First day of Preschool .... again!

Poor Maggie, with her birthday being in December she is in a primary class ahead of most the little girls her age, and she ends up going to preschool twice! Not that it makes her sad, she loves preschool and was looking forward to going again. She's in a really nice class held at our local recreation center. It is a great school and I think it will prepare her more for Kindergarten than being in someone's home. She also started her pee wee cheerleading class a couple of weeks ago. I will have to get video of that, pictures wouldn't quite do justice. Maggie's dream in life is to be a cheerleader... I know, aim high! We haven't had the heart to crush those dreams with reality yet, so she's practicing now for her future. It seems like she instantly went from 4 yrs. old to 12 yrs. old with the whole cheerleading thing and her obsession with High School Musical. Where did my 4 yr. old go??

Webkinz ...

If you haven't heard of Webkinz yet, then you are really out of the loop! Webkinz are little stuffed animals that each come with it's own online code that you enter into the computer and then you have your own virtual pet that has a whole world online for you to create for it. They have fun and easy games you play to earn Webkinz bucks, and with those bucks you buy rooms, furniture, food, games, toys, gardens, appliances, books, etc... the list is never ending! Aunt Tyra was the first we knew to get one, and the kids were instantly delighted finding their two favorite things combined: stuffed animals and computer games! Grandma Livingstone then brought one back from Canada and she gave the kids her log in information so they could take care of her pet. They were in heaven! Little did they know that Grandma had also brought back an animal for each of her grandkids. It wasn't long before she saw all the fun they were having with her little puppy online that she couldn't hold back any longer and all the kids got their new animals. Needless to say, I'm so glad that Josie got one too because I too would feel left out. Along with the kids I have spent my fair share of time online playing with Josie's webkin, named Flower. A must-have for any of your little ones, and I might add, you may get addicted yourself!

Finally, new furniture ...

So, I felt like I needed to explain myself every time we had someone new over that came to sit on our old couches, "they can't be cleaned with water because it takes the color off, and on some spots I'd rather have the color off, but they don't clean AT ALL!" I felt afraid that I'd see someone stand up after sitting on them with the spots actaully transferring to their behinds from the furniture. Anyway, with some of the drama we've had with our house, one of the issues was soiled carpet from the previous occupant of the home's dog. We had the whole upstairs recarpeted, but the carpet choice the owner's of the home made was very disappointing, and looked especially worse with the furniture we had. It was like the neutral walls, floor boards, tile, and furniture were too many neutrals and didn't all jive. Long story short ... we finally invested in some nicer furniture that should wear well with little ones living with it. It makes a huge difference in how the carpet looks, and of course, if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!

Lawn Mowing Pro!

These pictures are mostly for my Dad who will be so proud of me for mowing a lawn for the first time in my life! I really wanted to buy a self-propelled mower so that John wouldn't be the only one that could mow the lawn on top of all his other obligations, and I was really excited to be able to do it. Week after week there would be a landscaping team showing up and mowing our grass for us. This week they came again and before they mowed the grass they checked their books and realized they weren't supposed to be taking care of our yard anymore, so I finally got my chance! We are on a corner lot and we have a lot of grass to care for, and I'm excited for the opportunities of making our yard better and maybe planting some flowers and really learning how to care for a yard. So, Dad, here's to your investment in our lawn really paying off!

And now we have a 1st Grader ...

Johnny started school on Tuesday, he is now in 1st grade. It seems like school just got out, we've had such a busy summer moving from Tucson to Utah, finding a place to live, and all the vacations we've taken. He was ready for school to start and he's really excited to make new friends. He's got a great teacher and a few kids from primary in his class. He's also had his first bus experience, which was a little nerve racking the first day, but today things went a little more smoothly. His bus comes at 7:22 a.m., so he's up bright and early, as are the rest of us! We're glad that he enjoys going to school, and he just looks so grown up getting off the bus!

Family Reunion at "the Farm"

The first weekend in August is always dedicated to a reunion on my Mom's side of the family, always held at my Grandpa's Farm in Ashton. This year was very sentimental for me as we've been doing this for so many years and I have so many special memories of times we've spent there. It is especially wonderful to see many of my Mom's ten siblings and their families, I love them all so much! I also love that my kids enjoy their time at the Farm. They love jumping on the trampoline, swinging on the swingset and catching grasshoppers in jars. This year we hooked up a projecter outside and watched Astronaut Farmer on the side of the shed and a weekend at the Farm is never complete until you get an old-fashioned milkshake from City Drug. My Grandpa is the best dutch oven cook and we enjoy our food cooked outside by him. He also loves giving kids hay rides behind his big tractor and we enjoy the stories he tells of his childhood growing up in Ashton. Like John, he was raised with 6 sisters and I love hearing him tell his stories about his family. The Farm is such a peaceful place to visit and we made so many good memories this year and hope that there will be many more years to come!

Lagoon 2007

Instead of unpacking the day after we moved into our house, we decided to spend the day at Lagoon with my Mom & Dad and Mike & Melissa before they went back to Chicago. We had such a great time, Maggie said it was her 2nd favorite, her 1st of course being Disneyland. The kids were very brave and tried out most of the rides without knowing what they were getting themselves into, but found that they liked most of what they tried. Maggie prefers the carousel, Johnny loves the roller coasters land prefers the exciting rides more than Maggie, and poor Josie just watched in jealousy as the kids played. It was a fun day and the kids are already looking forward to going again next summer and every time we pass Lagoon on the freeway they just want to stop "on the way" to wherever we're going!

We found a house!

After a grueling week of trying to find a place to live, we finally found (3) great homes to rent! We were having a hard time finding one without braking the bank and we feel very blessed the way everything has worked out. We decided to go with a newer home in Lehi and we're thrilled with the way this house worked out. After I saw it listed I went to see it and it had already been rented, but I wanted it so much that I called just to let the property management company know that if it didn't work out for this other family that I wanted this house! Incidentally right before the family went in to sign the papers the gentleman renting the home experienced some health problems that made it impossible for them to move at this time. Yeah for us, but sad for the poor man. We're going to sign papers next week and we're really excited. This home is in a new subdivision and about 2 miles away from a new Elementary School. We go to sign papers next week and then hopefully we'll move in soon after. We'll keep you posted ...

Island Park 2007

Every year around the week of the 4th of July we plan a week-long trip up to our cabin in Island Park, ID. We were so grateful that my family waited for us to move back this year so that we could go with everyone. We had the best vacation, it always seems to go so fast! We spent the days down at the water watching the kids play in the mud or making sand castles. Josie had a great time this year eating rocks and sand and drinking yummy lake water! She was thrilled to get her swimming suit on and sit in the water and throw the rocks and splash around. She also loved riding in the boat. Johnny and Maggie mustered up the courage this year to be pulled on the intertube behind the boat. After the first ride they were hooked and I'm sure most of the boat rides this year were spent pulling the kids around. They also loved jumping off at the end of the ride into the water, they had no fear! We got to spend time with all my brothers and sisters and their families this year, it was wonderful! We made so many good memories playing games, playing outside, eating way too much yummy food and treats, and staying up late visiting. I am so grateful for such a fun family and that we enjoy being together soooooo much!

Happy 4th of July!

It was an interesting change being back in Utah for the 4th of July as opposed to last year in Tucson. I don't know if patriotism runs that far south in the country! We had a great day spending time with the family we've missed so much since being so far away. We went and saw Ratatoullie, and we all loved it! We also enjoyed a BBQ and loved relaxing and visiting with each other. Josie has had a hard time transitioning from the move and is also punishing me for leaving her for a week by acting as cranky as can be and not letting me even leave the room without her; but when she was swimming outside with her cousin Blake, she was the happiest I'd seen her in a week! The fireworks show that Uncle Ben put on that night was very entertaining, the kids loved it! And the adults loved watching Independence Day afterwards outside on the projecter. We made lots of good memories and we're looking forward to many more holidays to spend with our families!

Pictures of Tucson

I just wanted to post a few random pictures of things in Tucson ...


This is a picture of the Children's Museum. We had a pass there and we'd visit at least once a month. It was a great thing for us, we enjoyed it so much!













This is a picture of Johnny's school. It was right down the street from our house, Johnny wanted a picture of it so he could remember John E. White Elementary School. He thought it was pretty cool that it was named Johnny (John E.)













This is a picture of the pool at our apartment complex. It was the best pool for the kids, most of the pool was only 3 feet deep and it only got up to 5 feet. We spent a lot of time at this pool.













This is picture of Saguaro National Park. This picture doesn't quite grasp the view of all the cacti. This was one of our favorite views of Tucson to show visitors.














This was Johnny's favorite place in all of Tucson. He was very adamant about getting a picture of it before we moved. They had the best slushies, we would go every Monday and Friday after school and a lot of weeknights after John would get home from work. We dumped a lot of $$ into this Circle K!

John's Internship Graduation

We are so proud of John for his graduation from his internship at the University of Arizona's program in their Psychiatry Department at University Medical Center. They hosted the graduation at a fancy Country Club including dinner and dessert. It was really generous of them to include the Interns in the graduation with the Psychiatry Residents and Fellows. We were so glad that Mom & Dad Livingstone could come with us, we're grateful to have the support of our families on this long road of schooling we've been going down. We're also grateful to have it coming to an end, we're looking forward to next year when there's a diploma hanging in John's office. He made many great connections down in Tucson and his co-workers and supervisors had only great things to say about him. We're really proud of him and the sacrifices and hard work he's putting into providing a good life for our family.

We wanted to take more pictures, but we were there so long and we didn't take the time after we left. These pictures don't do justice of the beautiful building and surroundings we were in.

Swimming Lessons Success!

The weather heated up quickly in Tucson and the best way to beat the heat was by spending time in the pool. We invited our friends over every Wednesday afternoon to swim and the kids enjoyed 2 sessions of swimming lessons before we moved. Both of the kids really ventured out of their comfort zones and found great success this summer in swimming. Johnny is now fully swimming and Maggie is close behind. They are both so much more brave and I told them that I would give them both $5 if they would jump off the diving board at their last lesson. They were both very determined and prepared to jump but unfortunately they didn't let any of the kids jump, although they opened up the water slide and both the kids went multiple times after a little prodding and encouragement from Grandma Livingstone. Josie and I really enjoyed watching and waiting for them everyday, but it was hard when it was 100 degrees outside every morning. I loved the view from the pool, the picture doesn't quite do it justice.

My latest obsession ...

Because we're moving in three weeks and I've so far only packed one box .. I have bad timing when it comes to my latest obsession, which is a new book. One of my cousins said it was great and so about a month ago I ordered it used from Amazon.com. It didn't come for about 3 weeks and I never even read the back cover to see what it was about. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it back down and I have been hooked ever since! The book is called Twilight, written by Stephenie Meyer. After I finished all 544 pages of Twilight in three days, I couldn't stop thinking about it! I planned on checking the sequel called, New Moon, out at the library a couple days later-- but I found myself at Target the next day for some other things and I just had to buy it and had all 562 pages of it finished within the next three days. So far my last week is a blur because I can't stop thinking about this story! I started rereading the first book again last night to go over it all again and pick up what I may have missed and it is just as captivating as the first time I read it! So, the bonus that John pointed out to me after I was half-way through the second book, is that Stephenie Meyer is a BYU graduate and after looking her up on Amazon.com and on her website, she's LDS! One of the best things about these stories is how amazingly clean they are, and so now I'm one of her biggest fans. There is book 3 and 4 also in the works and I'm so excited the story continues. I'm also dying for someone else to read this book so I can rant and rave to someone else, so here's your referrel for a good book!