School Days

School has been in for about a week. All of the kids (except Abbey) are settled in and seem to be enjoying their classes. Lindsey has started High School, and is "catching a ride" with one of the Young Men from our ward.(There are NO buses for the High School at all) As parents this is both good and bad. Good because we don't have to worry about how she will get to school and bad because, well cause, she is old enough to ride with kids from the neighborhood who are old enough to drive! It is scary to turn your child over to someone who may or may not be responsible for her.....well, life. In his defense he is a good kid, I don't worry that much....

Anyway Ashley seems to be really enjoying her own identity at the Junior High. She was there last year with Linds, and so now she gets the "whole school" to herself. She is glad to be back with some of her old friends, and is making new friends too. She is in Women's Choir and she is excited about that,as are her parents. We are glad that she has an opportunity to continue developing her musical talents.

Nathan is in sixth grade, and he says it feels weird to be the oldest in the school. Most of his "posse" (his group of friends, most since kindergarten) are in his class this year, and he is thrilled. He has the hardest, strictest, meanest, teacher in the whole school, but so far he has learned that the rumors are just that rumors!

Maggey is enjoying third grade. She is soooo excited to learn to write in cursive! She is playing soccer this season, and she is having fun. Her best friend Sydney is in her class again this year, as well as on her same soccer team, so she is LOVING it!

Abbey is having a rough start to 2nd grade. :( We think that she is having a combo of issues, most of which have been resolved. She is letting herself get so stressed, that she is freaking herself out, giving herself stomach aches. She has cried and cried, and it is really sad. She has a WONDERFUL teacher, (Ashley had her for 3rd) so I am sure that everything will be fine, and hopefully soon. We have been through some of this before with the other kids, and well, we just have to leave them at the school, and let them work it out themselves. It is hard!


As for Bartley, he of course is back in the classroom. He has had the smoothest start ever! He is really busy with Bishopric duties, but he is doing OK. He really wants to go camping again, yesterday he said that he was going to hitch the trailer, drive thru town and then come home. Just to feel like he went somewhere. :)

I guess we're down to me...I have been extremely busy with work. I had a federal audit. People come to Maple Village and look at every piece of paper I have in the office (basically). It is the biggest pain in the ....... My supervisor comes and then I sit in front of the auditor and have to answer questions like "why is the sky blue?" At one point I just wanted to scream! Anyway, that is all finished, and it went ok. I am relieved. Now that that is over, I am just the usual busy, kids, work, kids, YW Pres, kids, husband....you get the picture.

Some of you have requested pictures of the "NEW" room.....Bart says I need to put some on the blog....but I don't know how to download them onto the computer from the camera......I guess I will have to learn.

The bedroom in the basement is finally finished. It only took 7 years and a lot of help. Thanks to the many helping hands. I couldn't have done it without you!!!!!
Jen can download the pictures later.

Bartley

Lindsey's Art Show Entry

A few weeks ago we had "Steele Days" which is American Fork's summer celebration. Part of that celebration is an Art Show featuring local artist's work. Lindsey took an awesome picture in Central Park while she was there last Fall. She decided that maybe just maybe she should enter it in the Art Show.

We are proud to announce that her picture received an Honorable Mention in the High School category. You can view her picture right here on our blog. Just go to our entry titled "Lindsey's New York Trip" it is the picture of the lake, with the fall colors. Way to go LINDS!

Summer is almost over!

Summer is coming to a close quickly. As a mother I have mixed feelings. It will be great to have the kids back in school. They are better entertained, and seem for the most part to really enjoy it. I really enjoy the peace and quiet that exists at the house during school hours. No fighting over the TV or computer, no lunch mess, less complaints about dinner, and 8:00pm bedtime (YES!).

I realize though that this will bring to end staying up late for sleepovers and movies in the Living Room, playing outside till it is dark, running through the sprinklers, and heading up the canyon for hot dogs and s'mores. AAAH, Summer is the best!

Lindsey will be starting High School and Drivers Education(aaagh), Ashley will be "alone" at the Junior High and Nathan will be in 6th grade, his last year of elementary. When did we get soooo old?

Girls Camp

We have just returned from Girls Camp. What a great experience it was! Bartley and I both were able to go (Thanks Grandma Mary:) and be there with Lindsey and Ashley.

I just want to say how wonderful, fabulous and terrific MY Young Women are. The media would have us believe that the world is falling apart and that teenagers are just lazy losers who are out to either kill each other or mooch off the world as much as possible. My Young Women are proof that the future of the world and church are in good hands.

My favorite part was sitting on the hill at the Manti Temple talking about Captain Moroni. It was a spiritual high that I will never forget. Some of the other activities I enjoyed were; Improv Night (Sis Frandsen and the Lemon HA! HA!) standing on the dock in the moonlight with Brianna, Value Hike, water fights on the paddle boats with Courtney and Nicole, Sister Smith and everyone jumping into the lake on Friday (it was fun to be a spectator) and of course Testimony Meeting.

Since my Young Women read my blog, I just have to say I LOVE YOU! Thanks for making Girls Camp the best I have ever been to!

Busy

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activities for our family. First, we had Nathan and Bartley at the Dodgers baseball tournament and my Sellers Training in SLC. Then I took 3 kids and went to the Murdock Reunion in Carey, ID. Bartley and Lindsey did Band Camp that same week. Lindsey and I have just returned from Youth Conference this past weekend. Bartley and Nathan were in Rexburg for the All Star Tournament. Maggey and Abbey stayed with our wonderful neighbors the Vigues, and also with Grandma Mary. WHEW! We are so busy!

Youth Conference was soooo awesome. Some of my Young Women read my blog and so this is for you.... I love you all so much and couldn't have been prouder of you than I was at Youth Conference. Our youth were in charge of a HUGE activity(a dramatic "plane crash"), right before testimony meeting. (NO PRESSURE!) They took on the challenge and completed it perfectly. If I could hand out an Academy Award to each of you I would! Thanks again to my YW! I am so lucky to serve with you!!

Coming up next week Lindsey, Ashley, myself and Bartley will be attending girls camp. We are excited to be going to Palisade Lake(our favorite camp site). Nathan, Maggey and Abbey will be staying at Grandma Mary's (Thanks, MOM) and they are super excited.

I am hopeful that after girls camp things will settle down a little and we will all be able to relax before school starts in mid August.

Ashley will be coming home tomorrow, and we are excited to see her. She has been gone a long, long time it seems. She has been lucky to have this opportunity, and we are grateful to Dan and Julie for opening their home to her. She says that she doesn't really want to come home. (Surprise-not!) She knows that we miss her. So does half of our ward, they want their babysitter back!

Bartley Boys

Hello All,
Nathan and I (Bartley) spent the weekend in Rexburg, ID. at a baseball tournament. If you asked Nathan if he liked the trip he say, "Yea, but we didn't win any games." We didn't win a thing. Outside of that we had a good time together. We took our bikes are were able to get a little riding in. Sat. morning we found my Great Uncle Steve's house. We visited them for about an hour. Many of you don't know, but my brother Sandy was with Uncle Steve when he (Sandy) died. I had never really known what had transpired when he died, other than he was fishing and started feeling crummy (I was on my mission when Sandy died). I asked Steve if he would share with me what had happened and he did.
We also were took a two mile ride along the Snake River. It was actually to the first mile marker and back. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to drive home. I told Nate he would have to drive. He was really happy with that.
I wanted to take an alternate way home so we stopped at Walmart to get a map. The world is soooooo small. I was looking up and down the aisles and I see Kyle and Stephanie Moore.
They use to live down the street from us. They built a house in Riverton and then we knew they had moved to Washington state. They have been living in St. Anthony for the last 3 years. We were able to visit for a half hour. It was wonderful to get the highlights of their life. It just goes to show that you need to behave wherever you go because you don't know who you'll run into.
The alternative route we took was through Preston/Cache Valley way. I stopped and visited my cousin Lisa. I have not seen her for a while and was good to see her and Blair. We use to tend Colton when he was very little. Now he is very big.
While listening to the radio we heard an announcement of a book signing from a 15 year old author. I am sucker for book signings so we stopped an bought a copy of the book and had the author sign it to the "Bartley Boys"
I took Nathan to the Blue Bird Restaurant in Logan. He has his Father's appetite for beef. He ordered a piece of Prime Rib. He was able to finish about 1/3 of it (with the help of his dad) and then nibbled on it all the way home.
Our hotel didn't have a swimming pool. We went to the hotel where most of the team was staying and swam in that pool. We had a good time.
The hotel we stayed in had a hot tub. You will need to ask Nathan his take on the hot tub.
It is late and I get to stay home this week. Thanks Heaven.
One last thought: I realized on this trip that I miss open spaces. I like to see open space between towns. I like to know where one city/town starts and another one ends.
Love to all

Bartley