School has started again!!!!

Well, I think we have made it through the first week of school. What a great milestone for our family this year. Bailey, our oldest, went into the 6th grade which is the first year of middle school. She was so excited and was on a natural high when she came home Monday night. She was way excited about her classes and teachers. I hope she keeps up the positive attitude all year. She is also playing volleyball this year and loves it. They usually don't let the 6th graders play, but they don't have enough of the older kids so they get to play.

Bailey just before leaving the house to get on the bus. Doesn't she look excited!!! She thinks she is to big to get pictures taken on the first day of school. (That is just for Elementary kids) She gets on the bus at 6:50 in the morning and doesn't get home until 6:30 at night. She is so tired and hungry when she gets home. It is definitely a long day for the kids that choose to do sports after school.

Tyus is going into the 3rd grade and seems to love every minute of it. He has been all smiles since the second I sent him out the door on Monday. His teacher is Mr. Ward and so far he seems to like him. He has already brought home 4 frogs that he found while on a class walk. I also hope his excitement lasts throughout the year.

Tyus excited for his first day of 3rd grade.

Peyton, my baby, went to Kindergarten. I can't believe it!! I have been looking forward to him going as much as he has been excited to go. I have felt guilty because I have been so ready for him to go. He has been my hardest kid as far as having to entertain him all day, everyday. So it has been really hard to get anything done when the other kids have been at school and I have had to be the one to entertain him. I have really enjoyed the one on one time that I have had with him and I am really going to miss it but I am also excited for his new adventure. He didn't get to go when the other kids did on Monday, because they had to test all the Kindergarten kids individually before they could start, so his first day wasn't until Thursday. He had his testing on Monday so that was good that he at least got to go that day for a little while. I took him early enough so he could eat lunch with the kids before his test. He did a great job during his test and his teacher, Mrs. Weston, said that he was ready for Kindergarten.

Peyton getting ready to go for his test to see if he is ready for Kindergarten

Showing off his new backpack

Peyton on his "First" real day of Kindergarten

Tyus and Peyton walking to the bus (Peyton's first day of school)

Tyus and Peyton waiting at the bus stop. Tyus was so good to give Peyton advise on what to do on the bus and when he got to school. He is a great big brother that will take very good care of him if he has any trouble.

Peyton waiting patiently for the Bus


It finally came. He has been so excited to be able to ride the bus like the big kids.
I did really good with my emotions until the door or the bus closed and it pulled away. Then I got a little choked up, but I held the tears back. They just grow up way to fast!!!!

Summer Fun

Again it has been close to a month since I have updated my blog. I really hope that now summer is coming to an end and school is about to start that I will have a little more of a schedule. Hopefully this will also help us stay home more. We have had a great summer and have really done a lot of fun things.

Here are a few things that we have done lately........ (Sorry it is so long again!!!!)

The Rich County Fair

This past weekend was spent in Randolph at the fair. The kids have all raised a pig this year and Bailey also raised Chickens to sell. Bailey is the only one old enough to actually do 4-H and sell her animals, but the boys got to also show their pigs in the open class show. They all did so good and Chad and I are very proud of them. It is fun to see how much then learn and grow by raising and taking care of animals.

Tyus and Peyton showing their pigs in the open class showmanship show

Peyton got a Blue Ribbon. Good job buddy you did awesome showing bolt!!!

Tyus got Reserve Champion Showmanship. Great Job Bud!!! You were Awesome too!!!
(His pigs name is Spots)

Bailey with Bolt. Trying to get a picture for the buyer of her pig.
Bolt didn't want to cooperate very badly.

Bailey showing her pig during the showmanship.
She got a blue ribbon also. Great job sis!!!

Bailey and Rames Cornia were the only ones that showed chickens. This is them showing the judge how to find different things on a chicken and also how to pose a chicken. Bailey isn't too excited about chickens, so she wasn't to excited about having to show and pose them. She did a great job with them and got Reserve Champion Showmanship and also Grand Champion on the chickens themselves. It is nice only having the two kids because the are garanteed to get Grand or Reserve Champion. Next year it will be harder because Tyus will be old enough to do it too, so there will be at least one more kid to compete.

Our family posing with Bailey and her chickens.
(My mom took the picture and forgot to include the chickens. Oh Well!!!!)

The boys were also involved in the Cloverbud 4-H program this summer and they got to turn in all the projects that they worked on this summer. They got blue ribbons on all there projects and also got a little bit of money for them. Bailey didn't turn in projects this year, but did have her record book. She got the Grand Champion book in her division and we were way excited. Those books are a pain in the butt and alot of work. It is nice to see all the hard work pay off in the end.

All in all you can see that we had a busy week at the fair, but a successful one. We are very proud of our kids and everyone else that was involve in the 4-H program. It is alot of hard work for these kids, but it teaches them alot and I think it is good to learn how to be hard workers.

We will rest for a couple of months and then gear ourselves up for the next year in 4-H with another set of animals.

Seven Peaks Water Park

The kids earned Seven Peaks Passes this last year in school for reading. They have been so excited to use their passes all summer. I finally took them last Tuesday. Bailey's friend Shandon and her Mom met us there and Tyus took his friend Bradshaw from Evanston (his soccer buddy) with him. Susie and her boys were there with us and Jaime and her kids were also there with her family. We had so much fun and the weather was wonderful!!!!

Peyton was content all day going up these stairs and............

going down this slide!!!

Tyus and Bradshaw sitting in the tube taking a little break.
(This was about the only time I saw them all day)

Bailey enjoying her lunch in the tube

The kids relaxing before hitting the slides again

Salt Lake Bee's Baseball Game

The third time is the charm I guess, because we have tried to take our kids to the Bee's game two other times and the two games we have chosen got canceled for various reasons. I was a little skeptical going to this game, but we got there and they did play and we had a great time.

Peyton showing off the stuff they gave out at the game. All the kids got a Bees bag and also a bike helmet. He was super excited!!!!

The Boys waiting for the game to start

Tyus, Bailey and Peyton getting signatures from the Bee's Baseball Players

"Bumble" the Bee's Mascot

After the game all the kids got to run the bases. This picture is kind of blurry, but Tyus is the one in navy blue almost to 1st base and Peyton is the one in royal blue just behind him.

Erickson Family Reunion

Our family went to Star Valley last weekend for my Dad's Family Reunion. We haven't had this reunion since my Grandma Erickson died. It use to be held every year and it was a reunion that I actually looked forward to, but for the past 6 years we haven't had it.

My Aunt Debbie decided to have a little get together at the park. We had a BBQ and just visited. A lot of people ended up coming and most were relatives I hadn't seen for years. We had a great time although the weather wasn't the best. I hope that we will continue to keep the tradition alive and have a get together of some kind every year.

I took my camera but forgot to get it out the whole time that we were there. We even had an awesome hula-hoop contest that I would have loved to get on camera, but I didn't. Oh well maybe next time I will pull it out.

Motor Cross Racing

Tyus was asked by a friend, Carson Cornia, to come to the Motor Cross race in Evanston and race his motorbike. Tyus was so excited to race, but his dad wasn't so sure if it was a good idea. Tyus has never raced his bike before and has only been on a track a couple times just for fun. We finally talked Chad into letting him try it in the non compotition race. Tyus' other friend Jared Anderson also raced in that same race. They both did such a great job and had a great time doing it. They got to race 2 times that night and I think Tyus wishes he could have done more. He took 3rd place in both races. He thinks that he needs to race in a compotiotion race now. I don't know if I am to excited about the idea of that, but I guess we will have to see.

Tyus getting all the gear on so that he can race

Tyus with his buddies Jared and Carson

The Racing Crew!!!!
(Back Row- Left to Right) Jesse Gross, Cache Sabey, Tucker Cornia
(Front Row- Left to Right) Tyus, Carson Cornia, Jared Anderson

All the boys lined up next to their bikes

Dad giving Tyus a little advise before the race starts

And the racing begins

Tyus going down one of the hills on the track

The boys enjoying the rest of the races together after they were done racing

Tyus with his trophy. He is very proud of this and he hopes that his dad will let him try it again to see if he can win some more cool trophies.

Tyus' Golf Camp

This kid is in to all sports and absolutely loves them all. This year he asked me if he could do golf camp. I can't imagine wanting to go to golf camp, but he was sure excited. I signed him up and he had a great week on the golf course.

Getting ready for a day of golf

Tyus with his buddies on the course

Enjoying a beautiful day on the Golf Course

The Concert of a Life Time!!!!!

George Strait Concert- Cheyenne Wyoming 2009

I was lucky enough to go to the George Strait Concert at the Cheyenne Frontier Days, with my good friend Marcy Cornia, and one of her friends from Salt Lake. It was all kind of strange how I ended up getting to go and if I told the whole story this blog entry would go one forever, so I won't go into that. All I will say is, "Thank you so much Marcy for inviting me to go with you. I had the time of my life."

We made a very quick trip to Cheyenne and didn't get much sleep. It is a good thing you can run on adrenaline for awhile, because that is what we did. I met Marcy and Candice in Evanston at 3 am (After they attended the Salt Lake George Strait Concert) and drove to Cheyenne. We did stop in Raulins for a cat nap, but a cat nap it was because Marcy had us up and moving just 1 hour after going to sleep. If anyone knows Marcy you will know that she is George Staits #1 fan. This women knows everything there is to know about George and his band, staff, family.... you name it she knows. She had mentioned to the crew the night of the Salt Lake Concert that she was following them to the Cheyenne Concert. They were so nice and actually told her that they would be at the Little America Hotel and to look them up when she got there. Yep, you guessed it!!! When we got there we headed for the Little America Hotel and sure enough all the buses were parked in the parking lot. To make a long story short, we ended up spending some time with some of the band members, the bus drivers and his security guys before the concert. We visited and took a few pictures with them before they had to leave for sound check.

Marcy wishing she could get on George's Bus !!!!

Me, Marcy, and Candice posing with George's Bus Driver, Leroy!!!

Tommy Foote (Personal Manager), Marcy and ???? (I can't remember this guys name. I think it is one of the band members. Marcy would know, she knows everybody)

We decided that we better get to the fair grounds so that we could get in line, since our tickets were general admission. We stood in line for 4 hours, but it paid off when we got right by the stage for the concert. It was such a good concert and we all had a really great time. I was really excited that Georges opening singer was Julianne Hough from Dancing With the Stars. I have followed her on that show for a few years now and I absolutely love her. She is a great dancer and now showing how great of a singer she is too.

Me, Marcy and Candice posing by the George Strait poster at the fair grounds

After the concert we ended up spending more time with George Straits crew before they had to head back home. Tommy Foote, Georges manager and Mike ??? (I don't remember his last name), a band member, were the two that we visited with the most. I think Marcy was on cloud nine the whole time and the night could have only been better if we could have visited with George Strait himself in person. He only showed his face during the concert. His bus was at the hotel, and he was on it but he didn't come off to see his fans. You can't blame the man, he would get mauled to death. His crew was great and we had a great time with them. Thanks again for a great weekend. It is one I will not soon forget.

Julianne Hough singing before George came on stage

Of course George put on a great concert and I hope I get to go back to a concert of his in the future. I hope I get to go with Marcy and Candice again too. They were both a ton of fun.

Bargain Shopping.....

Everyone has got to try this, it is crazy!!!! My sister got me into bargain shopping a couple of months ago, and I can't believe how much you can really save. This week the Albertson's add is crazy. It is by far the best one I have seen. So much of it was stuff that I use every day, so it was a really great deal for me. My friend and I ran over to Ogden the other night and took advantage of the great deals. I spent $175 and saved $503, yes that is correct $503 DOLLARS!!!! I couldn't believe it either. I couldn't get some of the stuff that I wanted because it was out of stock, so I went to Wal-Mart in Evanston and they price matched everything. I am a true believer in this and would love to help anyone figure it out if you need help. My family loves it too, because they are eating things that I normally wouldn't buy, because it is too expensive. I should have taken a picture, but there was no way $700 worth of groceries was going to fit on my cupboard or fit in a picture and I didn't really want to organize it all and then have to put it away too. SORRY!! Maybe next time. Anyway, I just want to tell everyone to try it, it is way worth it.