Washing Machine Stand Idea

 Our washing machine of 15 years was getting rust on our clothes.  We decided it was finally time to get a new one even though our old one was still washing great besides the rust.  Rust is hard to get off of clothing!  A couple of years ago I found this idea online for front load washers.  Instead of buying the stand that it sits on I had my hubby build this so I could put a few baskets under the machines.  It has worked great and I love it!  Our dryer is still running great so we will continue to use it until we have to get a new one.  I love not having to bend down for the clothes now.  Thought I would share this idea for anyone out there that would like to try.  Click here for the plans on how to build it.

Ty Golf

 Ty made the Snow Canyon Golf team again this year.  He is such a hard worker and we are so proud of him.  Golf can be such a frusterating sport but he continues to try and work as hard as he can.

Sunset

Usually I've taken pictures of the sunrise but one evening this summer I looked out the window and saw these beautiful clouds reflecting the sunset off of them.  I couldn't help but take a quick picture.  So grateful for the beauties of this earth. 

Back to school

 Can not believe school is here.  This has been the quickest summer on record and it makes me sad to see them go.  I will admit it is not an easy thing for me each year especially when I should have a 4 year old at home with me.  I know I say this every year but it is a hard fact.  I wish so badly he was with me each day.  That is what I dreamed about when he was born.  I planned on enjoying each and every stage with him since he was our last child.  I feel that void.  I am grateful that I enjoyed each of those stages with the other 3 kids.  I have few regrets with them. I do look forward to when I get to watch Wyatt grow up.  Until then, there is a place in my heart that his memory resides.  Somedays that place aches and other days I feel the hope of a wonderful future with him. 

Our High Schooler....seriously?? I truly can't believe he is in high school now.  It seems like yesterday when I was in High School. This will be a challenging year for him.  All of his good friends got into "Success Academy" a charter school.  It's a lottery that determines who gets to attend.  Ty was not lucky enough to be picked. He was hoping so bad to get accepted and was very disappointed.  He would have gotten a college education the next 3 years which he is ready for.  He took the college entrance exams last February and got very high scores.  In fact the kid after he got done taking the test said he could sign up for College Math 110 and College English 110.  The kid thought he was a college student.:) So we are hoping that his honor classes this year will challenge him enough so he is not bored.   As he said "there is a reason for everything and hopefully something good will come from this."  So proud of him. 

 Our sweet Em.  She is such a good girl and look forward to seeing all the wonderful things she will accomplish this year.  Can't believe she is a 7th grader.  The thing she was most excited about with starting school was getting to wear the clothes she had bought with her own money.  She had saved all her babysitting money from the past year to buy her own school clothes.  She is definitely all girl and LOVES fashion.  She is very gifted at it too!  We are hoping she has a great year this year at school.

 Our sweet Hay was the most excited about going back to school.  She says Math is her best subject which she is very good at.  She loves being social and enjoys the friends she has and looks forward to making many more.  She is such a sweet heart.  Truly can't believe she is in 2nd grade.  Time is flying by.  I wish sometimes I could just make it stop.  She loves to learn and enjoys life.  Such a sweet girl she is!

 She started 2 days before the other 2 kids which she didn't think was very fair but she was still excited to start.

Blog or not to Blog

I have been absent for many months now and I've debated for the past year if I wanted to continue to blog.  D and Ty are the ones that have encouraged me to continue.  Which for me was kind of shocking.  I had no idea they cared about it so much.  So, I updated fall and winter posts last March and then life got too busy again and now I have 6 months worth of stuff to update.  Hopefully, as school starts I will be able to incorporate some time each day to get caught up.  I do love getting this book each year that documents all we have done as a family.  In a way it's like our family journal. I have caught the kids looking through the different volumes and enjoying the pictures and reliving those experiences we have had.  Even though we do a lot of the same stuff each year it documents those traditions which I hope someday my kids will cherish.  We have had one of the busiest summers on record.  Lots of comings and goings and lots of posts for me to blog about.:) I have my work cut out for me but it will be good.  I will blog in chronological order of when things happened so some post will not be visible on the first page.  So if you are interested you will need to go to the bottom of the page and click on older posts.

Also, since this blog is dedicated to Wyatt I just need to say there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of our Wyatt.  I continue to miss him and will the rest of my entire life.  A part of me died the day he died.  Though I'm able to enjoy life again and it has gotten easier he is not forgotten and is in our hearts daily.  I feel he is not far from us and is aware of our family.  We love him and look forward to when we get to hold his cute little hands again and kiss his cute little cheeks.  

Last years volume from blog2print.com.

Window Boxes

Our window boxes this summer.  I'm happy with how they turned out.  

Singing and Dancing in the rain...

 One of my most favorite things in this world is enjoying a down pour of rain on a hot summer evening.  It can't get much better than that.  We enjoy dancing and singing in the rain.  So grateful for moments like this.  It's these simple moments that make life wonderful!

 Macie does not enjoy the rain like the rest of us.:)