Happy First Week of School...

I'm posting about this a couple of weeks late because I am having a bit of a picture crisis. It seems that a large number of pictures have mysteriously disappeared off of my memory card. I have been using the same card since the beginning of August and when I went to upload pictures a couple of weeks ago, this is the first picture I found...

These are the last two pictures that I took on an outing to a local reservoir with some friends from our neighborhood. That means all of the rest of the pictures from that day, Riley's first day of school pictures, and ALL of my pictures from Girl's Camp are not on the card. I know, I should have uploaded them sooner, but I didn't. Luckily, the Girl's Camp pictures are on the computer that belongs to one of the Young Women in our ward. She borrowed my card after Camp to use my pictures on a video she made. So, she still has copies of those, but the rest are gone. I'm pretty bummed about it. If anyone has ever had this happen before or has any suggestions, I would love to hear...

Anyway... Back to the reservoir... A sweet friend of mine invited us to join them at this cool new reservoir in Herriman to celebrate the last day of summer vacation. I use the word celebrate loosely. NOBODY in our family was happy about school starting. So, we spent a most enjoyable afternoon in the sun and playing on Utah's version of a sandy beach. It is so great to have friends with older kids for my older ones to "hang out" with. And, I couldn't ask for nicer friends for Trent. The picture above is of Taylor Davis, Gavin Schmalz, Mackenna Floyd, and Trent. These kids are seriously awesome and I love, love, LOVE their mommas.

Speaking of friends, look at this group of cool seventh graders...
While we were relaxing at the reservoir, these guys were at their first day of school. They are the very first seventh grade class at the brand new Vista Heights Middle School in Saratoga Springs. VHMS had the seventh graders start school one day early so they could get the hang of Middle School without the eighth graders there. They also got to stay home on the real first day of school. All eight of these kids live within throwing distance of each other. They hang out together, play night games together, prank each other and are all of the first year Deacons and Beehives in the H.H. 6th Ward. They are all so fun and sweet to each other.

Moving on....

Wait for it......
Here is Trent on his first day of..... ummm...... High School. Yeah. There are few words...

Just that I love him, he makes me unspeakably proud and I appreciate that he let me take his picture. He is so handsome and good....deep breathing....feeling blessed and overwhelmed at the thought of having a high-schooler.

Then there are these two little guys. The only Benhams at Harvest Elementary this year...

Brant started 4th grade, his third year in Spanish Immersion. His teacher is Sra. Luiz. We already know that we love her because Riley had her in 4th grade. Brant and Lance get to walk to school together. They walk alone, though, because this year I switched them to the early start schedule. They start at 8:00 and the other kids on our end of the street start st 9:15. Of course, this means that they get out at 2:15 instead of 3:30 and they get literacy instruction first thing in the morning instead in the afternoon. They love being "early birds" so far and I love having all of the kids, and Ricky, on the same schedule in the morning. They all leave within a half hour of each other, so we all get to be together before work and school.

Lance was lucky enough to be put in the class of my friend and the best teacher on the planet, Mrs. Jorgenson. I loved her before I had a child in her class, and I REALLY love her now. She is amazing!
While the boys were at school, Riley and I (and Gavin) got to spend the day together making fabric flower pins and headbands. We couldn't wait for them to get home so we could hear all about their first day. Lance and Brant look pretty happy....

Trent said High School was going to be more fun than he thought. He likes all of his teachers and has friends in all of his classes. He sat on the porch swing and told me and Riley about his day while he ate most of a package of his favorite non-homemade cookies.

The next day all of them went to school. Here is Riley on her first real day...
So, back at home, it's just me and the boy... and the dog. Thank goodness for the boy.