August

Pictures of the pictures Lisa bought at Niagra Falls.

We got home late Tuesday night and hit the ground running.  I taught Bootcamp Wednesday morning, but planned it around my bum ankle.

These are Ethan's results from his first state standardized test.  It makes it look like he got a perfect score on his math, but he wasn't recognized by the school, so I'm not sure what the max score was.  

 Trip 9 to Wet N Wild!

 Mike had the furniture set up for me for my preschool room and I got it decorated when I got home.  Thursday was meet the teacher for the big boys and Friday we had a meet the teacher for preschool.

 The dining table moved to the front room that I previously used for preschool.

 School supply shopping is always a fun time...

 Mike and I had a fun date to Bobby Q's where we sat in this cozy bar area.  Our table was wobbly, so as we left, a dish fell off.  They gave us extra donuts for breaking dishes.  It was a funny and surprising consequence.

 The Monday after we arrived home, all three boys started school.

Ethan started 4th grade with Miss Bozlee.

 Benton started 2nd grade with Miss Ackie and Mr. Herrera.

 Asher started preschool with me and Mrs. McKenzie.

 Asher and I walked/rode the boys to school for their first day.

 Asher and Aden were reunited!

 Our cute preschool class: Colby, Evie, Caelyn, Aden, Asher, and Payge.

 6:30am feels early in 4th grade.

 We got new carpet over the summer and it makes working on the floor a comfy option.

 We took dinner and games to the Webers.

 While I chatted with Pat, Brother Weber played with the boys.  They gave Asher a playing card, which satisfied his desire to be included in Clue.

 The spreadsheet I made of my routine at the beginning of the year.

 We have LegoLand Discovery Center passes for these two.  Preschool, plus the Discover Center makes for two tired boys.

 Mike's cube.

 Mike and I went to the Phoenician for our anniversary.  The day before I inventoried and reprogrammed our drip line.  The heat, or pokey plants, or something, caused me to get hives for a few days.

 We got a monsoon the night we were at the hotel. It was an amazing lightning show that created small waterfalls on the mountain. The view from our room patio was beautiful.

 We also walked around the grounds and Mike got some cool photos.

 From our patio.

 13 years!

 A good quote from the book I read during our trip.

 Asher's creative use of our hanging chairs.

With new paint and carpet in the basement, I also got some new decorations.  We went with a superhero theme.

 The preschool kids are VERY excited about this color chart.

 I planned a trip to Antelope Canyon for our youth.  It got stressful right beforehand wondering how it would work and how much it would cost, but, as the church trips always do, it worked out great.  I'm so grateful for my friend Cacie and her family's willingness to help us do this trip.

 We did an open air jeep drive to Horseshoe Bend.  They had these sample Hogan and Navajo buildings on the way.

 The formations were beautiful.

 Antelope Canyon was just incredible!

 This is a fossilized dinsoaur footprint outside the canyon.

 Burger King dinner on the way home with a bunch of coupons made for a fun, affordable meal.

 The next week we drove up to Utah.  We almost didn't make it up because Mike's back went out while he had a cough.  He powered through and we made the drive up.  We were greeted by a hail storm when we arrived.

 I love these fun pictures from Jil's memory books.

 This one is from Myrlon's funeral.

 Jake hosted a breakfast so he, Mike, and Adam could get together.

 We went to a playground where I did monkey bars for the first time.

Jennifer and Loryn got in that night and while we were up chatting, Lexi and her boyfriend stopped by to say hi.  It made for a fun evening.

 The next day, Asher and I went to see Steffani.  It was so fun to catch up.

 That night we drove up to a hotel in Sandy.  The Hanshaws were staying there too and a lot of the family dropped by to chat that night.  Rachelle, Lexi, Rick, Emma, Jenn, Loryn, Kris, Aaron, Ricky, Zane, Rebekah, Mike.

 The next day was the wedding.  Here is a picture of all the cousins who made it (4 are from Zane's side).

After pictures, we had lunch and hung out at the hotel until the reception.  I got to dance with Benton and Asher.

 Cute Jilean and Asher dancing with Paige.

 The next day was Kaleb's mission homecoming. Paul and Mike played with Emma accompanying.

 While they practiced, we took the little ones outside to play.

 We had lunch at Mignonne's and then Allie and Wes did a gender reveal.  They are having a boy!

 Asher got really into ties for a while because his friend Tucker and teacher Brother Wilson wear them. Asher also loves colorful and striped shirts.

 Hide and seek at IKEA with the YW.

 PTA Meeting (I'm Secretary).