First day of school

Well, we are off to school!

Porter and Sidney were very excited to start school, I am never very excited and would rather have them home with me forever! :) A Mom can hope.

Porter is starting 3rd grade and my little Sidney is a Kindergardner. I can't believe it.

Porter lining up for school.

Sidney lining up and excited to see her friend Lily.

One last hug. They had to pry her from my white knuckled fingers...., just kidding, but it felt like that. I always try to keep my anxiety quietly to myself and help them to be excited to go, they are growing up way too fast. Rylee and I try to keep busy but man do we miss those kids, and we really look forward to getting them back!

Back to School Dinner

The invitations were sent out.......

and everyone showed up dressed nicely with their hair combed and best manners in the kitchen at 6 pm for the Welch's back to school dinner!

Holy Pumpkins!

This is our garden 7 weeks after planting! Holy pumpkins, they are the ones growing completely out of the garden box. They are just as big and down the other side too. We have pumpkins, corn, green onions, lettuce, green beans, peas, strawberries, tomatoes, cilantro, and some experimental broccoli! We have already eaten some green onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and peas! We have really enjoyed taking care of our garden and watching it grow.

California Trip-Zoo

We have been looking forward to our trip to California since.....well since we said goodbye to these guys last summer!! We had a fabulous time visiting all of our cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents in sunny California! This is Rylee with her good buddy and closest partner in crime (cousin) to her age! They had a great time together. We went to the Oakland Zoo for a fun day out.

Sidney and Luke.

It didn't take Rylee long to warm up to her Aunts! Aunt Keri and Rylee.

Luke was such a cute turtle!

Porter, Raegan, and Zac.

Cute girls! Sidney, Rylee, Raegan, and Aunt Shauna.

I love this picture of Allen! There was a little lily pad crossing that the KIDS could walk across. We are all watching the kids having a great time going back and forth across the little stream. Well, Allen notices that from the far left bank, where you are not supposed to be, there is a very long space to a lily pad. He couldn't help but sneak over to try it out! Luckily he made it and Shauna caught this great picture. I was so busy laughing that I didn't see that Sidney had slipped on one of the lily pads and fell part way into the water! We quickly snatched her up and continued on our way, paying no attention to the dirty looks the other mom's were giving us for our bad example!

California Trip-Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Rylee and Raegan hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Aunt Keri and Sidney having fun in the back yard.

Porter can always talk someone into a little football!

California Trip-Camping

We all got together and camped at the Lake in California. The kids had a blast. We missed you Sanchez family!


Sidney spent hours collecting these shells around the beach. She had an entire bucket full! She filled a water bottle full to bring home!

The kids playing on Grandpa's boat.

On the way back we stopped at Aunt Lauren's house to swim in their pool and have lunch. Allen got sick half way through camping and might not remember it as fondly as the rest of our family, but he was a trooper and kept on going.