goodbye summer

I turned on the heater this morning. My apple spice candle is burning on the stove and everything feels all cozy. But before we're done with it completely, here's one last look at the end of our summer.

 

more catch up

 I know things have been quiet on the blog lately. This summer is keeping us busy. We're looking forward to school starting next week and getting back on a schedule. But for now, here's what's been happening:

Audrey and my car door collided in a parking lot a few weeks ago.

Audrey running, me opening my door to get out- BAM. Blood running down her face, crying, me frantically calling Justin and my Mom (I am so thankful my Mom is a nurse!) wondering whether to drive home or to the hospital for stitches...it was horrible. We ended up not going to the hospital and the cut has healed fine. But it was a traumatic ordeal for Audrey AND for me. It was the first (minor)major accident that's happened with our kids and man, the guilt that comes with that packed a wallop. (Don't ask Justin about me sobbing about it the next day. I was a mess)



We happened upon a little place called "funland" in Idaho Falls and even though the rides looked like they were 100 years old and made me a little nervous, the kids were dying to go so we let them.

I finally found some suspenders David's size and I've forced helped him to wear them as often as possible. He just looks so darn cute! Yes, I pulled my phone out of my purse and snapped a picture in sacrament meeting. (the meeting hadn't started yet- does that make it okay?)

eating oatmeal with Dad for breakfast

Audrey's become fascinated with volcanoes lately. She used to be interested in the human body and bones and the digestive and nervous system, now it's volcanoes. She begs us to let her watch videos of erupting volcanoes on the computer then draws detailed drawings of volcanoes with lava and magma. We rented a discovery video from the library for her and she watched it over and over, and now asks us about all the lava rock that's around here. We're thinking about a family trip to craters of the moon.

Tell you what, this girl is going to be smart.



We went to my cousin's wedding in Utah (the colors were pink- Audrey was in heaven)



the bride even let Audrey hold her bouquet and try on her pink shoes



David's wreaking havoc on my house as usual:

We discovered the Mystique Theatre here in Pocatello that has great Reed's Dairy Ice Cream

We visited a ghost town originally settled by Mormon Pioneers

and saw the Oregon Trail

onward

Summer has been driving me crazy.


It's never been my favorite season (I'm just not built for this heat!) but this year has been the worst.

Despite my previous fears, we came to love Audrey's school. And she loved it more than we did. She thrived, made friends, and was full of new discoveries every day when I picked her up. She blossomed with the structure of it. And now the long, slow days that are too hot to go to the park leave her anxious and rowdy, bored and grouchy.

Justin and I are pretty grouchy ourselves. It's no secret that we're not really happy with our present situation here, but it's bearable as long as we're moving forward. Since we started this process over a year ago there's never really been any down-time. Now with Justin's first semester off it's surprisingly frustrating for both of us to feel as if we're just spinning our wheels for three months when there's so much to be done. Justin's working at the university and getting a lot of good experience but we kind of want to just get on with things already.

Last Sunday after church and dinner we packed up the kids and drove into the hills above Pocatello. It was good to get out of the blasted heat and we rolled down the windows of the car to feel the breeze and smell the sagebrush and pine tree smell. The views were beautiful. We snapped some pictures. We saw some wild turkeys. We talked about the future. It's so easy right now to get caught up in the small details of daily living. The tenants, and the broken air conditioners, the 3 credit classes and the ugly carpet in the living room. When I look at things like that, caught down in the thick of things where I can't see the whole picture it is slow and tedious and depressing. Driving up to the mountains that day was a reminder to look at the big picture. That all those small tiresome tedious details that drive me crazy on a daily basis are just a part of our bigger goal. That when we get done it will all be worth it.

And then, on the way back down Audrey exclaimed, "Mom! Look at that tree, it's turning yellow!" And sure enough, it was. We spotted a few more before we made it to the bottom- small trees with a few yellow and red leaves mixed into the branches of bright green. It got us excited. Apparently, even when it doesn't feel like it, time does indeed march on. And so here we go.

On to fall. On to school and learning, progressing. On to graduation, and then on to grad school. On to the next thing.

playing catch up

We're half way through the summer here- maybe it's a little more than halfway? Audrey and Justin start school at the end of August so it feels like our summer is rapidly slipping away. It's been a busy one. I've had 5 vacant apartments to get ready, show, and fill this month and it seems like everyday someone's air conditioner is breaking or something else is going wrong.

Also last week something clicked in my brain and I've been working on getting projects done before we move. (ordering prints of pictures, then burning them onto back-up CD's, re-doing Audrey's baby book, finishing making this blog into a book etc. Even something inside me (nesting? the opposite of nesting?) is getting all excited to decorate a new place. I'm working on art for the living room and getting new prints for the kitchen.)

Justin has started his new job as a research assistant. He's studying to take the GRE next month and then will start filling out grad school applications in the fall. I'm excited/nervous/freakingoutalittlebit to see where we'll be living for the next two years at least.

In the meantime we've taken some trips, visited some family, eaten some ice cream, watched some summer storms, played at parks and all the other great things that summer should include.

Here's proof:

We're fans of Mickey Mouse at our house

visiting the waterfall in the canyon in Twin Falls. It's fun to be tourists in your own hometown.

My goodness! My husband is a good looking man.

my new very favorite picture

building a fire to make smore's with Justin's family

Yes, that is plastic packaging on his head. No, he would not let me take it off.

watching a hail storm

a gift for Audrey- a cute cat picture made by my Grandma. I love it!

the back is my favorite part- they used an old campaign poster from when my Great-Grandma ran for state representative.

movie night in a fort

my birthday present from my sister, Beth- the cutest quilt ever!

the power was out one morning so we went out to breakfast

we never eat out so it was big treat for the kids