First Day

Today was the day. Back to a routine, a schedule. Crazy mornings putting shoes on, lunches made, backpacks ready. Quiet days with just one kid at home, and that one taking a long nap (please let that remain!). Crazy again in the afternoon, with everyone telling of their day, complaining of their hunger, and ready to fall over from heat exhaustion. Earlier bedtimes (hooray!!), and then we do it all over again.

Welcome back to school!!!This year we've got a second grader and a kindergartener. It will feel strange to drop them both off every morning. But he is so ready to join the ranks of the "big kids."

This one, thankfully, has a few more years at home with Mom.


Yes, we needed a wagon to tote the multitude of school supplies required for two kids.

It was a family morning, getting them settled into their classrooms and off on their first day.

Already hard at work.

It's only been four hours and it seems like they've been gone forever. Can't wait to pick them up and see how it went!

Sister Time!

My baby sister came to visit us for a couple of days, and we had so much fun! First off, I don't know why I insist on calling her my baby sister ...perhaps because she's the only younger sibling I've got, and with five kids in the family, you take whatever slight upper hand you can get.

She has two adorable girls, and our kids had a ball playing together. The first night they were here, Olivia asked "Mommy, why does Aunt Jessica look exactly like you?" My reply? "Because she's beautiful!" Seriously though, I don't think we look that much alike, but maybe that's because I see myself every day.

We enjoyed playing at the neighborhood pool.

We haven't been to the pool much this summer, since Ben is at that age where he will just crawl/walk right into the pool, and I have to watch him every second. He is so funny though, I just have to laugh at his antics. That's a purple dive toy in his mouth.

This one is called My Mom Dressed Me in a Too-Small Shirt and Too-Big Shorts. Poor third child.

Another day, we fed the ducks and went on the swings at the park.

Five little cousins, all in a row:

Of course, no visit is complete without treats! We tried out a new frozen yogurt place, and it was yummy! Ben preferred eating the chalk over the actual yogurt.

The last day of her visit, we went to see yet another sister who also lives in the area, and we all spent the day together before leaving Jessica and her girls there to play for a couple more days.

The three little boys all happened to be wearing their red tie-dye shirts we made at our 4th of July get-together.

Thanks for coming to visit us Jessica, Haley, and Lindsay! We love you!!!

Way Back When-sday: the Gardiners

As I mentioned here, we had a really fun time in Utah visiting some old friends we hadn't seen in awhile. One of those couples was the Gardiners, our pals from University of Michigan graduate school days. I still remember our collective first Sunday, when all us newbies had to stand and introduce ourselves in Relief Society. Angee stood up and I thought "Hooray, a tall one!" We've been friends ever since.

Several of us in the "newly married, no kids yet" group had fun together, doing game nights and other fun activities. Looking back, we should have done more while we had the chance! One night we decided to party like it was 1999. Granted, it WAS 1999 and this was as party-licious as we got. We had a few couples over for pumpkin carving and pizza. Here are Roger and Angee with their pumpkin. Roger is imitating the facial expression on the pumpkin. Aren't they cute?!

To be fair, here are me and Erik on the same night. Our annual jack-o-lanterns look suspiciously similar to this one. I believe I'm to blame for that one. I need to get more creative with my pumpkin carving.
After grad school we dispersed and lost touch, but were so thrilled to catch up with our dear friends once again just a few weeks ago. I think they look exactly the same, except now they have four adorable kids to call their own.

Here's hoping it won't be another 10 years before we get together again! We love you guys!

Parent to Child

These fine specimen are my parents.

This morning I dropped them off at the airport after a quick visit to see their cute and fun fourth child. It was great to see them, and hard to see them go. They helped us with home improvement projects (more on that later), played with the kids, and basically worked themselves to the bone for 2.5 days straight. As I blubbered my way home, alone in the car, I reflected on the fact that once you're someone's kid, you're always their kid. Just as once you're a parent, you're always a parent. Time and age don't change those cold, hard facts.

I mean, I'm 35 years old, and I like to think I'm a fairly independent, capable person. I have a husband, three children, a house, and a minivan. I manage to keep my children fed and clothed and even entertained sometimes . I've always held a calling at church, and am dependable and helpful to others. But darn it, I still need my Mommy and Daddy.

It's funny, don't you think, that no matter how old we get, we still need support and encouragement and approval from our parents. For example, when my parents were here, I found myself wanting to show them projects I'd completed, closets I'd organized, and pieces I could play on the piano. In effect I was saying "Mom! Dad! Look at me! See what I've done! Tell me I've done a good job!" And it made me realize, maybe I should have more patience when my children are doing the same thing to me. After all, that's a major part of being a parent. Telling these people you've created that they can do it, they can navigate life's waters successfully because they are talented, capable, fabulous people. And by golly, they just manufactured the most beautiful craft project I've ever seen.

As I was walking around Home Depot with my dad, picking up supplies and watching him argue with the electrician on staff about high-tech electrical things I knew nothing about, I was transported back in time. Suddenly I was six years old, out on an important errand with my dad. Just the two of us. We didn't have deep conversations, but we spent time together on a project, building and measuring and drilling and leveling. And I loved it. I loved being with my dad, just him and me, learning from his experience and expertise, and seeing him proud of me.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for coming to visit. And for working so hard to help me and my family. I truly appreciate it. And I love you. And I know I'm your favorite, but I won't tell the others. Don't worry, the secret's safe with me. :o)

Just Like Riding a Bike

Last night we had a fun activity for Enrichment Night. We went biking through the mountains, ending up at the beach where we had dinner and enjoyed the view.

Now, lest you assume this is a common activity for me, let me assure you that it had been at least a decade since I'd even been on a bike. I had to borrow one from a friend (she's pregnant, so didn't participate in the biking portion of the evening). As I was putting the bike in the car before I left, Caleb inquired with surprise "Mommy, you know how to ride two wheels?!"

That just goes to show you how rusty my skills were. But, I managed to make it through without even falling once. Of course, I think it's difficult to fall when you're only going 10 meters per hour.

It was really pretty, especially in the setting sun.
Some parts we had to walk:

We encountered some fun wildlife on our trek. We saw two tarantulas, and a deer.
Lori and Janelle getting ready for the big downhill portion:

It was really fun, and despite my complaints of a sore bum the next day (which in turn prompted many giggles from my children), I'm looking forward to doing it again next year! After all, I CAN ride two wheels now.

Utah Part III: The Family Reunion

We had such a fun time at Erik's family reunion. Aside from his sisters Kristina, and Lois and her family, who was great with child and living in Texas, everyone showed up for three days of relaxing, eating, enjoying nature, and family bonding. We went here:

It was beautiful:

We had a few cabins to fit the numerous family members. This one was ours:

We really enjoyed being with everyone: playing games, talking, playing pool, and hanging out with cousins. Caleb is lucky enough to be one of four 5-year-old cousins. One morning when we started walking from our cabin to the main one, we saw a HUGE moose nibbling on the bushes. We waited until he was finished with his breakfast to go get ours.

Mexican train dominoes and Rummikub were the favorite games. You have to bend down pretty far to reach the pool table when you're over 7 feet tall.

I braved a hike with two brothers-in-law and assorted nieces and nephews. It was pretty arduous--three hours long!--but SO beautiful.

One of the days we went to Lake Jordanelle near Heber City. It was pretty windy but still lots of fun. The older kids took turns on the jet ski, and a few of the uncles took turns giving canoe rides to the little ones.

It was a great reunion! We can't wait for the next one in two years!!! Good thing there will probably be wedding bells to bring us all together before then...

Oh, and by the way, everyone in the following picture is just standing on the ground. No boxes or benches are stood upoon. I TOLD you they were tall! I'm in the orange shirt (yes, the SAME one from the other pictures...I did laundry, OK?). Gotta love feeling petite for once...

Utah Trip: Friends and Family

It was so much fun to realize how many friends and family members we have in Utah. This trip, we decided to see everyone we could. We saw lots of family, including Grandma Rasmussen (and the rest of the Rasmussen clan, stay tuned for that in a THIRD post); my Uncle John who very kindly put us up for four nights; my dad's cousin and mom's dear friend Janet Calder; my adorable cousins Sally and Amy who just happened to be out visiting their mom the same week we were in town; and my aunt Bonnie and cousin Barb. Whew! And that's just a fraction of who lives out there. Next time we need to catch the rest of the Bryner clan.

We also saw various friends from different times in our lives. Most of these folks we hadn't seen in 8-10 years, but it was like it had only been a week. I guess it's true that true friendships stand the test of time. We saw our friends Roger and Angee from grad school days (who both look EXACTLY the same, by the way), and our girls bonded over the fact that they were both born at the University of Michigan hospital. I also got to see some old roommates: Jamie, April, and Lyndy from Campus Plaza days (those are April's adorable twins in the corner. Each of these amazing ladies has a set of twins!! Then why do I look the most tired?), and Jill and Cheri from the Riv (we missed you, Maren!).

You may have noticed that I am wearing the same shirt (in two different colors) in every picture. Yes, I do own more than two shirts, but I happen to love these ones. The Tar-jhay clearance rack is my friend, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

We spent a fun evening with Erik's old roommate Sam and his cute family. We had FHE and played at the park. The men played tennis, and the kids bounced balls and ran through the sprinklers. Our girls are the same age, yet Sam and Shauna are expecting #5. Between them and all the twins (not to mention Lyndy's 8 kids), we started feeling a little bit behind. Then I remembered I can barely make it through the day with my emotions and my childrens' limbs intact and realized, maybe we're good for now. I love this picture of Ben in the swing.

Utah Trip, Phase One

As previously stated, we had so much fun on our trip to Utah last week. I took way too many pictures, so I'll have to separate this into a few different posts to get it all in. First off, the kids did great on the 11 hour drive. We were packed in tight and driving through some pretty desolate areas. In Vegas the temp got up to 109! Crazy!! I think southern Utah is so beautiful with all the red rock.

Utah is a pretty unique place. I love it, but it makes me laugh at the same time. Everything is cheaper, from gas to homes to cold cereal--it was on sale at Smith's for $1.49 a box! I stocked up. I later regretted it when we were driving home with barely room to breathe in the car. Erik loves cinnamon bears, although they are hard to find in California. In Utah, they are everywhere!! You can buy a 5-lb. bag of them at Smith's. The mountains really are beautiful, I'd forgotten how big they really are. We went out to eat at Training Table, a favorite from the college days--that one's for you, Erik T.!

One of the things we had to do was take our kids to our alma mater, a.k.a. The BYU (as my grandma would have said). They knew we were going to the Oquirrh Mountain temple open house later that day, so as we entered the Talmage Building (mine and Erik's old stomping grounds), Caleb inquired "Is this the temple?" My response? "It's a temple of sorts, my son. The temple of Math." I don't know when I've been more proud. Caleb got a cool camo BYU hat, and Liv was fascinated when I explained to her that anywhere she saw a piano around campus, kids had church on Sundays.

We're Ba-ack...

Whew, I'm pooped! We had a fun and fabulous time in Utah, seeing lots of family and friends, admiring temples from afar and a-near, eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and having an all-and-all great trip. The kids were troopers in the car, and everyone (except the mom) slept really very well.

Now that I'm home and back in touch with the world, I realize how much can happen in a mere 10 days. John Hughes died (sad--I loved Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off... pretty much anything he directed). Melissa is the new Food Network Star (yay! I really liked her). And Paula is off American Idol (it's about time), only to be replaced by Posh Spice (huh?!?).

Amid all this turmoil, it's nice to know there are a few constants in the world, like Jon and Kate's marital problems and the mystery paternity of Michael Jackson's kids.

Report of our fun, fun trip coming soon! Good thing I only have 600 photos to sift through.