Emma’s First Day of School

August 31, 2016

How is it possible that Emma is a JUNIOR??!!

She might not have been as excited for school to start as the twins were, but she was ready.  We all keep hearing that junior year is the hardest.  Ugh.  I was glad her first day was on a late start day so I could actually get pictures of her before seminary.  I really enjoyed having Emma home this summer, I’m going to miss her!

Isaac and Grace were super excited about their second day, so I had to snap a quick picture of them before they left.

What did I do on my first day of all the kids being in school?  I worked on a project that Mrs. Johnson asked me to do.

I spent time at the laundromat.  Our dryer was broken, again!  Thankfully Matt Tidwell came to our rescue, again!  We have decided that our dryer is a dud, even though it is less than 5 years old.  They no longer make it and the parts are extremely hard to get.  Matt is trying to convince us to run a gas line to our laundry room and get a new gas dryer.  One of these days we will do that.  But on this day I was drying our clothes with some interesting company at the laundromat.  I took my work computer and got some work done.  I had to go back later that night and it was definitely more creepy in the later hours.  I worked in the car. 

And, I took a nap and read some of my book on my first day of the school year.  That wasn’t so bad!

Isaac & Grace’s First Day of School

August 30,2016

Isaac and Grace’s first day of school started with a pancake breakfast. 

They were so excited they could hardly handle me taking their pictures.  They couldn’t wait to get to school.

This kid…

I really can’t believe that they are in second grade!!

I love that they put their arms around each other without me asking them to.  And I love Grace’s lefty scissors poking out of her bag.  This year the PTA provided scissors for all the kids, but we found out at the meet the teacher night that there weren’t any lefty scissors, so she took her own.

They were so ready for their first day!!

Emma didn’t start until the next day so she walked with us to the twins’ school.

They got THE BEST teacher.  They were so hoping for Mrs. Johnson and I was so glad that they got her.  She was Emma’s 3rd grade teacher which was the year that the twins were born. 

We were teasing that we should recreate Emma’s show and tell scene from the last time they were in Mrs. Johnson’s classroom.

After seeing them happily to school Emma and I went to do some last minute school shopping for her.  We finally got to eat at Chick Fil A that had opened back in April.  The lines were still super long and we had to park across the street.  Crazy, but worth it! 

Isaac and Grace were all smiles after school as they sat and ate cookies with me.  They were happy and excited for thier new school year.

Back to School Dinner

August 28, 2016

School starting in August in Oregon is just weird.  Way too early!  But like it or not, it was time for our back to school dinner and school year theme introduction.  This year our theme is

On the Covenant Path.

What better place to introduce that theme than at the temple.

Where we took selfies with Moroni (#ocwewent),

and walked around enjoying the beautiful grounds and taking lots of pictures. 

Everybody took a turn with the cameras.

Grace got especially artistic.

Then we found a spot to sit and talk as a family about the theme.  We talked about the importance of covenants and why we make them.  We talked about how Isaac and Grace would be starting on their own covenant paths when they would be getting baptized in a few months.  We talked about how Emma is the temple preparation phase of her covenant path.  We discussed how important it is to stay on the covenant path.  We told them that we wanted them to see themselves in the temple.

After we talked we walked around a little more and then went to the visitors center to watch the new Meet the Mormons videos.  What a beautiful day for our family at the temple!

At home we sat down to our traditional dinner.

We ate baby back “to school” ribs while we discussed our theme even more.  Specifically this quote by Elder Bednar: “As we stand in the waters of baptism, we look to the temple.  As we partake of the sacrament, we look to the temple.  We pledge to always remember the Savior and to keep His commandments as preparation to participate in the sacred ordinances of the temple.” 

We also talked about Elder Cook’s talk from April conference called “See Yourself in the Temple”.  The kids got vinyl for the mirror in their rooms with that quote on it. 

We hope that they, like Jacob, will delight in the covenants of the Lord (2 Nephi 11:5). 

After dinner Lee gave each of the kids beautiful blessings to help them in the new school year.

There was a beautiful spirit in our home.  How grateful I am for the power of the priesthood.

We ended our night with a communal pizookie. 

It was good.

Obviously…

A few weeks later I finally got the vinyl on their mirrors.  Ignore Emma’s unmade bed…

At least the twins make theirs!