Ist day of school

Porter started school a couple weeks before the girls.  He is pretty excited for 7th grade!  We sent him off with lots of hugs and we all waited eagerly for him to get home!

The girls on their first day.  Rylee is all packed up for her first full day of first grade!

Sweet sisters.

Rylee hanging up her backpack.  I love that she has Mrs. Chism, who was Sidney's 1st grade teacher.  It is easier to give her to someone who already knows and loves her :)

Sidney all settled in her class.  

This is always a hard day for me.  I want to be excited for them, but I really like having all of my kids home.  I worry that they will get hurt, or lost, or embarrassed, or someone will be mean to them, or get their feelings hurt.  I am so thankful for great teachers who look out for them and for their great friends who support them.  I know that they are in good hands.

But Jax and I will be eagerly watching the clock until 3:30!!

MoRe FuNnY KiDs…..

So…..

Jax was in the bathtub, when I realized we might have a problem coming.

So I grabbed him and put him on the potty.  Yay!  Jaxon's first poop on the potty :)

Back in the tub.  And, then we realized that we got down off of the potty too soon….

CODE BROWN!

So….

Sidney was combing her hair, and twisted and wrapped the comb up to her head.

Hmmm, we worked on this for quite some time.

Many hours, a broken comb, and a small hair cut later, she was finally free ;)

Jaxon's extreme horse riding.

Snuggling in the hammock.

Trying on his wet suit to take to Mexico.  We are ready, take us to the ocean!

Seriously love these kids!

Annual Back to School Dinner

Here we are again!  How is it time for school to start already!?!

Time for the Welch's Back to school dinner :)

All ready in their "nice" clothes.

Porter starting 7th grade.

Sidney starting 4th grade.

Rylee starting 1st grade.

I am trying to get used to the idea of her being gone all day……it's not working.

We had a really nice dinner.  We talked about goals and set our family goal for the school year, "Be your Best self."

I am so excited for all that is in store for them this year.  

New school year here we come!

Rylee's 6th Birthday!

This little girl is 6 years old!

She decided she wanted to get her ears pierced for her Birthday!  So we made an appointment and surprised her with a stop to Build a bear to make a cuddly friend to squeeze.

Her support system! Lucky girl :)

Getting ready.  She was a little nervous, but very sure that she wanted to do it.

After!

She got big tears in her eyes after (so did I) but she said it was worth it.

She was so proud of herself and couldn't get enough of looking at them in the mirror.

She had a big smile for the rest of the day :)

Ready to open her presents before her friends come over for the pajama party.

Big 6! Two hands!

Her treat bags all ready for her friends.  She picked out the hot pink zebra print for her party :)

Love this girl!

The "candy bar" for the party.

She had so much fun at her party with her sweet friends!

I think she enjoyed her special day.

Rylee is getting so big.  She is a such a sweet girl.

She loves her brother and sisters, school, soccer, gymnastics, movies, and snacks ;)

Happy Birthday Rylee!  We love you.

Janus Day at Elitches!

Janus hosted an employee day at Elitches.

Allen and Porter just got home from their canoe trip, but we couldn't pass up a free day to the amusement park!  So we packed up for the day and headed out for some fun.

We had a great time.  Janus fed us lunch.  And Porter and Sidney rode all of the big rides, multiple times!

Jax took a little nap :)

Rylee's favorite ride was the big Ferris Wheel, so we rode that one a lot.

We stayed until the evening.  It started raining so we played a little longer and walked to the car in the pouring rain!  The kids thought it was a pretty fun adventure ;)

Thanks Janus!

Scout canoe trip

These boys had quite the adventure!  

They went on a week long canoe trip.  

Lots of rafting, sun, heat, storms, swimming, mud, and fun :)

It was Epic!

Allen ran in the Epic relay with his team, "The Crested Gluttes".  We had a great time cheering him on and hanging out in Crested Butte.  This is always one of our favorite trips!

Great job, team Crested Gluttes!!