September 12

Last weekend we were at my mom's and then at Ryan's because it was Labor Day weekend. We took the kids out of school early on Friday and drove to my mom's. Ryan was there too. Saturday morning most of the adults went to the grape harvest and then when they were done Venessa and I and the kids drove up to Fresno and met them at the waterslides. Our kids loved it! Danny and Rachel went on some of the big slides, but also loved the wave pool. They had a huge kiddie area with pretty big slides and Aaron got brave enough to go to the top and he rode those for hours. They even had a little slide that Seth had a great time on. He slid down that and ran back around and climbed up to do it again for at least an hour. It was fun to watch him be so excited about it. He wasn't very good at waiting his turn when other kids came to use it, though, he'd just try to sneak by them in line.

We stayed in Visalia that night and went to church and then drove to where Ryan will live. He's staying with friends now while he still waits for his short sale to close. So we went there and ate and walked to the park by his house. The next day we went to the lake by his house. It was nice, but so crowded for Labor day. We left after lunch and came home.

The weekend before that was just a really busy Sunday. I had to meet with the Beehives to plan some things and we got invited to dinner at the Simpson's house. We also had a family meeting where Bob gave the kids blessings before school started. It was a great meeting. The kids all feel the importance of those blessings. A few days before, Danny had reminded us of those blessings and asked if we'd be doing them before school this year. I also talked to Aaron before our meeting and told him the blessings were special and Dad would say things that Heavenly Father and Jesus wanted to say to him. He was really excited. After his blessing and said, "I heard Jesus!" The kids all said they could feel the spirit and wrote about it in their journals the next night at FHE.

The kids all started school just fine. Danny has Mrs. Wolfe for third grade. I think we'll both really like her. She seems like a fun, good teacher. He likes his class and knows some of the boys in there already. He settled in really quickly this year. Danny was also asked to be tested for the GATE program this year. Rachel has Mr. Esquibel for second grade. He seems pretty good. He really likes to play the guitar, so if he brings music into the class I think Rachel will really like it. This is her first year not being with Jaclyn. She's doing just fine. She's making new friends and having fun. She's likes to be responsible and organized about her homework. She's fun to watch with it. She also loves to get dressed for school. She comes out in cute outfits with her hair done. She even asked to have her hair curled one morning. She used to hate it when I'd try to spend more than two minutes on her hair. Aaron started preschool with Miss Kathy. Rachel went there for preschool too. She's wonderful. Aaron is really liking it. She keeps the kids more active than his last teacher did and I think he needs that. He's also excited because Miss Kathy said if he does the homework program this year, he'll be reading by the end of the year. Aaron was really excited about learning to read. Seth had a hard time when the kids left. He cried several times when they got out of the car and he didn't.

We made an offer on the house we want! They listed the house for sale on September 1. We met with the realtor just after that and filled out all the paperwork to make an offer. We offered $225,000. They wanted the house to be on the market a few days, but she had our paperwork ready and was going to close the listing after the weekend, but there was one couple who seemed really interested in the house, so before they could make an offer, the agent closed the listing early. Now the papers are all submitted to the bank and it sounds like we have to wait a couple of months before we hear much. We're so excited. That house has so many great things about it. Debbie said they got a blessing that said their short sale would go through smoothly. So I hope it goes through smoothly with us.