Between my computer needing to spend some time in the shop being de-kid-ified, summer being crazy, and me being more tired than usual AND allowing myself to rest - I have not blogged in almost a month.
So - I give you the short version of July and August 2013!
Our grass grew!
Chad finished pouring concrete for our patio.
I love the outdoor dining space.
Joshua, Brenna and I - along with my mom, sister in law Emily, and my nieces Alexa and Adrianna spent a day at the State Fair. Joshua tried his first rides - which he LOVED.
I also took my littlest monkeys to the zoo.
Their favorite part of the zoo was climbing
a big old tree!
(Sorry for the terrible photo quality. . . it was a cell phone snapshot kind of month!)
My favorite event of the summer was the weekend we spent at my Grandma and Grandpa's house. Every one of their children, grandchildren, and great- grandchildren came "home" to celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary. It was SO wonderful to spend time with everyone in happy, relaxing, summer vacation mode!
One of the thing that always happens at Grandma's house is lots and lots of photos. Growing up we had to earn out Christmas gifts by smiling for the camera in all the different groupings that Grandma required. It seemed to take hours and hours to an excited little one! But although we have all smiled for the camera many times at Grandma's farm, we have never had professional family photos taken. So, this summer my mom found a photographer who came to the farm to take some. Now my kids share my memories of having to smile for WAY too MANY photos on the farm! Joshua did not enjoy all the photos - but I am really excited to see them.
Sierra, on the other hand, LOVES photos. When we got done with the professional ones, she begged for a photo shoot of her own. So I snapped these.
Brenna and Adrianna thought shooting pictures was fun too. They spent a lot of time that weekend with my camera practicing their own photography shills.
My grandma has beautiful flower gardens. Brenna had great fun snapping pictures of the beautiful blooms.
She also talked her cousin, Adrianna, into posing for many shots!
One of the girls shot this photo of Joshua and Alexa.
I adore it.
And Joshua adores Alexa! He would follow her anywhere!
One of my kids' favorite things to do at the farm is climb the "tickle tree." They spend hours and hours climbing and imagining in this huge weeping willow. In fact they have created so many memories in and around this tree that I am planning to plant one in my front lawn so that my grandkids can have the same experience some day. It makes my heart happy to think about it!
Hopefully I can get one to grow. I am not quite as good at growing things as my grandma is!
Those photos are by Adrianna.
She hopes to be a photographer when she is grown.
Sierra and Grandpa Scott played beanbags against each other. They are both very competitive - so they had a fun-loving grudge match going.
(Which Sierra lost.)
Love him.
And the indulgent grin he gives me.
My Grandma and I.
Doesn't she look amazing? She is in the middle of chemo, and proof that God answers even the silliest of prayers. I had SO wanted her to have hair for this weekend. She had waited 60 years to have professional photos taken and when this shindig was planned we did not know she would be receiving cancer treatments during the party. I know that wigs are nice and that many worse things can happen than losing one's hair. Trust me I prayed all those harder prayers too! And not only did God honor the harder requests, He allowed her to keep her hair! She is 78, mom of 5, grandmother of 8, great-grandmother of 7 (and counting), one of the most amazing cooks you will ever encounter, gardener and canner extraordinaire, stylish, sharp, the most hard-working woman I know, tougher than you can imaging AND she has neigh a grey hair. Saying I love this woman and am so proud of her and thankful for her barely scratches the surface.
I adore my Grandma.
Beautiful Berra-girl insisted on a photo with Grandma too!
She also wanted one with our cousin Caitlin.
After the party at the farm, Krissy and I headed off to Fargo to go shopping and tour colleges. Spending 3 days alone with JUST Krissy was so fun! I am going to LOVE having adult children. Then again - is there a stage of parenting I do not enjoy? Nope. I love it all. Being a mom makes my heart happy!
A couple of weeks later, we took a long weekend to go camping.
I will be honest, I was NOT excited. Since spending so much time in the camper last summer, I have only wanted to be home. It feels so good to have a home again. I know we were never truly homeless, but feeling homeless was really hard on me - now that I am settled in this house, I just want to stay put! However, Chad and I usually camp for our anniversary. Chad and the kids were more than ready for a couple days away - so I caved!
And I am glad I did.
We spent a very quiet and relaxing 4 days at Lake Ashtabula.
While I spent much of my time at the lake reading, dozing, and taking long walks and short runs - I also snapped a few photos.
OK - so I know some day I will totally hear it for only taking photos of Jay on the water. I am sorry kiddos! I really DO love you all the same, and yet totally differently. . . I just got too busy laughing at you while you tubed to snap more pics. Well, that and I took a nap.
If I was not so secure in my children's love, I would not post these!
However, they know I love them! And Jay's reflection in the crystal clear lake is too cool to ignore!
My favorite parrt about camping is that Chad does almost all of the cooking!
And that is our last month in a very small nutshell!
Tomorrow - school begins. Ugh! I am never ready for school to begin. I love having my kids home.
However, I am thankful tonight that our life is so much more stable this August than last August! I am more thankful than I can even express. We are HOME! We have 2 teens that will drive themselves to school, work and practices. There is a bus that will drive Sierra and Brenna to and from school. Joshua is so comfortable at his school, I have NO worries about his year for the FIRST TIME EVER! Brenna and Jay will start at new schools, but Jay is totally pumped. Brenna is more concerned, but I feel really good about the change. I am praying and trusting that she will too!
