Ooops! :)

Hey all! 

 I recently was on here messing with stuff as I came across something that reminded me of our blog and it made me realize I had't done anything with it in forever! Anyway, I was trying to figure something out and accidentally published a story I had tried to publish about 4 years ago when Xander started Kindergarten. I didn't think too much about it until I got an email from my mom asking me about why it had been sent to her! :) I don't know why! Then this morning I realized I had an email about the same thing from Kent & Marshiela! :) I am not sure why it sent it to my family...hopefully not everyone received it but if so, SORRY! :) I will try and figure this stuff out again and see if I can change some settings. Plus, I am going to try to update the blog on a more regular basis! Only have Scotty home with me these days so hoping I'll be able to keep up better! Love to you all!  ~Melissa

Xander's First Day of Kindergarten 2010!

Xander on his first day of school, September 13th, 2010. In our front yard-getting anxious to head out! :)

Xander with his car pick-up pass around his neck. This told his teacher that I would be dropping him off as well as picking him up from school for the first couple days. I just couldn't let my baby get on the bus the first couple days of school. :) Was a little too much for me. September 13th, 2010.

Xander & Emy before school.

Had to get a pic of Xander & me, too. This is a BIG deal-having my firstborn starting his first day of school. September 13th, 2010.

Xander at Sidney Glen Elementary School-waiting for the teacher to invite us into the classroom. Lots of parents with cameras! September 13th, 2010.

Emy giving luvs to her brother-she didn't yet realize we would be leaving him here. :) She was just having fun.

Thought this was a really cool idea. They had these posters sitting outside near the two doors of the kindergarten classrooms so those of us who wanted to take pics near them could. 2023 sounds so far away!

Walking into the classroom of Mrs. Stretz. He was totally ready and totally excited for this! September 13th, 2010.

Wandered around for a few minutes to find Xander's place at a table. Has his name as well as the name of the kid in the morning kindergarten class that sits in that spot. Also had a name tag and a color page to work on while all the parents stayed in the room to take pictures, etc.

Emily standing near Xander and wondering why she doesn't get a chair and color page. :) She also wanted to go look at books across the room like she did when we came for "Meet Your Teacher" night. :) She didn't understand why she didn't get to do any of the fun stuff this time. September 13th, 2010.

Xander with his name tag on and just chillin! September 13th, 2010.

He was so excited to get this day started!!

Finally decided to go ahead and start coloring his page like some of his classmates were doing. September 13th, 2010.

Checkin things out a little more before deciding what to do first. :)

Getting going on his paper. We left just after this--many parents just were hanging out--I did for a while, but had Emy with me so it was hard to keep her there but not let her do anything. So, we headed out-said goodbye and told him we would pick him up after school. Emy only got to the door of the room before she finally realized we were leaving him there-then the tears started and lasted almost all the way home. She finally fell asleep just before we got there. :) September 13th, 2010.

Xander's First Time Riding the Bus!

Xander wearing his bus pass for his first time riding the bus today. He had to have it so the bus driver could get to know him and his pick up and drop off spots. This is in our front yard on September 15, 2010.


Emily and Xander-first day riding the bus. She wanted to be in the pics too!
September 15, 2010.



Xander out on the street just as the bus is about here to pick him up.
September 15, 2010.

Xander getting on the bus for school for the first time. He was so excited!!

Septemeber 15, 2010.

Just closed the door after he got on and was about to pull away. Have to admit I was having a hard time by this point! :) September 15, 2010.

The bus pulling away. September 15, 2010. It was really hard to watch my baby getting on a big ol' school bus and riding away from me! I was totally having a hard time. Didn't help that Emy was crying about missing her brother and wanting him to come back. She liked it even less than I did! :) She cried all the way home-which wasn't far--and for a while after he left. Finally distracted her by asking if she wanted to go for a ride, too. She took me up on it and finally settled down. Although for the first couple weeks, she made me turn right out of our street since that is the way the bus would go. I would get into trouble if I turned the wrong way! :) She cried everyday for the first couple weeks after he would get on the bus. So sad and so cute at the same time! :)

Bus just pulled up and waiting for Xander to get off. This was his 2nd or 3rd day riding the bus, but the first time I could get pictures cause of the crazy rain the first couple days.

September 17, 2010.

My little man bounding down the steps! He LOVES the bus! It is one of the highlights for him everyday-that and recess! :) September 17, 2010.

#1 of 5 - Ensign Ranch - First Annual Camping Trip

Cody had lots of help from the kids setting up our awning over the table where Tracy was trying to cook dinner for us-mostly in the dark. Aug. 26th, 2010.

Tracy made these yummy little individual mini pizzas on English Muffins our first night there. Leo and Trudy didn't end up getting any as it was really late when they got there. But we loved them. She put them together with a little sauce out of a jar and cheese and pepperoni and then cooked them in a dutch oven over the fire. So Good!!! Aug. 26th, 2010.

This HUGE tree trunk was in between Tracy's camp site and Leo's and the kids loved playing on it. It had this partial branch that stuck out that Emy just loved to lay on. Freaked me out every time I saw her or anyone else on it cause it moved a lot whenever they got onto it. I was afraid it would end up breaking off and hurting them but it never did. Sitting on top like Emy-that put her at least 5 feet off the ground. :( Aug. 27th, 2010.

Our cook site near David & Tracy's tent in the daytime! Aug. 27th, 2010.

Our car and tent on the left in the back and Leo's tent. We ended up the farthest away from group stuff since we had the youngest kids who needed to be in bed first. Worked really well. We had a great time here! Can't wait to come back next year!! Aug. 27th, 2010.

#2 of 5 - Ensign Ranch - Giant Slip-N-Slide!

Peyton, Xander, & Collin at the top of the huge Slip-n-Slide. We had so much fun here! Spent several hours here. Aug. 27th, 2010.

Cody and Xander walkin up the side of the huge slide to get to the top. It was dangerous just getting up there but we all had fun. Aug. 27th, 2010.

Xander about a third of the way down the slide. This thing was huge! Aug. 27th, 2010.

Cody & Emily taking a turn. She loved it too! Aug. 27th, 2010.

Peyton on top L and Collin on bottom L - two kids on top and bottom in the middle we didn't know- and Cody and Xander heading up the side. Just put this one in mainly so you can partially see how huge this slide was. This shows almost half of it left to right and probably most of it from top to bottom of the pic. There is some still not showing. :) It was a blast! Aug. 27th, 2010.

Cody & Xander going down mostly together. Aug. 27th, 2010.

Left to Right: Peyton, Jodon, Leo & Kenna, and Cody. They all tried lots of different size trains but they didn't always work well. :) Aug. 27th, 2010.

L to R: Xander, Cody, Peyton, Jodon, Leo & Kenna, and Trudy-(and someone we don't know). Yes, even us girls went our share of times, but I didn't get very good pics of us. :) But we had a lot of fun on here too. Aug. 27th, 2010.

Emy was wiped out from the slip-n-slide and fell asleep in Tracy's arms so they just set her up on an inner tube we weren't using and she took a nice long nap! Yay! It was great! Not to mention totally adorable! Aug. 27th, 2010.

L to R: (sitting) Hazelynn, Xander, Cody, David, Leo. (and some kid we didn't know) David got there really late so he didn't get in on as much fun for as long as the rest of us, but he loved it too. They tried all sorts of silly and fun things once all three of them were together again. :) Aug. 27th, 2010.

This is Leo. :) It was time to go and we had a TON of tubes to carry back to the cars and camp. So, he decided to help out with that! Silly man! Aug. 27th, 2010.

#3 of 5 - Ensign Ranch - Trudy & Tracy's Fun Food!

These were delicious once we got them done. :) They are a biscuit that you wrap around a 1 1/2 inch wooden dowl and then cook over the fire till its done. Then you put pudding in it-we ate the pudding cold as she used instant and mixed it together in a ziplock baggie. Then you put toppings on it-this one of Emily's that I did has whipped cream and sprinkles. It was yummy! Aug. 27th, 2010.

Here it is from the side. This one turned out really well and tasted so yummy!! Aug. 27th, 2010.

Another shot of it. Think maybe she called them pudding cups but can't remember for sure. The kids had fun trying to do them even though it was a little harder to do than it sounded like it would be. Thanks for this one Trudy!! We loved it! Aug. 27th, 2010.

This one is muffins-two different kinds-but being cooked inside scooped-out orange peels then wrapped in foil and cooked over the fire. Leo and I worked on cutting the oranges in half and scooping all the orange sections out and Trudy filled them and got them ready to be put over the fire. They were supposed to be breakfast on our last morning there, but they took a lot longer to cook than she thought they would. But they turned out yummy when we finally got to eat some of them. :) Aug. 27th, 2010.

A closer-up look at the muffins. They were fun. We had a couple other really fun things for dinners: mini pizzas that Tracy did on English Muffins in a dutch oven over the fire our first night-that were TOTALLY AWESOME!-(like pic above in #1 of 5 section). The other really fun one was Chili in a Bag-no picture. It was awesome! We each had our own little individual bags of Fritos and put chili right in the bag with the chips. Then we put cheese and other yummy things in there with it and ate it right out of the bag. It was fun and SO YUMMY! Trudy & Tracy gave us some really fun and really yummy things to try for future camping trips! Thanks girls! Aug. 27th, 2010.

#4 of 5 - Ensign Ranch - Led Horse Rides

Xander-his first time on a horse. He loved it! Cody walked around the smallish pasture leading the horse Xander was riding. He did great. Aug. 28th, 2010.

Xander still a little nervous but doing well. Aug. 28th, 2010.

Kenna going for a ride as well. Xander and Cody are in the background. Aug. 28th, 2010.

Xander getting into it. He was finally brave enough to wave at me when I yelled for him to look at me so I could take this one. :) Aug. 28th, 2010.

Xander after his ride by the horse he rode. He had a great time. Aug. 28th, 2010.

Some of the other kids-and David-who were watching while Xander and Kenna rode. Aug. 28th, 2010.

Emily's first time on a horse. She was ok with it while it wasn't moving. :) Aug. 28th, 2010.

Emy was pretty scared when the horse started moving and I had to talk really hard to get her to stay on. She did finally decide it was fun. Aug. 28th, 2010.

She decided she loved it and was even telling the horse, "Giddyup horsie! Giddyup!" and "Come on horsie! Come on!" It was totally cute!!! She would even reach down toward the horses head and pat her while she talked to her. :) Aug. 28th, 2010.

Here are both Emily and Collin going for their rides. They went at the same time after Xander and Kenna had taken their turns. Aug. 28th, 2010.

Tracy had those of us who went for a real trail ride on our own horses get a picture by this sign since we couldn't take any while we were on our horses. So there was Tracy, Melissa (Me), Zach, Jodon, and Peyton. (I was holding Emy in this one cause she wouldn't let me put her down cause she hadn't wanted to get off her horse and was really sad.) Aug. 28th, 2010.

Melissa, Cody, Xander, & Emily Montgomery. Aug. 28th, 2010.