First Day of School

Our family had been preparing for this day since we moved from Germany. Moving to a new school, meeting new friends, and also unpacking and getting our home back to normal. I guess it shouldn't surprise me that the boys are so easy going about this kind of stuff. I think Cael was most sad about not living next to our good friends back in Germany, but he never acted nervous or upset about starting in a "new school". Brecon was pretty used to the German Kindergarten and talked about how he wanted to go back there, he played a lot in that environment. It was going to be time for him to get a little more serious about reading and figuring out what Kindergarten is like in the United States. I was most concerned about him. Would he be able to listen and follow instructions? Would he do something crazy and I would get a call from his teacher? I just wanted him to be good. Oh, I hoped he would be good.

 I quickly snapped these pictures after we crossed the bridge and walk up to the sidewalk that takes us 3 minutes to walk to the front door of the school. The whole family was there showing our support. We were mostly laughing at how incredibly large Brecon's bag was. He actually had to lean forward to keep walking.... all those supplies his teachers requested! Connor wanted so badly to stay at school as well, I convinced him to wear his backpack and he and I would do our Mommy class at home. Thankfully he cooperated and likes to do drawing and experiments with Mom in the morning.

 Brecon lines up with his class in this small playground. He acted all nervous and hesitant the first couple of days. Now he is a pro and is too cool to even give a goodbye hug (my baby is growing up)

THE END OF THE DAY PICK-UP

 Big hugs and smiles after the first day of school. The boys said it was good and they were excited to play at home on our trampoline, chase and run around with Connor (he missed his brothers' all day)

On the second day of school when I picked Brecon up from the door I could tell that he was sad. He was looking down and I noticed that he had also been crying. I didn't push hard, but I wanted him to be able to tell me what happened when he was ready. After a few moments he was. "I spit on the floor" he said. And then what did the teacher do? "She told me we don't spit on the floor".... I wanted to laugh, but I felt so bad for him. Of course the teacher would tell him not to do that. It was just such a silly thing, but it made a big impact. He has not been in trouble since that day.

Evanston and Utah

The Platt Family Vacation

in EVANSTON

The best part of being in Evanston is hanging out with all the family who can visit, playing crazy games, running around, swimming in the river, and eating delicious food. These kids have such a great time together, it really is so fun to see them all wrestle, chase, and even fight over toys. The backyard turns into a huge dining room with tables and camp chairs set up, and the next thing you know the grass is the wrestling and chasing arena. Everyone has a great time!



Cael, Corbin and Jonathan enjoy their sloppy-joes together

Hadley and Braden show some brotherly love before dinner

Amanda and Andy snuggle in close before eating

WHOAH! I love this lady! Necha shows her serious side-- NOBODY better eat off my plate!

Brandon and Mandi look ready to dig in

OH.... well... I better take a picture of that! So funny...

Garrett and Cynthia look so happy together before the feast!

Uncle Joseph introduced the boys and the family to "crawdad" fishing. More like using bacon-bait to lure these creatures from the nearby pond. All the cousins where intrigued and excited about the whole ordeal and some even named them as their pets. We all laughed and had a good time until dinner rolled around. That's when the "smell" of cooking crawdads entered our vicinity and caused some who are more sensitive to resist the urge to lose their lunch. We then proceeded to watch as these cousins removed claws and tails, extracting the tiny bit of crawdad that was edible. Everyone had a taste... and Gabe had the rest. That kid wouldn't stop eating them! It was funny ( and gross ) at the same time.

Cael and Corbin put on a good wrestling match for the family to enjoy. I love the tiny singlets they were sporting. I don't know who was keeping score, but because I can say whatever I want... THEY WERE BOTH THE WINNER! (Cael actually had some pretty great takedowns and escapes)

Uncle Josh gave all these rugrats a multi-tool to take home. Brecon loved his so much he lost it the same day ( the first time we found it again, the second time it was gone for good) He was pretty upset about it.

UTAH

 

The last leg of our journey brought us back to American Fork to visit Grandma Vickie and Darrell. There is always delicious food to eat from the garden and prepared for us to enjoy. Whole wheat pancakes (everyone's favorite) and even pie. We let Grandma cut the boys hair and she let Ben and I take an afternoon date shopping and to lunch. Café Rio never tasted so good! We always get so spoiled with birthday gifts to unwrap and play with. The kids love to play with everything at Grandmas house.

The boys show Brielle her new book that sings and lights up! It is a favorite!

Brecon looks ready to take someone down-- and have a party too!

Vickie has been working very hard on beautiful scrapbooks for her children. She even showed us fun books of pictures  for the grandchildren too! We love her stories and know that she spends so much time on them-- They are priceless!

They sure love all their gifts and candy! Grandma always knows how to throw a party.
A few days before we left to go back to New York we spent the day at LAGOON with Brandon and Mandi's family and Grandma Vickie. This really was such a fun day- It was a perfect day, warm and sunny, not too hot, and there were hardly any people. The lines were short for the rides which made the day even nicer. A couple of hours at LAGOONA BEACH helped us feel more refreshed and ready to tackle the other side of the park. Cael and Corbin are at the perfect height and age, we took turns watching the little ones--- but it was just the right amount of fun for everyone. It was a blast and I know that everyone had a great time!

 My all time favorite ride growing up. I would stick my arms out wide like I was flying, and of course I had to do it again!

 All the Platt boys on the merry-go-round. Brielle didn't actually ride the carousel. Connor, Hadley, Cael, Brayden, Brecon, Corbin! That's a lot of boys!

 Our group shot after getting wed in our RAINBOW color shirts from the D.I.

Cute little Brielle and Kaylee loved snacking on the chips. Both of these girls have 3 older brothers to defend them.

Star Valley

The Platt Family Vacation

STAR VALLEY

One of the first activities we did with my mom and dad one day was hiking up to the Intermittent Spring close to Afton. We packed and ate our picnic lunch and headed up the mountain to drink the cold, fresh water. It was a beautiful and warm day up the canyon.

You can tell the water is so fresh and delicious... it made Brielle smile normal (or is this abnormal?)

Swimming at Star Valley Ranch has become a tradition. The water is heated and then a cool breeze blows in the afternoon. You can get the goosebumps just looking at all the kids shivering poolside.

Grandma Kathi has a freezer full of popsicles we let the kids enjoy on the front porch. The kids are always so messy this really is the best place for them to eat their frosty treat.

On our drive out of the canyon of Swift Creek we threw in our fishing lines to see if we could have any luck. It was the middle of the afternoon so you would think the fish wouldn't bite at the bait. But sure enough each of the boys caught fish for their dinner, Brecon was the first one, Grandpa two, Cael one... and I guess Connor reeled one in after it was hooked by Grandpa.

 

Spending the day at Bear Lake is a family favorite as well.

We had a ski boat, but that started filling up with water right after we put it in the lake. We spent the day building, floating, swimming, playing wiffle-ball, and getting plenty of sun. It was a good thing we had everyone to help haul our belongings back to the cars after the day was done.

After the "guys" got to spend the day golfing, it was the "ladies" turn to enjoy a round on the course. To our disappointment, we were 15 minutes late to start on one course, and they were having a tournament on the other. We came home disappointed, but we got to play a round the next day. So fun to enjoy one of my old high school sports with great company.

I think this picture is so funny. There were so many rules for this water fight and my brother Dusty broke them all. He grabbed the hose (rule #1) he also was spraying the kids before the fight started (rule #2) and then he also was aiming for the face (rule #3) I guess for Dusty rules are made to be broken :) Kids were left crying and wet... it is a funny memory. I love my brother!

On Saturday afternoon when all of my siblings and their families arrived we took a group family picture(s) and then spent the afternoon doing different activities. Ben and I set up this sandpit full of gold rocks. The kids could then trade their rocks for different prizes at the table Grandma was sitting at near by. Ryan and Kailee keep a close eye on the kids and their gold mining. The other Aunts and Uncles were keeping busy over by the front porch... they would be the washers of gold for the kids later.

Grandma and her oldest son look pretty funny. I guess it runs in the family. We had a fantastic dinner and more family came to join us. Aunt Celeste, Uncle Guy, Sage, Hunter, cousin Holly, and Great Grandma Mary Hoopes. After dinner conversation got "tense" as we discussed and confronted my sister Aimee. We just want to help her because we love her.

When everyone left Sunday afternoon, we decided to stay behind to spend some more one-on-one time with Grandma and Grandpa. Especially after everything and the stress of wanting to have a great weekend together, wanting to make everyone feel comfortable, and then having serious conversations to discuss. More good time was just what we all needed. I looked back as we left the next day to see my mom and dad hugging. Mom later told me that Dad had started to cry a little, he just loved spending time with the family and our funny boys.