Goodbye to Jessie

My parents dog Jessie died this weekend.  Our girls have loved spending time with her recently when we've gone to Utah to visit.  I think the fact that she had gotten so old was nice for them--she was extremely calm and they were very comfortable around her.  In recent months she had lost her hearing and her appetitie.  Brad and I both said on our last visit there that we didn't think she would be around by our next time there.

I told the girls the sad news at dinner tonight.  They both seemed sad about it, but we talked about how Jessie was probably a lot happier now and felt better than she had in her last few months here on earth.  About an hour later I noticed Maggie lost in thought.  She then surprised me with,  "Mommy, remember how Jesus was resurrected?"   "Remember how he died and then lived again?"  "I want Jessie to live again too." (Said in her sweetest of voices)

Made my heart melt.  

Pecos Wilderness Camping--Jack's Creek

We went camping this weekend with our friends the Austins.  We headed up to a place called Pecos, just northeast of Santa Fe.  The location was so refreshing--for the first time since going camping in New Mexico we felt like we were camping in the real mountains rather than the desert.  Greenery all around, aspen trees, perfectly cool temperatures, mountains to explore.  It was wonderful--especially given the fact that all the kids slept well (from past experience we dreaded the nightime camping with 1-2 year olds, but Hads didn't make a peep the whole night and they were all so much better tent sleepers than last time we went in May). 

We went on a hike that ended up being a bit longer than we had planned (about 4 hours round trip), but the big girls did great.  When Brad and I realized that we were sore post-hike it amazed us even more that our girls did such a good job--Hads seemed to enjoy the bumpy ride, didn't even complain in the backpack and took herself a couple naps on each leg of our journey. 

The kids enjoyed having friends to play with while we were camping.  Our tent became their playhouse and they had many adventures in and out of it (which was evidenced by the muddy footprints all over).  Daddy's hammock was a big hit with everyone, but I'm just now realizing that I never had the chance to rest in it myself!  Annie taught Ella how to catch grasshoppers and they spent their time in the meadow at the end of our hike catching one after another and then letting them go.  The girls loved sitting around the campfire making smores in the evening and drinking hot chocolate in the morning.  We were filthy as can be (especially Hads who I couldn't get to stop eating and playing in the dirt), but that's always the sign of a good camping trip!  If only we had more weekends together as a family I am sure we would be able to enjoy the outdoors even more.  Someday (sigh) . . .

 

Preschool for Maggie!

Maggie FINALLY got to start preschool today!  She has been waiting for her turn, not so patiently, ever since Ella started school 2 weeks ago. We are doing a mom's co-op preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays with some friends here in ABQ, just like we did for Ella when she was 3.  That meant that her first day of preschool was here at our house since I got first draw in the teacher rotation.  I was worried she wouldn't be excited since she didn't get to "go" to preschool on her first day, but she was super excited looking out the front door waiting for her friends to come all morning long (and along with her baby sister messing up everything that I had set up--ugh!).  The way it worked out we have six 3-year-old girls in our preschool group this year--that was not on purpose.  It's a bit crazy, but it sure will be fun and we don't have to try to not do "girly" things for the boys.  On Thursday we are talking about making friends and will be making friendship bracelets and having a tea party with friends, among other things.  I would definitely have a much harder time selling that as a cool idea to the boys!



First Day of School

We sent Ella off for her first day of Kindergarten today--all day Kindergarten.  We are so excited for her as she has been looking forward to this day for more than a year.  She is so ready to learn more and will do so well in school.  We will miss her dearly though here at home.  Maggie was very proud to take part in sending her off and is now dying to know when she gets to start preschool too.  Brad was able to get off of work in time to join us this morning for the big send off (he is working nights right now so he came with us before going to sleep for the day).  Having Daddy there for her first day made it extra special I'm sure.

I sure love these two faces--especially when I see them together.  BEST SISTERS!

Ella was all smiles when we picked her up and said she had a great day.  When I talked to her more about her day I found out that she sat on the ground to eat her lunch because there was no room on one table and "you can only sit on the yellow table if you don't have anything with peanuts in your lunch".  She asked me to not do PB&J tomorrow so that she can sit on the yellow table. :)  I asked her who she talked to at lunch and she said she just sat by herself.  This made me so sad. . .picturing my sweet little Ella sitting all by herself eating her lunch just broke me heart, but when I asked her if that made her sad she said "no, it didn't bother me, it was okay", so I guess she is less sensitive than I am, thank goodness!

Although no one shed a tear when we dropped her off this morning, as I sat thinking about things in the quiet house this evening it made me tear up to realize that from here on out everything is going to be different.  I am sending her out into the world and she will always be in school now, not home with me.  I am no longer going to be able to protect her from everything and can't always be there to make sure she is okay.  I so wish I could just be the fly on the wall and watch everything.  I don't think I have taught her enough about all those things that are really important, I'm sure I could have done more before this time came.  I hope she will have a great experience in school, that she will learn a lot, make some great friends, and that she will always be excited to see us at the end of the day and willing to tell me all about it. 

A Week in Utah

I took the girls up to Utah for a week before school starts here to give them time to hang out with their cousins and grandparents (the ones currently in the country). Brad was able to come up and join us for an evening before heading to Park City for a "boys weekend" with some friends.  We spent a lot of time catching up with family and friends we hadn't seen in a while, played at a lot of parks and splash parks, went swimming at Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's, had a picnic in the mountains, and just tried to fill up all of days we had with fun. I never take enough pictures of our time home, but here are a few highlights anyway. 

The girls enjoyed their time in Utah and Ella cried herself to sleep the night before we left because she didn't want to leave (the poor thing).  We will be back in a month and a half to welcome Grandma and Grandpa Holbrook home from their mission in Russia--we can't wait!