Normal

                                                 I gave Max some pudding to entertain him for a minute.... entertain him it did!!!!

 Dad found some tiny sunglasses that belong to Gloria's build-a-bear.... Annie thinks their pretty cool and might borrow them on a few occasions from the bear.

 These girls are "besties". I love them so much. They have been in preschool for 3 years together and love each other so much. They both love to dance and play dress ups! It's a match made in heaven!!

This is normal. Normal to us. We get dirty, we dance, we laugh, we love. This is a typical "day in the life" of the Kendalls!!!  Someday I may have more time to type a little more, give more detail about the things we do, but right now I am too busy living this life to write about this life.  And it's a good life!!!

6th grade, 4th grade and 2nd grade

Ok. So, I didn't get a picture of the first day, or second day or even the first or second week... but here are some pictures of the 21st day of school!!!  My cute kids!!  They are all really enjoying their teachers this year and they all love school!!  They are such smart and happy kids.  

I was so excited for school to start, it always seems that by the end of the Summer I am excited for the kids to get back to routine and schedules and also for a little peace and quiet.  But I miss them. I love these kids and they are just the kind of people I enjoy hanging around with. I am happy that they are going to a place they love and that they are learning and growing.   They are certainly becoming some really neat people!!

Gloria and Gray's first Triathlon

 On Saturday morning, Grayson and Gloria woke up at 5:15am to get ready for their FIRST triathlon. They were super excited and did a fabulous job!! I was not there with them, so I don't have many pictures. Grayson finished 3rd place in his age group (9-11, the LARGEST group and he was the youngest in the group). Gloria was too busy socializing with all her friends to try to win.... she wanted to stay with all her friends- which totally describes my 2 kids!! Gray is super motivated by competition and Gloria is more motivated by her friendships. I am proud of them for finishing and hope that it is the first of many!!!

Aunt Cindy and Grandpa

This past weekend Aunt Cindy and Grandpa came for a quick visit. We really enjoyed having them come to visit. The kids really had a blast with them. I wish I had more pictures of them, but I have been REALLY bad about taking pictures lately. So, here is the ONLY picture I have of Grandpa and Aunt Cindy with Annie. The rest of the pictures are indeed from the weekend they were here, but just without them in the pictures... whoops!! :)

I love these kids. They make my life happy!!

Gloria's 11th bbirthday!!

This past week Gloria celebrated her 11th birthday. Words cannot express how grateful I am for my Gloria. She is a wonderful daughter. I cannot believe that my sweet little girl is 11! Gloria is my oldest child and she has been a wonderful big sister to her brothers and sisters. For Gloria's birthday this year, she decided that instead of a party, she would rather have go on a shopping spree (hallelujah!!!).  It was a really nice birthday- of course I gave Travis the option to go shopping with Gloria or to stay home with the rest of the kids.... to my relief (and Gloria's) Travis chose to stay home and let the girls go shopping! We brought along 2 of Gloria's best friends, Emma and Samantha. We started out at the mall. We went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch and then went to build a bear where the girls got to get their own new friend to take home (I love the fact that these girls all still love going to build a bear!!). We spent almost 2 hours in build a bear... it was so much fun!!! The girls all had a blast and it was nice for me to find a comfy place to sit and relax while they ran all over the store choosing items and dressing their bears!  After that, we met daddy and the rest of the kids at an all you can eat frozen yogurt shop!! The kids were able to put as many flavors of fro-yo as they wanted into their cups, put many toppings on and eat til they were sick!!  So, fun!!! We went home and had some cheesecake. It was a great birthday and I hope that all my children decide to do that for their birthdays from now on!! I didn't have to plan a party.... decorate for a party.... clean up after a party.... prepare gift bags or entertain 20 girls for hours on end. Yep. That was a perfect party!!

Here are a few fun facts about my oldest child.

1. She loves to dance!! She dances around the house all day every day. She dances in classes. She dances at school. She is our dancing queen.

2. She loves to read. She will pull out a book and read anytime she has a spare minute.

3. She is still playing the guitar, but a lot of her passion for it is gone. She still does her lessons each week- but she rarely pulls it out to practice... I hope this is just a phase she is going through, she is really good at the guitar.

4. She is brilliant. She really is. In all of her schooling and reading she really excels and enjoys learning.

5. She is very spiritual. I love that she loves the gospell and it shows in her actions.

I love my daughter so much!! Happy birthday, Gloria!!

First Day of School

Here are some pictures of my 2 girls on the 10th day of school.....  I wish I had gotten it done on the first day of school, but I forgot, again and again and again I forgot- but after a week and half of school, I remembered. I still need to nab a pic of Gloria and Gray one of these mornings! I'll put it on my to do list!!!  Everyone is loving school this year. Great teachers, tons of friends in their classes- I have a feeling this year will be one of the best!!