Another School Year Begins

I have SO many things to catch up on from the last month of the summer.  Reunion and wedding and shower, oh my! And I will get to that, I promise!
Today is a special day in our house.  The first day of the school year.  That means back to routines (and blogging) and early bedtimes.  Every year that school starts, I can't help but have a sense of how quickly my little men are growing up.  This reality is always a little hard for me to swallow (last year, you may remember in this post, was especially hard).

However, I also have a sense of excitement.  One of my favorite moments for each of the boys this year: Caleb- when he was setting out his clothes to wear the first day said, "mom, I sure wish it was tomorrow already!
Ernie- Big E has a tradition of giving the boys Fathers blessings before the school year.  I pray I will always remember how I felt when I looked over during Little E's and he was crying.  He told me later that he felt like Heavenly Father was speaking to him.  Oh, how precious little boys can be!

 Here is the my favorite (but obligatory for them) picture I get every year.  The before school shot.  The one time a year they have clean and fresh shoes, backpacks, lunchboxes, and clothes. 

 Well, one out of two looking and smiling isn't bad!

 We were so nervous because I had been in contact with a lot of his friends from last year and didn't know one kid in his class this year! But we were so excited when he ended up in class with a great kids that he knows from church and sports teams.  He even got to sit next to Jordan. 

 Here is Ernie.  Ernie was thrilled with his teacher.  He has Mrs. Alger.  He has LOVED her so far.  You have absolutely NO idea what a relief that is! He had a rough year last year, and he absolutely needed a good experience this year.  It was such a HUGE answer to my prayers. 

 Here they are after school.  They survived! They both had a great day. 

 Ernie requested that I take a picture with the school in the background.  You can't see it very well, but there are a TON of basketball courts on their playground.  He was thoroughly impressed. 

We were so lucky this year! Big E's parents were here for the weekend (which we LOVED, but I will get to more of that in another post) and were able to be part of our annual first day of school ice cream treat.  We went to Yogurtland.  

I love being a mom.  I will continue to say it constantly, but every year I am reminded that me my years with these amazing little people are so brief.  It makes me want to hold onto every memory.  

I couldn't imagine my life without them.  I am so excited for them as they grow up and slowly become the men that they are meant to be.  But that dosen't mean that I don't get to look at pictures of them when they were wearing much smaller shoes and get a few tears in my eyes. 

Tennis Camp

My boys got to go to a tennis camp a few weeks before school started.  It was such a great opportunity for them.  They both really enjoyed it.  Ever day for a few weeks I would drive them down to the Las Vegas Country Club for 4 hours a day.  They swam, ate lunch, and played a LOT of tennis.

(It was a busy few weeks.  We had tennis, basketball, and soccer to get to.  They were very ready for bed by the end of the night!)

Here are a few pictures from a random day, and then at the end form the last day.  

Our children lead a very fortunate life.  Ernie and I have always wanted to do everything in our power to allow them as many opportunities as we could.  

One of the best things about being a parent are the moments when your children recognize the fortunate life they live and are appreciative of it. I am not only grateful that we were able to provide them with this amazing opportunity, but grateful (probably even more grateful) that they appreciate and love that they are able to participate in so many fabulous things.  

Beautiful In White

My sister Claire got married last weekend.  My little Claire Bear!
Sitting there at the wedding, I was overwhelmed.  Overwhelmed with happiness, excitement, gratitude, just to name a few emotions.  She looked radiant.  I think one of my favorite parts was seeing the tears in her now husband, Robert's eyes during the wedding.  It was an amazing day. I wish I had more pictures.  Here are a few form the luncheon before the wedding.

I wish I had more pictures, and that I could share some of my memories of that amazing evening with you.  Hopefully we get pictures from the photographer soon! (Or if any of you have pictures, send them my way!)

One Last Hurrah

Ernie and I decided that we needed to take advantage of no basketball, tennis, or soccer and before school starts, take one last trip to hang out at the beach.

The morning we got there, we surprised Ernie with his early birthday present......

 A surfing lesson! He was beyond excited.  He LOVES surfing. 

Here he is riding in on a wave.  He was so fun to watch.  I am so proud of him.  It's so amazing to see your child accomplish what they set out to, even huge waves. 

 After his lesson, we went and got some boogie boards.  I couldn't help but take a picture of my boys running through town like local Laguna Beach kids.  We walked down to his surf lessons barefoot, and the instructor told them that none of them wear shoes when they are walking around town.  And that was it for them.  They were converted to the care free, shoeless way of beach town living. 

 Big E and I couldn't resist.  We used the boogie boards a ton.  And I must tell you, they are a blast! One of my favorite parts was the two of us riding the waves.  The kids loved them too.  

 We have some friends that we have a habit of running into (in the shoe department at Macy's for example).  It is a whole new thing when you run into them in Laguna Beach, California! It was so fun to see them and they spent the afternoon with us.  And Neil happened to bring a boogie board too! He and the two E's had a blast riding the waves in.  And Kensie was so excited to see the boys.  It was so cute!

I have always loved to travel. Time goes so quickly that Big E and I decided a while ago that we have to take advantage of every moment we can to do things with them.
This weekend was perfect.  We weren't there long.  And the only thing we did was hang out at the beach.  It was the PERFECT weekend.  I will always treasure these special moments and hope we have many more like them. 

HenWixom Reunion

My mom doesn't have a huge family.  Just one sister that is still here.  As we have gotten older, the times we get to see the Henricksens have become rare it seems.  I actually hadn't seen some of my cousins for 2 years! Crazy! 

Last year we decided it was time to plan a reunion.  With that much planning, there can be no excuses, right? :) Everyone was able to make it.  There were a lot of us.  I have 5 sisters, and although I am the only one with kids, when you add husbands and fiances, it adds up.  Aunt Julie has 3 kids, two of which who are married with two kids each.  Yep, it was a party! 

Thanks to the family photographer (Aunt Julie), I have a lot of pictures.

 Shocker, Ernie got Claire ad Robert to play a game with him. 

 Spencer, Kade, C and little E on the way to a hike.

 Here are some of the rest of us, all ready to go into the caves, but the entrance was blocked by a HUGE bee/hornet nest.  Hundreds of them!

 Aunt Julie did a little craft with the boys one afternoon.  

 We had SO much fun riding in this awesome thing! Although, I wish we had gotten a picture of our little family when we went for a ride.  (Thanks Ryan and Jill!)

 Caleb lost a tooth while he was riding on the ATV! That was one crazy ride!

 And shocker again.....yep.  He's playing a game again.  He now love Battleship!

 Grandpa Mike and Little E wading through the little river/stream thing. 

 The whole Wixom clan, minus Co and Justin.  Don't ask me why I'm not standing by my own little family....they must have smelled:).

 Little E and Kade

 Caleb

 I love watching Micah with my boys.  She even brought up their favorite story books from my mom's to read to them at the cabin!

 More family game time. 

 This picture with Ernie hanging out the side of the moving ATV is very comforting.

 My boys at smore time. 

 Here are Micah and I with our cousin Gina. 

 We love to play speed Scrabble.  (Although, Ernie, Mr English major, seems to always win )

 Here is some more of the fam playing.  

One of the moments you know they are loving brothers.

 Claire giving Caleb a piggy back ride, giving Robert a piggy back ride. 

 We went on a beautiful hike, and Caleb was ready to strike a pose. 

After the hike, The Ernies went back to Vegas because Little E had a game (that Big E was coaching).

Caleb and I stayed.  I am so glad.  He is such a sweet boy, and we had such a good time.  We had a little night out on the town together.  We went into Cedar City to the Shakespearean Festival.  Our first stop was Bullochs of course!

 MMmmmmm . We love that little place! 

Caleb requested that I take pictures of him to send to his Dad. 

  

 Love the obnoxious flags that you carry to cross the street.

 Caleb and his ticket for his first Shakespeare play.  We saw A Midsummer Nights Dream.  Oh my heavens, he LOVED it! He was dying of laughter.  There is a lot of physical comedy in that one, and so I hoped he would enjoy it.  However, I did not anticipate how much he would LOVE it. Caleb has a remarkable laugh.  When he thinks something is humorous, he can hardly contain himself.  There is no way to describe to you what watching this play with Caleb was like.  In fact, the lady behind us commented during intermission on how much more enjoyable the play was with his adorable laughter.  It was a priceless evening. 

The Midsummer Nights Dream gang.  

It was so much fun to get to see all of my cousins and their growing families.  Hopefully it isn't another two years!