Summer and Fall

Sara had a fun Summer of adventures and she grew up a lot.  The highlight was our family trip ( See the Yodame blog).  We did a ton of hiking before the family trip however.  We went to visit Grandpa in Kanab and hike all over the place.  She caught a tadpole!  She so great with her brother too, they had fun hiking together.

She had a big end of the year piano recital in June that Grandma and Grandpa came to.  She was really nervous before hand and we were super proud of her for going up and playing her songs even though she was petrified.

She also took a special piano class this summer that she worked very hard at. 

 We spent Father's Day at Red Butte, she's a total daddy's girl so this was a fun day for them to spend together.  They both really enjoyed it.

She had TONS of friends and fam over and pool parties!!  The backyard kiddie pool was a huge hit this summer.   Went went through tons of water balloons.

We also had fun around the yard.  The kids grew a big watermelon.

They also grew a giant sunflower.  Brennan held it down while Sara harvested the seeds, then she did a school report on growing sunflowers.

 She arranged frogs in the garden and wanted to make a tiny fairy garden but we didn't get around to it, maybe next year.

  We fed ducks at Novell several times this Summer, always a big hit with the kids and the ducks.  One time we even picked grapes to feed to them, we found out ducks don't really like grapes that much.

Sara and Brennan do lots of fun stuff together, they are best buds.  Usually they keep the arguing to a minimum. 

We did her school workbook to keep things fresh in her mind over the summer an worked on her writing.  She loves doing her workbook and a lot of times once she got started doing it, it was hard to get her to stop.  She was great at the math sections and picked up addition and subtraction right away.

Over the summer, Sara's reading ability really took off.  We didn't work with her on it, she just figured it out by sounding out the words.  We took a long Summer trip and she spend a lot of time in the car reading and was reading the signs to us at the various parks we went to.  She got a lot out of it. 

We were a little worried when she started first grade that she would be way ahead of where she needs to be.  However it seems likes she is really fitting in well in her class.  I credit part of it to her teacher, who is really on top of things, very observant, and really cares.  She noticed right away that Sara is very smart and a little ahead and where she needs to be.

We recently had our 1st parent teacher conference and the teacher says that Sara thinks outside the box and is very creative.  She definitely has her own style and we love that about her.  Also, her teacher has been sending her to a special math class once a week for kids who are ready for more advance math.   Sara is also is the top reading group and it able to help her friends when they need help, which makes her feel good.  Recently they paired her up with a 4th grader who is struggling in reading and Sara was able to help her out. 

 Her teacher says that Sara really loves everything they do in class and that seems to be what we are hearing from her at home, she loves school and learning.  In fact, when she gets home, she plays teacher with Brennan as her student.  She loves to repeat any of the math activities or songs that they learn at school that day.

Dan and I couldn't be more proud of her.  She is the coolest little girl in every way.

Recently we went out for mother-daughter night.  I took her to the pet store and we looked at all the pets.  She was very sad that we couldn't take home a hamster, Guinea pig, or bird.  I told her we need to go slow and let Daddy get used to the idea of pets slowly.  We might be getting a fish tank for Christmas and then hopefully a rabbit next summer.  Maybe we can work out way up to a bird someday.

After the pet store, I let her choose a place to eat and she picked, Macaroni Grill.  It's getting close to Thanksgiving, so we talked about things we were thankful for.  We took turns telling each other the things we are thankful for.  I told her I was very thankful for such a wonderful daughter like her and she replied that she was very thankful for her teacher Mr. Olson.  Oh well, sometimes Motherhood is a thankless job.  Also we talked about how the world is the way you see it.  If you think that the world is against you and you have tons of fear and anger, then that's is what the world will show you.  If you believe that the world is a happy and beautiful place full of wonderful people, then that is what you will see.  I think she totally got it, well as much as you can at 6 anyway.   I hope we have many more mother-daughter nights.

One of Sara's happiest moments was when Daddy got her a bunk bed this Summer.  She has been dreaming of having a bunk bed for a long time.   She promptly made herself a nest in the top and it's her reading den.  She loves to sit up there and read, it's her oasis. 

As the seasons changed and Fall set in, we did even more hiking.

We took a 3 day camping trip to Cathedral Valley.  She really is a good buddy camping.  She helps me put up the tent, cook, and take care of Brennan. 

We said goodbye to Fall in Cathedral Valley and camping for 2014, hopefully we will have many more camping trips in 2015. 

After this, Halloween was just around the corner.  We surprised Sara with a Merida Costume.  Brennan was amazed at her red hair.

They had a blast trick-or-treating at Novell with Daddy and then in the neighborhood.

Winter is now on it's way and she's looking forward to the snow.

She was telling me that she really dislikes Thanksgiving because of all the millions of turkeys that have to die.  She is still very much a vegetarian due to the fact that she can't stand to eat animals.  She has always maintained this despite the fact that most of the rest of us eat meat occasionally.  I like that she sticks to her principals.

She is really looking forward to Christmas.  Nanna will visit and she is really excited about the punch calendar.  I hope her Christmas is a very merry one.