School Days

Karissa and Kyle started school at the end of August. Karissa's second grade teacher is Alyssa Espalin. She won Karissa over right away by being young and cute and fashionable. She's been a good teacher and Karissa is having a good year so far. She's made new friends in her class and is learning lots of new things. She's gotten to be a great reader and loves Junie B. Jones books. It's cute to watch her reading silently and then burst out laughing at something Junie B. said. Here's Karissa on the second day of school:

Kyle is a kindergartener this year! He has Ms. Powell, who was also Karissa's teacher, and he likes her and likes being in school. He likes to get his homework packet done the first day of the week and not have any homework (except reading) on the other days. Every day he rides his scooter to school, and usually when we go to pick up Karissa he likes to ride his bike.

His class had a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch last week and I went with him. We rode on a hay ride, went in a petting zoo, learned about pumpkins and got to bring home a little pumpkin of our own.

Utah and Idaho trip/ Ford Family Reunion

In August we took a trip to Utah and Idaho. In the words of Karissa, "That was the longest trip I ever took."  It was a long drive, but the kids did well. Karissa and Kyle made books along the trip, adding souveniers (napkins, menus, brochures, etc.) every time we stopped.

We spent a day in Idaho. We were able to see the McBrides, and went out to lunch with them at Millhollow. The kids had a great time playing, and it was so fun to catch up! Being back in Rexburg after so long was really cool. James and I have so many memories of that great place! We were excited to show the kids and tell them stories about our BYU-Idaho and Ricks College days. We took them to a devotional; unfortunately for me, Tyler decided that it would be a good time to try out his new potty training skills, and we spent a half hour in the bathroom while he tried to go. We also visited with our old bishop and teacher, Brother Packer, and James' old boss, Judy Steiner.

We spent the night in Rigby and took the kids to Rigby Lake in the morning. Even though it was cold, they were eager to get in and swim.

We drove back to Ogden where our first stop was the candy factory tour. Tiffany set that up for us, and we went with her and her kids, Jeanette and Sasha. It was interesting to see how everything was made, but we all would have appreciated more samples along the way!

The Ford Family Reunion officially started the next day. We had the largest bedroom in the Vaughns house... for all 6 of us. Needless to say, it was not easy for the kids to fall asleep! We had a great trip spending time with family, though. Some highlights were: Temple square, the family talent show, the Ogden County Fair where all the girls performed "All the Single Ladies,"  and swimming in Willard Bay.

The most awesome foreign exchange student ever!

For the first week in August we had a Japanese foreign exchange student live with our family. Her name is Chinami, and we had such a good time getting to know her. She was great with the kids and they were so sad to see her go! We tried to show her a lot of things. We hiked in Oak Glen, went to a Michael McDonald concert, went to church, the mall, a movie, dinner at BJ's, and a couple of parties with the foreign exchange group. It was a great week! We miss you, Chinami!

Trevor's Helmet

After months of waiting, Trevor finally got his helmet to help shape his head. He's got a spot on the side of his head that is flat. The doctors said that it happens sometimes with babies who are breach like he was. Their necks are at a strange angle in there, so when they get out, one side of the neck is weak. He would always lean to one side when he was really little. I would try to turn his head to the other side while he slept, but whenever I checked again, he was back to his favorite side. Oh, well! 6 months later, we are finally correcting the problem!

The helmet is fairly lightweight. It doesn't seem to bother Trevor much. He wears it all day and all night. The biggest problems are sweating- he drips sweat when it's hot- and other people's curiosity. We get all kinds of questions from strangers at the store. A lot of people think it's because we want to protect him. (I don't think I'm quite that safety conscious that I would make my 9 month old wear a helmet at the grocery store...) 

Trevor will wear his helmet anywhere from 6 weeks to 5 months depending on how fast his head grows and shapes and how good we are about making him wear it. (We'll be good!)

Joy in the Journey- Neilson Family Reunion

James and I were in charge of planning the family reunion for his side of the family this year. With his parents, sisters and their families and us, that was a total of 33 people. We planned it super close to home at the Highland Springs Resort, which was great. There are 800 acres of lavendar fields, areas to explore and things to do. Best of all was spending time with family and seeing our kids grow closer to their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

Here are some of the trip highlights:

Hiking at the top of the Aerial Tramway in Palm Springs
Family Talent Show (we performed Keep on from the Brady Bunch)
Swimming
Eating Lucky Charms for breakfast (a very rare treat for our kids)
Gospel Scavenger Hunt
Grandpa Stan's song, "Joy Joy Joy in the Journey... boop boop"

Swim Lessons

For the last two weeks, Karissa and Kyle took swim lessons at the Yucaipa Pool. I was a little concerned because they weren't able to get in to level 2, so James signed them up for level 3. When we saw the other kid in their class, he was swimming around in the deep end with no help, something Karissa and Kyle still can't do! Anyway, there were only those 3 kids in their class, so they got a lot of personalized attention. The teacher was able to help them at their level and they learned some new things. A few times they got brave and jumped off the diving board (even though it took some coaxing). Tyler, Trevor and I sat on the side with a friend and her baby. It was fun to sit and talk while the kids were in the pool.

May

May was a busy busy fun month. So busy that I am just now getting around to blogging about it...

The first Saturday in May (and the last Saturday in April) was spent with James family. James went dirt bike riding with David (his sister Jenny's husband). The next weekend was the funeral of a man in James' home ward, and his sister's father in law, Charles Broberg. He was glad to be able to go to that and we spent the evening with his parents.

Both of my sisters who live out of state came down with their families to visit the next two weekends, so we went out to my parents house to spend time with them. Of course, I forgot to take a single picture of my brand new nephew or either of my sisters! But here's what we did that I DID take pictures of:

Karissa lost 4 teeth in about a week and a half. The tooth fairy almost went broke! Good thing she only gives a dollar..!

Cousins!

Danny and Trevor.

A mom and daughter picture for mothers day. My vision was to have a picture with all my kids, but Kyle couldn't find his church shoes and Ty was already in his car seat, but at least Karissa was willing!

Silly boys eating pudding!