First day of school Texas style

Wow things sure get started early here in Texas. I wake the boys up at 5:40am and have them at the bus stop for pick up at 6:35am. School starts at 7:40am. I could drive them to school but with a new baby and having the bus stop literally at my front door and the fact that the bus ride is Brandon's favorite part of school the decision was too easy.

Here are the boys waiting for the bus. Yes it is still dark outside when they get on the bus. It is also 85-90 degrees with humidity at 6:30am. Yeah love the Texas weather! Not!

I have to admit I got cried a little when the boys drove away. I can't believe my Jake is in 5th grade. He grew so fast. Jake really likes the new school and has already made new friends. Brandon is, was my baby and now he rides a bus to school and is in kindergarten. He seems to little to go to school. He goes to school all day long. It is weird not having him around. He really likes school and loves to tell me everything he did at school. He has done so well with all the changes in our family. The move to Texas, new baby and school starting. He is a little trooper.

Emma started 7th grade this year. What??? She turned 12 this summer and blossomed into a young lady. She tested for the gifted and talented classes at her school and passed. So she gets to take a language class this year. She chose Spanish. She seems very happy with her schedule and new school. She also rides the bus but doesn't leave until 7:20am so we have a little time to ourselves in the morning. She usually uses any extra time to hold Natalie.

I think we are really going to like school here in Texas. So far I am very impressed and have only heard good things about the schools my kids attend. Here's to another successful school year!

Introducing Natalie...

This is a lovely picture of what I looked like a few days before Natalie was born.

Natalie Kaye Summers was born on Wednesday August 17th at 7:55am via c-section. She weighed 8 lbs 12 oz and was 20 inches long. The surgery and delivery went very well for both of us.

The proud father.

First family picture with all 6 of us. Love Brandon's face in the photo.

I had to put a bow in her hair so she would look more like a girl.

Emma is so happy to finally have her little sister.Brandon is pretty excited to be a big brother.

Jake just loves her. He is going to be a great big brother to a little sister.

This is my sweet Aunt Linda who came to stay with us while I had the baby and take care of the other kids. She is a blessing.

Natalie in her going home outfit the kids picked out for her.

Getting ready to go home. This picture cracks me up. I caught her in a great pose huh?

Just a few pictures I took of her since she has been home.

Natalie is a sweet little baby and so far very even tempered and happy. I hope it lasts. We are so thankful to have her in our family. It is amazing to me to have not even had her home for 2 weeks yet it feels like she has been in our family all along. The kids are constantly asking to hold her or feed her. Natalie is definately loved and then some.

Natalie Kaye Summers

Dang computers....

Well, since my new computer was having trouble publishing my posts I decided to use my old computer. So you can read my old post I wrote about 10 days ago below.
Hopefully I will get things figured out soon so I will be able to post pictures of the house, the baby and the kids first day of school.
Life is good and we feel very blessed. I will feel even more blessed when I get to bring home a healthy baby girl! Can't wait! Hopefully only 3 1/2 more weeks! Fingers crossed!

Texas Update

I do know where my camera is but I have not taken any photos since school got out. Not even any pictures of packing the house, the plane ride here, unpacking, the new house, the kids in the new house. Nothing. So this will be another photoless post.
So.....Texas is HOT! The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane almost a month ago was how weird my flip flops felt in the heat. I don't know how to explain it except it feels like they are melting and sticking to your feet at the same time.
We are adjusting to the heat though. Living in Las Vegas for 2+ years is helping us adjust I think. We utilize the community pool frequently. It is great fun and I can just sit in the 1 foot 8 inch section and relax while the kids swim. It is great.
The kids are adjusting just great. Emma was able to go to Girl's Camp a week ago and had a great time. She is not technically in YW's until August 4th but they are letting her go anyway. She has made some really great friends. Jake has also quickly made friends and attended his first pack meeting this week and had a great time. Brandon is adjusting to Texas life and new people and has lots and lots of questions about why we are even here in Texas.
I enrolled Jake and Brandon into their new elementary school a couple of weeks ago and it looks wonderful. We were able to get a little tour of the school and Brandon said "I want summer to be over so I can go to school tomorrow." I really hope he feels the same way the first day of school. :)
The house is pretty much put away. There are a few boxes still needing to be sorted and put away. We even have pictures put up so it looks like "our" house. The garage is another story but that is not my territory. Thank goodness.
I am currently 33 1/2 weeks along. I have been told by my new doctor that she will schedule my c-section at 38 1/2 weeks. So I only have to wait 5 more weeks to see my very wiggly, busy baby girl. I hope it goes fast. I dread nighttime because I can't sleep very well and I am NEVER comfortable. Anyway, we are almost ready with the baby things washed, sorted, etc. So we are ready for her to come.
I have been busy getting all the kids school things bought and ready as well. They start school a week after the baby comes.
We miss all our Las Vegas friends but truly know that this is where we are suppose to be.

Yeehaw we made it to Texas!

Jake and Matt drove for 4 days or 35 hours depending on how you want to count it. They left Sunday the 12th and got to Houston on the 15th. Emma, Brandon and I flew in the night of the 15th. We stayed in a hotel for 2 nights and then got sick of that and stayed at the new house for 2 nights even though the moving trucks had not brought our things yet. Wonderful people from our new ward brought over air mattresses, sheets, pillows, blankets and towels.
The kids and I went to Walmart for the essentials. Luckily the house we are renting came with a fridge and washer and dryer. So we were set for the weekend.
The moving truck finally came on Sunday afternoon. It is now 10:45pm and we all have our own beds to sleep in tonight! YEAH!!
So once I get my house all put together and organized I will take some pictures and post them.
So far we all like Houston. We have even made some new friends already! Yeah for church.
More Texas adventure to come....

Bye Bye Las Vegas, Hello Houston

So we are all packed and ready to go. The moving trucks are coming today and then they should be on their way to Texas hopefully by tomorrow.
Matt and Jake will be driving to Texas over the weekend and part of next week.
Emma, Brandon and I are staying in Las Vegas with friends until Wednesday night and then we fly to Houston.
Hopefully the moving trucks will be to Houston by Wednesday or Thursday and we can get settled by the weekend.
So.....who knows the next time I will be posting a blog. All I know is that it will be from Texas!

Mother's Day 2010

For Mother's day this year the family took me out to dinner on Saturday night. I chose Red Robin because I was in the mood for a big juicy burger and their fries. I also ended up ordering a raspberry shake. It was delicious and made me happy!

Saturday night Brandon gave me some sparkly pink/orange nail polish so I would have "pretty nails" on Mother's Day. So I dutifully painted my nails. :)

Sunday morning I recieved a few more gifts before church. Jake gave me some of his homemade coupons, Emma gave a bag of goodies for a movie night as well as $1 to rent a movie from Redbox. I also got a travel pillow since the kids knew I was going to Texas the next weekend. Brandon had made me a necklace at Joy School too. I wore that to church as well.

Finally I was given a variety of chocolate because my sweet family knows me so well.

Here is a picture of my darling kids who make me a proud mom and gave me a great Mother's day!

Brandon's Amazing Talents

Last week at Joy School the kids had a talent show. So Brandon decided to show how well he can draw a monster.

His other talent is his amazing trick of washing his eyeballs. He learned this trick from his Grandpa Milo. I did the best I can to try to document this amazing trick.

First you take both of your eyeballs out of your eye sockets. Then you carefully wash your eyeballs in your mouth.

You can't really tell from this picture but he put his eyeballs in backward.

So he needed to switch his eyeballs around.

Ahh there much better!

Easter 2011

This year the Primary hosted an Easter breakfast and egg hunt the day before Easter. I didn't take any pictures of breakfast. Brandon had a good time hunting for his eggs and did quite well for himself. Emma and Jake ran off too fast and I wasn't about to chase after them just to get a picture to blog.

Saturday evening we colored Easter eggs. The kids always have a fun time coloring the eggs. Brandon had way to many questions though about how the eggs turn colors.

Easter morning we got up a little earlier than usual because we have church at 9am. The kids checked out their baskets really quick and then had to get ready for church. I think everyone was happy with their Easter baskets this year.

Brandon carefully trying to open a plastic egg so all the jellybeans don't fall out.

After church we had a quick lunch with Matt before he had to head to the airport to fly to Texas for work. After Matt left the kids had another egg hunt in the backyard with the eggs they had colored.

I love how Jake chose to carry his basket around his neck.

Somehow I forgot to take a picutre of the kids in their new Easter clothes. You will just have to trust me that Emma looked beautiful and the boys looked handsome in their matching ties.

Mormon Fort in Las Vegas

During Spring Break we decided to finally go to the Mormon Fort here in Las Vegas. We took our lunch and some friends with us too. There is a little museum that tells you about the history of Las Vegas which included some Mormon pioneers. After you go through the museum you can go see a recreation of part of the Mormon fort. Here are just a few pictures of what we saw there.

Handcarts

Inside the fort

One entrance to the fort

This looked like where some people would live while keeping watch over the fort.

Emma pretending to protect the fort.