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!!

Harry Potter's Birthday

We celebrated Harry Potter's birthday with a special party at a donut shop down in West Virginia. The entire place was decked out with Harry Potter paraphernalia including some special donuts for the occasion.

These are all some pretty cute wizards if you ask me!

Abby even got all decked out in her Hermione costume from a couple of years ago to mark the special day...

We also tried some "polyjuice potion" and "butterbeer" while we were there.

I am now reading book #5 in the Harry Potter series with Abby and Landon and they are loving it. It is fun to share such a fun series with them!

Outer Banks 2016

This was our 5th year going to the Outer Banks with my side of the family, and for the first time ever, I was a little hesitant about going. Our Outer Banks trip in 2015 was such a great one and it was the last time I saw my Mom before she passed away. Three months later by Dad joined her. I thought that perhaps going back to the Outer Banks without my parents would be really difficult, but I was actually pleasantly surprised with how much we enjoyed ourselves. We talked a lot about Mom and Dad while we were there, a few tears were shed, but mostly we just enjoyed basking in the family legacy that my parents have left us. We enjoyed spending time on the beach, playing in the pool, going on walks along the boardwalk, shopping, and eating ice cream. It was such a nice vacation and I really felt it was exactly where my parents would want us to be, gathered together and having fun despite their physical absence.

Unfortunately without my Mom there, very few pictures were taken. We did manage to take this picture of Nolan trying to put some sunscreen on himself. Not sure if he quite got enough!!!!

Here is the Cleveland Clan, minus my oldest sister Tami and her husband who were unable to come this year. A lot has changed this last year with my parents passing, but we are so grateful to still have each other.

These pictures were taken on the deck of Poppy's Place, the beach home we rent every year that holds some very precious memories for us all.

Looking at this family, I realize my Mom and Dad continue to live on in each one of us and for that I am very grateful!!