My happy thought

summer

52 days.

8 states.
2 Canadian provinces.
2 weddings.
2 week-long family reunions.

Traveling by plane, train, bus, car, boat, horseback, bike and foot.

I'm tired.

BUT WHAT A GREAT ADVENTURE!

Family, special friends, good food, grandparents, cousins, aunties and uncles, a trampoline on which to bounce, space to roam, jeeps to drive, garden veggies to devour...

Best summer EVER.

We loved every minute. And miss everyone like crazy.

School has begun. Naomi is in kindergarten. KINDERGARTEN! All day. She's so grown up helping me pack her lunchbox each night.

Kalea was a super star at her first "g'nastics" class yesterday. Best hour of entertainment I've had all week. She's so little and so excited about doing gymnastics like her sister. So very fun to watch such little people trying to do such big-people things!

It is a very busy work week/month for me. Mark kindly waited an extra week to go back to work to help with the girls so I could get somewhat caught up. Someday soon I'll find photos to post and time to tell about our adventures. It's been a delightful summer.

summer days

Are my favorite. But they slip by far too quickly.

Our summer is filled to the brim with family, travel, weddings, reunions, sprinklers and friends. I love it... but I do long for a few more quiet summer evenings together in the midst of all the craziness to watch the sun set.


I am IN LOVE with that late summer evening sunlight. It is such a treat for me - I rarely get to see it at home with the mountain so close to us. That warm golden glow tickles me pink.


This little one gets tired on those go, go, go days. So do I. But it's definitely a price we're willing to pay to enjoy time with family and close friends.


She refuses to wear her slippers... or any shoes for that matter... for more than a millisecond.


These were her last pair of shoes (all others have been lost over the last two months - sometimes I even catch her slipping them off without stopping as she walks down the sidewalk to the mailbox)... She dropped one of these ones under the train as we boarded. Naomi was far more upset about her losing her last pair of shoes than she was. Thanks to Target and Payless, she now has a whoppin' 4 pairs of shoes!


Soaking in that beautiful evening light and enjoying our summer days together.

Make a wish

heading into summer

underage drivers

"No, I do it!"

She's steering.
He's got his foot on the gas pedal.


2-year-old's can take you for quite a ride.
Teeheehee.


This was before she realized she could drive...
with another 2-year-old cousin at the wheel.

evening glow

O Canada

it was good to be home... even if only for a few days.


The 28 (total) hours in the car were worth it. Except the part where someone screamed and whined and yelled for an hour straight during the drive home.

Nothing beats being with family. Loved every minute there.

a day with Grandpa

and his girl Jean,


lots of little cousins, (great-grandchildren)


good food,


time to play,


places to explore,


so many animals to see,






tender moments,






and cake.




Thank you for opening your home to us so we could all be together for an afternoon in Rexburg to celebrate.





Happy Birthday Grandpa.
I love you. forever.

summertime

And we're off gallivanting across the country.
Our feet will be back in the sand in approximately 5 weeks!

I'm not sure I would want to give up this professor lifestyle with summer vacations... even if it meant more money and owning our own home.

It's so nice to be together. All.Summer.Long.