Starting Preschool! (And dance class)

 

Emma is growing up so fast! She started preschool this year in August at Learning Dynamics. I looked around at several preschools and finally we decided to put her in Learning Dynamics in Orem. It is farther than many other schools around us, but Cade really wanted her to go there because of their focus on reading and phonetics. So far we love it and are very happy with her there. Emma absolutely LOVES going to preschool. She has never once said, "I don't want to go to school." She loves her teacher Mrs. Holmes and all of her classmates. Here are some pictures of her first day of school!

With Daddy the night before school. She got her first school blessing :)

She was so excited for her first day!

Mrs. Holmes helping Emma find her name...

She came out just as happy as she went in.

Emma also started dance class this fall. She was really excited at first, but after two or three classes she told me she didn't want to go anymore. I kept her in and she now loves it! Her teacher mentioned that sometimes kids this age aren't used to working their bodies hard and sometimes don't like that. I'm glad i kept her in because after 2 and 1/2 months, she really likes going now. In December, she will have a Holiday recital and it will be so fun to watch her and her class perform :).

Vegas Anniversary and Fishing Trip

Every anniversary we love to visit a new LDS temple and this year we had the privilege of attending the Las Vegas temple. This is our 6th anniversary and how time flies! I fall more and more in love with this man and still feel so blessed to have him by my side not only for this lifetime, but for eternity. Attending the temple for our anniversaries reminds us of our eternal goals and the covenants we made with each other and God. I am grateful for every day I get to spend with Cade. He has become such an incredible husband and father and I love him!

Our Anniversary celebrations were at the end of our Vegas trip. The main reason we were able to celebrate in Las Vegas was the fishing trip Cade got to go on with his Dad, best friend John Vizzard, and some uncles and cousins. We drove to Vegas and the girls and I stayed there with Tara, the boys and Grandma Close. Cade and his Dad drove on to San Diego to go on a deep sea fishing trip! The trip was from August 4-7th. They had SO much fun and aside from the scare of almost not making it in time, they had a perfect few days fishing. It's fun that Cade gets to have those memories with his family.

Cousin David holding up a catch

Here are some other great pictures from the trip. These cousins sure love each other and it is SO much fun to watch them play and interact with each other!!!

 Reese and Tafts are especially hilarious to watch as they get older and follow each other around.

Cade's family is so great. They celebrated my birthday early and got me the best thing ever...a fruit bouquet! SO much better than any cake. It was SOOO good and they are always so thoughtful!

Boose-Boose: Our Newly Called Sister Missionary!

Boose Boose got her mission call! The day before she left for her Europe study abroad we all gathered to have her open her call. She got called to serve in the Gilbert, Arizona mission and reports to the MTC on January 22, 2014 (two days after my due date!). I don't know who was more excited about her call- Katelyn or my Mom! We were born in Gilbert and my parents lived there for 10+ years so my mom still has some close friends who live in that mission. So it's great peace of mind for her!

Boose will be such a great missionary and be able to share the gospel with people in Arizona (Zion, as Cade would say). We are so excited for her!!!

Another baby GIRL will be joining us!!!

We are 3 for 3 so far!!! We found out the middle of September that we have another baby girl joining our family in January of 2014. We are so excited and can't wait to meet her. Cade and I honestly were thinking it was a boy this time (aside from this pregnancy being so different). Emma, however, kept saying, "no, it's a girl." So matter of fact :). She was determined she was going to have another baby sister (or maybe that's all she knows and so that's what she wants :)).

This baby was definitely hiding from us for a long time before we could find out the gender. We had an ultrasound at 18 weeks that my doctor did for us and he couldn't get the baby to move into a position to be able to tell. The cord and a hand were right in the way so there was no way to tell. Then at 21 weeks we went in for our big ultrasound to make sure the baby was healthy and that everything checked out. And we feel very blessed that everything did check out good and healthy! However, once again, the ultrasound technichian tried and tried to find out the gender, but the baby kept those legs tight together and wouldn't budge. So right after that ultrasound we had an appointment with our regular doctor and he did ANOTHER ultrasound for us. Three times the charm- we finally found out we were having another girl!

I will admit I was a little surprised, but we are very excited for this little one to join our family! It is such a blessing to be able to have children and I am so grateful for the opportunity to do so.

Now I am 28 weeks...the last trimester is here! I am due January 22nd, 2014. We are planning on naming her Nora Lee Close. Emma and Reese are excited for baby Nora and give my tummy hugs :). Emma this last week patted my belly and said, "Mom, the baby sure is getting big!" Yes, Emma. Yes, indeed :). I have gotten big very fast this time around but it's ALL worth it! I love being a mom more than anything and am grateful for my beautiful girls!

Bleak Summer Vacation in Pineview

This year our Bleak family vacation was held at Pineview Reservoir at the end of July 2013. We usually go to lake Chelan in Washington, but things didn't work out this year so we all stayed in a condo right by the lake. It was still a blast to be all together and I'm so glad that everyone got to be there! Even Kristen and Andrew drove out from Cali to join in on the fun! 

We had lots of fun playing in the water during the day- whether it was the lake or the pool at the condo, just resting during the day and staying up late playing games. It's definitely getting crowded with everyone having babies, but gets more fun and exciting ;). One of Emma's favorite things about the weekend at the condo was the bunk-bed she got to sleep in! She LOVED being up so high. We all had fun and enjoyed being with each other!

Since the boat stopped working after day one, we rented a big blow-up play thing to have fun on. It really was a blast for everyone...I think maybe the adults had more fun than the kiddos did :).

I LOVE my goofy girls!

It's fun that Cade has someone to bike with and do something he loves!

All the Grand babies!