3rd and 11th

Grace's first day of 3rd Grade! BTW, she's holding one of two assignments that were done over the summer and DUE ON THE FIRST DAY.
Ry's first day of 11th Grade.
And his own wheels in which to travel to school...life is good.

A dream come true...

Apparently, Grace once mentioned to Andrew that it was a dream of hers to fly on an airplane. When we decided to drive to Vegas after dropping Ty off at college, my dearest husband became super-excited that he could possibly make her dream come true...
He bought us girls plane tickets to come home!
It was fabulous. She was SO excited. Andrew took all of our bags in the car with him, so we didn't have to deal with baggage at all. It was only an hour flight, but long enough for me, and perfect for her! We made it home HOURS before he did in the car.
I wonder what she'll wish for next?

What happens in Vegas...

Swimming in a pool on the roof...

Having the entire back seat to herself...

Seeing "Paris"...
Italy...
The Hard Rock Cafe...
And of course, SHOPPING! Being an only child is a beautiful thing sometimes. Being the BABY is a beautiful thing ALL THE TIME!

Dixie-licious

Made it to the hotel Thursday night...
Ty got himself all registered, paid, checked-in....
We moved him in to his dorm...
I'm excited for him to start this new chapter of his life! I'm so proud of him for pressing forward. I'm going to miss him like crazy though.
And this is the face that cried for 30 minutes after we drove away. See if you don't get a little misty yourself looking at those wet brown eyes.

Birdie

Tilt your head a bit...for some reason the first picture will NOT upload correctly.
Anyway. The boy came home from Lake Powell to...his car wrapped in saran wrap, painted, with posters stuck on it.
I guess his friends missed him :)
Also, they named his car "Birdie" which we (mostly him) emphatically shun.
In my experience, when you name your car, horrible things happen to it immediately. Wrecks, dings, crashes....you get the idea.
It is also the opinion of some people in this house that it's only semi-acceptable for girls to name their cars.
I believe that the T-Bird shall remain nameless.

Powell Twenty-ten

Old people freaking out on the 4-person tube...
Ty wake-boarding...
Kara, Grace and Kenzie (Ty's "friend") chillin' in the water...
Cousins tubing...
Beautiful Gracie.
It was a fantastic trip...perfect weather, wonderful company, fun drive, no sunburns! As my mom would say..."we're making memories!"

And he'll have FUN FUN FUN....

Ta-Da! Meet Ryan's new car. Mr. 1988 Ford Thunderbird. The boy has waited and waited for this day. The little mis-hap last June with...umm...totaling Jillian's car put the whole thing on hold. We weren't sure anyone would be willing to insure him.
His cousin was about to enter Army boot-camp and wanted to unload his car. Thanks Sam for letting us buy it!
We thought it was fitting that he's wearing his work uniform in the picture. He is paying for his own gas and insurance payments.
I'm sure this amazing, wonderful, responsible boy will never get the T-bird taken away....