July / August / September 2016

I'm not sure exactly what has happened these last three months, but I know that things have been crazy busy.  Sending the girls back to school and working part time a the Preschool has changed so much, not to mention the girls starting up all their extracurricular activities again.

Alright, so we'll head back to July and hopefully get caught up again.

We spent a few long weekends at the cabin in July.  We found out that there were some plumbing issues going on so my dad and my brother set out to fix them.  Here they are looking under the cabin . . . creepy!

We let the oldest three drive the four wheelers and they though it was the best thing ever.  They had a lot of fun driving all the other kids around.

We spent a lot of time relaxing, and the kids played in the creek.

Tobi hates the water

We make campfire cones - you fill the cones with chocolate chips, peanut butter, marshmallows, coco nut, etc., then wrap them in tin foil and put them on the coals for a minute or so.  They are tasty!

The next morning they got to work building up the dam.

Here papa is chasing Jarom.  When the kids are being stinkers they go in the water.  We all chanted "in the water" while they are being chased and dunked!

Goob is my reading buddy.  We like a lot of the same books.  After he finished the Percy Jackson series I got us matching shirts!

Playing cards at the end of the day

Then we headed back downtown to watch fireworks at our house.

I hear most dogs are afraid of fireworks, but Tobi didn't mind at all.  He sat out on the front lawn with the rest of us at watched.  I claim it's because he grew up on the streets hearing a lot of gunshots.  Hahaha!

Papa played the national anthem to get us ready for the big show!

I think this picture is upside down?

So cute!

My sister had a few weeks off during the summer and we took the kids swimming one day.

We also went bowling.  We had us two adults, 10 kids, and a baby.  We really need to open a daycare or something. :)

Cali and Hannah did a farm camp for a week over the summer.  They said they had a lot of fun, and it was fun going to the farm.

Gabe met a new friend

The baby goats were so cute!!

We also did a little bit of Geocaching.  It was hot outside, but we still had a lot of fun!

We stopped to catch a few Pokemon on the way

Getting ready for the big weekend by making shirts, and get my toenails painted!

Hannah did an awesome job on my toes!

Then we headed up to the cabin for the big 24th of July weekend.  It was very eventful.

Look at all these cute faces!  I'm very lucky to have them all around.

More campfire cones!

Hannah meditates

The kids got up the next morning and did some awesome dances for us!

Here comes the parade!!!

And there they all are!

Craft time!

My favorite part of the day, time for a shaving cream fight!!!

Time to clean of in the creek

We had a very eventful night at the cabin that involved a horseshoe, Jeffy, and an ambulance ride, but that is a story for another day.

At the end of August Dan was working in Burley Idaho.  I decided to take Emma, Hannah, Gabe and Sierra up for the weekend to stay in Twin Falls.  We had a fun adventure!

First we stopped at Promontory Point to see where the railroads met.

These three silly kids all slept in one bed.  Me, Dan, and Hannah all slept in the other.

Beautiful sight as you drive into Twin Falls!

Took the kids to a museum

We walked across the giant bridge

Then we found a few more Pokemon

On Saturday Dan joined us as we drove out to Crates of the Moon National Monument.  It really does feel like you are in another world!

A very old volcano

Looking down into the volcano 

Me and my honey!!

Shoshone Falls!

We swam a bit in the lake above the falls

When we got home from out trip, it was time to celebrate a few birthdays.

For the Hastings' Family Reunion this year we headed up for a day at the Jordanelle Reservoir.  It was a beautiful day spent with great people!

Hannah and Aunt Kathy spent a lot of time out in the water.  So cute!!

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to school.  It was hard sending the girls off after spending the last year together.  We had such a good time!

We spent Labor Day weekend at the cabin again.  We worked hard taking down a very prickly tree in the yard.

Tobi got cut somehow when we were up at the cabin that weekend, and had to get stitches.  Poor little guy!

Then it was back to real life again.  Tobi thinks it's ok to sleep on my new table.

 I went to the first MESA meeting with all these silly kids.  I'm glad that Emma has so many good friends to hang out with!

I took the girls to see Beauty and the Beast at Hale Center Theater.  It was a fun night!

My Emma celebrated her 14th birthday this year.  I can't believe how fast they grow.  I'm very proud to be her mother.  I got her a ukulele for her birthday, and she loves it!

Happy Birthday pic

 Emma started up volleyball this fall with Hannah.  It's been so fun watching them both play.  I hope that it is something they will both continue doing.

Dan has spent the past few months on the east coast with his job.  It's a promotion he took to help us finish the basement.  Hopefully, we will be starting the basement soon, and by the end of the year Dan should be back home with us.  We miss him so much and are grateful for all he does for us!!

And that is it for now.  Things are still moving along too fast, but I'll just keep trying to enjoy it all.