Last Month of Summer; First Day of School

Erik was out of town one Saturday and we were missing Northern California's Saturday Farmer's Markets. Happily, we found one in Mission Viejo, and sampled some amazing peaches, juices and hummus.

 Amy and Kids Road Trip to Utah

Allebest Family tradition: gyros at the Mad Greek in Baker, CA

Wisdom on my sister's fridge. We had long, long discussions about those principles, which have pretty much been the theme of what Erik and I have been learning the past couple of years. I think I'll dedicate a whole blog post to that slip of paper.

Sophie thought it was hilarious and fun to sleep in the crib at my parents' house! She fit exactly from head to toe, and insisted she was comfortable. My dad is the best tickler. :)

The seven-year-old in the crib

Upon his return from a long, grueling roadbike ride up the canyon, Papa (my dad) came in for a chat with his granddaughters (Abby and Bria)

Mowing the yard

Stone (not surprisingly) insisted on steering by himself

My mom loves to read to the grandkids

Girl cousins with boxes of bling

Sophie loves her MacFie shirt (MacFie is the original Scottish spelling of McPhie)

Courtney and Lindsay were going through baby clothes hand-me-downs (Courtney is due in November).  I hadn't realized that a lot of the clothes came from my kids! Some clothes had been worn by Lindsay, Lucy, Sophie, either Abby or Bria, and Chloe. We passed around the little dresses and sleepers and I soon had tears streaming down my face, remembering how each little body had felt in them.

Lindsay got a haircut and style! I have not yet mastered the curling wand like that (I should look it up on YouTube or something).

I love my sisters. We were missing Whitney. Although it was probably good we did all Mommy-boo-hooing while she was at work.

Playing our favorite game, Write-Draw, after the littles were in bed.

Our favorite park on a hot day. That's Sophie, drenched in her church dress. :)

The garden in Lulu's back yard! Food growing in the earth is so miraculous. I had been having a grumpy day, and the beauty of Nature in that little patch of soft dirt woke me back up.

Chloe and Lucy at another family classic location: the Holladay Lions pool.

Utah is so beautiful in the summer time!! We drove up to Snowbird to hike and ride the Alpine Slide, but it was closed and it started to rain. The kids had to flight to hang on to their positive attitudes. :) We rode a different ride (still fun!) and when the big drops started falling, adjourned to Chick-Fil-A and then to the most adorable little bakery, The Sweet Tooth Fairy, for incredible cupcakes.

On our way back home we stopped to visit our dear friends the Furrs in Provo, and as always, tour Amy and Erik's old stomping grounds. This was the little house I lived in between Freshman year, my semester in Jerusalem, and my mission. We walked all around and peeked in the windows, but it looks vacant. I wish I could have descended those familiar steep stairs into that dank, dark, beloved basement. Such fond memories there.

Amazing!!!

 The Skousens come to visit!!!

Lindsay, Lucy and Hazel. Why not.

Sophie and Elsa reunited!!

I didn't take any pictures of anyone else, but their visit was so wonderful! I loved having Christie with me at the grocery store, at church, in the car, washing dishes, making dinner, folding laundry... oh what joy to have her and that dear family in our house! 

 Erik's Birthday

Medieval Times for old times' sake

It was actually a really amazing show! We went with Erik's parents and his brother, his wife and kids, and all our kids, and from Grandpa all the way down to Baby Pieter, everyone was enthralled! It's hard to find any activity that is fun for that range of ages! We loved it.

And Stone particularly was in Heaven.

 Mommy and Kids to Disneyland for Summer's last Hoorah

We hit a ton of rides in a very short time - the whole country had gone back to school, so it was empty! Only drawback was that it was 105 degrees. We only last half a day.

 Ok, the real last Hoorah: family weekend in Palm Springs!

We had been wanting to spend some more time with Erik's family, so we planned the Medieval Times birthday, bought tickets to a couple of plays in the Fall, and booked a hotel in Palm Springs to just swim and play for a couple of days. We love cousins!!

The first day we had an unexpected rain storm and the lightning forced everyone out of the pool. We took the kids to the mall and laughed our heads off at the outfits we created at Claire's Boutique.

I had a voicemail informing me that Lindsay wouldn't be able to start school without a TDAP booster shot... so we headed to the clinic at the grocery store and took care of it then and there. Not Lindsay's favorite part of the vacation.

A real manicurist can work her magic anywhere.

Christiaan gave Erik some little kites for his birthday, and Stone had a ball running as fast as he could trying to get that kite up in the air. He was so persistent and got it to fly really well!!

The whole gang before piling back into the car for the trip home

 First Day of School!!

Kindergarten, 7th grade, 5th grade, 2nd grade. My first year with an empty nest. 6 years until Lindsay heads off to college. There have been many tears this week (though thankfully not any tears of sadness about school! Everyone - including Stone - LOVES their teachers and friends and school!!)

The only thing I love more than that my husband looks like that and that he will pose with a drill like a calendar pin-up boy is that he bought those hideous stone-washed jeans on eBay just to bug me. I love that man.

Stone's special "ladder tree" that he climbs every day after kindergarten. Bless his teacher's heart for helping him feel comfortable and happy about school - I had been so worried, but he is so happy!!

My brood of book worms. I can not get the children out of the car when we pull into the driveway. They sit there with their books, no awareness of where they are, until they hit melting point and finally come in, panting for water. I love it.