School started today!  It’s hard to believe how fast the summer went by!  It seems like yesterday that the kids came home from their last day of school very excited for a summer full of fun, trips, and rest!  😐  Next thing we know, we’ve returned home from a 2 week vacation to Utah and Idaho, attended EFY, gone to Girl’s Camp, attended youth conference, started marching band, had a Spanish student for a week, gone to all the school orientation events, etc. and now we’re going back!

Kirstyn could hardly sleep last night she was so excited for school to start.  She had all her clothes set out and ready, her backpack all packed up, and was giddy as a 5-year-old on Christmas morning!  🙂  Brittany was a little nervous but excited as well.  For Sarah, she’s excited, but this is “old hat” for her, and we’re not sure what’s going through Zachary’s brain right now!  🙂

It is SO nice not having to worry about Sarah and Brittany getting to school this year!  🙂  Sarah picked up her parking pass the other day and now it’s officially on the car!  They’ll just get ready and go.  I think Sarah is more excited about driving to school than she is about school!  🙂

After Sarah and Brittany sped off to school, it was time to get Kirstyn ready to go.  Her friend Riya came to walk with her and they both looked overjoyed to be able to go to a new school!  Kirstyn is excited that she doesn’t have to ride the bus anymore and they get to walk down the street to school!

Then it was Zach’s turn!  We hope he’ll get along well riding the bus without his big sister helping him out!  Hopefully he’ll also STAY on the bus until he gets to his stop!  🙂  He looked so cute in his backpack and bags of stuff he took to help the teachers!

That just left Ben and Angela home alone.  As soon as all the kids were gone, Ben was EXCITED!  He loves his brother and sisters, but we think he’s had enough of them this summer and needs a break!  He actually turns into a different, less-rowdy person without all the noise and commotion all around constantly!  🙂  Look at the happy, relieved smile on Ben’s face…

Having the kids go back to school is a nice break for Angela, although she hates to see the kids go back to school.  It just means less time with them and we feel even older!  🙁