Sunday Drive

Our Sunday Drive found us here....

...it was a beautiful day at the coast!

First REAL Day of Kindergarten

Macy had her first "REAL" day of Kindergarten and she loved it! She is acting so "grown up" lately, it's killing me! After big hugs and kisses good-bye, I left my little girl in her big classroom. She never even looked back. I am so proud of her but sad too! This is a brand new start for her and she is so excited about everything! I hear about all the kids that she knows and plays with on the playground and how she can't wait to ride the bus home (I'm easing in to the idea). What is everybody's feelings on that? I think I'm okay with letting her ride the bus home, since it would have only kindergartners on it but I can't tell how I feel about having her ride with the 5th graders to school. All in all, I am so proud of this girl!

Sitting at her assigned table.

Hugs good-bye

Finding a friend after class

Macy drawing her new kindergarten teacher

Kindergarten...here we come!

So after much, much stress, sleepless nights and going back and forth about whether to start Macy in Kindergarten due to the fact that she only makes the cut-off by four days, we decided to start her in school anyways. She is ready! I have no doubt about that.

With kindergarteners, they like to break them in easy. So on Wednesday, Macy and I met one-on-one with her new teacher (who we are SOOOOO excited about)! She is a DOLL. The kind you get the warm, fuzzies from and FUN. She is going to be amazing. On Monday, Macy goes with half of her class. Tuesday, the other half goes and on Wednesday, they all go together! More pictures to come...

At first I thought I was going to be alright about sending her. No tears from me... but I'm starting to really see the big picture. This is it....she's growing up and starting school and those days of staying home and following me around all day are almost over! Let's not talk about that right now...but just on how cute she looks on her first day at school!

Blackberry Picking

One of our favorite things about living in Oregon is all of the fresh berries available! Blueberries, marionberries, strawberries, blackberries. My freezer is full of them. My personal favorite are the blackberries and there are wild blackberry bushes every where. For Family Home Evening one night, we rode our bikes down to our "secret" blackberry picking spot and filled our bowls, which made for yummy blackberry shakes later that night! Every year we make the mistake of wearing shorts and short sleeves and come home with scratches and scrapes! They are worth it!

Notice the bike situation. We've become true Oregonians...

...so have they!

Macy Turns FIVE!!!

I can't believe my little girl is 5!!! It's like over-night she just grew up and turned in to this little girl who loves to rock out to Hannah Montana. She is full of spunk & that is why I love her so much! She is my best little friend who loves to give me advice, clothes shop and hide out in my closet with me to paint toe nails while Nicholas and Karlee nap. She's beautiful and smart, sweet and tender hearted with a little sass and a whole lot of silliness. I am so grateful for such a wonderful daughter and so lucky she came first. She is the BEST big sister and a great "little mom." Nicholas and Karlee adore her. We all think she is pretty special!

The morning of Macy's birthday was filled with opening presents and decorating cakes. The kids pitched in and went heavy on the sprinkles and ate way too much frosting.

Macy requested a butterfly cake. Youtube, thank you for making this so easy!

Macy couldn't wait to open presents.

This Barbie microphone that plugs in to your ipod was one of her favorite presents. This girl loves to sing!

To make her birthday extra special, we took Macy down to Build-A-Bear in Eugene where she got to pick out her very own bear. She'd been dreaming about this day for a very long time!

Filling the bear with fluff.

Rubbing the new bear's heart to get it pumping!

Washing and fluffying the bears!

Accessorizing!

Happiness!

Happy to be at the party!

Fun playing at the mall

Macy & "Sparkle"

Afterwards, we had a fun family dinner at Olive Garden and then invited friends over for cake and ice cream! Macy stayed up way past her bedtime but commented that it was the BEST birthday ever! It was a great day to turn 5!

Brenchley Reunion

At the end of my Utah visit, was the Brenchley Family Reunion. It was a three day event filled with aunts & uncles and cousins I hadn't see for 10 years or more. We had fun catching up, eating and hearing fun stories about my grandparents, Preston & Alta Brenchley, who have both passed away.

The hight-light of the reunion, for me, was the guided tour by my Uncle Paul of some of the historical sites where my grandparents and my very own dad grew up and played and worked. It was a sweet reminder of the wonderful heritage that I come from and the legacy that my grandparents started and left in each of us.

This was the house my Grandma Brenchley grew up in in Mt. Sterling.

Here we all are, in the fields where my Grandma Brenchley's family, the Coopers, farmed. One of my favorite stories was about the dinner tree, where the family sat and ate all of their lunches and dinners brought up to them from the house.

My nephews and cousins catching grasshoppers in the fields.

My sister-in-law, Rachel, and my sister Lezlee! You girls are gorgeous!

My dad and his brothers and sister.

J. Paul, Mark, Deonne, my Dad, and Richard

The blacksmith shop and hardware store my Grandpa owned and operated. He was the best horse shoer in the valley & had a reputation for being able to shoe even the wildest horses. I remember going to visit my Grandpa in this store when I was little. There use to be a sign above the store that read "Brenchley's Hardware." I use to think it was so cool that my last name was on a store.

The house my Grandpa Brenchley grew up in in Wellsville.

My dad milked cows in this barn every morning as a child.

My dad with Macy in front of the barn. This brought back a lot of memories for my him.

Pictures inside the barn.

We found these initials engraven on the silo of the barn. P.B. stands for Preston Brenchley, my Grandpa.

The house my dad grew up in just down the street from where my Grandpa was born. I remember the raspberry bushes, the tire swing, Grandma's roses and eating ice cream cones on the front porch.

Me, my sister, Lezlee and brothers, Greg and Jon. My oldest brother Ryan wasn't there this day. I love these guys!