First Day of School

Well we survived the first day of school. Ethan was just positive that he knew how to get to his class by himself, but I told him we were going with him to make sure. Good thing, because they have the kids line up outside so he wouldn't have known where to go. We had to wait with a million other kids and their parents (the bottom picture), but luckily it was outside so it didn't seem too crowded. He was again sure today, but I told him to lead the way and if he knew where to go he could do it himself tomorrow. Well we got to the side where they line up and he said "Okay now which line is mine?"

He had his first school lunch and said the only thing he didn't like was the chocolate milk. So he was going to get regular milk today and see if he liked that better. If he doesn't then he said he wanted to take lunch to school instead. I told him maybe he could just take a drink to school for lunch instead.

So far he seems to like his teacher and seems almost a little upset that the girls haven't chased him at recess yet. Ashley and Sam seem to not really notice that Ethan is gone, but it is certainly a lot quieter here at home and I seem to have so much more time during the day than I used to. It has been quite nice.

We spent 5 days in Salina at my parents house the weekend before school started and had a fun time there. My sister and brother both came down with their families for the weekend and we had a great time with them as well. The kids were a little bored after they left with their kids and we were still there for a few more days after that. I think grandma and grandpa Miller had a fun time spoiling the kids a little while it was just them there though. We are hoping to be able to make the trip again for Labor Day weekend too. Jordon has another hunt in that area during September that he is hoping to fill his deer tag for that weekend. Time will tell.

Picnic at the Park

After we went to the Hoover Dam we went back to Boulder City and had a picnic at a park. After eating the kids ran around finding pine cones to make nests.


Ashley and Ethan with their pine cone nests.

The crew done with lunch.

Hoover Dam Fun

We made a trip to the Hoover Dam with Uncle Cory and Aunt Lindsey. We had a great time.

Aunt Lindsey (in the white shirt and blue shorts), Ethan (in the red shirt), and Ashley (in the pink shirt and blue capri's) on the observation deck. In the background is the new bridge they are building.


Sam loved looking out at the water so far down below.



All of us (except Lindsey taking the picture) in front of the dam.



In the power plant of the dam.

Waiting for the movie about the dam to start. Once it did Ashley thought it was too loud so she spent the whole time on Lindsey's and my lap covering her ears.

Having fun

Jordon got Sam to copy his pretend snoring. Hopefully you can hear it in the movie.

Here is Sam doing Bubblegum, Bubblegum in a dish with Ethan.

Gold Medals

Ethan and Ashley both finished reading 20 books to earn a gold medal through the Summer Reading Program here in Nevada. They were both really excited to finish.

And Sam continues to wear the backpack whenever he is awake.

Pictures

Sam wearing the backpack he found in the toys.


Sam has been pulling out all my pots and pans to play with them.



The kids discovered the dryer one day and had a hayday.

Starting out

Well after months of thinking I should start one of these, especially now that we are living so far away from so much family, I have finally sat down and start to write one. My family (the Millers) has a family website that we keep in touch with each other on so this will mostly be viewed by Jordon's family and our friends.
We have moved to Las Vegas and have now lived here for over a month. A few people have asked me if the kids are liking it here and I just say that I haven't heard any complaints. They love having the pools here and would live in them if we let them.
The temperature has been getting up to about 110 during the day, but the last few weeks we have had thunder and rainstorms move through that have helped cool it off a little so that has been nice.
Today I got online and found the information that we will need to get Ethan registered for school. He will be attending Bozarth Elementary School. It is a new school still being built just up the street from us. He was excited to find out that his mascot is the Aviators.
While I was in the shower this morning, Ethan also decided to get out a bunch of toys from one of the kids' totes so the living room has been scattered with toys all day. Among those toys was a small backpack that Sam wanted to wear. I put it on him and he wore it all morning until it was time for nap. I think he might have a hard time this Fall when Ethan and hopefully Ashley (if I can find a preschool for her) go to school. Ethan will be in 1st grade and is so excited to be able to eat lunch at school.
Ashley has been living in nightgowns still for the most part. We bought her a few summer dresses so she could wear those instead of the nightgowns, but she usually only changes into them if we are going somewhere. If not she will stay in here nightgown all day or get dressed for a few hours to then change back into the nightgown.
Before we moved we had Sam sleeping on a twin bed at night and he did excellent doing it. When we took that bed down to move we started putting him in his playpen to sleep at night. He has been sleeping in it down here as well because we put the bunkbeds together and the twin bed he was sleeping in is now on top. We don't have a futon mattress for the bottom of the bunk so I haven't put him down there either. Somehow though, the little stinker has learned how to climb out of his playpen. We find him every morning knocking on the door or with the door locked (he has learned how to do that too). I pulled the twin mattress down from the top bunk last night to try to get him to sleep on it on the bottom bed. He struggled for a little bit but then fell asleep with Ethan on the bed next to him. At 1 in the morning he was awake crying at the door. I got up and put him in the playpen and he went back to sleep. I would like to have him sleeping in a regular bed so we can put away the playpen, but I don't know that he will just go to sleep or if it will continue to be a nightly struggle with him. I guess time will tell.
Jordon is still enjoying his job as much as I can tell. We are hoping that the review he is supposed to have next week will bring with it a raise since we moved out here on less than we wanted because of the promised review and possible raise. This past week he has been working on building a deck with his brother-in-law after work each night. It sounds like it is coming along well and hopefully they will be able to finish it this week or next week.
I have been at home with the kids for now. If Jordon doesn't get a raise then I will soon be reentering the workforce. I have been trying to find some other families in our new ward that want to swap babysitting with us so that if we want to go out we won't be spending a fortune just on babysitting.
Hopefully I will be able to continue with this to keep everyone informed of our doings and the kids' craziness while we are so far away. I will try to get on every few days to update, but I'm not promising anything!