Aidan's First Day of Kindergarten!

I am still in absolute shock that my little Aidan is in Kindergarten now! Yesterday was his first day. I have been so nervous for the last few weeks, but Aidan has been anticipating it with much excitement.

Monday morning I woke up at 6:30 to get Aidan going. Little did I know that he would have gotten himself up. I walked down the stairs and heard the sound of a zipper being zipped up. Around the corner there was my not so little anymore, big 5 year old. He was completely dressed, shoes and all, with backpack in hand. I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "I'm making sure you packed everything." I almost broke down in tears right there. He's such a mature little guy. All ready and geared up to go all by himself at 6:30 am.



We took off for school at about 7:50. Man was that place a zoo! So many people all over the place; anxious to get rid of their kids. Not me. I was still nervous. We walked him to class, gave the teacher the bag full of supplies, and helped Aidan find a seat. I gave him my last hugs and kisses, Abe gave some fatherly advice, and Tanner gave him a big goodbye hug. I thought that I might make the whole day without shedding a tear until Aidan gave me this: a big wave and a smile and "Goodbye Mom! I love you!" as I walked out the door. And then the tears flowed. Looking back in the room window I saw my little baby is such a big place surrounded by a room full of strangers. I couldn't hold back the emotions. But I am completely proud of him. He is such a smart, brave, and sweet little man. He will do great without me :(


SO EXCITED!!


Daddy giving the "listen to your teacher" speech

It was a strange day without Aidan, but we kept busy to make the time fly by. He didn't say much about the day, but he did have a great time. I have to cherish these days that he actually wants and likes to go to school.


Tanner sure did miss his big brother

Redken Giveaway

If you love Redken products, check out perch for an awesome giveaway. The perch website is always fun and full of cute ideas as well.

Where have I been?

I feel like I've fallen off the face of the earth for the past month. Oh wait, I HAVE!! And I landed on planet Girls Camp! I have the awesome responsibility of going to Camp Lo-Mia this year as a leader with my young women. I am SO excited! Last time I was at Lo-Mia was around 10 years ago so this should be so fun. Getting ready has brought up lots of memories. The Stake camp director is actually an old friend from Wickenburg and the Asst. was actually my leader when I went to camp! So much fun! They've given us quite the list of things to do before camp so we've been working hard to get prepared. This last week has been particularly busy as I've tried to get everything done and organized. I'm also sick so that surely doesn't help. My house is a mess, I haven't cooked a decent meal for a while, and my kids are bored! Yesterday Aidan told me this as I was working on a project, "You know Mom, taking care of your kids is more important than camp." Wow. What a harsh reality. I am so sorry to my kids and my hubby for my negligence, but I promise to be back to normal when camp is over. We leave Mon July 6 and return on the 9th. Pretty short time, but it's the longest I will have been away from my family. Hopefully they are all still alive when I return!!

Memorial Weekend

Every year for Memorial weekend my family does a hike through the Paria Canyon. It's an amazing 36 mile hike through the most gorgeous canyon in AZ/UT. Well, my family has come up with the idea of doing a "Death March" - all 36 miles in one day. It doesn't sound too horrible, but just imagine walking for 12-15 hours with only two 20 minutes breaks for water and food.

Anyway, this year was my first year that I had the opportunity to go. Every other year there's been something that came up that has stopped me from going (Abe can't get work off, pregnant, new born baby, etc.). So I was super excited to go. I even went on a few long walks with my parents to prepare for it. I was convinced I was ready and couldn't wait to leave! This year the hikers were: My dad, Mom, Waylon, me, Jeremy, Becky, Uncle Jeff, and his friend Mitch. A much smaller group than normal.

We left at about 5:30 am Friday morning and headed for our destination. We arrived at camp at a little before noon. My little brother Waylon and I quickly realized that we had nothing to do for the rest of the night and became bored. And then came the rain. Yikes. Not a good sign for the morning to come. So it rained ALL night long and I barely got any sleep. We awoke to Mom's alarm at 2:45 am. Ugh. And it was still raining. So we had a little group meeting. About 4 miles into the hike the path gets very narrow for 3 miles and there is a risk of flash flooding if it's raining. So, we couldn't hike from the trailhead. MAJOR bummer. That's the best part. So we all agreed to hike in from the end for as far as we wanted. It's been done before so no surprises there.

I was very mad at the situation, but I wanted to hike anyway. I mean, I did all the prep work and I was already there, right? We stuck around camp until about 5 when we headed to the trail. The rain had stopped but the river was a little higher than usual. So about 6 miles and 6-8 river crossing later, we were at the Petroglyphs. Kinda cool if you've never seen any. My back was starting to give me issues and I was already bitter about the hike so I decided to turn around there and go back. Waylon, Becky and Jeremy did as well. So the four oldest hikers marched on to the first natural spring, about 9 miles further.

The walk out of the canyon was a little annoying considering the millions of bugs and biting flies. Little buggers. When we got back to camp we cleaned up a little and got dressed. We all decided to go into Page for some RD's (a tradition) while the other hikers were still out. We enjoyed greasy food, saw some cousins, and headed back to camp. Becky and I attempted to nap (I had to take advantage of my complete freedom), but to no avail. Barking dogs and loud rap music are not the best for sleeping. I hate public campsites!

At about 3 pm Dad, Mom, Jeff and Mitch came in; all covered in muddy water!! When they had hiked about 12 miles in they realized that the river water had changed. And here came the flood! So they had to head back out. They had to cross the river, sometimes all the way up to their chests, about 15 times! It was crazy! My mom said she was actually scared for her life a couple times. I was so jealous! Why didn't I keep walking with them?! Oh well, the guys would have had to worry about getting me through that water anyway.

Saturday nights sleep wasn't as bad as the night before except for more light and wind. I was grateful for the cot my parents let me use. We had some pancakes and then headed home. Waylon and I slept most of the way which was good (I tend to get car sick). I really enjoyed the weekend, despite the fact that I didn't get to do the "Death March". Maybe next year. Thanks to my hubby for taking good care of the kids while I enjoyed my freedom.

A view from camp - the Colorado River.


The hikers


Me chillin' at the Petroglyphs


A peek at the canyon while hiking out

Upgrade

Well we finally decided to join the rest of the television-watching world and get a new TV. Of course we had to get a new entertainment center as well so I needed to find an inexpensive one. My first thought - IKEA! And they came through for me. Walmart was of course the best price for a TV so I went online to see if they had better prices there. There was one TV that was $100 cheaper to buy online from them so I ordered it. After being SO patient and waiting for it to arrive, and then waiting some more, then some more; I find out that FedEx lost it! No more online shopping with Walmart, so into the store we go and end up saving another $100 (they had dropped the price on a different TV). So about 3 weeks from my original purchase we finally have a new TV. Yay!


Before:



After: Much prettier don't you think? :)

Marble family photoshoot

WARNING: TONS OF PICTURES TO FOLLOW

So it's been about 5 years since my family (the Marbles) have had pictures done. The last batch was, well, scary. So this time we called on Natalie Montez to shoot us. She is awesome and amazing with the kids. It was a hot day and Tanner was not at all interested in smiling for the camera. I brought along jellybeans(his favorite) to keep him from crying. It worked, but he never once smiled because he was too busy eating. At least he wasn't screaming though! And Natalie somehow managed to get a shot of him with his mouth closed in a half smile, without a jellybean in his hand. I told you, she's amazing! So here are most of the shots that were taken. I think we did a pretty decent job of not looking scary this time :)

Oh, and if it isn't already obvious, the header of my blog was taken with this group.

We're totally hot, right? :)


My big 5 year old; Aidan


Tanner; not such a baby any more


The original Marble gang


Just the kids


Just the adults


Grandpa and Grandma with their grandkids


All 21 of us!!


My younger sister Becky and her husband Jared


My older sister Kristy and her family


My oldest sister Jenny and her family


My oldest brother Alan and his wife Dawn


My gorgeous parents who started it all

Finger painting

Tanner had his first experience with finger painting the other day. I was worried he would freak out the second his hands got messy (like he usually does), but he loved it! I don't know what it is with this kid. Maybe the secret is to let him go outside when something is going to be a mess. I'll have to remember that for Easter next year. Also, it's getting so hot I think I might bust out the play pool this week. Maybe even pick up a slip-n-slide too. I can't believe summer is here! Where did April go??





Oh, and can't you tell that my kids pick out their own clothes? They rarely match, but like people say, "choose your battles". I choose not to make a big deal of this. Well, except for maybe on Sundays :)