Oh, hey there! Remember how I wrote THIS post over two months ago and then THIS happened and my life has been a little bit crazy ever since (not that my crazy life is anything new.... it's just a different kind of crazy)?! Yeah, well, I am bound and determined to get this blog caught up and I am DOING it! Okay, so I ended my last summer recap right before the 24th of July...
The day I got home from Girl's Camp was actually the 24th. My dear friend Becca was in town visiting and her 2 girls came over to spend the evening with us. We have a huge neighborhood party/barbecue every year and then do fireworks in the cul-de-sac behind our house once it gets dark. Unfortunately Andy had to head to work, but the kids and I had fun watching them.
I have said it before, but I adore our neighborhood. There are so many kids everywhere and everyone has someone to play with. The boys all have kids their age and they all get along famously.
The Three Musketeers, so happy to be together again.
Laylah and her friends.
Awww, me and my date.
One day I will master the art of taking a photo of fireworks exploding. Until then, here's a really crappy picture of a firework that either just exploded or is about to.
I love and miss Becca so much! How ironic is this?... they lived in Wisconsin while her husband was attending dental school and when he finished he was offered a job in.... Virginia! What are the odds?! Well, I guess 1 in 50, but still.... I thought it was pretty crazy.
Just a relaxing Sunday summer afternoon braiding each others hair... haha
So, here's a funny story. Magnus (aka The Silent Assassin) was in his pajamas all day one day and that evening I decided to take the kids to Movie in the Park. I told Magnus to go get dressed in shorts, a t-shirt, and flip flops, and then I went to find the other kids at their various friend's houses (Andy was home with M). When I got home, M was gone. Andy said Magnus had gone to find me in the circle. I started back to the circle and looked everywhere. No Magnus. I went house to house, ran over to check at the school playground by our house.... nothing. Finally I went and looked in our neighbors backyard and there he was, playing in the sandbox in the get-up you see above-- Jonah's boxer shorts, a sweatshirt, and rain boots. He is such a crazy kid. I sure love him.
Anyway, we made it to the movie in the park. I let all the kids invite a friend (their parent's were okay with us squishing... so don't judge. I'm not the only irresponsible one ;) It was a fun night.
This is just some delicious baked oatmeal recipe I found. I made it for dinner one night when I had nothing else to make because I hadn't been to the store in so long. I think the kids ate like 5 bites and deemed it disgusting. I literally ate this every morning for breakfast for almost 2 weeks until it was gone because nobody else would eat it. It was delicious! Crazy kids (and husband) ;)
Our dear friends from VA, Ira and Eric, were in town for a couple days for a family member's funeral. We got together really late the night before their flight left to go home. They were so nice to squeeze us in. I just love them so much! We had a blast reminiscing and catching up.
This was the Sunday I got released from Young Women's. It was a tear-filled day. I was so sad to be leaving that amazing organization. I love these girl's like my own. It was a wonderful 18 month learning and growing experience.
This is my mom, her mom, and her siblings. My uncles live out of state (the one on the right lives out of country!) and we all have a little reunion every summer when they both come visit. I adore my mom's family. I adore all of my cousins on her side and am very close with them. It was a fun Sunday night with yummy food and great conversation.
I love that these 3 boys, while so far apart in age, are so very close. They can all 3 play for hours together and I love it.
Jonah has enjoyed Webelos this year. He has an amazing scout leader who helps SO much with all of the stuff they need to pass off.
Okay.... this guy passed his EMT course! I know I have mentioned in a previous post just how insane this summer was, but I remember the morning he came home from his last EMT class and I just felt relief that he was done. We celebrated with sugar.
It's so awesome when random crappy stuff happens (um, not). Andy was mowing the lawn and he thinks a rock must have gotten caught in the mower blade, and flipped out of the mower at a fast enough rate to shatter our back window. Lovely.
We like to date. We go every week, and rarely ever miss. Laylah was so funny one night and did a little photo shoot of us as we were leaving :)
A week and a half before school started we did our end-of-summer shopping trip for back to school clothes, shoes, and other supplies. We went to lunch and just had a fun day together.
My conclusion to this fun day? Kids are expensive. They're fun too, so I suppose it's worth it :)
Laylah and Daphne have been taking riding lessons from my sister Kaylie for awhile now. I haven't mentioned it much, but I used to ride and do small competitions. I worked my bum off to pay for my lessons and competition fees because my parents were paying for dance so they told me I had to pay for riding if I wanted to do it. I'm so glad I did. It was a good life lesson that I had to work for things I really wanted.
So my girls help take care of Luna when they go for lessons. I'm so glad they're learning. I would love to have a horse someday (in my dreams) so I'm glad they're learning young.
We have LOVED having Rachel live down the street. Our kids are almost always together. And it is so nice to be able to borrow something and not feel bad when I go over there for the 4th time that week because I'm out of something, haha. She is free to do the same for me, but she is more responsible so rarely has to... that's probably why I'm the little sister. These three boys play every day.
I mentioned in my last summer post that we were heading to Bear Lake for our last summer hurrah the next morning. We did go and had so much fun. We did our Back to School Feast while we were there, so I will do that trip/feast recap in another post.
On the way home from Bear Lake we met up with my entire family at Lagoon. It was the Monday before school started. That also happened to be the morning that Magnus threw-up for the first time leading up to his tumor diagnosis. I was also sick that morning (I'll explain it all in my Bear Lake post) so Andy dropped the kids off with my parents and then took me to the doctor and then I had arranged for a ride home. He went back up to spend the rest of the day with the kids. At the time, we thought Magnus might have a virus (after he threw-up), but he was acting fine so we let him go to Lagoon. I am SO glad we did. He had so much fun and just loved it. I'm so glad he got that fun time with cousins before being in the hospital and having his life turned upside down.
The rest of the kids had fun going on all of the big rides. I can't believe 4 of my 5 kids are so big and can even go on every ride! I love it! I was so sad to miss Lagoon this year, but there is always next year, right?
This was the first time Jonah and Baron went on the Samarai. Daphne chickened out, haha.
I was feeling better by Wednesday (the day before school started for the kids... my semester started that morning) and the girls and I had a little Girl's Day with my mom and Rachel and Ella. They all came and saw me at work to get their nails done, we went to lunch, and then did some last minute shopping. It was lots of fun! (Besides me still feeling a little sick, and also being in major pain because I had just found out that I needed a root canal that morning and my tooth was killing me)
We went home and did Father's blessings for everyone (even me!), divided up all of our back-to-school loot, put supplies in backpacks, chose first day of school outfits, and got all ready to go!
School is here!
Actually, it's been in for over 2 months. But with my life the way it's been, I feel like school just started. I feel like I am kind of stuck in a time warp and that everything that has happened since M's diagnosis has just barely happened. It is weird. I have read of that happening to people who experience a tragedy or a huge life change like we did. But that's why I finally decided to update this blog the best I can. I need to get on with life! Because it is moving on whether I like it or not.
So anyway, the kids had a great first day. That will be another post. We had a crazy, crazy summer with a crazy, crazy ending, but it ended just the same (and thank goodness. It was most definitely NOT one of my favorite summers). And at least now I documented it!
Over and out.
No comments:
Post a Comment