Sorry it has been so long!

This year has gone so fast.  I can't believe the summer is over and it is time for school to start again.  I have been very busy this summer.  I was done working at the elementary school in April I was a little freaked out at first because I depend on those paychecks, but I am also a crossing guard for the City of West Jordan and I was able to do a crossing for the free school breakfast/lunch program over the summer which was so helpful and I know that my prayers were answered the day I got that phone call.  It was really, really hot some days but so worth it.  Sometimes my kids would come with me sometimes they all came at once and sometimes one at a time, it was really great to spend that time with them.

A week after RaKelle turned 16 she  was able to sing the National Anthem at the Western Stampede Rodeo, she did amazing and she was not even nervous I think I had all of her nerves for her I was so nervous.  She amazes me everyday, she was able to sit up in the boxed seats with the people in charge and was able to take Braxton and her cousin Amaia up there with her.  It was a really fun night, almost my entire family was there to support her and it was awesome.  I sat down next to Jaren when she was done and asked him if he liked and he started crying.  I was so thankful that he was able to see RaKelle achieve one of her many dreams come true.  I tried to attach a video of her singing I hope it worked.

RaKelle finally turned 16 yay!!! and she is loving it.  She is working 2 different jobs and loves them and loves having her own money.  I can't wait until she finally gets her license so she can drive herself to work, but it is really nice to hand her the keys and say I will sit in the passenger seat and just enjoy being a passenger.  She will be starting her junior year on Monday and she has some really good classes.  She has had a rough summer, she has had some friends that were not happy with themselves this summer and one of them was wanting to take his life and he had called her thinking it was someone else and she started crying hysterically and I have a very open relationship with her so I knew that things were not good with this person so I immediately called dispatch and talked with someone and they were able to find him and get him to safety.  It was not a fun couple hours I knew I had to do something because I didn't know if I could handle her feeling guilty if this person took his life and I didn't do anything to help, she would tell me over and over I am so glad that he called me instead of who he was trying to get a hold of.  I was talking to dispatch and she was talking to him, she actually heard from him and he is doing much better.  I am so thankful that I listened to my instincts and called someone to potentially save his life.  She told me over and over that she thinks that other people would have just brushed it off and just chalked it up to him wanting attention.  It was a stressful day for all of us, Ashlyn and Braxton were terrified because they have never seen her cry like that especially in a public place.

Ashlyn is starting 9th grade this year and is very excited.  She loves school, she has been a little worried because her band teacher that is the BEST teacher ever that taught me how to play the flute when I was her age retired this year and there is a new teacher coming in.  She has some fun classes and I think she will enjoy 9th grade.

Braxton will be in 6th grade this year and this will be the last year that I will have kids in elementary school it is kind of sad and a little weird.  He is very nervous to be in 6th grade but I think he will love it once it starts. I will still be working at his school this year so I will still be able to see him a lot.  I am really excited to be there with him.

We were able to do the sound booth thing for the U of U and it was a great experience for all of us.  It was very touching to hear my kids stories and what they think of our situation put to music.  I was in tears through the whole thing.  They did an amazing job capturing our story.  I have attached a link that you can go to and listen to it.  I hope it works.  http://ccmixter.org/reviews/JamieGordonFamily/49372#216324 If it doesn't work please let me know and I will put a different one and see if that works.  I am not very computer savvy for this kind of stuff.

Thanks again for reading my blog and following our trials and triumphs and other things that are happening in our family.  We are so thankful to have so many friends and so many people that care about us.