Where have we been?!!?

Gosh is it really almost the end of August?

I looked at the last time I posted and realized it's been way too long.

Our month has been filled with not much of anything except being busy.  There is the whole school thing (we don't even start until September 8th), canning (which I guess actually takes up a lot of my time), helping/planning/doing the ward campout (which I of course forgot to take my camera and get pictures, arghhh!), getting in last minute play afternoons, playing softball, and trying not to lose my head.

Sounds exciting huh?

This boy though has been keeping us on our toes.  He is so funny and is always asking if one of his brothers or sisters can play with him for 30 minutes.  He then asks me to set the timer and then when the timer goes off he tells them they don't have to play anymore, their time is up.  Silly boy!

And then he just comes up with other silly things like having one leg,

 and not being able to sleep without yo-yo and firework (his stuffed animals).  He even puts them to bed, pretends to give them drinks, makes them say their prayers, and tucks them in.  

 And then all of sudden he will crash after a long hard day of playing.  I found him like this the other day, I'm surprised he didn't roll off.

 Boy we sure love this little boy!

Visiting Cousins

Sam's dad has had some health issues and had been in the hospital for 3 weeks so we decided we better head down to see them.  He is home now and doing better but it was very good to be there and to visit and help.

 Another bonus was that his brother (Shawn) and his family were here visiting from Chicago.  Seth was very glad because he finally had some boy cousins his age to hang out with.  

 We did so many fun things and I of course got too busy to take very many pictures but we had a fabulous time.  

The first night we were there we had a pizza and game night.  The kids played steal sticks for hours and then it was off to a cousin sleepover.

The next day we (or should I say most of us--Erin and I stayed behind on the hike and had a great visit) took a picnic lunch to the mountains and hiked to Cecret Lake.

That night we had a date night with all the adults (excluding Ben and Renee because she went into labor and was in the hospital).  We had a blast talking and eating some delicious food and just hanging out with everyone.  

The next day Sam made biscuits and gravy for everyone (a tradition every time we come down) and then spent the day helping his brother Chris move.  I took the kids and we visited new baby cousin Ruth in the hospital and ate a pizza picnic with Sam, Chris, and Sariah at their new apartment.

The kids loved seeing the baby and I forget how tiny they are.  She is a doll and thanks Ben and Renee for letting us stay at your house :).

Sunday we were able to go Sam's sister's baby blessing, Ezra.  It was sweet to hear his father bless him.  We spent the afternoon visiting with more family, making some yummy pies for dinner, and then eating a fabulous dinner at his sister's house to celebrate the blessing.  Then it was off to home late last night.

Now it's time to get my life together--especially since school starts in one month--yikes!

My Birthday

My birthday was last week.  As I get older every birthday seems to be more and more anti-climatic.  This year I had told Sam that I didn't want a present but just remember me in some other way.  The night before my birthday we got together with some friends and had a fabulous dinner and an amazing chocolate cake (thanks so much Chris--it totally lived up to everything).

And as you can see all the pictures I got were of my cake.  It's kinda hard to take pictures of yourself! :)

 This cake was a moist chocolate cake with a layer of dark chocolate filling and chocolate chips and all frosted in a chocolate buttercream--deliciousness!

As for the day of my actual birthday we cleaned the house and packed for our trip to Salt Lake.  We took off that afternoon and ate dinner with Sam's family and ended the night with games.  It was very nice but very normal.  

So here's to a year of being 31 and having a great time!