August 2017

Though I am changing the date on this post to be closer to August, it is actually Nov 9th today.  I've started the long process of catching up on my blog books that I print.  I haven't printed 2015 or 2016 yet, and now 2017 is almost over.  These take so many hours to put together.  I'm literally spending 2-4 hours a day working on it.  Fortunately, I have Ryan's old laptop to use now so I can move the project with me to project time at my friends' houses (we meet every Wednesday at one of our houses to chat while we work on whatever we need to.)  And I can do it in my comfortable bed while listening to an audiobook.  Or on the couch catching up on all the shows I've gotten behind on while the weather has been nice.  Photobucket has repossessed all the photos I used on my blog back in 2015 and earlier.  They say I have to pay for my account.  I don't use Photobucket anymore so it's not a big deal, it's just annoying that all my photos are hijacked.  I thought I would just pay the $20 fee or whatever to renew my membership for the year so I could see the pictures to do my blog book.  Well, they want $399!  Apparently 3rd party posting is in high demand these days!  Ugh, so I have had to work around that and I won't go into details, but lets just say this has been a big project!  In the meantime I have all these months to catch up on to stay current on my blog so the memories aren't just lost forever.  And I have done four photoshoots in the last month and have editing work to do on them.  

That's just a little update on what's currently going on in my life.  I don't do as many of those kind of updates anymore because I'm always behind.  Or maybe I just have less to share these days.

Here are all the random phone pics from August.

Kaden likes to climb on my chair behind me and squeeze me.  It's cute, but hard to eat!  He often steals my food too.  Dylan just wanted to be included.  Dylan doesn't offer hugs anymore.  It's hard to get hugs from him at all.  Unless your name is Kaden.  Dylan is constantly soliciting hugs from Kaden, trying to bribe him.  Kaden doesn't often allow it.  But sometimes he's in a good mood.

Dylan and I learned how to play chess together using the instruction sheet for his set and the internet.  It's been fun!  I even brought my bigger chess set home from my dad's house while I was cleaning out the house.

Ryan loves spending time outsides when the weather is beautiful.  He took Kaden and Sadie out to the park at sunset.

I asked Ryan if he wanted me to make him a cake for his birthday.  He said, "that's probably not necessary, is it?"  I said, "it's cookies and cream."  He's like, "well in that case..."  I think it was a hit.  I couldn't eat it, but it looked delicious.

I didn't post these on my Lava post because they were on my phone.  This was the group at Lava that day.  It was so fun!  It will be even more fun when my kids are old enough to be independent so I can go on slides and diving platforms with them and not have to have Kaden within arms reach.  It worked having Ryan and Grandma there with us this time, but I don't think I could just take the kids and have as much fun.

Kylee and I went to a Mother-Daughter Activity Days where we painted toenails, decorated cookies, and took silly pictures.

Ryan was called to serve in the Elder's Quorum.  He helped plan a Father-Daughter activity for the Elder's.  He asked me to come help and snap some pictures.  It was cute!  They all had fun.

My friends and I got together for Ingrid's birthday.  Love them!

Final days of the summer with Rachel and her family before they headed back to California.

Kaden is a cuddly kid.  Sometimes he's just so sweet!

It was time for haircuts before we went back to school.  Their hair was so long!  Sadie barely got a trim, but Kylee got quite a bit off and layered so we could curl it easier.  Of course, I failed to get the pictures of Kylee.

Kaden was focusing so hard on coloring this page, I had to take a picture.  He's so funny.

Sunday naps are the best.

So many early morning bike rides for me.  The sunrise always makes me stop and stare.  But with the smokey air, it was truly breathtaking.  And an hour or so later I couldn't stop staring at the sun rays shining down from the clouds over the mountains.  The mountains are not the same as the Rockies in Utah, but still very pretty.

Our next door neighbor had a birthday party at Blast Off Splash Zone and invited our whole family.  They had fun! Even if Kaden was too chicken to go down the slides.

Last trip to the lake, right before school started.  It's always so hard to say goodbye!

With the kids going back to school, Kaden and I had lots of time to kill.  He had big plans! "Mom, can we go to the lake and the zoo and Lagoon?"  Lol.  I considered taking him to the lake, but then decided it wouldn't be as much fun without all my kids and friends.  Obviously Lagoon was unrealistic. But the zoo was something we could do!

Carrying Jax like a baby.  He's such a fat, silly cat.