Marriage...

This week my sister in law got married. It was a beautiful ceremony and the happy couple was just that, so happy. It was also nice to spend so much time with my husband the last few days. I am always thankful that he is such a great guy. He works hard for our family. But more that doing things for our family and kids he is so great to me. He is always very aware of my feeling, wants and needs. I am so very lucky to have him. One thing that was said during the ceremony was that you are no longer an I, me or mine but you become a we, us and ours. It was a nice reminder for me that we are a unit working together. Love you Jeremiah.

Mischief...

She loves to unroll toilet paper rolls. I keep the bathrooms closed, but if she manages to find herself in a bathroom it is good bye to the toilet paper.

Then there is this. This is how she sleeps. She drinks her bottle and then just folds in half. So cute, I could just eat her up!

Preschool...

Wait. What!?!

This girl is so excited to go to preschool this year. She has told anyone that will listen that she is in her very own preschool and not my moms preschool. Yep, thats right, she isn't going to my preschool this year. I felt it was best that she goes to another preschool. so she gets to be with her own friends and do her own thing.

H.O.T....

We have reached the miserably hot days of summer in the valley. gag. I hate it. I am longing for the days when I can send my kids out and they can play for more that 10 minutes. But those days are still pretty far away. For now we will just keep playing in the water. This day was all about the slip and slide on the tramp. 

Bedtime...

We have been working hard to get back into a good school routine.

Part of that routine is going to bed on time. Night time can be stressful. Getting everyone down to sleep when they are all grumpy is no fun. Jeremiah works in the evenings so it is just me most of the time. It make such a big difference when we do the nighttime routine. Clean up, jammies, read stories, brush teeth, prayers and getting tucked in. One new thing that is going on is Bode reading Laine a story once or twice a week. I love it! She actually listens to him read and he gets good practice in.

Then there is this little bug. She has no problem going to sleep. Staying asleep is a whole other thing. She is 10 months old and still gets up once or twice a night for a baba. I know it is because she sleeps so close to me (in our big closet) and I can hear her get up. So instead of her stirring and fussing by herself and self soothing back to sleep, I hear her and take care of her. The only way this is going to change is to get her out of our room and into Laine's room. But that is a whole big thing in its self. Getting up once a night seems better than dealing with the can of worms that would surely be opened if I put the girls in the same room.

Big First Grader...

Bode is officially in first grade.

He was so excited to start. I got up at 6 that morning. He was already up, dressed and had packed a lunch.

He was a pro. No tears, for either of us. He has a bunch of friends in his class and we got the teacher we requested. I hope he has the best year. 

He is getting SO big!

Blue eyes...

All of my children have beautiful blue eyes. I love them. 

Sweet Girl...

She really is so sweet. She loves food of all kinds. She is not the biggest fan of baby food these days and prefers to eat whatever we are eating. That does get pretty messy.

Family Pictures...

We have been needing family pictures. I figured we would wait until the fall so it wouldn't be so hot.

I didn't want to spent a ton of money on pictures so we went the lest inexpensive way possible.

My friend Thyra has a great camera and I asked her if she would take some pictures of us.

I figure if she took a ton a few might work.

We went out on a hot evening, lasted about 25 minutes and hoped for the best.

I am really pleased with how they turned out. Thrya took great pictures. I took them and edited them.

Neither of us claim to be good at either photography or editing but I am very satisfied with how they came out and will do it again. 

The light is on...

On Sunday the kids get to watch church shows, living scripture cartoons mostly. Bode comes to me and says,"We are watching Elf. Elf is a Christmas movie, Christmas is a holiday about Jesus, so Elf is a Sunday movie." Well played Bode, well played.

My favorite shoes...

The main reason I went up to Pinetop was to play in the 1st Annul Blue Ridge Alumni Volleyball Tournament. And let me tell you, it was fun! It was great to see people I hadn't seen in years.

It was also pretty amazing to see how many players Coach Ellsworth has coached to love the game.

This was my team.

L-R Chanel, Amy, Stephanie (I played with these girls in high school and have so many good memories with them) Me, Anna (I coach Anna, she now plays volleyball in college) and Tandy (I help assist her team and went to high school with her sister) 

I had a blast with these girls. I wasn't sure how well we would do at the beginning but we played well together. We won a few and lost a few. We all agreed that it didn't matter if we lost them all because it was just that much fun. 

It may not be as impressive as it once was but I still got hops ;)

Crack is whack...

This poor girl. No matter the size of the jeans or how much I take them in...

her crack is always showing. No booty on this girl. 

Her sister on the other hand... has plenty to spare.

Bigfoot...

While up in Pinetop we went on a drive in my Dad's new toy. It is a big lifted suburban with the roof cut off. They are planning on driving it through the White Mountains on tours next summer.

It is fun. We loaded up all the kids in their seats and took a tour.

Driving up into the mountains made me really want to go camping.

Outside...

My favorite thing about going to my mom and dad's house is letting my kids play outside. They roam, play in the dirt, ride bikes and build forts. It is heaven.

Even Piper loved sitting on a blanket in the grass and watching the kids run around.

I love these three. They are my life.

Anybody there...

I haven't blogged in a month. In my defense, it has been a busy month with lost of chaos and feelings of being unsettled.  I am feeling like things are getting back to normal. I still have lots of things going on, but I am learning how to balance things again. Just in time for school to start. Now to play blog catch-up.

While I was in Pinetop I got to meet up with my good friend Taytum. We don't keep in touch like we could and should but it was so fun to catch up with her and meet her boys. We met at an EFY in Round Valley when we were like 16 but didn't ever make a friendship beyond that until EAC. We lived in the dorms together and became friends. The summer between semesters I decided that I wanted a little adventure and got a job at a B&B in Silverton, Colorado. A week in I decided it would be best it I had a friend to join me on my adventure. So I called Taytum and she drove up to Colorado! So fun. We got along so well that summer and she has been a friend that no matter how much time has passed we can pick up right where we left off. I don't have very many friends, so it means alot to me to have Taytum.