Rachel's First Day of Kindergarten

Where has the last five years gone? I can’t believe our sweet Rachel is on her way to Kindergarten. I kept telling myself that I wasn’t going get all teary eyed about her going to school because she was so happy to start going to the big kid school but that didn’t happen. I couldn’t hold back the tears when I saw her walking up the hill all grown up on her way to school. I wasn’t the only one sad that she was going to school, Ella and Ethan didn’t like that their big sister wasn’t going to be around to play with, but thankfully Kindergarten is only a few hours a day. Rachel loves school and her teacher Mrs. Jones is amazing. She is learning so much and well on her way to being a good little reader.

Gardening, Canning & Gardening, Canning

In my spare time (what spare time) I can This year I canned green beans, corn, salsa, peaches, pears and freezer jam. After my seventh batch of salsa I called it good for the year. Good food and eating healthy takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears literally. This pic shows a few of the many, many jars I canned. I lost an exact count but I canned over 250 pints of various fruits and veggies, half of the number of pints were salsa!!! YUM!!!

Getting SO BIG

Ethan really has grown up into a little boy lately and along with that comes more cuts, bruises and injuries. In one weeks time Ethan hit his head really hard three times. One of which he split his head open and could of used a couple of stitches if it weren’t for our friend and neighbor nurse Len. With one phone call she came over and brought medical superglue and helped us close up his wound. Thanks Len for helping easing the pains of growing up.

Making a Splash

Swim lessons this year was a BIG hit for Rachel and Ella. We enrolled the girls in private lessons at a home nearby us and it was wonderful to have their lesson so close to home, plus small class sizes. Every morning the girls would wake up, get their swimsuit on first things and eagerly wait for the lessons to start. Both of them were little fishes and weren’t afraid to put their heads under the water at all. It was Ella’s first experience at swim lessons and it was amazing to see how much she learned so quickly. Rachel did a great job too. Ella did have a bit of a scary moment when she was playing around at free time and drifted towards the deep end and couldn’t bop back up to the surface of the water for several breaths. Her Dad luckily enough was watching and ended up jumping in(clothes, shoes, cellphone and all) to rescue our little Ella who was in trouble but didn’t know it cause she told her dad he shouldn’t jump into the water with his clothes on, teacher said ! 

Family Reunion Time

Every summer we get together with our extended family on both sides of the family.
Ken is the baby of six children and I am the oldest of six children, which means our family reunion get together’s are large in number and last the whole day long. This year the at the Otten Reunion our day started off with a delicious breakfast, followed by games for the kids, a family history lesson, crafts, lunch and ended with swimming. It was great to see everyone and have a moment to visit with one another. The Albrechtsen Family Reunion is always held at the Farmington park . Everyone brings something for lunch and after we eat and visit we have a family raffle and then go for a family swim. This year one of Ken’s cousins fixed up Great Grandpa Albrechtsen’s old tractor and brought is up for everyone to see and sit on. The kids loved taking a turn in the driver’s seat. The blessing of being a part of a big family is a gift. We feel so blessed to come from a great heritage. I pray we can give honor to those who have gone before by living respectable lives that are full of service to others. We have a lot to live up to in there great examples.

Great, Great Grandma's Bed

We stayed the night at Great Grandpa and Grandma Otten's house and Oh what fun we had!!! The girls love going to "Grandma Great's" House and sleeping in Great Great Grandma Otten's bedroom. On this trip I snap a couple of shots of the girls playing and enjoying some of Great Great Grandma's things such as her brush and vanity set and looking through her old Book of Mormon. I am sure Great Great Grandma was smiling down from heaven that night!!!

Roomie Get Togethers

This summer was a treat because I got together on TWO separate occasions with my college roommates. With Monica and Mia living out of state we tried to all get together when they are in town visiting. Getting together with my sweet girlfriends is one of my highlights of the year. We have been getting together once and sometimes twice a year since our days in the blue cottage. Our first get together was up in Franklin, Idaho at Corey house. It was so fun to drive up there and see her and her sweet family. On the way home Jen B, Amy and I with our kids stopped the Casco Ice cream factory for a yummy treat. Two weeks later we went down Draper to Jen C house to workout and swim in the pool. What great times. What a blessing it is to have their influences as mothers, friendship and love as part of my life. I sure love my sweet friends.