Decade

Kris and I celebrated our TENTH wedding anniversary on the 24th. We had plans to go camping at Little Mill in the Unitas but our plans fell through so we just decided to drive through the canyon and then get some lunch.

We've always loved driving the Alpine Loop and this time of year, the colors of the leaves are changing and it's so beautiful! I love living in Utah and being just a short drive away from such a gorgeous and peaceful place. We drove slow, hiked a little, saw a few deer and just sat and enjoyed the surroundings. It was so nice to be able to do something we both love on a day that is special to us. We drove back to town and had a yummy lunch at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, La Puente, which we frequented a lot on date nights when we were first together. The food was great but the company was even better.

I'm so proud of us for all the work we've put into our marriage and even though we've had some tough years and undoubtedly we will have even more, I know we will be able to survive. I couldn't imagine my life without my cute hubby. Happy Anniversary, babe! Here's to our next decade as husband and wife!

Safety Patrol

Since Elliott is a sixth grader, he has the option to volunteer to be on the school's SAFETY PATROL. The school is situated near a 4-way stop intersection so the school has parents who are crossing guards and then the older kids who help keep the younger kids from crossing the street before the crossing guards have stopped the traffic. He has to stay after school to help. Genevieve thinks it's pretty cool that her brother is a helper and Norah has to point him out to all her friends and say, "That's my brother over there!" Those girls sure do love their big brother!

Summer Catch Up!

Since my blog was shut down I will attempt to give a quick catch up to what our family has been doing the last few months. Some of this may be old news to those in "the know" but for others this will be a nice way to see what we've been up to!

GRADUATION!
Yep. I did it! I graduated from Western Governors University with my Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. I loved my program and was very satisfied with the process of going to college "on line." I highly recommend the program to anyone who is thinking about getting a college degree. My family came to watch me walk in the big graduation ceremony and I think my face was sore from smiling so much. I was excited that my kids were able to see me walk and I hope that they will remember all the hours I was working on homework and then the big payoff at the end! I feel more confident in my career with a four year degree and I hope that it will help me to have lots of options to grow as a nurse. I'm planning on getting my Master's next year (I promised Kris I would take a year off before going back to school..again...)

WEDDING!
My baby sister Alissa married her sweetheart Blake in August. The wedding was just amazing! Lots of great friends and family and fun. My parents and brother and sister-in-law came from Texas and I was able to spend lots of quality time with them all. Of course, my kidlets LOVED having Grandpa and Grams here for a few weeks. I know we all were sad when it was time for them to go home. I wish there was a way to teleport from Utah to Texas so we could hang out every weekend. My sister looked just gorgeous and I'm so happy to have a new brother who is super amazing! It was a great end to the summer!

 BIRTHDAYS!
Genevieve turned 8 on July 9th! We celebrated at the Drive In and saw "Brave."

Norah turned 6 on August 14th and we also had her party at the Drive In. What can I say, my ladies like movies! We saw the new "Ice Age" movie. Norah has been obsessed with Fraggle Rock so we made sure it was a very Fraggle birthday!

 Whew! That's the greatest hits from the Rounds fam over the summer! Miss you all!

Back to School

This kids started back to school a few weeks ago. They were excited this year to get back to a regular schedule and of course, to see their friends. This year we have all three kiddos in school all day which is a strange feeling. The house is so quiet during the day!

Elliott is in SIXTH grade (gulp!) and absolutely LOVES his teacher. She's new to the school but already I know she is going to be a great fit for Elliott. The school district has changed it's policy and beginning next year, 6th grade will be junior high and that will push 9th grade to high school. I'm glad it doesn't start until next year because I don't think my little heart could have handled a kid in middle school! :) He's growing up too fast!

Genevieve is in THIRD grade. She also loves her teacher who is also a new addition to the faculty at the elementary school. She comes home everyday and retells the antics of her teacher and class. It sounds like this teacher is really about involving fun with learning which is a great fit for our Genevieve's bubbly personality. Genevieve is scheduled to take placement tests next week to see if she is eligible for an advanced placement program or to see if she can skip into the 4th grade. Her smarty pants Dad also skipped the third grade so we may have a like-father-like-daughter situation developing at our house! Genevieve is bright and passionate about learning so I know she will do well where ever she ends up.

Norah is in FIRST grade this year and has the same teacher Genevieve had. This is nice for us because we already know the teacher and have a great report with her. She is an older woman who is very patient, kind and likes to give the kids a lot of one on one attention which is great for our Norah. She's reading far beyond her grade level and has gotten permission to check out her library books from the "older kids" section.

I'm excited for this school year. The kids are really blossoming as students and I'm so lucky we are in a school district that has so many great teachers and programs for us to take advantage of.

The Return

It's been quite a few months since my last blog was "shut down" by Google. Apparently I broke some rule and was "reported" and my blog was removed. I tried everything I could, jumped through hoops and applied with Google to have my blog reinstated but was not successful. After deciding to just give up on the blog thing, I had a very nice conversation with Kris' Great Aunt who told me that she really missed hearing about the family and what the kids were up to. I decided that even if it was for only a few people, I should let go my anger with what happened to my last blog and give it another go.

So, please welcome the triumphant return of The Rounds Rock Blog and make sure you add me to your blog roll!

By the power of the internet,
Rachel