R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Kylie received the "Respect" award for Character Education at school. Each month the teacher picks one student and then the class votes for the other student who exemplifies that trait for the month. I thought it was pretty cool that her classmates voted for her. You make us proud Kylie!

Talk like a Pirate Day...Aargh!!!

Ahoy! All the Kindergarteners at LES get to celebrate National "Talk like a Pirate Day." Yes, it's a true "day", I even heard it on the news that morning. Anyway, they all dress like pirates and go around to different classrooms singing piratey songs. It's fun and they seem to like it. I do have to say, Ryan makes a pretty cute little pirate! Shiver me timbers!!

Ella at Cabelas

Ella had her very first field trip to Cabelas last week. They had been having a camping themed week so the kids were really excited to go. It's a cute tour they do, FREE of charge. They have a paper with animals they need to look for throughout the tour, they walk through the huge aquarium, feed some rainbow trout, look at the beautiful animals, sample really yummy fudge from the gift shop, and shoot the fun riffles at the end. It was a blast!

Ella and her BFF, Tessa

Luke AFB Triathlon

So I've been training with Dave and some other friends to do the upcoming YMCA triathlon on Thanksgiving day. But last week I decided (really last minute) to do a sprint tri at Luke air force base. Dave just recently bought me a bike and I really wanted to race with it once before the YMCA tri. It was so much fun (thanks Dave, I love my bike)! I ended up getting 3rd place out of all the women! I was happy with my times and that I didn't stop on the run even though I really wanted to. My legs felt like bricks after the long bike ride.
The distances were: 400 meter swim, 14 mile bike, and a 5k.
It was tough and the whole time I'm thinking..."why am I doing this?" And then at the end, after I'd caught my breath again, I felt so good that I had finished the race and I can't wait to do the next one. It's crazy, but I love it!

Crossing the finish line with Dan.

Dave took the kids camping!

So, Dave thought it would be fun to take the kids camping in Flagstaff while I was in Washington, visiting my Grandma. He organized the whole thing himself and the kids had a blast. I was pretty impressed. He's a good dad like that though. I think we'll keep him around!They went hiking, of course.

What a cute boy!

My Dear Grandma

My Grandma Nieffenegger is an amazing lady. She is 88 years old and her mind is as sharp as a tack. I got the opportunity to go with my sister Melissa to visit her in Kennewick, Washington for a long weekend. It was fun to be with her and serve her, even when she insisted she could do it on her own. She was just in the hospital and then rehab for 6 weeks but is at home now and very happy about that! I sure love you Grandma!

Labor Day in Prescott, AZ

We had a fun trip to Prescott for Labor Day weekend. We stayed with my parents and then met up with Melissa and Karl's family and went to a lake nearby for hiking, feeding the ducks, catching crawdads, and barbecuing hamburgers. It was a lot of fun and the weather was great. It's always nice to escape the Phoenix heat!

Ella didn't have any problem touching the worms. They were her new pets which she tried to carry in her pockets.

Jensen, Ella, Ryan, Emma, and Kylie

Grandma and the grandkids

Dave, monkeying around

Me and my sister, Melissa

Playing with mom's camera

Ella's had a thing lately where she wants to take pictures of everything with my camera. We're always telling her no, but some of the pictures turned out kind of funny once she got the other kids involved too. Gotta love it!

This is typical Ella when she is mad and doesn't know what to do...she just grabs her head!?

But she can be soooo cute too! Right?

Kylie is being that goofy 8 year old that we love.

They even got a picture of us and I don't even have red eye. Good job kids!