School Update On Girls

The girls had a blast in school this summer. They loved splash days and they loved being outside more. Since we are starting a new "school year" I wanted to post some updates on the girls. 

Sydney got moved up to the pre-k class. She is doing so well! She was really bored in her old class and was acting out - so this has been amazing. She loves school, she loves learning and is so excited when I pick her up.  She loves her teachers and even went on her first field trip - and loved it. 

London is still in her same class but will be moving up soon. She really enjoys her friends and craft time is still her favorite thing to do. 

On Thursday we are doing Back To School night - which is cool! I've never done that before. The girls love all the projects that they get to post up on their walls. 

The girls have really taken to us reading to them at night. Especially Sydney. We have even started chapter books  - she is loving so much a Christmas galaxy book right now. 

We have had fall weather lately - rain and cooler temperatures and I am loving it. The other day we had dinner with the White family and I rode the 5 miles to their home. It was so cool! 

I am also loving our Orange Theory Fitness classes. I go twice a week and somedays I do not want to go - but I am always so happy when I do. 

Top 3 Choices

It's funny I was mowing the lawn the other day and It got me thinking about how blessed we are. I was thinking about our house, our health, our family .... we are so blessed. 

It also led me to think about my decisions in life - the things the led my life to where I am right now. I'm not talking about it like "look what I did" but recognizing that the Lord led me to these decisions. I actually took a lot of time to think about it. So I got it down to my 3 top best choices. 

#1 - My choice to be in the Gospel. The lord led me to the gospel through my grandma, but the choice to become active and stay active was mine. This decision led me to a life with so much less pain, friends that inspired me to be better and keeping myself at a point where I could date someone like Tyson. The funny thing is that during my teenage years it did not feel like I was "winning" anything, but now that I am in my 30's with kids and a real life - the gospel kept me from so many BAD things - drinking, drugs, sleeping around .... I really saved so much heartache. I just hope and pray that my girls will have enough sense to just trust that I know what I am talking about - that they recognize that I had the same trials, temptations and openings for bad choices, but thankfully I said no. 

#2 - My choice to marry Tyson. I was engaged before Tyson - to Bill. I was so in love with Bill. Then Bill dumped me because his parents did not like me or that I was latina. So he dumped on and broke my heart. It was the most painful thing I went through. I started dating 6 months later but I was still so heartbroken. It was years before I could genuinely be healed. Three years later I met Tyson.10 years into it, I can blatantly see that Bill was SO wrong for me. Tyson is my most amazing best friend. There are so many days that I just see Tyson and the spirit tells me "this is why it did not work out with Bill"  My life with Tyson is so amazing and we genuinely happy - which I know I would not be with any of my other boyfriends. 

#3 - My choice to become a minimalist. Tyson laughs about this one but seriously learning and fully embracing minimalist has changed my life - and directly influenced my other top choices. We have more money, more time, less stress, more intentional actions, more time outside, more time as a family, more ability to make big choices. When we first got married I really wanted a big house, big cars.... all the things that made us look successful. 9 years later I am so different but so much happier. I share more, I give more, I laugh more. I can work, I can be with my kids, take care of my house .... and still maintain my house ... all because of minimalism. 

So there are my top 3 choices

Enjoying Our Summer

We are approaching the end of summer and we are still trying to soak up every minute.

This last weekend was super fun. Sydney got sick on Friday and had to come home from School. She was really good to play by herself and watch some shows while I worked on Friday. 

Saturday we rode our bike to Westy Fest. We did crafts, watched shows, played on the inflatables. We also finally were able to buy and eat food from our very first food truck. 

We got home and Abby was doing her Lemonade stand. The girls loved helping her. They kept screaming "Lemonade for Sale."

That evening the Blakely's watched our kids and we had dinner with Tom and a few other ESS employees. Tyson ordered the most delicious grill cheese sandwich - it was amazing and was even better than my steak.

Sunday London woke up sick and I stayed home from church with her. 

The last week we have been busy watching the summer Olympics. We have loved watching Simone Biles and Michael Phelps - it's amazing the dedication they have. 

Our last summer project has been sanding and repainting our deck. Tyson got crazy and sanded down our table too - I stained it myself and it turned out awesome! So much better than our first attempt. Then we put 4 coats of polyurethane. So hopefully it will be better protected. The table looks brand new and will last us for many more years to come!

We bought "Deck Over" by Berh and it had a very thick texture to it - we also go gray color and it looks SO good. We did the floor and stairs. Next summer we will replace the top rail boards and paint everything to match. 

I am very happy to have it done :)