Rooting for the O's (and the Astros)!

It was "Mormon Night" at Camden Yards on Friday, August 19th so we took advantage of the cheap tickets and headed to an Orioles game in Baltimore. Jason was especially excited because they were playing the Houston Astros, his favorite baseball team. We were a house divided that night, with half of us rooting for the O's and the other half rooting for the Astros!

All ready to go inside (Abby was not too happy as she had just had her braces worked on and some springs added to the side so she was in quite a bit of pain. She did perk up when I bought her some ice cream though!)

The Astros fans...

And the O's fans!!

Abby ended up having a cup of beer accidentally spilled all over her back which wasn't too fun for her and sure didn't help her mood any. The guy who did it felt so bad that he bought her an "O's" stuffed bear which definitely helped make up for it!

Maylie loved cheering on both teams and causing a lot of ruckus too!

Good thing she is so cute though!!

We saw a lot of home runs hit that night and the Astros ended up winning the game. Between Landon's All-Stars and this trip to Baltimore, we have definitely seen our fair share of baseball this summer!!

First Day of School!

The summer flew by again and on Wednesday, August 17th it was time to start another school year!

Abby is now in 5th grade with Mrs. Crane...

I can't believe this is her last year of elementary school!

Landon is now in 3rd grade with Ms. Sweeney...

And my little Nolan is just beginning his school career as he starts Kindergarten with Ms. Austin...

There was a lot of excitement in the air that morning as we all drove the kids to Paramount Elementary to begin the year off right!

We dropped off Nolan first. He was so excited that it made it a bit easier on me. I always have a tough time with Kindergarten though!!

Then it was on to the next hallway with Landon ready to be an "upper" classman at the school now!

And our last time dropping off Abby for a first day of school at Paramount Elementary. This has been such a great school for her and she was so excited to be starting 5th grade this year.

She didn't want me to take a picture of her inside the classroom, but she did okay a locker picture. She is thrilled about being able to use a locker this year and already has it all decorated just to her liking!

It sure is quiet around the house these days with just Maylie at home. I am able to get a lot done during the day now and can enjoy when 3:15 comes around and we get to pick up these kiddos from the bus stop each day. 

Here's to an amazing school year!!

Night Before School...

We had our traditional night-before-school Father's blessings on Tuesday, August 16th. This little man was very excited about getting his first official Father's School Blessing this year. He will be going into full-day kindergarten!

Abby is headed into 5th grade...

And Landon will be a 3rd grader!

They all asked for help in making new friends and getting good behavior scores at school this year.

Maylie decided that she didn't want to be left out of the loop so she sat on the chair for a hot second and then quickly escaped to cause more trouble elsewhere...

It's hard to believe that it will just be Maylie and me still at home during the day starting tomorrow!!

Philadelphia Trip

In 2010, President Thomas S. Monson announced that a temple would be built in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Unlike some areas out West, a new temple on the East Coast is a HUGE deal and I knew then and there that I would want to take my whole family to tour the Open House once it was completed. At the time, I only had a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old. Now 6 years later we have added two more kids to our family and my desire to let them tour the inside of a temple had only grown.

We made the trip up to Philadelphia (about 2.5 hours away) on Friday, August 12th and met my sister and her family there. We did our temple tour first and loved seeing the inside and outside of this beautiful House of the Lord. It had several features unique to its being built in Philadelphia so it was fun to look for those too.

They built the temple right in downtown Philadelphia with a parking garage underneath and a stake center next door. Such a gorgeous building that will bless the lives of so many people in Pennsylvania!!

After our temple tour, we checked into our hotel which was nearby and headed to lunch at the Reading Terminal Market. Oh my gosh...if you are in Philly you have to go here!! It has amazing food from all over the world, almost like a gigantic mall food court but so much better. We ended up eating there three more times on our visit. So fun and yummy!!

Then we headed on a walking tour of Philadelphia where we passed Chinatown...

And visited the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. The kids were fascinated by the man playing a unique instrument from the 1700's...

We hit the last tour of the day at Independence Hall and then made our way back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation before hitting the streets again to visit the temple at night.

It did not disappoint!!!

The next morning we went swimming at our hotel, got donuts from the Reading Terminal Market and then walked over to the Natural History Museum.

Afterwards we hit the Reading Terminal Market again (do you get a sense of how much we loved it there!?!?) for a late lunch/early dinner before heading back home.

Such a fun, spiritual, educational, and HOT trip to the city!!

Maugansville 7-8 All-Star Team

Landon had a great time playing All-Stars this summer and learned a lot more about baseball in the process. It was a great group of boys with supportive parents and we enjoyed watching them grow and learn together as a team. They played in three different tournaments and were great sportsmen throughout each game.

They also had a great group of coaches who really took the time to teach the boys and were always there to cheer them on. After watching some of the coaches of the other teams we played, it made our coaches stand out even more.

These boys played baseball from March until August for both Spring Ball and then All-Stars and played their hearts out.

I especially love this little outfielder!!

Our family enjoyed spending time at lots of different ballparks this summer too.

We have a short break for August and will start up with Fall Ball again in September. Gotta love this game!!