First day of school 2018

The first day of school was on August 20th!  I can hardly believe that we are down to 2 children at home! 

Jacob

Kyle

Brothers! :) 

Hoping for a wonderful year!

Brandon begins his 2nd year at Snow

We dropped Brandon off at Snow College on Monday, August 13, 2018.  He had to be there a week early because he's a Student Body Advocate (SBA), but school didn't actually start for him until August 22nd.  We took the kids down with us.  Kyle drove with Brandon and Jacob drove with us.  It was a fun day!

Jacob, Brandon, Kyle

 (At our house before we left)

Because Brandon was there early, he got to pick his room.  One of his roommates had been living there during the summer, so one of the rooms was already taken, but he was able to choose from the rest of them. (There were 6 all together.)  I'm pretty sure he got the biggest room! :)  (Was there any doubt?) HA! The apartment was quite nice and Brandon was happy with it.

Brandon's room

His closet is huge!



Kitchen



His room is upstairs



After we got all of Brandon's stuff into his apartment, we went to lunch at The Malt Shop in Ephraim, which is where Brandon worked last year.  Yummy food!

We had to take some pictures of all the kids by the S! 

And of course, me and Dad had to get in on one!

And some of just Brandon :) 

This was taken inside of his apartment. He already looks pretty comfy!

Me and Brandon

Me, Brandon, and Todd

Coming out of his apartment

After we had lunch and got him settled back into his place, we drove back home.  I didn't cry, but a part of me definitely stayed there with him.  I will miss him, of course, but I know he will have a great year and I'm excited for the leadership opportunities that will come his way.  

Now, can you believe we only have 2 kids left at home?

Absolutely shocking! For real!

Oakcrest 2018

Todd and I were able to go to Oakcrest again this summer for the stake visitor's night.  Alexis (Wendy's daughter) was able to attend this year, and I was so excited to go see her!  I showed her the "picture" wall of all the staff pictures over the years, and I noticed that my first year (1989) is now the FIRST picture on the wall!  (Far left on top)  And my second year is the second picture (1990), and the reason I took a picture is because I think that next year when I visit Oakcrest, my first picture won't be there anymore.  I am now at the tail-end of the cycle! So sad!

Oakcrest just had it's 60th year reunion, so I understand that they don't have room to keep all 60 staff pictures on the wall, but I'm still going to be sad when I don't see my years up there anymore!

My two years--a close up

I made Todd take a picture of me as we were leaving for the night. I really love this place!  It will always hold a very special place in my heart!

And here's a picture of me and Alexis.  I'm pretty sure I tortured her with my embarrassing hugs and comments!  But I just wanted to share my love! :) 

I hope to see you next year, Oakcrest!

Leatherby's 2018

On the 24th of July, we went to Leatherby's and celebrated Wendy's birthday. (Sadly, she was back in Vegas with Anthony getting the last of their stuff from their house, so she missed it! BUT she is moving here now, so we will make it up to her!) 

Since Jacob is always game to pose with me, we took a few silly pictures....

These first 2 were selfies!  Not bad, if I do say so myself.

I think Kyle took this one

Brandon, Kyle, AJ, and Aunt Gina Nicholson

Grandpa and Grandma Johnson

I don't see Gina very often, so I thought I'd better snap a picture while I had the chance, and this one turned out quite well of us...

Gina and Alexis

Happy Birthday Wendy!  Sorry you missed your celebration! :(  We love you!

MTC drop off for Dallin

The night before Dallin left for the MTC, he was set apart as a full time missionary!  

It was really cool!  And by the way, this is really happening! :) 

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Handsome boy!

Cute little smilies! 

Last family picture in the front yard!

Kyle, Dad, Mom, Jacob, and Dallin 

(Eric and Andraea couldn't come, and Brandon was actually on a retreat for school, so he missed this picture in the morning.  But we picked him up in Provo right before we dropped Dallin off.)

I think Dallin was tired of smiling by this point, but I couldn't help but snap a picture of him waiting in the car for us to all load in...

Yeah, tired of smiling for sure... :) 

We were directed to drop Dallin off in the underground parking of the MTC.  It was different than Eric and Brandon, and it kind of threw me off my routine.  After we got out of the car, we took this family picture, and then I hugged Dallin first.  And for some reason, I got straight back into the car (and waited), and I didn't take any pictures of him hugging anyone else, or of him walking away with his luggage!  I don't know what I was thinking, but I was sad the second we started to drive off, and I wanted a do-over! And obviously, that wasn't possible!  Grrr!

Dad, Brandon, Jacob, Dallin, Mom, and Kyle

We are so proud of you Dallin for making the decision to serve a mission!  You are going to be awesome!  We love you!  See you in 2! :)