Back to School!!!

This is a big year for the kids, as well as myself.  Madison going to 7th grade/Jr High.  Ethan in 5th grade, and Aidan in 1st.  Where is the time going?

Look at this girl!  So beautiful!!  This was her first official day of 7th grade.  Her first day was just for the 7th graders to get used to the school, their classrooms, the lockers and the hallways before the 8th and 9th graders joined them.  Her first 2 days went great.  We were so amazed by her attitude.  She wasn't nervous, scared and didn't even have butterflies.  Sadly, on her birthday, which was the third day of school, she had the worst day ever!  The dreaded eating lunch in Jr High, just to find that you are alone!  As a mom, this has been my fear for the last few weeks.  Junior High is such a big growing experience.  Making new and good friends is crucial.  But sitting alone at lunch is so hard!  She likes her teachers well enough, and does have some good friends.  She has lunch with great friends on her A day, but on her B day, lunch has been a bit harder.  Luckily, she discovered 2 friends have the same lunch.  So hopefully, things will start to look up!

Ethan is a 5th grader this year!  We are so excited for him this year.  His teacher is a dream!  After meeting with her at our beginning of the year SEP, we left feeling super happy.  Most importantly, Ethan is happy!  Last year wasn't the best year, but so far, this year is starting out great!  He is happier, his attitude towards school has changed completely.  Hooray!!!

And my sweet little Aidan is a 1st grader!!  Which means, I am left at home with no children!  Sniff, sniff!  We are so excited for Aidan this year.  He loves, loves, loves school!  His teacher is wonderful, and he has cute friends in his class.  1st grade is the best because all of the kids still play together, and are all so cute!!
It's been okay so far to be at home without them.  But I do feel that need to be taking care of someone at home.  A diaper to change, a baby to rock to sleep...it's a bit sad that those days are gone.  New experiences are ahead, and I sure hope to be the best mother I can for these cute kids that I love so much!

Happy 12th Birthday Madison!!

How is this possible?  I can't believe the last 12 years have flown by so fast?  Madison has blessed our lives so much.  She is such a joy, and so beautiful and talented.  We sure love her so much.  Madison has a very sweet spirit.  She is so determined in her own way.  She currently loves a band called One Direction, loves the colors yellow and green.  She loves to sing and dance, and wants to be a singer when she grows up!  She definitely has her own personality.  Very strong willed in her own ideas.  But super loving when she wants to be ;)  She loves children, loves to take care of her little nieces and nephews.  She has been waiting to start Young Womens for so long. All her friends are in YW's and she has just wanted to be right there with them.  Love this "little" girl of ours! 

Reunions, and more fun!

Soo much has happened in just a few weeks time.  Since my last post, Madison went to girls camp!  Monumental moment!  We were so proud of her for making the decision to go.  We are in a new ward, so not very many friends yet.  So to spend 5 days with people she didn't know very well was admirable  She did great, and really enjoyed herself.  We also had the Bradley Family Reunion in Chesterfield, Idaho.

We drove up Friday, July 20 in the afternoon, and had a bbq at the campsite for dinner.  We stayed in cabins, while some of the families stayed camping.  The cabins were okay, except they had a severe foul smelling sulfur smell in the water.  No brushing teeth, or taking showers for us.  Oh, and on our way back from the campsite, we got a hole puncture in our tire.  So thankfully the farmer on the cabin site had a handy tire hole repair kit.    On Saturday, we toured a few historical places where Bryan's mom grew up.  It was super hot, so we were all a bit tired.  We went home around 5:30 to get an early start home.

The very next week was another family reunion.  My brother Alex and his family were coming up to visit us after not seeing them for 4 years.  It has been way too long since we've seen them.  Kathy, Isabel and Sophia came in Thursday morning.  So we all went to Jenny's house for the morning, then back for dinner.  Alex, Samuel and Olivia came in Friday.  We met them at our campsite.  Yep, Alex recommended a camp out for the weekend.  It was certainly fun to see all of these cousins together.  We are just missing Maria's kids in this picture.

Camping is not my favorite thing to do.  But it was pretty fun.  The kids loved it.  Ethan especially loves the outdoors.  We ate dinner, and made s'mores, of course.  The kids played games until 11 or 12.  We had breakfast the next morning, and headed back home.  That night we all went out to Tucanos for dinner just as couples.  The next morning was pretty much one of the biggest days in our lives.  Bryan was called to be the bishop, after 3 months of being in the ward.  Our current ward was splitting, and he was being called to be the bishop of an entirely new ward.  That story should have probably been an entirely different entry.  But, it all went so well.  Having our family here made it a very special day.

Here we all are.  Every person in my family!  I love them so much!! Here's a few other pics from that day.

I love this picture.  I love Isabel's laugh out loud smile.  Aidan stayed in that position, smiling and all the whole time.  Madison pretty much stayed smiling too.  Mackay wasn't super happy, so Ethan was trying to help him out.  I love all of these cute kids!

Here we are as a family.  Maria is 50, Alex is 48, Dave is 46, Jenny is 41, I am 39 and Michele is 31.  We are old.  This picture was taken Sunday, July 29 2012.  And here's one for laughs.

Love my brothers and sisters.  

As the reunion continued, on Monday we went up to Salt Lake to visit The Conference Center.  As I drove up with Ethan and Aidan, they grumbled a bit at the thought of where we were going.  So I told them that this is the place where the prophet speaks to us at General Conference.  They got so excited.  I can't believe that I have never taken a tour of the conference center in all of the years that I have lived here.  We'll have to go back and do it again because we were late,  so we only got to tour the roof.  We also went to the Visitors Center.  Both the North and South buildings.  Then we went to the Church History Museum.  It was really a great day.  

Bryan wasn't able to make it up with us, because he had to work.  But it was great to see all of the places and learn about the early pioneers and the early days in the church.  The next day the everyone went to 7 peaks then to Dave and Jennifer's for dinner.  For me, it was my surgery day.  Anyone who reads this will have a shocker here, since we told pretty much no one in my family.  But after 4 1/2 years of trying for another cute baby, and years of dealing with the severe pain of Endometriosis.  I had a Hysterectomy.  I tried pretty much every alternative before having to resort to surgery.  But, I guess this was the only option.  The surgery went well.  The doctor was going to try to save at least one ovary, but both ovaries ended up having cysts on them.  So he removed them both.  Recovery has been alright.  We have been so blessed with family and friends who love us and look out for our well being.  This last week has sure been pretty much one of the craziest weeks of our lives.  I certainly love my family more than anything.  I am grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  And for the plan that we have to be together for all Eternity!