End of Summer Vacation

The last week of summer we stayed busy picking peaches and plums off our trees, swimming with the Barson cousins, watching Megan improve her gymnastics skills on her new beam, going to pack meeting, supporting Laura in a soccer tournament, taking the kids to Top Golf for our family end-of-the-summer activity (I don't know how we missed getting a picture of Laura, but we did), and getting school supplies ready (it was like Christmas the kids were so excited!). It was a fun week!

Megan's Birthday Continued

A couple days after Megan's birthday, we had Nate's family over to celebrate. We are so blessed to have so much love and support from our families! 

Megan's Birthday

Megan turned 7 this year. It has been a great year! She's become a great reader, she loves doing gymnastics and she is a great helper and friend. She loves to have friends over and will every chance she gets. She loves her stuffed animals and her dolls and is always dressing them up and taking them somewhere. She still uses some Meganisms like "worser," "once time" and "upposed to," but those are starting to fade, unfortunately. I love watching her grow up, but it makes me sad too since she's my baby. But, as I find myself saying a lot these days, time marches on. Megan was so exited about her birthday and wanted to help with every detail, including making her cake. She had a mermaid and pirate party (thanks to Nate's cousin Kylee who shared her party stuff with us) with her friends and cousins. We rented a bounce house for the first (and last) time and I think it turned out to be a fun party! Her favorite toy came from her cousins Easton and Tysen. It's a little dog that you feed, walk and watch it poop! I don't know when she's been so excited about a toy. Megan brings so much joy to our family. I love to see how excited she gets over things and how much fun she has with her friends. I also love how sweet she is with our family. She gives great hugs and has a great smile. We are so grateful for her!

August

In August, we got to spend time with Annie (and Austin and Isaac), play outside with our neighbors and roast marshmellows, and Lia got to go to the Ruby Girl Retreat she'd been looking forward to all summer (she went with her friend Alexa Horton and was the one who looked into it, registered, and made all the arrangements so they could go). I also happened to catch Josh and Megan watching a show together on Megan's bed (I didn't do anything to disturb them--those moments are rare).

My Birthday

I am a major nerd about my birthday, I know. It's not that I expect everyone to make it really special (not really, anyway), but I love celebrating it. Nate was at fathers and sons that morning, so the girls made me breakfast in bed. They are so cute about surprises--most of the time I know exactly what they are up to, but I love watching them pull it off, whether its for me or someone else. When Nate and Josh got home they sang happy birthday and I opened a few presents, including my new bike! I knew about the bike, Nate took me in to get measured on it and to make sure I liked it. I love it! We went on a ride that afternoon and I have to say I'm really, really excited about it! That night the kids were nice enough to let us leave again (even with Megan sicker than a dog that day) and we went to dinner at Sundance. We went to a restaurant we'd never been to before and it was fabulous. We drove home over the pass with the sunroof open, which was also fabulous. It was a beautiful night and a beautiful day! (I don't know when the last time was I used so many exclamation points--sorry. And because I've gushed already so much in this post, I won't say too much about how great Nate is. But he is. Really, really great.)

*Side note: I also got to meet Sister Burton that day, the General Relief Society President. She and her husband (who Nate knows through work and through their daughter Katie) came over to look at our car we were selling for their granddaughter (for their daughter who lives in St. George). She is about as sweet and sincere as can be and it was great to meet her. She gave me and the girls a hug and I felt in that moment the love she has for women and girls all over the world.

I also went shopping and out to lunch with my mom and went to dinner with a couple of friends from my new neighborhood. I had a great time with all of them. It was evidence that things that were really hard in my life a year ago are getting better!

August

In August, Nate got to go fishing with some guys from work, we went to the zoo with Katie and Ashley and their cute kids (I love seeing the little boys with Josh--he's so cute with them and I'm pretty sure they love him), Lia bought a new camera she's been wanting for a long time, Laura got to go with Nate to his work party at Sundance (she was SO excited!), and Lia and I got to go to a mother daughter activity for young women's (she looked a lot cuter than I did that night!). We had a great time!