For {my} Birthday

We went home and visited our family.

First we headed to EVENING STAR and picked apples, ate meals from my mom's garden, and gobbled peach pie around a campfire. I am always in awe of the beautiful harvest from my mom's garden and orchard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a visit at Grams, Gary and the boys headed out the Ranch with Grandpa and played on hay bails and swam in water troughs. We finished out the evening with cousins and a BBQ. This blurry picture is right before we bathed the boys and headed home. It was a wonderful celebration. It was wonderful to be with family. 

It's wonderful to be 31!

 

September Evenings

Enjoying a September evening with {my} boys:

Dallas, TX

I'm not sure exactly how many hours it took to drive there or how many years Paho & Leigh have lived in Texas (I think 5) without a visit from us, but we finally made it there for a long weekend AND I am beyond grateful we did!

Here are my favorite pictures from the trip:

Bountiful Visit from my Mama

My mama came for a visit...

She brought basil to make pesto:

We made truffula trees:

We canned peaches:

We roasted green chili:

We fixed the pond and bought Canyon and Trek their first pets (GOLDFISH):

Adventure weekend: Las Vegas

One of our summer trips was to the Adventure Dome at Circus Circus in LAS VEGAS. 

We meet up with our dear friends and their two kids. 

It was an adventure for sure. 

We played games and rode rides. We ran and played.

We ate and napped. We hugged and screamed.

 We flew and jumped.

We tired ourselves out and loved being together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update

A month of kindergarten has gone by and Canyon is still loving every minute.  After the first week he said "that was 5 days of awesomeness." We have settled into a weekday routine with efficient mornings and homework mixed with playtime in the evening. Canyon's learning many new and exciting things everyday and I'm so grateful for a teacher that is so committed to teaching little ones (although homework in kindergarten seems a little hardcore to me). With in the first week of school Canyon could swing from the monkey bars and swing on his own. I volunteered in his class last week and he beamed with excitement as I entered the room and plastered me with a big hug and kiss.

Trekker Blue is keeping me busy on our days at home begging me to join his fantasy games or snuggle on the couch to read him a scary book. He talks about capes, superheros and princesses. He has his eye on a girl from church that he talks about kissing (GIRLS ALREADY). He missed Canyon terribly the first couple weeks of school but has adjusted to not having him home but can't wait for his buddy to return to they can play.

Gary and I are busy at work and school.  Gary is in his L.A.S.T year of school working hard and having fun. Sometimes all we see of each other is a quick kiss as we switch "shifts." Life feels good. Life feels full. We are happy. We are tired, we work hard, we love our boys and feel grateful to have opportunities we have.