A Whirlwind Trip

What do you know, we actually left town this year for fall break! We decided it was time to go visit Tyler's grandparents in St. George, and October seemed like a great time to do it. So we packed the car, pulled the kids out of school just a little early, and hit the road. On Friday we drove from home to Green River Utah on the way to Provo...which is a whole post on its own! Little did we know that we would miss a lovely October blizzard, I guess our trip was an even better idea than we realized!

Race for the Cure

Watch for my grandma, Audrey, and my mom. (And me!) More on this tomorrow...

Sophie goes to School

Just after Labor Day, my "baby" started school! It is so weird having three kids in school! Sophie is going to Smarty Pants Preschool this year with Miss Jenn, (a.k.a. my sister Jenn). She is absolutely loving going to school. She goes two mornings a week.

Here she is on her very first day. She was so excited, I am surprised that she even stood still for any pictures. She was SO FUNNY that first morning. Tyler and I joked that only dogs could hear her talking, because she would get excited and start talking really fast in this REALLY high pitched voice. It was like she was on fast forward all morning.
She was SO excited to wear her new dress to school.

And she was even more excited about taking her new backpack to school with her!

And off she goes!! She doesn't need us anymore!

And here are her dear cousins, and classmates. Do you think they learn how to spell T-R-O-U-B-L-E in the three year-old class??

Party Like a Rock Star!

On August 30th our "little man" turned nine! In keeping with his love of all things Jonas, we threw him a Jonas Brothers birthday party.

Of course, a party for Hunter included a lot of sporting equipment!

The highlight of the party was Hunter's new golfclubs from his awesome parents! ;) He has been asking us for his own set of clubs since he had a golf unit in PE early this year. As you can see, he was pretty excited!

No rock star party would be complete without an electric guitar birthday cake. (I made it myself! I know you don't believe it, but it's true!)

We are very proud of the young man that Hunter is becoming. We, of course, have our struggles, but for the most part Hunter is a great kid. I feel very fortunate that he was my first, and I often tell him that I know that Heavenly Father sent him to us first for a very special reason. I know he is here to pave the way for his sisters, and I appreciate the example that he sets for them. Hunter is so bright, I know there are great things in store for him.

We've got talent!!

At least the kids do, that is! At the end of August our ward's primary sponsored a talent show for all of the primary age children. I was very proud that my kids both wanted to be a part of it!

Lily and cousin Tori performed the song "Popular" from the musical Wicked. In my totally unbiased opinion, they were spectacular! They sang and danced their little hearts out, and they did it all with smiles on their darling little faces.

Hunter opted to be a "Jonas Brother" again, this time performing "That's Just the Way We Roll". He jumped and sang and strummed his "guitar" like a rock star!

Hunter enjoyed his rock star status immensely. A lot of the little kids enjoyed the performance as well! I felt a tad guilty that his song resulted in small children running and jumping all over the gym with reckless abandon, but they sure had a good time. At least they didn't start a mosh pit! ;)

First Day of School

The end of August of course brought with it back to school time. This year, I actually wasn't really ready to send the kids back yet, but back they went.

Lily is a first grader this year. Her teacher's name is Carla Dougherty. Hunter had her for first grade also, and we absolutely love her! Lily was very tired the first few weeks. but she has adjusted well to being at school all day. She is also thrilled that she gets to go to P.E., music, and art this year.
Hunter is a fourth grader this year, and is in Karin Alfonson's class. I think she is going to be good for him, helping him get organized and keeping him challenged. Hunter is still an avid reader. He is looking forward playing imtermural sports this year, and has been selected to be a tutor in a program called "Reading Together".

Sophie handled the first day of school a little bit better than she did last year!

Lily and cousin Tori, who started kindergarten this year

We are looking forward to a great year!!

HKM Family Reunion

Aren't we a good lookin' group??

The weekend before school started, we gathered up the Monson Clan for a family reunion. Tyler's youngest brother Trent returned in July from a mission in Puerto Rico, so it was the first time in two years we were all together. We had SO MUCH FUN! We went to a Rockies game on Friday night all together in our matching shirts. (It was pretty funny. Some lady behind us asked if we were a day care center. RIGHT! On a Friday night! It totally cracked me up! Like three kids per family is SO many!)

Saturday morning, all of the adults got to go to a session at the temple together. (Except for my BIL Brian, who wasn't able to join us for the reunion.) What an awesome opportunity that was! It's like getting a little tiny glimpse of what it will be like when we are all together after this earthly life. We spent Saturday afternoon picnicing at the Aurora Reservoir. Saturday night was the highlight of the weekend, the family talent show. (I call it the family spectacle!!) I am hoping to get some pictures of that, but apparently I forgot how to use a camera that weekend, so this is it for now. (On that same note, if you are a Monson and are reading this, could you email me some pics from the reunion?)

On Sunday we all went to church together, and then had a family dinner, family home evening, and a presentation from Trent about his mission. It was a wonderful weekend that went by all too fast.