{end of august happenings}

(This is a long one, so be warned)

The last couple months it's felt like we've been in Wenatchee every other weekend. Mom and Dad have come and picked us up and taken us over with them, a sweet deal. It's made for a fun and busy summer.

On Saturday mornings Marnie goes on her long jogs/walks with her group of friends, so I've been tagging along on the days that we've been there. On this day (below) we had just gotten back from going 4 miles and we were doing sit ups and lunges which made for a pretty sore next couple of days.

Then when Staci came a couple weeks ago we all went and did 6 miles. Fun Fun.

I think we're a little cuter in this one:

I don't realize how short I am til I see pictures, ha ha.

And once we get to Wenatchee the kids are immediately in the pool. George didn't come with us on this trip. He stayed home with Dad so he wouldn't miss any football. Tried not to have to much fun with out him.

Staci and her girls...

Out to dinner for some pizza...

Rocky Reach Dam....

Making electricity...

Fun in the bouncy house..

At church...

more pool...

playing in the rice....

On the last morning before Staci left we went to the store and bought doughnuts for breakfast. I think the majority liked maple bars. yum.

Back at home at Lake Goodwin....enjoying 90 deg. weather and a few more free days before school starts.

We left for Utah on the 18th....

Thanks to mom and dad we got to borrow their van and drive in luxury...

17 hours later we made it to Midway. It was a long day and a half.

The Y in Provo. Not sure when I've taken a picture of it before.

George holding Isaac for the first time. Cute cousins.

We had a short visit with Ryan, Courtney and the kids, but it was good to see them.

I love my friends and miss them so much. So glad we could have at least lunch together. We were missing Maegen and Amy unfortunately.

And MJ got to see some of her best buds too.

The boys caught a lot of snakes in the backyard, big and small. yuck. but they loved it.

The only picture I got of John. He left for his mission on the 24th. The farewell on Sunday was really good. We sure are going to miss him, but he's going to be a great missionary. He's going to the New Jersey, Morristown Mission. After church we had a big lunch/party with all the family. It was fun hanging out and visiting with everyone.

Then on Monday on our way home we stopped in Syracuse to see our good friends the Jensen's. They just moved there a couple weeks before. We sure have missed them, but it was fun seeing them and their new place.

Kaden and Mason

Dalton and George

The day after we got back was Pack Meeting and the Rain gutter Regatta. We all met at Twin Lakes and the boys each took turns blowing their boats down the rain gutters.

Sorry it was so long and sporadic, I wasn't that great at taking pictures this time. Just a few highlighted moments.

We've been school supply shopping finally and we're ready for school now. It starts next week, Sept. 1. We're all a little excited. Can't believe summer is over already and it's going to be C-mas before we know it.

It's Football Season

George started football a couple weeks ago. He has practices everyday (m-f) from 5-7:30. So our evenings are full. It's a big commitment and will get even busier when the games start in a couple weeks. The games will be every Sat. til Nov. Are we crazy or what?

Two of the other moms and I walk the track the last hour of practice, which is nice to get in some exercise, especially when the weather is nice, you've gotta take advantage of it. (which lately is HOT HOT HOT, and with no a/c is..... still hard to get used to.)

Go Cougars!!

Birthd♥y Girl

Our precious baby girl turned 7 today. Man time flies when you're having fun. Where did the time go? Before I know it she'll be in High School, then college, then married, then ..... ok stop, I have to enjoy the moment. Every little one, good and bad and appreciate all that she brings into our lives. She's just growing up into such a sweet, beautiful girl.

A saying I saw on a blog the other day, struck a chord -

"The days are long but the years are short"

It's so true.

Today consisted of 3 requests...

Request #1:

The day began with breakfast in bed.

All she wanted was toast. I was willing to make anything, but she made it easy on me.

Request #2:

A little party.

She invited 2 friends over, Julia and Brayden, and we went to McDonalds for lunch and a little play time.

Went home and opened presents, which I happend to not get any pictures of, darn it. She got a lot of clothes which is what she needed. With her birthday so close to school starting, it's the perfect gift. And I'm afraid it will probably never change. Thank you to all the grandparents for the gifts.

We made homemade ice cream in the baggies to go with the cake. I thought it would be easy and a fun little activity. Well it was a little hard to get them to shake and keep moving the bags long enought to get the ice cream hardened because it was so cold. It was a great attempt though.  Brayden's actually turned out pretty good and Julia's I started over with new ice and rock salt and it worked too.

MJ shared the candles and they each took turns putting them on the cake.

"Happy Birthday to You"

Hopefully many wishes will come true.

The ice cream melted really fast. Had to eat it quick.

We brought home the rice activity from Marnie's last weekend when we were there. So we got it out to play with at the end of the party.  It's surprisingly entertaining. It's like an indoor sand box. They didn't get to play with it for too long though before they had to go home. The 3 hours they were over sure went by fast. I thought it was going to be plenty, but they could have played for 3 more. And honestly I wouldn't have minded, they were so good and having a really good time.

A pathetic attempt of a smile, silly girl.

Such cute friends. They had such a fun time.

Not bad for a last minute party. I feel like such a lame mom most of the time, so I'll just pretend I had all this planned ahead of time.

Request #3:

A movie.

She wanted to go see Eclipse.

The boys would have rather seen Toy Story3 or Despicable Me, but it wasn't up to them.

I had heard it was good and she had seen the first 2 movies and they were pretty innocent...well maybe we should have previewed this one before we took the whole family to see it. There sure was a lot of kissing. Kept telling them to close their eyes and laughing about it rather than making it big deal. The action scenes were pretty intense, which they handle those really well, and overall it was a really good movie. Just maybe next time we'll be better about previewing movies before we take the kids.

When we got home Sharkboy and Lavagirl was on Disney channel, which she just had to watch. (Taylor Lautner plays sharkboy in his younger years, he's changed quite a bit since then.) I think MJ is Team Jacob.  She worries me sometimes, wanting to be a teenager already.

What a girl.

Love you little missy!

Hope you had a fun birthday.