First Day of School

The kids have been back in school for about a month and a half. Our Summer was the usual busy, fly by type, with a little pregnancy exhaustion sprinkled in. It has been nice to be back in our routine.

Wally started Middle School this year. Sixth grade. I have been holding my breath for the past month and a half waiting to see how he settles in to things. Change is hard. Learning a new routine, lockers, 8 periods a day, and every day after school cross country practice makes it that change a LOT! He has done really well so far. He does not love cross country. It is weird having him gone so long every day, and I worry about that. He is good at it though. It is also important to keep Wally busy, and to a large extent, forced to work outside his comfort zone.

This kid is quick! He comes in in the top ten in nearly every meet! His coach wants him to run the two mile with the eight graders in regionals! We will just have to cross our fingers a new baby and the regional meet do not intersect!

Will is in 4th grade. He is the same social, friend loving guy he has always been. Every day after school there is a master coordination plan he puts into action to get time with all of his friends fit in during the week. It requires a lot of confusing phone conversations, rushed piano practice, and picking up and dropping off. At 36 1/2 weeks pregnant, it is exhausting for me. 

Georgia is in 2nd Grade. She has the same teacher Wally had. She is a great teacher. Georgia is doing well. She is getting to the age where she is also all about friends. She has really taken to 2nd Grade. It is good to see her thriving! 

Walker started pre-school. He goes four days a week. He LOVES to go to school! He goes to a private Lutheran school. He told us that they are nice there, and don't worry, because they know about all the Jesus people! I am impressed with how much he is learning! They are working the 5 year old class pretty hard to get them ready for Kindergarten, and it is awesome! 

The school year is already chugging along at a quick pace! Now we are getting ready for baby to make her entrance. According to my doctor, it will be sooner than later! I need a bit more time than she is giving me, as she is predicting an early delivery within the WEEK! What?! I told her I feel like I have two more weeks in me. She said, "Maybe, give it your best try!" Holy cow! Where have the past 36 weeks gone?!

I had to edit this post to add the photo I took of Walker in front of his school on his first day. He started a couple weeks after the other kids.

Pinedale, Wyoming

My husband has a dream of living in a small town, in the middle of nowhere one day. The small town thing is okay, to an extent, for me. I just need access to a large, or semi large community because I was not raised a small town girl.
One tiny town that has been on Del's radar for a while now is Pinedale, Wyoming. It is around two hours from Rock Springs, I believe and hour and a half from Jackcon Hole, and about 4 hours from Salt Lake City where our parents are. The problem is that Rock Springs is not a large town in and of itself. It is the biggest thing going on after you leave the Pinedale city limits! This town is tiny!

It is also very charming, very pretty, has cooler temps, GREAT parks, and access to remote mountain destinations! My husbands dream come true!

It is the perfect place for our family to VISIT regularly!

So we did it! We booked a cabin on a lake about 25 minutes up into the mountains, and down quit the dirt road, surrounding Pinedale. Half Moon Lake.

Beautiful, serene, open, remote… those are all good words for this lake! There was one large cabin built on it, one camp ground that did not appear to be very populated, and the Half Moon Lodge, where we stayed. It consists of eight cabins in varies states of age and updating, built above a lodge with a nice restaurant, great decks, a small dock, and amazing views. Other than us, there were only a handful of people there.

Both my parents, and Del's were available to drive up and meet us for the weekend! So we all stayed in a cabin, and had a nice time at the lake and down in Pinedale.
It was such a nice weekend we got to spend with our parents! We rented a pontoon boat from the lodge and went out for a little cruise on the lake. They dropped my Mom, Hank, and me off back at the decks and headed back out for some fishing. I am not much of a boat girl because I suffer from extreme motion sickness. Unfortunately, the fishing attempts were unsuccessful. The wind really picked up, and the water was not great. It was still fun.

My Mom and Dad.

Del's parents.

Us. We had just driven from Nebraska earlier this day to meet up. We are looking a little haggard.

A mural painted in the middle of downtown Pinedale really beaconed to me. Seeing as I am feeling a bit like I could fit in with a herd in my pregnant state.

Pinedale has a shallow stream running right through the middle of town. There are at least two parks that we played at that are on the banks of it. The kids had so much fun wading out into it,and throwing rocks. There is a park with a small kid's fishing pond, a trail with bridges and amazing scenery, a wagon ride through town, and a cute playground where deer were roaming around freely, and unafraid. There were local kids coming down to the fishing hole, and to play in the river the entire time we were there. I sat in the shade with Del's parents and my Mom, while my Dad and Del fished with the kids, and Del tried out his fly rod. I didn't know if I would be able to get Del to leave. It was pretty idilic.

The view from our front porch. We were pretty much the only people on the lake. Del's parents had a huge newly remodeled cabin. Ours and my parents was quit a bit more rustic.  We didn't know what they would be like until we opened the doors, and Del's parents were staying up above us on the mountain.  It was still great though, and we had a good time!
We went to the Mountain Man museum they have in town. It was pretty cool. We learned things about Mountain Men we certainly didn't' know before our visit. We spent the rest of the day in town enjoying the parks.

Walker has the touch! This kid is always the one catching the first fish!

Georgia had one on the line, but it got away. I got a video of it, and she probably won't appreciate that I post is one day because in her excitement, she adjusts her underwear! Ha! Who hasn't, Georgia? Who hasn't?

I am having trouble getting this video to play after I upload it from my Youtube channel. I am going to give it a day, and if it won't work, I'll try again. Boo.

We went to church at one of the very nice wards in town, and then hit the road for the Salt Lake Valley.