In Summerrrrrrrr!

My favorite photo from summer 2016. I am almost passed out from their cuteness--and from the fact that they posed happily and calmly together!

We've been watching a lot of the movie Frozen at our house lately--it's Sally's new obsession.  Honestly, I don't really mind: that movie (especially Olaf) is hilarious and so clever.

Here are my cute kids watching another favorite of Sally's, Bubble Guppies, in a car that we made out of a box. ;)  I must say, I much prefer Frozen to Bubble Guppies.

My kids watch more TV than they should.  I am often working on writing projects that require focus, so Sally and Noah have a chunk of TV time every day.  But in between the shows, we have a lot of family fun and go outside on adventures--so I'm not gonna feel bad about it.

Here's a recap of the way that we ended our summerrrr! (Imagine Olaf singing that.)

We met up with Drew and his mom for a fun day at Lagoon, riding the (kiddie) rollar coasters and drinking Icees.  Nothing better!  We sure love our Drew.

 

 

I know some of you long-time blog readers might be wondering, so I asked Katie if I could share and she said I could.  She and Drew are currently separated. It has been such a hard thing for everyone--really heartbreaking.  But they are on good terms and have handled everything with such maturity.  They will both always be a huge part of our lives and of Noah's life.  I recently got these drawings done for Noah's room, and I love them.

After our trip to Lagoon, the kids and I hopped on a plane for a last-minute trip to Denver!

My sister has been going through some super intense treatments for her depression these past few months, so I went to help.  We are all praying that she will feel some relief and joy soon.  So far, the treatments seem to be working...keep praying!!

We loved seeing Bapa, walking Callum to the bus stop every day, and even getting away to the mountains for a ride on the Georgetown Loop Railroad.  Need I say that Noah was in heaven? Riding a train with his best friend, Callum?? Dream come true!

 

And of course we got to see my grandparents while I was there.  As always, it's just priceless seeing them playing with my kids.  Sally loved the car tracks, just like Noah did at her age.

Since I don't travel enough (wink), we also met up with our best friends from dental school in Park City, Utah for a weekend.  It's been almost six years since we left Buffalo, and these people are still like family.  There is nothing like it--just pick right up where you left off and talk for hours.  They know us like almost no one else.  Daytons and Majeronis, come be our neighbors!!!

That night, Dave snapped some photos of us and our kids with his fancy camera. I love these faces with wild hair on warm summer nights. 

 

And while we were in Park City, we did a little alpine slidin'...

We also squeezed in an overnight camping trip at the end of August.  I realized that we hadn't camped at all the entire summer, and I was kind of mad at myself for it--but then I remembered that we moved unexpectedly, went to the Dominican Republic for a dental trip, went to a family reunion in Oregon, and went to Colorado to help my sister.  So I forgave myself.

One night in the foothills near our home was all we could manage this summer, but it was a great little outing.  We drove there without a reservation, hoping that we would find a good spot, and we ended up finding a perfect, secluded wooded site, right on a lovely walking trail.  Score!  The highlight was when a moose walked right up to our campsite and startled us!  Yikes!  The kids are still talking about it.  My favorite part of camping is the smores and early-morning cuddling.  

 

 

 

 

 

In between the trips, we had adventures closer to home--such as floating an irrigation canal in a neighboring town, playing with cousins, going kayaking at the Garden of Eden (oh, it was actually Thousand Springs State Park, but you could've fooled me with the crystal clear water and lovely waterfalls!), watching the U.S. Open with Dad, going for walks downtown, and stopping for ice cream at a local Creamery...yum!

 

I have to say, even with all of that funness going on, my very favorite part of the month was a two-night get-away with Ryan for his 34th birthday.  (34??  How is this possible??)  I surprised him and took him to a mountain town about four hours from home, McCall, Idaho.  I arranged for a babysitter and planned the whole trip without him knowing.  That morning, I left him a note on the bathroom mirror: "Pack your bags--because tonight we are going away, just the two of  us, for your 34th birthday!"  So fun.  I love surprises.

We kayaked, hiked, rode bikes, slept in, watched the Olympics, napped by the lake, snuggled in church and could actually listen to the talks, ate good food and huge ice cream cones, talked about the past, and dreamed about the future.

It was perfect.  I told Ryan, "Why do people think they need to go to Hawaii for a week to have a true getaway??  I swear this was just as good!"  (Okay, maybe not just as good, but pretty darn close.)  I really think couples need to make it a priority to do something like this twice a year--or at least once. I came home on Cloud 9, feeling so in love.  Ryan is my best friend.  I couldn't do life without him.

And then, after all of that, I packed my bags and headed to South Africa for ten days.  Ha!  I'm insane!  But South Africa was an amazing experience--truly one of the highlights of my life--and I can't wait to write a whole series of posts about what I saw, did, and learned there.

We are heading into winter now, but summer was oh-so-good, and I am grateful!