10 Years

10 years ago today the world lost the most incredible dad and Pakka! I can not believe it has been 10 years since he lost his battle with cancer MUCH too soon. I still think about him every single day and imagine the advice and unconditional love he would give me and my babies. 

My hope is that I make him proud every day, but today was spent doing all that I could to honor him! So...I woke up before the sun, I spoiled his grandkids, I laughed at my own jokes, I went to work, I smiled, I helped a friend. I went to the temple, I did my church calling, I ate leftovers for lunch, I went to the bathroom a lot, I spent time with my mom and sister, I put safety pins in my pocket, I shelled my own peanuts and had an oatmeal cream pie for dessert. Unfortunately I couldn't find black cherry cola but Keagan did proudly sing the BYU fight song at dinner. 

Aa we read our 5 short verses of scripture tonight my heart swelled. The Book of Mormon scriptures were a wonderful father (Alma) talking to his cherished child (Shiblon) but I could imagine my dad saying something very similar to me! 

Alma 38:1-5

1 My son, give ear to my words, for I say unto you, even as I said unto Helaman, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence.

3 I say unto you, my son, that I have had great joy in thee already, because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence, and thy patience and thy long-suffering among the people of the Zoramites.

5 And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

My grief is still so heavy but I bare it because I know I will see him again one day. There was no one like my dad and 10 years later I still miss him so terribly. But I'm incredibly grateful families are forever! 

First in Third

It was a super crazy day at work for mommy, but besides Riley not making it to the potty several times because I'm sure she was having too much fun, it was a wonderful first day of school for Keagan and Riley! These two are going to rock third grade! They both sure have my whole heart! 

Keagan is so happy to have one of her besties Avery in her class! Their whole group of friends including Keagan, Riley, Avery, Lauren, Audrey and Reyna who are in different classes all wore the same "third grade cutie" shirt. 

Our traditional priesthood blessings last night from Uncle Todd were a great start to the year! 

Workin It!

It was a LONG week getting back into the working mode after being off all summer! I spent WAY too much in child care and felt bad that I had to suffle the girls around from the Fosters, to the French's, to the Blacks. It was five super busy days. But I am SO grateful to have the job I have! I'm so thankful to work at Mahaffey with the most incredible people that I love! Plus I get summers off and the girls get to go to the best elementary school ever! We are definitely all SO glad to be plaid! 

Love this girl right here, my partner at work, Chantel Krenek!

I taught a technology break out session on Monday about blogging which was fun and we worked our hineys off the rest of the week. The girls hung out with Sami in the mornings and then went to either the French's or one day the Blacks in the afternoons. The girls had fun but they are definitely happy to be home today! Sami took them shopping one day and they played a lot of checkers and iPads. Reagan did super fun chalk art with them and the girls finally broke in the craft drawer Miss Taryn set up for them at her house. Reagan also played board games with them and hide and seek! It should be recorded that Riley is the abosolute worst hide and seek player there ever was because she can not stop laughing!!

They came with me to school bright and early yesterday morning to decorate the workroom for Chantel's birthday. The plan was to take them to Sa's house at 8 but they just ended up staying because they were awesome helpers! They worked together to cut yarn for Mrs Thompson, sharpened a serious amount of pencils for different teachers and then helped deliver books and manipulatives all over the school. That may have been their highlight of the whole week! 

After a long week we ended up helping Miss Taryn with lula stuff last night because I of course always want to support my bestie and I was so thankful she was willing to babysat for free! We left her house at 8:30, I had been up since 6 after 3.5 hours of sleep and working on my feet all day! I was painfully exhausted and we still hadn't eaten dinner! I drove thru McDonalds and was trying to stay awake as we waited for our food. When we got home Keagan said "mommy just put Riley in her high chair and I will feed her." I barely finished a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before I collapsed in a chair. My sweet, sweet Keagan not only helped Riley eat but she also loaded the dishwasher, cleaned out the sink, wiped down the counter and threw everything away and I didn't even realize she was doing it til she was done! I was so amazed and SO thankful for her kind service to her tired momma! 

Everything combined shows me we are going to have such a wonderful school year! I feel SO blessed to be where we are with so many outstanding people around us! Today the girls picked out their first day outfits, I did tons of laundry and filled their drawers and their new back packs their dad bought them are packed! Right now they are playing with their friend Lauren and of course they are all teachers at none other then Mahaffey.

I think we are ready! Third grade here we come! 

They Are Ready!

Everyday we have been doing a countdown til the first day of school. Each day I hold up how many more days we have left and Miss Riley responds with her cute little 1 finger saying "no ONE day!" And then we banter back and forth between how many days we actually have and how many she wishes we had! She is just SO excited for school to start! And Keagan is just as ready! Everyday this week as I have gone to work she has wanted to come with me! She has said multiple times "are you sure you don't need a helper?" 

These girls are both bursting with excitement for all that 3rd grade has to teach them and I am sad that they are so old! How did we get to third grade already?! And unfortunately this year they take the state test known as STARR for the first time. We are all REALY not looking forward to that! 

But I know it's going to be remarkable year. Riley is back with the dream team of Mrs Merillat, Mrs Brown and Mrs Akers! Thank heavens, literally! And so much thought, stress and prayer went in to which teacher Keagan would have. The good problem to have was they were all great choices! Ultimately we put her with Mrs Merrbach who is the dyslexia teacher and in a self contained classroom. The two of us actually had a really sweet experience praying about this side by side the other night. The bonus is Avery is in there with her! It's going to be great! 

We loved seeing our teachers and lots of friends tonight at Meet The a Teacher! It got the girls even more excited for 3rd grade! Monday can't come soon enough! 

See we saw lots of friends including nurse Hudson who posted this picture of "her future daughter in law" on Facebook! She's the best! 

So Cliché

Are you ready for some classic clichés? Cause  I'm gonna give em to ya! 

All good things must come to an end. 

That is exactly what I am thinking as I go to bed tonight and close the books on another wonderful summer with my girls! I go back to work tomorrow to help prepare the school for the following week when all the kids come back. But I am totally content with how we made out for summer 2017. We had a ton of fun! We had a great mix of busy days and lazy days. We did camps and hung out with friends.  And we did my very favorite thing which is make memories together! This week we fit in a few more. 

We had a fantastic afternoon at Itz with the Lakes. Not only did we have free passes courtesy of the Lakes but we almost had the place to ourselves! 

We did a super fun craft camp at my friend Ambers house! 

What's a week without a doctors appointment for the Kikuchi girls?! Riley got a great new lift put in the right foot of her new school shoes. They are light up Paw Patrol shoes of course. I have learned to forgo my no character policy for Miss Rileys shoes only. 

We had a wild, crazy and hilarious night at Fuddruckers with the Fosters, French's, the Scharkoph's, and the Beyers. And if that wasn't enough fun, we also had a big family dinner at Sweet Tomatoes and then all went shopping at Sam Moon together. With 14 of us we were quite a crowd, and we Ginns aren't known to be quiet people. 

On Friday I sat at a body shop to start the process of getting the hail damage on my car fixed so I can trade it in while Coach took the girls bowling! The girls were SO excited and of course had a great time! It was SO sweet of Coach! We are blessed to have him in our village and makes us even more ready to have Gamas back from Wyoming!

We painted, made homemade shave ice which Keags took very seriously and busted out the Wii games again.

We settled lot of tantrums and Keagan probably settled just as many as I did! She is incredible!

We had a fun sleepover with Campbell that included big messes, lots of pretend play and swimming of course! What it didn't include was lots of sleeping and we all paid for it the next day. That is just one more reason we don't do sleepovers except for the occasional cousin sleepover. 

And apparently Keagan took lots of selfies this week as well! Should I be scared?!

Well when one door closes, another door opens. 

See? So cliché! But it fits because although I am sad to see summer go with its slow mornings, late nights, open schedules and freedom, I am excited in anticipation for what this next school year has to offer! I know this year is going to be one to challenge us and help us grow! So Ive just got one more cliché for ya! 

Bring it on!