Preschool, Buddy Walk & More Summer Fun

Kaelyn started pre-school last week.  She goes twice a week for a couple of hours and even gets to ride the BIG yellow bus to and from school.  It was a little strange handing her over to the bus driver that first day...and second day.  She came home happy though so it must have been good.  One of these days Bryn and I will have to go watch her in the big window to see how she does.  

Handing my little munchkin off to the bus aide

Dad and Bryn watching as the bus drove away

There she goes

Kaelyn waiting for the Bus on her 2nd day of school

Our first Buddy Walk with the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation was a success!  We got there bright and early to run the 5K.  More than half of the 5K participants were from our family :)  My brother Bart won the men's division pushing two kids in a single jogging stroller and my BFF Jamie won the women's division running with her husband who was also pushing two kids in a single jogging stroller.   I guess thats the way to do it :)My other brother Rick took second, he ran in honor of Bryn because she can't walk yet, so she got to ride in our stroller.  We even had my niece and nephews there to be our pacers on their bikes.  We couldn't keep up so they had to keep coming back for us.  It was fun running with all my family.  

Then we went and set up the Reece's Rainbow booth so we could share our story and the stories of all the orphaned children with other families touched by Down syndrome.  I got quite emotional talking with one lady and could barely talk by the end of our conversation.  I could tell she was touched by what she heard and will hopefully be able to help these little ones some way.

There were so many fun and free activities for the kids to do.  Bounce houses, games, gymnastic obstacle courses, all the snow cones, cotton candy and pop corn you could eat.  It was really well done and lots of people put many hours into making it happen.  I will definitely have to get more involved once we get Victoria home and settled.  

Cousin Jackie sporting her new BW tee shirt and ballerina face paint.

Family photo opp before the Buddy Walk began.

Team "Kaelyn's Peeps" gathering prior to the BW

Kaelyn and Cousin Quin doing some yoga and stretching to prepare for the BW

There was quite the crowd there, it was so fun seeing everyone there to Celebrate someone with Ds.

Aunt Wendy and the kids

Kaelyn and dad finishing the last leg of the walk.

Earlier this summer we went to our friends family cabin near Park City and they had a big 30 foot swing we got to play on.  It felt like I was on a roller coaster swinging that high, I even got a bit woozy afterwards.  I was sure to hold on tight because a fall from that height would cause some serious damage :)

Wayne swinging away

Bryn watching mom swing from down below

 We were able to meet up with our buddies Arina and Jaxon last week while they were in town from California.  We miss seeing them!  Hopefully we can take a trip to California in the near future and spend the day at Disney with them.  Little Arina was also adopted through Reeces Rainbow from the Ukraine a few years ago.  She is just a cute ball of energy!  Jaxon is just a stud!  He has been through so much, and continues to amaze us.

All the kiddos lined up in a row

Guess how many times I got asked if they were twins today?  I guess thats what happens when I dress them a like :)

A few weeks ago Wayne's younger brother got married and his sister Cheryl was trying out her new camera.  She took some great pictures of us in front of the pretty flowers at the reception center.

We call that Kaelyn's "I don't trust you, Phyllis" look.  (From the office)

Bryn was being very photogenic as you will see in the next few pictures

Kaelyn was not in the mood for pictures as you will see in the next few pictures

But after some fun dancing and swinging she decided she would smile for the camera

 Wow, over an hour later I'm finally done with the post!  I guess it wouldn't take so long if I did it more often :)

Summer Summer

Whoa, the summer is gone!  We had a great summer that included a trip to Eastern Europe to meet Viktoria, the little girl we are in the process of adopting, swimming, biking, running, play dates, zoo trips, volleyball, picnics, mountains and more.  

Our view coming down off the mountain in Wayne Co.

 The girls and I went to Wayne county with my best friends family for a few days while Dad stayed home and pounded through some tough school work.  We missed him, but had a great time seeing a part of Utah we have never been to.

I was hoping the tube would keep Bryn in one place for longer than 3 secs, but it didn't :)

The girls getting ready for our little hike

Our cart was full before we even got into Sam's Club, a great way to save money when shopping! 

Bryn is right at Kaelyn's side every chance she gets.  We are trying to teach her that stealing everything Kaelyn has and pulling her hair is not acceptable, but thankfully Kaelyn is VERY patient while her little sister learns :)

We have a fun couple days of slumber parties with Carson and Jackson while Wayne was at scout camp.  I took them all swimming twice!  Swimming with two "babies" by myself was a bit tricky, but we made it work.

Playing games on the iPads.  The boys were so cute with the girls.

Silver Lake

We went for a walk/picnic up to Silver Lake with Jamie and her kids and my friend Sarah.

More swinging in pajamas in the middle of our morning run.

We made it to Seven Peaks twice this year with our $10 pass of all passes.

Spent the afternoon at the zoo with the Rasmussen kids.

Neola Rodeo on the 4th of July

Bryn hanging out in her Cowgirl hat during the parade while we sold treats to raise money to bring Viktoria home.

A beautiful sunset at the lake by our house.

They have live music throughout the summer every weekend in our neighborhood.  These cute neighbor girls took Kaelyn for many swings throughout the evening.

Having lunch out on the front lawn.

Now that Summer is officially over Kaelyn starts Pre-School this coming week!  Its crazy to think that my 22 lbs little girl is going to be starting Pre-School.  I think she will love it.  She is getting pretty bored by the end of day and can't wait until Daddy gets home.  We have been going to a physical therapist over the summer and she has made some great strides in her motor development.  Her little sister Bryn has been a great example and shown her how to get to standing on all the furniture and anything she can.  They will both be walking in no time!