Back to School

The day has finally come.  We’ve dreaded and anticipated this day all summer long (though a few of us would NEVER admit to anticipating this day)!  I can’t believe how quickly the summer flew, but I guess we did keep pretty busy.

These kids are growing up so quickly!  I cannot believe I have a 5th grader (yikes!!),

and a 3rd grader!!

Emily’s teacher is Mrs. Parent, and Josh’s is Mrs. Orme (who happens to live in our Stake).  After back to school night last night, Emily was stoked about her teacher’s requirement to read 400 pages a month, and Josh can not wait to start learning cursive and times tables!  I hope they’ll carry their excitement all year long!

As for the rest of us – well, we had a quiet day, feeling a little lost without two very special people around.  And I managed to contain my emotions…for today at least!  It hit me last night – out of the blue – so I got it all out of me.

I am so blessed to have these kids in my life!  I love them to pieces!

Family Reunion

It’s 10 p.m., and for some reason, Caleb is putting up the biggest stink about going to sleep.  So, time for some blogging!

We had our Ripplinger Reunion last weekend.  We camped up Logan Canyon, and then went to Bear Lake.  We enjoyed eating, playing games, seeing the many talents of our family members, watching an amazing meteor shower, geocaching (that looks weird, is it spelled right?), swimming, relaxing, and more eating!  Phew!  That’s a lot of stuff!

Here are some fun pictures.

Marshmallows and a bit of dirt make a great 5 0’clock shadow!

Do the Jellyfish!!

Emily took this one of the moon just before night-fall.

Brady’s backpack carrier is magical – it puts him to sleep!  I think he had probably just woken up in this picture.

Josh is “whittling” with the pocketknife he got for his birthday…and Jonathon looks like he wants to run away!  I can’t blame him, though – Josh had most of us worried about his knife handling skills!  I hope he doesn’t end up learning the hard way!

He’s much less dangerous with a guitar!

Chillaxin’!!

The Games Committee

Caleb relaxing in Rachel’s sandals.

Bear Lake wouldn’t be any fun without getting buried…

…and being a little too cold (or too hot, depending on the year)!

Thanks to Jake and Darcy for putting together an enjoyable and memorable reunion!  We had lots of fun!

Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith must be living in our ward.

It's true. Rachel saw him today.

"Mom, look - I see Joseph Smith!!"

{I'm still trying to figure out who she was talking about!}

Miracles

The Sharing Time lesson in Primary today was all about miracles. We watched a short movie about some of the miracles the Savior performed, and it got me all goose-bumpy thinking about some of the miracles we've seen in our family.

There's the time we found my wedding ring at the beach in California.

There was the time that Emily suddenly started getting better during her bout with pneumonia a few years ago. Consequently, the doctor still talks about that event.

The hours and days surrounding Rachel's birth definitely come to mind. With doctors and nurses not knowing what to do, especially when she wasn't responding to typical treatment. And me feeling like I had been thrown to the very edge of a cliff. Oh, and the pediatrician still talks about this one too!

Sometimes miracles are easy to pinpoint. And sometimes they're small and they may be difficult to recognize. But they're all around us. Waiting to be recognized and appreciated.

I am also thankful for one more small, but very much appreciated miracle today. Caleb - after getting off to a rough start - gave in and slept through most of Sacrament Meeting. He needed that, I needed that...heck, the whole congregation needed that!

Happy 8th Birthday Joshua

Happy happy birthday to a fun-loving, silly boy!

Josh, you’ve come a long way!

Some things about Josh:

• He is learning to play the ukulele and is catching on rather quickly
• He is also learning the piano, and doing very well at it
• He has a real love for music and can tell us exactly what we’re listening to on the radio much of the time
• He is a very good cleaner and organizer, and only grumbles a little bit when it’s time to clean
• He is a very smart, deep-thinking kid, and always full of questions.  In the words of Jared, “his mind is like a steel trap.”  If you know Josh at all, you’ll know this for sure!
• He is a good friend to everyone
• He got to go to Cub Scouts for the very first time yesterday (and he LOVED it!)

We love you very much Josh!  We are so happy to have you in our family, and we look forward to your baptism next month!  We are very happy you have made the decision to be baptized, and we hope you’ll continue to make good choices all your life!  You are such a blessing to us and we’re thankful for YOU!