going to collect all the dropped pieces of "Crack Corn", or whipped cream popcorn. She still darts down the driveway in hopes of finding a piece.

Kitchen wars

While mom was here visiting we went to puppy class and learned that the way you stop puppies from "counter surfing" (example below with the popcorn bowl) is you teach them they cannot go in the kitchen. This has become the battle of wills between myself and Kona. So far I think we are tied!

Here she is after I told her to leave the kitchen after the popcorn surfing. She refuses to stay on the carpet...arms in.

So I tell her out and she pouts. What is a momma to do.
Then she melts all of our hearts by climbing up on all of us and rolling over giving us her belly. I think she is happy with her new home:-)