5th, 3rd, K, and Preschool!

School has been in progress for well over a month now!  Coming up on 2 months actually.  We have been busy with our fall activities such as dance, flag football, soccer, tball.  Not to mention our other regular things like homework, scouts, and church meetings!  But it has been a good couple of months being back in the swing of things! 

So far the kids are all doing really well.  We recently had their first SEP conferences and their teachers all had good things to say about them.  In the days leading up to conferences, I always wonder what their teachers will have to say to us. Will it be good?  Will they say my kids are terrors or angels?  Luckily, their reports were all good!

Connor is doing really well in the 5th grade.  His teacher has him in an enrichment group.  Which means he is doing a little bit harder work and doing some extra projects to keep him busy.  He loves math! (he did not get that from me! And he is always happy to help his little brother with his math homework!)

 

Carson's teacher said she just loves him.  He isn't at the top of the class as far as test scores go but he is a happy and positive student and she is grateful for having such an easy going kid in her class. She said he is nice and helpful to everyone!  He loves art!

 

Katelyn's teacher also said how happy she is to have Kate in her class.  She listens and follows directions and she is a smart little cookie!

 

 

 

And then Jace.....I was really nervous to put him in preschool.  He can be wild and all over the place and sometimes he doesn't like to share or be nice.  So I wondered how he would be.  Would he be nice to other kids?  Would he tire his teacher out? His preschool teacher is our neighbor and she hasn't had anything but great things to say about Jace.  Whew! It is nice to know he is good and pleasant for others. : )

 

Hopefully the year continues to go well for our kids!

July: Fun Times With the Zierses

 

In July, Kelly's brother came for a visit from Las Vegas.  We had a good time visiting, playing, and spending time with each other.

 

Baby Sydney had her blessing.  We all gathered for dinner afterwards!

 

 

 

 We were all together!  It doesn't happen all too often. 

 

 

 The ladies!

 

 

The gentlemen!

 

One of the activities we did was go to Lagoon.  This was one of those occasions that we weren't all together.  Some had to work and some were sick.  The beginning of the week a nasty bug was floating around the family.  Luckily, it passed us and our kids, but others weren't so fortunate!

 



 

This was the group that made it to Lagoon. Even some of the adults weren't feeling all that awesome.  But we all plugged along for the sake of the children! They loved it!

 

 

 

Along with Lagoon and the blessing, we had girl's night, which is always a highlight.  The men golfed. We played games.  Kelly's parents had their annual "grandma and grandpa night."  This is when all the grand kids come and eat dinner, have activities, and sleep over at grandma and grandpa's!  They always look forward to this night.

 

We had a fun visit and spending time with our family!

A Trip to Phoenix

 

After Easter we took a road trip to Phoenix. It had been a few years since we had made the 12 hour drive.  The kids had a whole week off for Spring Break so what better thing to do than go somewhere warm!

 

Plus we really missed our very good friends, the Carneys!

One of the days we spent the afternoon and evening 4 wheeling in Wickenburg.  The kids of course loved it.

 



I forgot how pretty the sunsets in the dessert are!



We also spent an afternoon at The McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale.  No trip to Phoenix is complete without a stop at our favorite park!

 



Waiting for a train ride!

 



 All the kiddos!  Look at Kate and all those boys!  I love that our kids just pick up where we left off.  They are all such great friends.

 

Keeping with tradition and playing the "jail game!"  This is a silly game that Kelly made up with the boys when Connor and Carson were 3 and 5 years old!  They always play it, even though Connor is now almost as tall as Kelly!  He still picks him up and drags him around as if he were still 5!

 



And lucky for us, Hotel Carney comes with a swimming pool.  We spent a lot of time in the pool.  And by we I mean the kids and their dads!

 





 Last summer when the Carneys came to visit us, we put plastic wrap around their car as an effort to try and keep them from leaving.  They returned the gesture!  They hid our car keys and blocked us in with their cars.  They left us messages on our windows. It was hard to have to leave.  We really love the Carneys!

 

 

We had a wonderful time.  We stayed up late and laughed a lot.  We always reminisce about our Buckeye days and talk about the memories.  It is always sad to say goodbye.  We are so grateful to have some great friends!

Easter Weekend: Better Late Than Never!

We started Easter weekend off by having Carson's baptism.

 

Isn't he handsome?!

 



And Katelyn who always loves to pull a pose!

 



Love my family!  It was a fun and busy day (my nephew also got baptized this same day) of celebrating and being together.

The next day was Easter Sunday.  Here are the kiddos in their Sunday best!

 



 

 

And having an afternoon egg hunt!