This and That

No pictures this week because we lost the camera somewhere between our house and kangaroo zoo! we had a great time. We are all gearing up for next week which includes our trip to Disneyland. We leave on Wednesday the 15th and home late the 20th. We are all so excited although the planning always wears me out a bit. I am getting ready to go buy most of the food. I will spend the next week preparing as much as I can before we leave so it will be a lot of heat and eat. Today was a big milestone for me. I am cleaning out all of the cupboards and closets. It has been a big job! I have also joined the gym Curves and start tomorrow morning. Big changes happening at the Thill home. On Oct 25th after 22 months Aleceeya is coming home. we are all a little scared and hope to not fall into old ruts. It will be a big change but one we feel is the right one. We are all ready. Beyond that I just finished the paperwork for financial aid and am working on transfering from BYU to Utah Valley University which caters to people in my age group. Besides it costs less which is good too. Anyway, all is well here just the normal behavior problems, temper tantrum, fits, pouting and whining and that's just John and I. We are negotiating the terms of buying a new camera and a BOSCH. If you don't know what that is check it out! They are so cool! Negotiating terms means that I am whining for one and John is trying to find the best deal (Just so you know). I can't wait for a new camera although I am so sad because we had so many cool pictures on our other camera. Hopefully, we will have a good chance of finding it.
Well, I am going to go for now. So much to do and so little of me to do it all.

Foster Family Retreat at Aspen Grove 2008 We had so much fun.
Camping at Fillmore "Hot Pots" or Hot Springs. It was so fun. 3 days of camping together in the middle of the cow pastures.
Emptying the pool, the Thill way. John is throwing the water on the kids in the play structure
Kodey got asked to Homecoming. In Utah it is all about the asking and the reply.

Kodey and Kyler going to homecoming. So cute, right?
Andrew getting baptized on Saturday 9/13. It was a busy day with Kodey going to homecoming that night and we were at our Aspen Grove weekend too.
Doesn't she look amazing! She had so much fun with the day date and hair/makeup getting done and wearing the perfect dress.
Dad and Kodey need I say more?
All of the little kids. Kodey set this picture up for her photography class. I think it is so cute!

Well, we haven't had internet or phone since Sept. 2 (a phone company error). It has been quiet but I never realized how dependent I have become on technology. All of the sudden information wasn't available at my fingertips. YIKES! The kids projects couldn't get done and so on. But, as of today we are hooked back up. Our Disney trip is closing in (down to a month) Yeah! We have been so busy. We just filmed another video. This one for the Utah Foster Care Foundation recruitment department. It was fun but hard work and long hours. They bought us dinner though so...Besides that, John is still loving his new job and so am I. I volunteered at the cannery today (peaches) and John was able to stay home with the kids! We are also planning a teacher luncheon together for Oct 1. It is fun to see John more and work with him often on other projects. Monday the 22nd is the big day here. It will be time for preschool to start! I will be all by myself. (The first week I substitute teach for the whole week though).

Kloey's first day of school
Katie wanting her pic taken too
Joseph showing off his batman shirt
Ben matching Joseph
Dry river bed I took some pictures of

Zach and the Hulk going to school
Jonathan being nonchalant
Andrew ready to go
Lydia not really sure about the whole thing
Gallie prepared to walk to school as a 1st grader

Last summer fling to the botanical gardens
trying to cram into the lighthouse. Yikes! it was small
Kodey getting ready to drive to school as a junior
big and mighty sophomore. Finally at the high school
Nathan ready for 3rd grade

Oops! I forgot Jacob. I will add that one later. we are in our second week of school and still trying to find some kind of routine. we have our days and nights packed and we all fall into bed exhausted every night. Besides that we are having such good time. The preschoolers will start on Sept.22 and I will be starting to sub. around then. I have already had a lot of offers but want to be home with my little ones. Working on financial aid forms to start back into independant studies at BYU. I will finish this degree! That's about it for now....

hiding out in a dinosaur cave at Thanksgiving point dinosaur museum
digging for bones
new haircuts for school and for Dad's graduation
John has just recieved his diploma from BYU in the Master's Program

Kodey at Girl's Camp with Miss Utah. I am pretty sure Kodey is just as beautiful
Standing by the cows at the Animal Farm. Josh just can't get away from the farm or cows. The little cow behind him keeps licking him and head buttng him
Andrew's 8th birthday on August 10th. He is looking forward to getting baptized on Saturday, Sept. 13.
The family at John's graduation from BYU
A triple piggy back ride. "hold on tight, Katie Grace"

Well another fun week right before school starts. I will load on first day of school pictures next. The house is super quiet with everyone gone. Katie, Ben and Joseph are doing their best to keep me entertained though. We are trying to catch up on laundry right now. I know you ae thinking,"Wow!what a life!" right now. I was very sad to send everyone off this morning. You should have seen the 8 elementary aged kids trooping down the hall in a tight pack. It was so heart-warming. The boys were promising to show the girl's where the first grade rooms are so no one would get lost. So, back to the laundry and the list of things to do. Hope YOU are having a great Monday!

Well, I have lots of pictures but I didn't download my camera yet. We have had a fantastic summer which is now coming to a close. School starts Monday Aug 18 and the kids are so excited they can hardly stand it. I on the other hand can't stand them going back. I really do enjoy every day together with them and all of the laughter we share. Our big news this week is John graduates from BYU Master's program on Friday!!! We are so excited for him and this amazing accomplishment.
Our school shopping is all done except for shoes which will be done tomorrow (Thursday). The new clothes are set out and new backpacks ready to be filled. The kids were all able to get seperate teachers this year which is an amazing accomplishment. The staff at Bonneville Elementary are the best ever. we have 1 in 4th grade, 3 in 3rd,1 in 2nd, 3 in 1st and 3 in preschool. My only concern is dealing with 8 seperate teachers and homework styles. I am sure we will work it out okay. Parent/teacher conferences should be interesting as well but at least the kids won't be compared to each other and they will all have some time apart.
Our disneyland adventure is set for Oct. 15-20, 2008. We are thrilled! I can't wait! Although, I can't see spending this much money very often. We are excited for the adventure.
Besides all of that it is just the normal things, getting haircuts, pictures,glasses for 3 kids and therapy appointments. I need to get my routine back in place. I am going to be joining a gym at the beginning of Sept. as soon as preschool starts. I want to be back to running in some races next summer. Maybe even in time for the turkey trot in Nov.
Well, gotta go for now and I will put some pictures on soon....

Jonathan being goofy in our pool.
Ben trying to learn that the life jacket will hold him up. Now, he doesn't stay still in the water.
Visiting Thanksgiving point dinosaur museum. We only had 6 of the 14 kids with us. It was so fun looking at the exhibits plus there is so much hands on things to do.

This Megaladon caused many a worrisome night for a few days
Fourth of July fireworks! We had so much fun.


The family visiting Josh at the Rockin R Ranch this week. We had a good time. Went on a trail ride and visited a lot of animals.
The kids at the ranch. Aleceeya didn't come with us but did stay with us for 4 days right before we left.
Our week of fun continued with a trip to Seven peaks water park. Even with sun screen we managed to get some pretty expensive sunburns.
Zach, Joseph and Jonathan monkeying around.
we ended this week with another camping trip. Cayce stayed home and enjoyed a nice day and night visiting friends.

Well, it has been a busy fun week. John started his new job yesterday 7/14/09. He loves it! He has a meeting today then we are off roller skating this afternoon. Kodey's sweet 16 party is this saturday. She has about 20 people coming. We have a chocolate fountain, treats, games and an outdoor movie planned. Also, on saturday we will be going on a pioneer walk at 7:30am can anyone say YUCK!! We plan on having fun with pancake breakfast following. This summer is flying by with only one month before school starts. We still have so much to go see and do. Like the zoo, botanical gardens, a couple of museums and the list goes on. Hopefully, I can squeeze it all in. I just made my schedule for when the kids go back to school. That doesn't even sound fun. So, I am really liking the blog thing. It has been so much easier to share my weekly life with all of you. We are going to Disneyland this year and Universal Studios. We already have the tickets. We will let you know how that all works out too.

These are for Josh...aren't they pretty? rockin r ranch June 2008
Dropping Josh off for the summer. wow! 141/2 already? Excited and sad at the same time.
snow cones at Aspen Grove June 2008. What fun frontier night is!
Happy Father's Day, Dad! You have no idea what kind of paint mess we made trying to do handprints...but what fun!!! and you should've see Dad's face!!!
Our annual sidewalk chalk art show. The kids worked on their projects for at least an hour!

These are for you mom! someone once called this a mother's bouquet and I have to agree, there isn't anything as sweet as getting these beautiful mangled dandelions!

On to the big news! John is done working at Aspen Grove on July 6. He starts his new job at the Utah Foster Care Foundation on July 14, 2008! we are so happy as it will give us the family hours that we need. Aspen grove has been wonderful and we will all miss it terribly. Part 2 of the big news...John graduates on Aug 14/15 with his MPA (master's public administration) from Brigham Young University! That will truly be a blessing!