Back to School

This summer there was lots of.....


Babysitting and mowing lawns, and lots of....

Friends, mostly princesses, lots of Popsicles, and lots of bike riding (no training wheels!) And lots of.....

Rockband and computer playing.

School started today though... so now there is lots of.....








We're doing some different things this year, so now there will be lots of Volleyball (I mean, even more than last year.....) because Malia made the junior high team, and there will be lots of running because Kayden decided to try cross country and track. So we might take a little break from ballroom this year. Malia and Kayden are both pretty excited about school and everything else this year.

Taisha was the first one up and out the door this morning. She has the same 4th grade teacher that Malia had, and we LOVED her, so we are all really excited for this year.

McKay did really good.... phew.... He woke up saying he was so excited for school, got dressed really early, and then time went r-e-a-l-l-y S-L-O-W-L-Y. I think he asked every two minutes if it was time to go. I dropped him off, he reminded me he wanted fruit roll-ups for an after school snack, and we were gone, just like that.

I think everyone was a little nervous last night, and I was glad that Monday night didn't work out for father's blessings, so we could do them last night. McKay had a bad day yesterday, I think we was just a little anxious, and Kayden complained of a stomach ache... but after every one's blessings (Rik only messed up one of the five kids names......) everyone seemed to settle down. After a couple of kids had a turn getting their blessing, McKay asked Rik if he was going to bless his head too... cause Augustes (that's how they say it...) dad blessed her head and he wanted his head blessed too. Kind of a funny way to say it!

It has been a really fun, relaxing summer, and about the only thing I'm not going to miss is the entire top shelf of the dishwasher being full of cups (I really should just go for paper cups in the summer....I'll have to remember that next year.)

A little lesson on how to feel old.......

So there you have it.....

Anaya is 4!!

Anaya turned 4 on Sunday! She was pretty excited. On Saturday we went to Leo's Pizza and we took the two little girls that live next door (they have played together all summer long!) We hadn't been to Leo's in a while, and they all had a lot of fun.


I asked Anaya what she wanted for her birthday dinner and she said macaroni and cheese... which isn't a very yummy Sunday dinner.... so I came up with some of her other favorite foods.... ham, potatoes and veggies and dip. And for her birthday cake she said she wanted whipping cream... I thought maybe cake with cream on top or something like that... but nope, she just wanted whipping cream. So I decided the rest of us would have peach pie with whipped cream, and Anaya could have a bowl of whipped cream.... and that's what she had, after she licked the beaters. Yum!



Anaya got a big bed for her birthday (she woke up on it....) After she got done telling me how excited she was for her big bed, she told me she wanted a butterfly blanket and a room with lots of butterflies. I don't' know if this is a girl thing... but it cracked me up that immediately she wanted to decorate and coordinate her bedding. She's also a jewelry type of girl (some of her bracelets she has been wearing for a really long time), so we got her some necklaces. I was thinking one of these days she would LOVE to have her ears pierced.

Rik's office party was last week at one of the parks here in IF. My kids loved the awesome climbing trees there:

School starts in a little over a week. I got Taisha and McKay registered last week, tomorrow is Kayden's turn and Malia is on Thursday. Then they all start next Thursday. I'm not sure if I'm ready for another school year yet... not that I have a choice... but the summer break has been awesome! I'm a little nervous about this whole "high school" thing too.... I guess we'll see how that goes!

15 Years

Today is our 15 year anniversary (WooHoo we remembered this year!) Michelle tagged me a little while ago to do this.... and this seemed like the right time:

1. What is his name? Richard Reihana Finlayson
2. Who eats more? I eat more sweets, and comfort foods. Rik eats more vegetables and weird stuff that no one has tried before.
3. Who said I love you first? I did, by months...but he would write it in Maori on all his notes to me.
4. Who is taller? Rik is.
5. Who is smarter? I think we are pretty equal.... but we problem solve differently (I'm right handed and he's left handed if that gives you any idea how we think).
6. Who is more sensitive? Probably about the same.
7. Who does the laundry? This is Malia's job... but I do a ton as well, and I do all the folding...
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? How do you tell which side is the right? I'm not sure... but I want his side of the bed. As soon as he leaves for work, or is gone.... I slide over and sleep there... I can't seem to convince him to switch.
9. Who pays the bills? Me... I'd hand it over in a heart beat though....
10. Who cooks more? Me... Rik's not a huge fan of cooking, but has done more cooking over the last year than any other year.
11. What meals do you cook together? Omelets. With this many kids all wanting different omelets... you need about 6 hands... so Rik usually helps.
12. Who is more stubborn? We both are...
13. Who is the first to admit they're wrong? This is not a strong point for either one of us...
14. Who has more siblings? Uh... Rik... but we are both the oldest of our siblings.
15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? We both do, I just look better in them!
16. What do you like to do together? We like going out to eat and shopping.
17. Who eats more sweets? See #2.
18. His guilty pleasures? Watching UFC and playing Wordscape online.
19. How did you meet? In college in a statistics class (he was in my physics class the year before... but I was rude then....)
20. Who asked who out first? I asked him to my home ward's Christmas party...
21. Who proposed? Him (and he really took his time!)
22. Who kissed who first? We were both there...
23. His best features? I love, love, love that he is brown (he has nice legs too...)
24. His greatest quality? He is really fun (I can be kind of boring... ), and has a good heart...
25. Tag: Whoever wants to....

Vampire Prom, Mt. Borah, and Eagle project

Malia and her friends went to the Vampire Prom at Barnes and Noble Friday night... We got the dress from the DI for a whopping $6 and then got her hair done at one of the beauty colleges (I decided to get a pedicure while I was waiting... you know... multi-tasking... I already chipped two nails though... sigh, I'm just not meant to wear nail polish). We went all out cause it's not very often that you get to go to a vampire prom. I finished the book Sunday night... it was a fun read!

We got Kayden's Eagle project all done... well mostly done... we have a few more houses to do and all the paperwork that has to be filled out, but the big stuff is done.

(Apparently Rik has inhaled too much spray paint fumes at this point....just a little too happy)



(Handing out kits)

We did the Eagle stuff Wednesday and Thursday last week. We really wanted to get it all done in one day, but there was too much wind on Wednesday to safely spray paint... ya, I know, that's weird for Idaho..... So we did just the training on Wednesday, and did houses Thursday. On Friday the scouts packed up and camped at the base of Mount Borah, and then climbed it on Saturday. This is the highest peak in Idaho.... and it was a hard hike. Rik said it was comparable to his marathon.... except that he didn't get any blisters this time. They came home with some beautiful pictures though (and you know Rik... LOTS of pictures.... like 100 pictures of the hike....) They came home looking really tired.... and looking pretty smelly (I didn't actually want to get close enough to smell...but I was thinking that had to be a yucky drive home!)

While they were camping and hiking, I stood in line for my book (I didn't much feel like going to the vampire prom...), and then read until I couldn't see.... then got up and read some more. So lots of hard work while they were gone....