Like daddy like daughter

AJ and Khloe around the same age. How cute is that!!

First day of school

Despite a rocky start, (his new shirt was too big and he wanted me to wash and shrink it before school, and he slammed his finger in the door) Sean was excited to go to school. He was so excited last night he could barely sleep.

Audrey was excited too though she had no clue what she was going to be doing today or what class she was going to be in.

That's a happy kid!

In the English part of his new class.

Khloe is the cutest thing ever. I am tempted to go to DIA and scoop her up and eat her! I will be at the school on Thursday so I can see her in action. She started preschool. Her class is right across the hall from her mom's. I can't wait to see her walking in line to the cafeteria.

So proud of her cute self!

Summer wrap up at the Lake

Jake had never been boating so we took him to the lake. He's usually pretty timid about trying new things but he loved boating.

They drained some of the reservoir so an island appeared. Sean and Jake explored it for the 45 seconds it took to walk around it.

Audrey our new Chinese student teacher. She's from Taiwan, not China. 

I thought the weather was nice but Sean was really cold so he laid in the hot sand.

After they laid in the hot sand they sat at the front of the boat so all that sand flew in my face. We only stayed out for a couple of hours then we took the kids to the pool and went to lunch. It was windy and the lake was choppy.

It was the perfect day to eat at the Oaks. We had to wait for a table but we got one right next to the river.

Summer stuff

Sean got new glasses.

He finished diving classes. He reached a peak in diving and didn't really improve after that. He's not sure he really likes it. When he dives down deep he get's a little freaked out coming up because he doesn't take a deep breath before he goes in. Maybe he will try again next year, maybe not. He really enjoyed his swimming classes.

He wanted to dye his hair blue. It just made a big sticky mess. It was blue hair "glue" and it really was glue. We had to wash his hair in the kitchen sink to get it out. Nasty stuff.

Don had his car in a Corvette show last weekend so we went to Ogden. His car won an award but we're not really sure what for.

No, this is not a Corvette.

Khloe and Sean at Subway.

Khloe thinks Subways are very fun.

I picked Khloe up from Steph at the school one day and she was asleep before we got to the main road. The pool toy just happened to be in the back of the car we weren't going swimming.

Chilly day at the lake

Catherine and her kids joined us for a day at the lake. It was cold and wind but the kids didn't care. Catherine brought her dog, Annie who floated out on the lake in a tube.

The kids boated for a couple of hours and Don pulled them around on the tube then we headed to the pool. Art and Char were there too.

Craft fairs and cars

Sean and Don were at a craft fair at the Bountiful park by the recreation center. Sean spun this record with paint. He said, "Mom, you're not going to believe this but they used to play music on these but I don't know how." 

Sean and Khloe it the Fiat. Sean was trying to get Khloe to turn the steering wheel but she was busy eating Apple Jacks.

Helping put the tire back on the Corvette.

Don's been racing his car at Miller Sports Park in Tooele. He raced all day Sunday. Sean and I went out for a couple of hours to watch him.

Super Heros

They found the costumes hanging in the closet and decided to be Super Hero's for a day. It made me miss them being little. They used to dress in costumes all the time.

They stuffed socks in the arms to bulk up their muscles.

Smoot Park

I took the kids to Smoot Park so they could play in the stream. They were jumping off these rocks into about 6 inches of water. Brie hurt her ankle but recovered quickly.

The water was cold.

I hadn't talked to Sean about Jennie and Ryan having a new baby but it came up when the girls were here. (Jennie always comes up when the girls are here.) Jennie and Ryan have a 5 month old named Jack. He looks just like the kids and when I see pictures of him it hurts my heart. He looks so much like Sean and I worry, are they taking care of him. Is he clean? Are they watching him, changing him, loving him? I actually get short of breath when I look at pictures of him. Jennie was initially really insistent that the kids meet the baby. Neither Lanette or I were willing. How is that supposed to work out? I'm not going to let Sean go to their house and I'm not having them leave the baby at my house. Having the baby at my house would be letting them back in control of my life and as much as I would love that baby I can't do that. In June Jennie got arrested and put in jail on some old warrants. They let her out of jail due to overcrowding. When she went back to court they scheduled another date with the judge because they couldn't reach a resolution. Jennie took the baby and went to Texas. I am guessing that at the next court date she would have been sent back to finish the year in jail that she had previously been sentenced to. She knows that if DCFS found out they would take the new baby. What a mess. I am hoping she is smart and stays in Texas but being smart has never been easy for her. I told the kids that she had moved to Texas and why. Sean said "why doesn't she just stay and deal with her problems?" They can't fathom how out of control and deep her problems are. She was texting and calling me a lot earlier in the month. I sent her a text and some pictures.

Initially when the baby was born she was calling and texting every day. Lanette finally told her she wasn't going to let her see the girls and that they were in therapy again. This made Jennie really mad and she said that if it wasn't for me she would still have her kids. Wow, I guess it's my fault that she's worried DCFS is after the new baby and I'm not even part of her life. I keep hoping she's going to pull it together but she never does.

Keeping busy

Building their Lego creations while Khloe puts stuff in a box.

Khloe wore the Mario hat for an entire evening.

Jaclyn was in town for three weeks. This was the first time we met her new baby Aurora (Rori) a pretty blue eyed baby. You can tell those girls are sisters.

It took awhile for me to get Sean and his sisters to play. When they are together they are clickish. Once I made them come out from behind the bed where they were playing on a tablet they had a really good time.

Farmington Pool

The girls spent 4 nights at the first of the month. Don really likes Farmington's outdoor pool. I hadn't been. The kids really liked it. They have a large deep end with two diving boards. The kids jumped and jumped and then jumped some more. Kylie kept climbing on the high dive, walking all the way to the end, standing there for a minute and then climbing down. She wanted so badly to jump but she just couldn't get up the nerve.

Sean and Brie had no problem flinging themselves off the high dive.

Brie and Kylie hold their noses when they jump.

A series of Brie and Sean doing front flips.

Kylie thinking about jumping and Brie on the low board yelling "just do it, jump!:

At the Farmington park after swimming. The toys at the park were too hot from the sun to play on.