Camping

 The last weekend before school started we went camping with our friends/neighbors.  We had a blast and all 11 kids got along great.  I think it will have to be a yearly event.  Sadly I appear to have only taken pictures of the archery portion of our trip.  Too much fun being had to get out the camera.

Utah

 I flew to Utah with my parents and sisters family the end of August for my cousins wedding.  I missed Brandon and the kids, but it was nice to get away for a few days.

 We went to BYU - one of the few things on my list of things to do.  It has changed a lot since I was there.

 Lucky Camille was there a few weeks before us and told us about this photo op.  It was raining so we didn't explore much, but it was fun to see it all again.

 My buddy for the weekend.  Without my kids around I could just play with Paige and not be yelled at by my jealous children.  It was fun to get to be an aunt for a few days. Play and play, then give her back when she was grumpy or needed a diaper change.

  Paige danced the night away at the reception.

Sunday morning MoTab.  We lucked into a week where they had the orchestra and the bells too.  

Temple square before we headed home.  It was an exhausting trip squeezing in everything we wanted to see and do, but we managed it all (except I only got Cafe Rio once).  I'm excited to go down again with Brandon and the kids so we can show the kids all of the traditional Utah stuff.

Spokane

Brandon had to do training in Spokane for the first few weeks of summer.  His work rented him a 2 bedroom apartment for his time there so we decided to all go with him one week.

 The complex was new so our building didn't have landscaping yet.  I love Grace's hair in this picture.

 The kids loved the bike racks.

 We somehow didn't take any pictures, but we were right on a trail that runs along the river so we went out for a few walks to wear the kids out so we didn't drive our neighbors crazy while we were in the apartment all day waiting for Brandon to get off work.

 We found a cute park one day.

We spent a little while walking around Gonzaga's campus.  It has some gorgeous old buildings.

 The day before we were supposed to come home Brandon got a job offer and accepted it.  It meant we were leaving earlier than we planned, so we took the kids out swimming in the morning.  People thought we were crazy out swimming at 10 (the weather in Spokane was not great that week).

 Lucky we brought warm towels because the kids noticed the cold weather when they got out the pool.  It was a fun week and a nice break from the norm. I'm thankful Brandon doesn't have to go do anymore 6 week trainings out of town though.

Birthday Girl

 Last month our baby turned 4.  I think I'm still a bit in denial that my youngest is 4 years old already, but she is.  She asked to open one present in the morning before her party, and she got a purple purse - just like she asked for.  I didn't know where I was going to find one, but at the last minute happened across this one at Target, the last of its kind, and she loves it.

 No fancy birthday cereal for this girl, she just wanted Cheerios.  

 Posing with the picture she made at church. She was very proud of it.

Brandon created yet another birthday cake masterpiece.  This is Pascal from Tangled, just like she wanted.

Floating lanterns, as requested.

 It is pretty fun to get to do a girl party.  Flynn Ryder wanted posters - thank you Pinterest.

 We made a sunburst banner, which if you've seen Tangled would make sense.  I made the little Pascals on the mantle too.

  She is obsessed with all things Rapunzel, so we bought her Halloween costume and let her wear it that day.  So funny to see her with long blonde hair.

 Gifts.  Grace has no problem being the center of attention.

 Another random request, a princess ice pack for her lunch box. 

Overall she was a very happy birthday girl. She loved her party, her decorations, and all of the attention.  Apparently I didn't take pictures of her guests, but she had all of us,  Grandma, Grandpa, Grandma Jean, Grammie, Gramps, Katie, Ben, and Paige.  We left the decorations up until last week when it was time for the next party just so she could keep enjoying them.  So glad we have our beautiful, crazy girl.  

Park Day

 This pictures has nothing to do with the park.  Mid August I had the opportunity to attend a Virtue Conference with the young women I work with at church. These are some of those young women as we got the chance to speak with Elaine Dalton, former president of the young women for our entire church. It was an amazing weekend.

 I went out of town for my cousin's wedding, and Brandon stayed home with our kids.  He took them to a park by the house he grew up in one night and took some pretty cute pictures.

 I know its blurry but I love the way my boys play together.  They are such fun brothers.

The best he got of the three.  I missed my kids being gone but it looks like they had a good time on their weekend with just Dad.

Low Tide

 My dad knows about all kinds of sea creatures, and when we were little we used to go to the beach all of the time to look for things and explore.  When my aunt and uncle came in July we decided it was a good chance to go again.

 Evan spotted a moon snail and we got to watch it move along in the sand, and then pull itself completely back into its shell.

 It is a regular marine biology class when we go.  I love it.

  Putting the crab to sleep

 Little tiny sea star

She even insisted on bring a butter clam shell home to show Daddy later.

 Grace loved getting things from Grandpa and then bringing them up to explain to everyone.

Dad managed to catch a few giant crabs that were legal to keep, so we passed them up to some guys crabbing on the pier above us.  

All in all a very fun day.