Well . . . I just counted, and this is our 21st year of getting our kids to school! That is soooo crazy! Emily started Kindergarten back in August of 1993 and now we are down to two at home and we are still at it. It is very apparent at our "Back to School" open houses, that we are some of the oldest parents around. Every year my eyes can't believe how young the moms and dads look. That being said, I am really sad that this was our last year of elementary open house. Ryan is in the 6th grade this year. I love that even though we are all separated, the big kids still send me pictures of one of our enduring traditions: laying out "the man" the night before school. So, even though Emily forgot to lay out her "girl" (and she is a teacher herself), and Alex is on his mission - we got some fun "Back to School" pictures.
Breakfast at Kneaders the day before school started
Here is "the man". For as long as I can remember, the kids have been laying out their 1st day outfit on the ground to look like it is them. Ryan even thought to use his glasses this year!
Murphy is gonna be one sad doggy without his friends here and only mom to keep him company.
Here he is - Ryan off to 6th grade: His and our last year of elementary school.
Here is Danny's man, and we only have two years left with him here :(
I can't believe Dan is a Junior already!
Danny was telling me how much he loved pie - so I made them a cherry pie for when they came home that day. For some reason, they don't look too excited.
I had to put Ryan's new shoes in here. Gotta have new shoes for the first day of school!
I had to put this pic in of Alex. He isn't in school right now, but he sure is a great missionary in Argentina!
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED that Taylor did this and sent it to us early this morning! He is married and today was his first day at ASU (after completing) junior college. I loved starting my day with a smile because of this picture. :)
Emily is our "very own" teacher! She is following in the footsteps of her maternal great-grandmother Alma Patterson and her maternal grandparents, Earl and LaVelta Patterson who all spent their lives in education. She graduated from BYU a few years ago with a degree in English and minors in Editing and Music. She spent a year working in Salt Lake for the church and then decided that Editing was the wrong choice of a career for her. The next year, she went back to BYU and earned her certificate to teach Junior High English. She interned last year at Springville Junior High, and after a lot of stress of wondering if a job would be available, she was hired again and she is thrilled! I am so proud of her for following her dreams - and I bet Papa and Nana are pretty proud too.
It's been kind of a tough kick-off to school for me. It was a year ago that my sweet mom had a massive stroke on the first day of school. I look back at that time, and it was such a period of pain and growth for me. I miss her so much, but I am so grateful for the time I was able to spend with her - especially those last 4 1/2 months of her life after the stroke. I am so thankful for families. What would we do without them? I love all my kiddos (and of course my husband) so much and I am so proud of them. They are turning out to be pretty amazing human beings. Here's to another year of school!
